Micapie has moved.

Micapie is now located at www.micapie.com.

Edit: The RSS feed URL is www.micapie.com/feed, so update your Readers accordingly (if you want).

Thanks!

For five dollars...

I bought this humongous white-board off of Craig's List.


I'm sure it will come in handy in the future, especially for practicing my Korean. First, I have to get markers.

Also, please get ready to update your Google Reader. In the next few days, I foresee www.micapie.com going live.

Boredom baking

As you may have guessed, my summer days are not super-exciting. I'm keeping myself entertained by reading (Oh yeah, that giant book for my independent study...), trying to move my blog to my own domain, house-sitting, and doing various chores around the apartment. I'm also trying to wrap my head around beginning marathon training...

Today, I used a leftover avocado to make avocado quick bread. Just like the last time I made it, the loaf is hideous:


...but it tastes pretty good and makes a good dancing partner.


For dinner, I made pizza. Guess which one was mine (beansprouts & mushrooms or pepperoni & olives):

Pudding pop haiku

I love pudding pops.

Chocolate and vanilla swirl.
...but hard to open!

I have spent the better part of the day trying to move my blog from *blogspot to my own domain. It is a pain in the butt, and the images remain hot-linked and stubbornly un-transferred.

Check out the radar!

Look what I can do!

1. Make cucumber banchan and japchae all by myself:



2. Accompany Jessica on a recovery run (for her):

• Mile 1 - 9:15
• Mile 2 - 9:19
• Mile 3 - 9:01
• 0.23 - 2:01
  

3. Drink pear-flavored cider with a big glass of water:

Pet & Human abuse

Bodger, wearing my sweaty running t-shirt:


Doesn't he look like a sad, little pony?


The book I plan to read this summer for an independent study. It's 1000 pages.

Frozen custard is awesome!

"I'm glad your face doesn't look like that all the time. It'd look like a banana."
-The boyfriend

Summer Project.

Step 1:

Adoption Q&A...and a rant.

First, thank you to everyone for your thoughtful and supportive comments on my reunion post. I have been really pleased with the responses I have received in regards to my search, and I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read such a long story!

I received two questions that I thought I would address here:

Maddi was curious about the search process and how I went about finding my birth mom.

• To condense a very long story, I first asked my parents for copies of my adoption files. From there, I figured out which US agency had facilitated my adoption, and I contacted the woman in charge of Post Adoption Searches. It is standard for most agencies to charge a search fee when one submits a request to initiate the process. I paid about $125 for "one year" of searching, though I'm not ultimately sure what that money covered. As far as I can tell, the social worker involved in searches at my US agency was completely overworked and overextended. I ended up dealing directly with Holt, the Korean agency working in tandem with my US agency, because Mrs. Lee was actually responsive and able to get things done.

• I'm fortunate in that Omma/my birth mom had left her Korean identification number when she relinquished me to Holt, so they were able to locate her fairly easily. Other adoptees are not so lucky; they are left on subways or abandoned in front of police stations. If any Korean adoptees are thinking about starting their search, I would encourage you to read GOA'L's step-by-step guidelines because they are very informative and helpful.

Elizabeth asked "I was also wondering if your adoptive parents wanted to go to Korea with you and also if your Omma asked about your adoptive parents?"

• In one of her e-mails, Omma said she was grateful towards my parents for doing such a good job raising me. She also asked about them during the meeting when they came up in pictures in the album I gave her.
  

• My adoptive parents did not display marked interest in joining me in Korea because they respected my independence in this search. They have been nothing but supportive and have let me "call the shots" as to how much information I share with them. Because they are good, self-assured people, they have never once felt threatened by my search.
  

On a related note, one thing that that I want to address is the attitude that I am in some way ungrateful towards my [adoptive] parents for undergoing this process. A few people have insinuated that I should feel lucky that my parents are not upset or threatened by my search.

While I recognize that not all adoptive parents are open to the idea of birth parent searches, this should not be the norm. I am happy that my [adoptive] parents are so supportive, but I would also expect nothing less of them. Because they are wonderful parents, I know that they embrace the entirety of my adoption and its permanent place in my life. They don't see my search as a threat, but rather as a really great opportunity for a new relationship.

In my opinion, any adoptive parent who feels threatened and hurt by a child's search needs to step back and evaluate his or her priorities. Feelings of insecurity, which are oftentimes unfounded, should not outweigh the positives of curiosity about one's birth country and biological family and the potential for a reunion.

And to lighten up, you're not hardcore unless you live hardcore...which we obviously do:

Blogger award & mint cake

Recently, Aron gave me the "Versatile Blogger" award. Thanks, lady!


Per the "requirements" of this award, I am supposed to list seven random things about myself. This probably isn't very interesting, so I'll list seven photos that I didn't use in my trip posts.

1. This was the hair dryer provided by our hotel in Tokyo. I love Engrish:


2. My dad and I don't really see eye-to-eye on what constitutes a good photo. I prefer to take photos making silly faces and doing awkward things. My dad and sometimes my mom like to have me pose and look pretty. Inevitably, I feel awkward in my dainty position and end up taking a horrible photo...which always ends up in a scrap book or saved on someone's computer. I took this photo as a tribute to my parents.


3. Look! Everyone in this McDonald's ad is Asian! I'm lovin' it. (10 points if you can identify the country in which I went to this McDonald's. Hint: It's either Japan or S. Korea.)


4. This is how I felt walking up Namsan.


5. In the Coex Mall aquarium, there was a terrarium with squirrels (chipmunks?) in it. Hey, those aren't fish! Do you like how they tried to make the squirrels look like they live in a rustic woodsy tree house?


6. This kid kept getting separated from his mom in the kimchi museum AND in the aquarium. His mom (with the purple bag) would eventually realize and frantically yell for him from two rooms away. I got really annoyed with her bad parenting. C'mon lady, why do you think they invented kiddie leashes?


7. Noryangin Fish market. Do you see how big the crabs are in the top tank?


I'm supposed to tag 15 people, but that sounds like far too many. If you are in need of something to write, I tag you!

Today was dearest Brian's birthday. I made him chocolate mint cake. It was delicious, and I don't even like mint that much.