Adopted Feels

14/02/2024

📣 New episode alert! 📣

You may know Eli Harwood from her popular IG account , but what you may not know is that Eli is also a brilliant adoption-competent therapist who spent two years living in Seoul working with Korean adoptees at the beginning of her career. (And you can trust us, adoption-competent therapists are our jam! 😆)

We talk about how Eli ended up working with the international adoption community, the barriers for some adoptive parents in supporting adoptees, what kinds of stuff can come up when adoptees spend time in our birth countries, childhood trauma and attachment wounds, and finally, the importance of hope in the healing process.

We say this about almost every episode but honestly, this is one of our 🤩 FAVOURITES 🤩

A licensed therapist, author, and educator, Eli has more than 17 years of experience helping people process relational traumas and develop secure attachment relationships with their children and partners. Her new book, ✨Securely Attached✨, a guided workbook to help heal insecure attachment patterns, is now available. Eli also has three children, one husband, two cats, and an extraordinary number of plants!

[image ID: Eli Harwood wearing a silver dress and long sparkly green earrings]

16/12/2022

𝐄𝐩. 𝟓𝟗! 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬: 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐡 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐬⁣ 👯‍♀️
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We're back - with an experiment of sorts! might seem like a random topic for an adoptee podcast, but lately we’ve been thinking about it a lot. ⁣
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Maybe it’s because of the pandemic and the isolation that many of us felt, maybe it’s because Hana moved to Korea and had to make new friends (multiple times 🙄), or maybe it’s because of a larger cultural conversation around the role of friendship in our lives, alongside and in addition to fulfilling romantic and familial relationships. Friendship is also at the heart of our podcast - for 3 years now, we have been interviewing people, writing and recording stuff as a way of continuing our own conversations about adoption (and other random s**t) over thousands of miles. ⁣
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In this conversation, we're joined by Korean adoptee Leah Nichols to talk about how we define a friend, what friendship means to us, what it takes to maintain friendships, whether it’s harder to make new friends as you get older, and more.⁣
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Stay tuned for parts 2 & 3 of this series and let us know what you think (even if it's to say "get back in your adoption/healing/trauma/living in your birth country lane!" 😆)
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Leah 양진 Nichols is an award-winning filmmaker and designer currently based in Seoul. She works to expand models of kinship, increase access to collective histories, and champion the compatibility of trauma and joy. She is best known for her short film 73 Questions (2017) which won the 2018 Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA) Creative Activism Award.

[ID: 1 - selfie of Leah and Hana wearing black T-shirts in Seoul; 2 - advice from writer Laura Belgray on the company you should keep: “spend as much time as possible with people who make you feel like your real, un-selfconscious self…”]

01/11/2022

we’re still processing the Itaewon tragedy 😞 but have been meaning to share this message from artist and hanji teacher Aimee Lee for a while. We were speechless when we first read this—what a beautiful example of Korean American to Korean adoptee 💛

(And well well well it’s again 🥲🫠…whether you raise hell or go off grid, take good care, we say! ❤️)

16/10/2022

⭐️ GIVEAWAY FOR AUS LISTENERS ⭐️⁣
(𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘢𝘺, 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧!😅)⁣
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Thanks to , we’re giving away 2 double passes to see 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 by Park Chan-Wook (director of 𝘖𝘭𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘺 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯), in Aus theatres Oct 20th! Winning Cannes Film Festival’s Best Director award, Park’s romantic thriller follows a detective investigating a man's death in the mountains, as he encounters the dead man's mysterious wife in the course of his sleuthing.⁣
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Here’s Swedish Korean adoptee artist and sometime film reviewer ‘s take!⁣
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“𝟒/𝟓!!⁣
𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐣𝐚, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝗪𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫. ⁣
𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲, 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞.”⁣
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To enter, leave a review like ’s above—with your rating out of five and some brief comments—of one of your favourite Korean films in the comments below! Entries close on Tues 18th at 11.59pm AEST (you have roughly 48 hours, go!) and Patreon supporters who enter will go into the draw twice! Then we’ll post the passes to the winners (passes have all the details of participating cinemas - only valid in Aus, sorry!). ⁣
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Good luck! x H&R

09/10/2022

𝐄𝐩. 𝟓𝟖! 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬…𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 ⁣⁣
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🚨*vulnerability + feels!*🚨(cue our nervous laughter…)⁣⁣
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Susan Stam (Kang Sun Young) is a coach specialising in relinquishment and adoption-related issues with AFC Netherlands (), founded by Hilbrand Westra (our Episode 17 guest!). ⁣⁣
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In this conversation, Susan talks about the path to becoming a coach and then shares some practical strategies for:⁣⁣
• when we feel triggered,⁣⁣
• getting out of our heads and into our bodies,⁣⁣
• connecting to our feelings (rather than numbing or pushing them away), and⁣⁣
• setting boundaries!⁣⁣
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We get real about some s**t too 😳. Because Susan turns the questions back on us! Tricky Susan! (just kidding—Susan is 100% kind and professional! ☺️)⁣
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Hope y’all find this one useful and thank you again to Susan for doing this interview in English (her third language, at least!)⁣⁣
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To learn more or to get in touch with Susan, visit 𝐰𝐰𝐰.𝐚𝐟𝐜𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝.𝐧𝐥⁣⁣
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𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐬, 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐤-𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨-𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐦𝐜𝐡𝐢 𝐣𝐣𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞! 💛⁣⁣

12/08/2022

𝐄𝐩. 𝟓𝟕! 𝐑𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 🙌💫✨⁣
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Is it enough to say that we LOVED this convo so go listen stat? Hmm, probably not. Korean Australian adoptee Ra Chapman is a writer, actor and dramaturg. Her debut play ✨K-BOX✨ will premiere at Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, Australia on Sept 2nd and we are ✨READY FOR IT✨. We’ve had the pleasure of reading the script and it handles adoption with nuance and complexity. And it’s also very funny. ⁣
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This is ultimately a conversation about finding your voice—as an artist, as an adoptee, as an authentic human being—and having the courage to take your lived experience and create the work you want to see in the world. Ra is so open and down-to-earth—we had so much fun speaking to her and we hope you enjoy this too! ❤️⁣
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AND we made our acting debuts reading a short excerpt from the play! 🎬🤣 It was a riot. ⁣
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AND, AND! Calling all Melb/Aus-based adoptees! Attend the Fri 9th Sept performance of K-BOX and stay for an exclusive adoptee afterparty (featuring Ryan! 😚 and .little.meg!). For tickets visit www.malthousetheatre.com.au ⁣
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[ID: headshot of Ra Chapman, K-BOX promo image, K-BOX adoptee event info]⁣

10/06/2022

04/04/2022

𝐄𝐩. 𝟓𝟒! 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐣𝐮𝐧 𝗪𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧⁣
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Our writers series continues with the inimitable Jenny Heijun Wills! In this episode we touch on some of the themes that - we feel - go to the very core of our stories and our storytellings as adoptees. Consent and access. Fact and fantasy. The challenges of charting our way through the stories people expect - often even demand of us since we were children - to aim for something that serves us: the nuanced narratives we deserve to have, and which we are allowed to create and invent.⁣
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Jenny Heijun Wills is a multi-award winning creative writer and scholar, whose most notable contribution is the Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize-winning book titled Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related, published by Penguin Random House Canada in 2019. She is Professor of English at the University of Winnipeg and is currently writing two novels. ⁣
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For more on Jenny, head to: https://www.jennyheijunwills.com/ ⁣
Twitter:
IG:
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[Image: headshot of Jenny Heijun Wills with long wavy brown hair]

21/03/2022

𝐄𝐩. 𝟓𝟑! 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤: 𝐎𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬⁣ 🔥⁣
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(𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲!)⁣
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Friends, there is not much to say except that poet Lee Herrick is one of the kindest, most generous, most sincere guests we have ever had the pleasure of talking to on the podcast 💛⁣⁣
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Born in Daejeon, Korea, and adopted to the United States at the age of ten months, Lee is the author of three books of poems: Scar and Flower, Gardening Secrets of the Dead, and This Many Miles from Desire. He is also the co-editor of the anthology The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit. ⁣⁣
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In this broad-ranging conversation (aren’t they all 😆), Lee talks about his journey to poetry, about the fundamental fire that drives his art, and his process of coming to peace and forgiveness following his second trip to Korea and an unsuccessful birth family search. Most of all, Lee wants all of us to be ok, and after talking to him we feel that - just maybe - we will be. ⁣⁣
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Enough from us. We really think you should listen to this one. (We’re on Apple, Spotify, and all the main podcast platforms.)⁣⁣
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CW: This episode mentions suicide.⁣⁣
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Oh, and giveaway deets! 🎉 Lee has kindly offered to send signed copies of Scar and Flower and The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit to one listener — to enter, DM us on IG/FB or email us at [email protected] with the name of one of your favourite poems (or if you’re new to poetry and don’t have a favourite, that’s fine too). We’ll randomly select a winner at the end of the month~ ⁣
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Read "How Music Stays in the Body" here: https://poets.org/poem/how-music-stays-body⁣⁣
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For more about Lee, head to: https://www.leeherrick.com/⁣⁣
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Check out the Adoptee Literary Festival on 9 April 2022: https://www.adopteelitfest.com/

08/03/2022

𝐄𝐩. 𝟓𝟐! 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝: 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐨 𝐊𝐢𝐦 🥢✍️🎙⁣
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Hello everyone! So recently we wrapped up a series of writing workshops funded by the Overseas Koreans Foundation, and the writing that emerged from the workshops really blew us away 🤯❤️⁣
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So we put together a special compilation episode 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, read by their transracial adoptee authors (including us;;), from our recent autobiographical writing workshop led by Korean adoptee Mee Joo Kim! We hope you love these little pieces as much as we do, and you can connect with the writers here .cherissa 💕⁣
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Hana also has a little chat with Mee Joo, an adoptee community veteran(!), about the value of adoptee-only spaces. If you would like to contact Mee Joo about future writing workshops or life coaching services, you can email her at [email protected]⁣
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Stay tuned for more interviews with our writing instructors (and if you miss Ryan’s presence in this episode, don’t worry, they will be back in full co-host capacity next time!) 😁⁣
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[ID: screenshot of a zoom meeting with Hana, Ryan, and Mee Joo’s squares visible.]

28/01/2022

𝐄𝐩. 𝟓𝟏! 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞) 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐭 ⁣
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Hello, it’s us - again - yes! - dropping two episodes in one week! 😜⁣
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Ok, so this one was one of our FAVOURITE INTERVIEWS EVER and we have interviewed SO MANY AMAZING PEOPLE by now. ⁣
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Jeremy Holt is a non-binary author whose most recent works include 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢, 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘪, and 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘥. 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢 is an AI story with a twist, about a Korean nine-year-old named Jesse, who is adopted and sent to live with a lovely couple in America ➡️ out now in comic stores and in bookstores on 2/1! 🔥⁣
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“Something about understanding my gender identity was so liberating in more ways than I was initially prepared for. ⁣I was looking at all the stories I was writing up until 2017, and I had been writing all these white male saviour stories. And as a Korean adoptee who was raised by white people, I heavily viewed myself as a white American…And once I examined all of that and said, “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺. Who am I? What am I writing? What is my message here?” and then when I literally infused colour—literally and figuratively—into my stories, I realised that I needed to move my goalpost.”⁣
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Hope you love this one as much as we did ❤️ ⁣
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Follow Jeremy on IG/Twitter and check out their website at www.jeremyholtbooks.com⁣
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[ID: 1) photo of writer Jeremy Holt; 2) the book cover of Made In Korea with Jesse standing in the middle of a sea of AI figures]⁣

25/01/2022

𝐄𝐩. 𝟓𝟎! 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝟓𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 + 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐐&𝐀!🎉🥳⁣
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“How did you two meet? What is going on in your logo image? If Adopted Feels was a food, what would it be?” 🤔 In this special 50th episode, we answer these very important questions and more, and reflect on the pod journey thus far. Warning: Hana gets bossy/rant-y 🙈 and Ryan is predictably sentimental. Plus, we share some highly personal new year’s resolutions for 2022. ⁣
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Thank you for staying with us for these past two and a half years ❤️ and thank you to everyone who submitted questions! 🙏 And for the questions we didn’t get to, we’ll try to address them in a future episode! ⁣
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p.s. Please excuse a couple of lags in Hana's audio! 😣 ⁣
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Image ID: Zoom screenshots of us watching the trailer for 'Singles Inferno,' a Korean reality TV show on Netflix. A listener asked us to rate the show (a fun question, thank you!) - we need to watch the whole thing and get back to you!

14/01/2022

📣 Announcing our 6th and final writing workshop! 🎉⁣
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𝐌𝐞𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐨 𝐊𝐢𝐦⁣
𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲: 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭⁣
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Sat 5th Feb PT / 8pm ET // Sun 6th Feb KST / 12pm AEDT⁣
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Let us introduce Mee Joo. Some of you will know her because she has been actively involved in the Korean adoptee community for over a decade, maybe almost two. Mee Joo also worked on GOA’L’s First Trip Home program, where she first met a young, naive Hana, some twelve (🤯) years ago now. We’re proud of the camaraderie we have fostered with these writing workshops, but I/Hana was reflecting, and so much of what I know about collaboration, connection, and creating space within the adoptee community comes from Mee Joo. She is the original space maker. She has a rare sensitivity and courage in guiding adoptees through intimate conversations, and we are delighted to offer her gifts to our listeners. ⁣
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𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩:⁣
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There are the stories we are given and the stories we tell ourselves. Some stories we believe, not necessarily because they are true. In this workshop, we will focus on story rather than the skill of writing and discuss why writing our stories in our own voices matter. ⁣
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Come having written 250 words on the first time you recall encountering food from the place where you were adopted. Be prepared to share your writing and hold space for peers in an intimate workshop.⁣
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This workshop will be conducted in English and welcomes all levels of writing.⁣
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As the final session in this series, pieces from the previous workshops will be interwoven in our discussion on why writing our stories in our own voices matter. (Previous attendance at prior workshops is not necessary to join.)⁣
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𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐨:⁣
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Mee Joo Kim was adopted to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and spent most of her adulthood living in South Korea working with Korean adoptees. She facilitates narrative life writing classes and coaches transnational, transracial adoptees.⁣
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SIGN-UP HERE: https://adoptedfeels.wixsite.com/adoptedfeelspodcast/workshops

23/12/2021

we know things are probably hectic for y’all this week (or sad and uneventful if you’re in korea 🙃) but here’s one last pre-Xmas announcement from us 📣

The lovely James Han Mattson has created a wonderful adoptee-specific fiction workshop for us - spaces are limited so get on it! All details below, sign up via our website 👍

“𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬” 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐧⁣
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Sat 22nd Jan at 10am KST / 12pm AEDT // Fri 21st Jan at 5pm PT / 8pm ET⁣
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𝗪𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:⁣
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As adoptees, and in particular, as cross-cultural adoptees, we’re in a constant state of identity flux. We often want to belong to particular tribes, but don’t quite know how, our upbringing in such contrast to how others perceive us. It can result in a somewhat confounding lived experience, never feeling like we quite belong anywhere.⁣
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In this workshop, we’ll discuss how we can take that decidedly fraught lived experience and transform it into story. More specifically, we’ll explore how we can use those feelings of flux and isolation to render characters with rich, interesting interior lives. Art and artist are in many ways inextricably linked, but many of us will write characters who aren’t adoptees, so how do we extract experience from our own life to depict the lives of others? What parts of ourselves infiltrate our fiction, and what self-examination is necessary to create complex, memorable characters who live vastly different lives from ourselves?⁣
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PLEASE REFER TO INFO ON WEBSITE for required preparation.
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𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬:⁣
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James Han Mattson is a Korean adoptee who was born in Seoul and raised in North Dakota. He reunited with his birth family in 2009. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he is the award-winning author of two novels: The Lost Prayers of Ricky Graves and Reprieve, which was a Fall 2021 Book Pick by The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, Esquire, Entertainment Weekly, and the TODAY show, among others. He is currently the fiction editor of Hyphen Magazine.⁣
Twitter: ⁣
Website: www.jameshanmattson.com

17/12/2021

𝐄𝐩. 𝟒𝟗! 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐢𝐦 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫 & 𝐄𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥⁣
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Hey everyone, been busy with writing workshops but we’re back with a brand new episode! ⁣📣
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This one is all about leaving Korea and transitioning back to one’s adoptive country, and we found the perfect guests to talk about it. ⁣
⁣
Kim Stoker first returned to live in Korea in 1995. She spent almost 20 years of her adult life there and has been based in the US since 2017. She was a leading activist in ASK (adoptee solidarity korea) and continues to be an advocate for adoptee rights in South Korea.⁣
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Eunha Lovell returned to Korea in 2007 after meeting birth family. While living in Korea, she has spent time learning Korean, working with single mothers and adoptees through GOA'L and Koroot, and attended Hongik University for graduate school. She has a YouTube channel called "The Returnees" that focuses on video portraits of Korean adoptees living in their motherland and she also practices Korean Traditional Painting. Check out her website: ⁣
www.eunhalovell.com⁣
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We threw all kinds of big, unruly questions at Stoker and Eunha, and they were both so candid and generous in their replies. This is a free-flowing and deeply reflective conversation that touches on reverse culture shock, missing Korea during the pandemic, maintaining connections with Korean family, shifting identities, micro-aggressions experienced by adoptees within the Asian American community, and advice for adoptees planning to leave Korea. (SO MANY NUGGETS OF WISDOM HERE!). We also end with a random question segment in which we attempt to guess Stoker’s astrological sign.⁣😆

13/12/2021

oh haiii, it’s us, with Workshop #4 in our series: 📣 𝗪𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬! 🙌⁣
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𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴.⁣
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To register, go to our website (link in bio), scroll down to Matthew Salesses, and then follow the link to the google form. Or: https://adoptedfeels.wixsite.com/adoptedfeelspodcast/workshops⁣
⁣
Thank you so much to our first three writing instructors - Kee Byung-keun, Jenny Heijun Wills, and Lee Herrick - and to everyone who participated - it was such a pleasure to share those spaces with y’all. Sharing your creative work with a group of strangers from different backgrounds is no small feat ❤️ thank you for your courage and vulnerability 🙏👏⁣
⁣
Hope to see you in a zoom square soon annnnnd we hope to drop one or two pod eps before the year is done (which is in less than two weeks…argh how…)

01/11/2021

𝐄𝐩. 𝟒𝟖! 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐆𝐞𝐞 & 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐲𝐧 𝐉𝐨𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬⁣
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It’s that intense time of year again - - and today’s guests are passionately committed to bringing an adoptee-centered lens to therapy, as well as building community across different racial groups and generations of adoptees.⁣
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They are also two of our warmest and most generous guests yet. Angela Gee and Robyn Joy Park are both Asian adoptees and licensed therapists based in the LA area, who serve the adoption community.⁣
In this conversation, Angela and Robyn talk about how they became therapists who specialise in adoption, the challenges and rewards of this work, how their mentorship relationship turned into a professional partnership and deep friendship, the online community they have built for adoptees of colour, some practical advice for adoptees looking for a new therapist or seeking therapy for the first time, and more—all with wisdom, candour, and humour ❤️⁣
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Plus, check out Robyn’s new podcast, “Labor of Love,” a podcast that centers and amplifies the voices of BIPOC adoptees navigating parenthood - a much needed resource! You can find it on iTunes and Spotify, and follow on instagram at 📣⁣
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Finally, you too can get sorted into a Hogwarts house lol. Just visit wizardingworld.com and follow the prompts.⁣
(https://www.wizardingworld.com/news/discover-your-hogwarts-house-on-wizarding-world). We both got Gryffindor, which Hana was pleased about, and we are both very curious about which house Angela would be sorted into 🤔⁣
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[ID: 1) photo of Robyn and Angela at KAAN 2019 Minneapolis; 2) photo of Robyn and her dog Jarby with Harry Potter-esque glasses superimposed; 3) another photo of Robyn and Jarby at Robyn’s desk; 4) & 5) flyer for By Us For Us online discussion groups

24/10/2021

📣 𝐀𝐅 𝗪𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝗪𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐬! ✍️⁣
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With support from the Overseas Koreans Foundation, we’re super excited to announce the first 3 writing workshops in our series of 6 workshops, facilitated by some of our favourite Korean adoptee writers 💛⁣
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𝟑 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬!⁣
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1️⃣ All details and sign-up info are on our website. Link in our bio or here: ⁣https://adoptedfeels.wixsite.com/adoptedfeelspodcast/workshops
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2️⃣ Workshops are open to all adult transracial adoptees, however, due to our funding, priority will be given to Australian Korean adoptees.⁣
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3️⃣ Please contact us via EMAIL at [email protected] if you have questions, not via comments or DMs. Thank you! 🙏⁣
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We look forward to seeing you in a Zoom room soon! ⁣
⁣
x Hana & Ryan

18/10/2021

Two years ago, we met the lovely Edhi Park, transgender woman and longterm LGBTQ rights activist in Korea. Now she needs our support to help cover the costs of her transition surgery. Donate or share via the link below!

Our dear friend Edhi Park is a transgender woman and LGBTQ rights activist in… Ali Zheng needs your support for Raise Funds for Trans Activist Edhi's Surgery

11/10/2021

𝐄𝐩. 𝟒𝟕! 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭? 𝐎𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐲 💛⁣
⁣
Hello lovely listeners, we’re back with a long, meaty one. ⁣
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As you all know, the past 18 months have been…a lot. To keep educating ourselves, and in the hopes of continuing and deepening some of our earlier conversations on race and the fight for racial justice, we reached out to our friend, Korean American adoptee Rebecca Kinney.⁣
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⭐️ Rebecca is an Associate Professor in the School of Cultural and Critical Studies and American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. She is the author of numerous articles and the book Beautiful Wasteland: The Rise of Detroit as America’s Postindustrial Frontier (published by U of Minnesota Press in 2016). She is a Fulbright Scholar Korea for 2021-2022 and currently resides in Seoul. ⭐️⁣
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This is an in-depth conversation that traverses the historical, personal, and political. Rebecca starts us off with a 20-minute primer on Asian American racial formation and settler colonialism - kind of like an audio lecture. 👩🏻‍🏫 Then she tells us about finding her own ethnic identity as a Korean adoptee from the white working class suburbs of Detroit, before we discuss the barriers to in*******al solidarity amongst Asian Americans and POCs, and how we might confront anti-black racism as Asian adoptees. Finally, Rebecca talks about living in Korea and her current Fulbright research, before we end with a longer-than-usual random question segment. We learned a lot from Rebecca and we hope you do too.⁣
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Plus! 📚 Rebecca has compiled a list of recommended reading and resources just for us. Link in our bio 👆🏽 or here: https://adoptedfeels.wixsite.com/adoptedfeelspodcast/post/ep-47-on-asian-american-history-activism-and-solidarity-with-rebecca-kinney⁣
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To learn more about Rebecca’s work, visit https://bgsu.academia.edu/RebeccaJKinney or get in touch at [email protected]

[ID: headshot of Rebecca standing outside in Seoul wearing a polka dot shirt and denim jacket]

29/09/2021

𝐄𝐩. 𝟒𝟔! 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡: 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 💜⁣
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HELLO EVERYONE, it’s a been a minute! 😩⁣
⁣
What do birth family reunion, drag, and skating have in common? For Australian Korean adoptee Ellie Kim, all of these things have helped her get to where she is today. ⁣
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In this casual, wide ranging convo (read: a bit wacky and tangential, Because Lockdown), Ellie tells us about how meeting her birth family was a turning point in her life, and how she learned to embrace her numerous identities with the help of community, writing, and good mental health support.⁣
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We also discuss self-care during lockdown, social media boundaries (or lack thereof), and therapy via Zoom. For anyone who’s unaware, Ellie and Ryan’s current city of Melbourne is - as of this episode release - in its one millionth day of lockdown. Ok, slight exaggeration, only its 241st(!) day of lockdown. That’s right - the longest, strictest lockdown in the world. There’s not much we can say or do, but we like to think of this as an audio condolence message to all our listeners undergoing lockdown in Melbourne and elsewhere - and invite you to imagine that we’re in your living room sharing a nice cup of tea ☕️, some chocolate 🍫 (preferably Cadbury Marble), and perhaps donning an Oodie ™️⁣
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More about Ellie:⁣
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Ellie is a 30-something year old digital communications professional, sometime writer and okay roller skater living in Melbourne. She met her birth family in 2013 as part of G.O.A.L's First Trip Home and is very slowly writing a book about it. Feel free to follow her on the 'Gram at for dodgy skate videos, dogs and food.⁣ 🛼
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Plus, check out Ellie’s piece in Archer magazine here: https://archermagazine.com.au/2021/07/celebrating-korean-australian-identity/⁣
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[image ID: headshot of Ellie wearing a black t-shirt in front of a purple backdrop; photo of Scarlet the Westie, snapped within a 5km radius of Brunswick]

20/08/2021

𝐄𝐩. 𝟒𝟓! 𝐎𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝗪𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐊𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐨𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐭 🙌💛⁣
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​CW: suicide​⁣
⁣
Today we have the one and only Pastor Do-Hyun Kim (김도현)! ⁣
⁣
PK, as he’s affectionately known, talks about his introduction to Korean adoption - long before his Koroot days, his work at KoRoot over the past 17(!) years, and his tireless commitment to raising awareness of adoption in Korea - including the separation and loss felt by adoptees and original mothers. ⁣
⁣
He talks about using anger as a powerful force for good, the importance of spotlighting authentic voices, and how he loves to party - for round 1, at least. This is a very special convo with an incredibly passionate and compassionate man who has devoted so much of his life to supporting Korean adoptee communities and fighting for family preservation.⁣
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[ID: 1. Photo of Pastor Kim sitting in his office in front of a bookshelf. 2. A photo of the KoRoot guesthouse taken in summer 2021. 3. Random selfie of Hana in the women’s dorm room at KoRoot - her home for six months of 2017 🤣]

16/08/2021

Messages like these(!) 😭❤️ really keep us going. Especially with ongoing covid restrictions etc(!). Thank you to Suzy for one of our sweetest messages ever, to all our super generous patreons, all our loyal listeners, and all our wonderful guests! 💕 ⁣
p.s. new interview with Pastor Kim of Koroot coming this week~⁣
xx Hana & Ryan⁣
⁣
⁣
[ID: screenshot of message from a listener that reads “ Text Box: Dear Hana and Ryan,⁣ It took me 40 years to finally open the window of adoption and your podcast was the first deep dive into the subject.⁣ I could never describe the storm of emotions that resided in me, but listening to adoptedfeels has been a feast of recognition and it gave me besides words, a huge understanding of myself as an adopted Korean. I now know its an identity, not a singular event for example :) ⁣I want to express my gratitude to the both of you and all your guests, for all the shared knowledge, the raw honesty, the open vulnerability … and all the laughter (you guys are hilarious!) ⁣Its a small gesture, but I will become a Patreon for the Podcast to express my support, keep it up guys!! ⁣With Love from Suzy ⁣
(Your listener from Amsterdam)”]