Background -- In the late 1970's through much of the 1980's I sponsored a Korean girl through U.S. Save the Children. Hong Taek Choi was in middle school in 1982 when I first visited Korea and met her and her family. I saw her again in 1988 when I was in Korea to attend the Seoul Olympics. Even though by then she had aged out of the Save the Children program, the Korea SC staff person was able to keep track of her and report on how she was doing into the early 1990's. Then she/we lost track of Hong Taek. It is largely because of this early sponsorship and getting to know Hong Taek and the Korean Save the Children staff that my interest in and love for Korea grew.
When I was in Korea for 3 months in 2009 I met with some Save the Children - Korea (SCK) staff people who needed to interview an old sponsor. Korea's funding through the U.S./Britain/Canada/etc. ended in the late 1990's because by that point Korea couldn't really be considered a 3rd world nation. However, for the Save the Children International 90th anniversary they were doing a historical retrospective and wanted to talk to sponsors from "back then." We had a delightful conversation, and I mentioned how disappointed I was that I'd lost contact with Hong Taek. They said that there might be a possibility of locating her, which I thought would be great but didn't hold out much hope. Remember -- there are only 6 to 8 primary surnames in Korea. If you're not a Kim, you're probably a Park, Lee, or Choi. . . .
January, 2011 -- While I was in Uganda & Kenya (on a volunteer trip with my church and Give Us Wings, a local non-profit) I began receiving e-mails from SCK. They said they were in the process of locating Hong Taek, thought they could do so, and wondered if I would be willing to be filmed about my sponsorship if they were able to locate her. As I've sort of been able to piece together, SCK in conjunction with Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) does an annual telethon-type of program to try to get support from Koreans for SCK's national and international programs. SCK now operates programs in Mali, Nepal, and other locations. I was happy to agree. Then they realized how much I am still involved with Korean culture -- member of a Korean drumming group; taking Korean language lessons; working with a Korean graduate student at the U. of MN to improve his English conversation. And they learned about my various volunteer activities. So they decided filming me at all these activities would be great. They set tentative dates (which then changed, complicating matters) and wanted me to coordinate their being able to film me doing the variety of activities. I was trying to coordinate all this from Africa on those occasions where an internet connection was available. Of course, the days they were going to be here did not coordinate at all with the dates my activities usually take place so everything had to be specifically set up. It was a LOT of work.
Feb. 22, 23, 24 -- Two young women from SCK and a producer/cameraman from SBS arrived in the Twin Cities late Tuesday afternoon. We met briefly Tuesday evening to discuss the activities of Wed. and Thurs. At 10 a.m. on Wed. we met at the Hubbs Center, a public high school for adults in St. Paul, where I volunteer once a week, helping students, primarily immigrants to the U.S., with their homework which mostly involves English -- vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation. After that and a quick lunch everyone came to my apartment where they filmed me talking about Korea and my love for the country and its culture, Hong Taek, my interest and involvement in Korean cultural activities here in Minnesota, etc., etc. I showed them the many souveniers from Korea which I have and brought out the hanbok (traditional Korean dress) which Hong Taek's mother had given me during my 1982 visit. We looked at pictures from that visit and the one in 1988. I quickly realized that I'm glad I'm NOT a famous person. Being filmed, doing the same thing several times (to make it look better), answering basically the same things over and over is not particularly fun. I was very happy to help out SCK and certainly want their fundraising to be successful -- but it was exhausting.
They had brought a video of Hong Taek which they had recorded and showed on their laptop. It was amazing to see/hear her; her Korean words were translated (and, I think, shortened) as subtitles. She looked a bit older (is now in her mid-40's) but very much the same. I found the video rather frustrating in that it didn't tell me much about her -- what she's been doing in the last 20 years, etc. I kept asking the staff people for more information. At that point there was a knock on the door. I answered it, expecting a neighbor (because we have a secure entry which requires being buzzed into the building). It was Hong Taek herself!! I felt as if I were in the middle of an extremely schmaltzy reality TV show (which, in truth, I was) and reacted, I'm sure, as stupidly as most people do in that situation. I really did not expect to see her at my door. I was happy enough seeing the video and being able to make contact, figuring I'd be able to see her the next time I went to Korea in a few years. But there she was. Her English is as limited as my Korean but with the help of SCK staff we were able to communicate. She is married and has 3 daughters, ranging in age from 13 to 17. She lives in a suburb of Seoul -- only about 25 minutes (6 subway stops) from where I lived in Seoul in 2009. I couldn't believe that. . . .
Hong Taek brought me another beautiful hanbok, and we had our pictures taken together. These dresses are so beautiful -- I wish that there were places I could wear them! After that, the rest of the planned activities seemed anticlimactic. But we had to get film of a Korean lesson (teacher Steve Oh made a special effort to come to the Korean Heritage House for a somewhat fake lesson) and of my drumming group practicing (only a few members could make it, but it was the best we could do). We had a great Korean meal at a Korean restaurant across the street (St. Paul's remaining "Koreantown" consists of about 5 businesses, 3 of them restaurants). The SCK folk took Hong Taek back to their hotel, and I went home -- utterly spent.
Thursday morning the two SCK staff and Hong Taek came over without the SBS cameraman, and we had a chance to actually talk/find out more about one another's current lives. At 11 they left to check out and go to the airport. I went to meet a Korean student (advisee of friend Linda Lindeke who's a professor of nursing at the U. of MN) for a previously-planned lunch. It was fun meeting her, and I had another great Korean meal. I'd thought the visitors might want to film the lunch, but they had to get going.
At 1:30 I went to the airport and picked up Hong Taek for a little sightseeing in St. Paul. The others were going on to Westport, Connecticut, the home of U.S. Save the Children, on a 3 p.m. flight and Hong Taek wasn't going to leave until 7:50. Sitting alone for over 4 hours in an airport when one doesn't speak the language didn't seem like much fun to me. I showed Hong Taek our wonderful renovated Central Library, Landmark Center, and the St. Paul Hotel -- all near or more than 100 years old. She's a photographer and had a wonderful time taking pictures of interesting architectural details. We had time for a stop at my church so I could show her that -- since St. John's plays such an important part in my life. Then it was off to the airport.
I was able to get a gate pass and accompany her to the gate area to make sure she got her seat assignment and the boarding pass for the Los Angeles to Seoul part of the flight. By happenstance we happened to sit next to a man who was going to L.A. on the same flight and volunteered to make sure she got whatever assistance she needed to get on the right plane in L.A. At 7 p.m. I returned home -- again exhausted and slept the sleep of the dead.
It was a phenomenal experience that I still can't totally believe. The program will be broadcast in Seoul in early May. When I get an exact date, I'll let my Korean friends know so they can watch me in my 15 minutes of fame. Now I'm quite glad to return to obscurity.
If you've read this far, thank you for indulging me. It was such an amazing experience that I wanted to share, even though I understand your interest level is far less than mine.
Here's a picture of me and Hong Taek in our hanboks.
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