Maintaining Cultural Identity

Yesterday's Globe and Mail contained a challenging column about Asian adoptees, mostly from Korea, who are now coming of age and are seeking to reclaim their heritage. I'm sure this will become more of an issue when the children adopted from China enter adulthood.

Unearthing the roots of adoption
Vancouver — Jennifer Jin Brower was born in South Korea, but until a few years ago, she had never used chopsticks or heard of kimchee.

Because she looks Asian, strangers ask, "Where are you from? Do you speak English?" But English is her mother tongue - her adoptive mother's tongue.

Ms. Brower, 29, was raised by a Caucasian family in Grand Rapids, Mich. As a child, she says, "I didn't think that I was Asian." But that didn't stop other children from mocking her features.

Ms. Brower, who now lives in Seattle, says she didn't feel confident in her identity until she spent two months in South Korea last year. "I finally felt proud to be Asian and Korean because I finally knew what that meant," she explains.