Thursday, 7:00 p.m.
Jack Straw New Media Gallery, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle WA 98105 (Map)
Check-in and pick up your registration badge, mini-gathering schedule and other important information for the weekend.
Transportation note: Volunteers will be available to lead mini-gathering attendees from the hotel to the Jack Straw New Media Gallery on the King County Metro Bus, departing from the lobby of the Courtyard Marriott at 5:45 p.m. See Transportation Information for complete details.
Welcome Reception, Poetry Readings & Open Mic(Please note venue change!)
Thursday, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Jack Straw New Media Gallery, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle WA 98105 (Map)
Following registration, the AAAW 15th Anniversary Mini-Gathering will kick off with a chance to mix and mingle with other attendees while enjoying food and drinks. Join us at the Jack Straw New Media Gallery for a program of poetry readings featuring AAAW member Kevin Minh Allen (Vietnamese adoptee, freelance writer and poet), Lee Herrick (Korean adoptee and author of This Many Miles from Desire) and Christina Seong (Korean adoptee, artist and designer). An open mic will follow, welcoming other adult adoptees to perform.
Jack Straw has graciously agreed to host our private reception and also allow us access to the New Media Gallery's current installation, "Talking to Ghosts: Waiting in the River between Worlds," by Korean adoptee Nari Baker. The reception will include a Q&A with Nari about her installation.
Registration
Friday, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m., Outside the Lake Union Room (Courtyard Seattle hotel)
Check-in and pick up your registration badge, mini-gathering schedule and other important information for the weekend.
Breakout Discussion Groups
Friday, 9:30 – 11:00 a.m., Lake Union Room (Courtyard Seattle hotel)
Attendees will have the chance to engage in facilitated dialogue in a small-group setting.
Sessions
As is tradition at mini-gatherings, the AAAW 15th Anniversary Mini-Gathering will provide the opportunity for adoptees to present a variety of sessions related to transnational/transracial Asian adoption and living as an Asian adult adoptee.
Friday, 11:05 a.m. – 12:35 p.m., Lake Union Room (Courtyard Seattle hotel)
The Ethics of Concealing the Identity of the Parent in Adoption and Donor Conception Practice
Presented by Mark Diebel, M.Div.
This presentation will discuss the practice of concealing the names of genetic parents from adopted persons in adoptions and donor conceived persons in the United States. The presenter will look at the rise of this historically new practice and the ethics that ground it. In addition, the presentation will look at Christian theology and social history in order to examine the ethics that underlie decisions to withhold parent names in the modern context and ask where ethics should look in the future.
Sessions
As is tradition at mini-gatherings, the AAAW 15th Anniversary Mini-Gathering will provide the opportunity for adoptees to present a variety of sessions related to transnational/transracial Asian adoption and living as an Asian adult adoptee.
Saturday, 9:30 – 10:45 a.m., Harbor Room (Courtyard Seattle hotel)
Korean Adopted Women becoming Biological Mothers: Impacts on Racial Identities, Ethnic Identities, and Cultural Orientations
Presented by Stephanie C. Day, Ph.D.
People often say that the decision to have a child is life-changing. For Korean adoptees the decision is highly complicated, touching upon their own adoption experiences, identity development, and intentions for their children. This session will involve research findings from interviews with 12 Korean adopted women as well as an open discussion of motherhood among Korean adoptees.
Saturday, 10:50 a.m. – 12:05 p.m., Harbor Room (Courtyard Seattle hotel)
IKAA Survey Results
Presented by Kim Park Nelson, Ph.D.; Kimberly Langrehr, Ph.D.; and Nathan Bae Kupel (President of Boston Korean Adoptees)
Nearly 200 Korean adoptees who attended the age-breakout sessions at the International Korean Adoptee Associations (IKAA) conference in Seoul, Korea (August 2010), participated in an IKAA-sponsored short survey that recorded demographic information, as well as life experiences related to race and identity, and interest and use of post-adoption services. This presentation will summarize survey results and include a Q&A session afterward.
Saturday, 12:10 – 12:45 p.m., Harbor Room (Courtyard Seattle hotel)
No Place Like Home: Conceptualizing Korean Adoptee Evolving Spaces as Places Symbolizing Ethnic Identity
Presented by Deborah Napier, D.Des.
This presentation explores the process by which Korean adoptees describe their formative years' place experiences (their adopting country), experience place (their birth country Korea), and the extent to which they begin to reconstruct place (their home residence) upon return to their adoptive country. Korean adoptees describe their experiences and associated meanings these experiences represent in their ethnic identity development. In conceptualizing place as an organization of evolving spaces, as these spaces become emotional places to adoptees, these places symbolize an ethnic identity emergence, and contribute to psychological well-being.
Leadership Institute
Friday, 12:45 – 5:00 p.m., Courtyard Seattle hotel
This special extended session will provide a forum for current leaders of adult adoptee organizations to network and discuss a variety of leadership topics and issues, especially those that are relevant to the adult adoptee community. Registrants are encouraged to participate in selecting the program in advance, which is expected to include a mix of presentations and facilitated discussions. Possible topics include:
- Creating sustainable membership
- Relationships with adoptive parent organizations
- Successful fundraising
- Leadership turnover & transitions
Guided Tour of Seattle
Friday afternoon (exact time TBA), departing from Courtyard Seattle hotel
Wonder what the view is like from the top of the Space Needle? Want to see the fishmongers throw fish at the Pike Place Market? Join AAAW for a guided tour around the city! Volunteers will lead a group of visitors around some of Seattle's most popular attractions in the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods. Don't forget to bring a pair of good walking shoes and $4 cash for the monorail. Tickets for the Space Needle cost $18 per adult.
Amazing Photo Race
Friday afternoon (exact time TBA), departing from Courtyard Seattle hotel
First time in Seattle? Come test your navigation skills on the Amazing Photo Race! Compete with other first-timers to race around the city and take photos of exciting places and activities. Along the way, you'll get a chance to explore some of Seattle's main attractions, sights and sounds.
Adoptee Musical Showcase
Friday
Doors open at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m.
Ages 21+
Open to the public ($10 cover)
Attendance is free with AAAW 15th Anniversary Mini-Gathering registration badge
Location: Spitfire Grill, 2219 4th Ave., Seattle WA 98121 (Map)
All mini-gathering registrants ages 21+ are invited to join us for the Adoptee Musical Showcase, highlighting Asian adult adoptee musical artists from the Pacific Northwest. It's a night to share the musical talents the Asian adult adoptee community has to offer. Our community is truly talented and expressive, so come and support these performers for a night of music, food, community and fun!
Post-showcase: Get your vocal chords ready! Following the performances at the Adoptee Musical Showcase, we will be hosting a private karaoke/noraebang session! We will have a professional-grade noraebang system available for our use until 2 a.m. in our private back room at Spitfire Grill.
Transportation note: Volunteers will be available to lead mini-gathering attendees from the hotel to the Spitfire Grill on the Seattle Streetcar, departing from the lobby of the Courtyard Marriott at 7:15 p.m. See Transportation Information for complete details.
Performers:
- Jillian Graham (Joo KyungJa) was adopted from an orphanage in Seoul, Korea, when she was 4 years old. She grew up on the East Coast and in the '80s came west to Seattle where she's lived ever since. She's always loved music, sang through high school, and only recently returned to music and started writing songs in 2007. Jillian loves all styles of music and performs in Seattle as a solo artist and with her band. In 2010 Jillian returned to Seoul, once with AAAW for the IKAA Gathering, and again to conduct a formal birth search for her parents and family. Both times she had the opportunity to sing and perform live. Jillian lives in Seattle with her husband, Jim, a professional bass player, and daughter, Emma, who has just started her first year of college in Oregon.
- Founded under the motion of hips, and dedicated to the flow of soul, emerged JUICE, a Seattle-based outfit that delivers a rocksteady groove to the reggae scene. It all started as a group of friends playing in a warm basement in the winter of 2010. Local Korean adoptee Matt Kanters (vocals, rhythym guitar) and Kristian Whinney (bass) are the founding members and songwriters. A year later they were joined by Issack Rubio (djimbe) and Alika Lyman (lead guitar), members from "Call me Ladro," "The Smoke Wreck Kings" and "The Alika Lyman Quartet." Soon to be releasing their very first EP, JUICE has been playing shows all summer throughout the greater Seattle area and look forward to perfroming at the AAAW 15th Anniversary Mini-Gathering.
Food Tour of Seattle
Saturday afternoon (exact time TBA), departing from Courtyard Seattle hotel
Calling all foodies! Seattle is home to lots of delicious foods and beverages such as salmon, crab, wine and, of course, coffee. It also boasts a vibrant restaurant scene and leads the way for local and organic foods. Join AAAW volunteers as they lead a group of visitors around some of Seattle's most popular eateries around the downtown area and Pike Place Market. Don't forget to bring a pair of good walking shoes, extra cash for food, and pants that stretch.
International District/Pioneer Square Walking Tour
Saturday, 1:00 p.m., departing from Courtyard Seattle hotel
Come explore two of Seattle's oldest neighborhoods: Pioneer Square and the "Chinatown" International District. Characterized by its late-19th-century brick and stone buildings, Pioneer Square was Seattle's original downtown. The vibrant neighborhood is now home to art galleries, cafes, nightclubs, parks and museums. The International District was initially founded by Chinese immigrants, but now serves as a pan-Asian cultural hub for people of Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese and Southeast Asian descent. Stops in the International District include Uwajimaya, a Japanese mega-grocery store, and the Wing Luke Museum, the only museum dedicated to the Asian Pacific American experience.