Tian'amen Square and the Forbidden City August 11th

And some food..

At the Lama Temple Youth Hostel having a beer after all the picture taking..

I bought a Chinese phrase book.. Trying to study hard...haha

The Chinese hang their clothes to dry in the streets

Looking at all the great pictures that we have taken inside the city..

Outside of the Forbidden City

Entering the Imperial garden in the city

Here they are again

Cute figures on the many of the roofs in the city

Decorative stair

The Forbidden City was huge, never thought it would be that big..

Some great carving (or what should I call it..)

Me and Joraan

Joraan and Sevilla

Me infront of the entrance

One of the entrance to the Forbidden City.

This is the monument of the people's heroes. The construction began in 1952 and was finished in 1958. It was built with more than 17000 pieces of granite and white marble. It is 37.94 meters high, 50.44 meters wide from east to west and 61.54 meters long from north to south. It is the largest such monument in Chinese history.

The second day in Beijing we went to Tian'amen Square and the Forbidden City with a girl we met at the Lama Temple Youth Hostel the day before. She was from Australia and had been studying Chinese for 8 years. So when we got to know that she spoke pretty fluent in Chinese, we just sticked to her as glue...haha. Because when we first arrived China we were so lost. We found out pretty fast that especially taxi drivers are really, really bad in English. Their English skill is like zero. And they always try to rip you off! Blaming on the meter that it's broken or something else. And it is hopeless to discuss with them or try to ask them any kind of questions. They also like to drive you to a completely different place than you were asking for to take you.

Like when we first came to Beijing we were going to take a taxi from the airport to the hostel and asked if he knew where the hostel was, and he said yes. Oh, and we also had the address to the hostel written down in Chinese. It turns out that he drove us to right place, the only thing is that he pointed in the wrong direction. The hostel was kind of hard to see from the main road though. We could not find it, so we asked a couple of people for the direction, but they were all pointing in different directions. So we were walking up and down the main road for some time before we finally found it. Thank god! Tired and exhausted.. We learned that if we are looking for directions we have to at least ask three people before we can be pretty sure the direction is correct. The thing is that the Chinese people is to proud or something to say that they don't know the answere so they just make up something instead, that's what we have been told. Anyways, we have had a lot of different problems with the taxi drivers in China. During our stay in China we got to experience that the language/communication was going to a big problem.

The hostel itself was not really nice. It was dirty especially the showers and the toilets. On the shower walls there were like smashed bugs and the toilets was always clogged with poo! We were actually wondering what the hell are we doing, we are not made for living the life of a backpacker. How were we ever going to survive for 6 whole weeks!?

Airport and first day in Beijing August 10th

Some pictures from Gardemoen Airport, Beijing airport, and our first Chinese meal in Beijing.

I haven't figure out how to like put text to each picture on this blog or if I can do that.. I'm too tired now, but I will make a better effort later. I just wanted to let you see some pictures for now :)

Departure day August 9th

I remember the departure day as it was yesterday. We left for China, Beijing on August 9th. I had so much butterflies in my stomach. I had not gotten any sleep the night before. The whole night I was restless and felt sick. I'm glad I had someone to talk to on the phone that night so I could think of something else. I guess a big reason for my sleepless night was not because I was worried about the trip me and Joraan was going to do together because I was really looking forward to that, but because of all my feelings towards me moving to Korea. I knew that when our trip was over she would go back HOME to Norway, as for me I would have to stay in Korea...all alone. It was, and still is, a scary thought. But I'm sure I have nothing to worry about.

So my mum, dad, little brother and his girlfriend were all going to wave us goodbye at Gardemoen airport. We picked Joraan up at her house 6.30 am and drove off. I managed to get some sleep in the 3 hours long drive to Gardemoen. Thank god for that!

When we arrived the airport I was going to send some of my luggage straight to Korea. I found out that SAS Cargo was actually closed, so I would have to wait till I get a permanent address in Seoul. So my dear parents are going to send it to me later. Anyways, since I did not get any sleep the night before I was a big mess. Tired and sad for leaving all those who I love for such a long period of time, it wouldn't have to be a big thing to make me pour my eyeballs out.. So when I didn't manage to get the backpack to fit me properly the tears started to come.. Cry baby, haha!

I managed to pull myself together, but then when I saw Ingvild and Elvy at the airport the tears started to come again. I was thinking.. "is there a way to turn this water crane off??" I'm really glad that Ingvild and Elvy came to say goodbye and wish us a good trip. Thank you girls! Much love!

Then it was time to check in. Goodbye Norway, for this time!

Finally I can write on my blog again

To all of you that have been waiting for some updates on my blog: I'm sorry that I haven't been able to write about our China stay.. I blame China and their government. They have blocked Facebook, You Tube and blogs, so that's why I have been so quiet.

We arrived Japan, Tokyo today (24/8-09) so now I can finally use my blog again.

Before I will write about Japan, I will try and take you guys with me on Joraan's and Eli Anne's trip to China :)

Soon Departure Time

Now it's only 4 1/2 hours till I have to get up and get ready to drive to the airport (Gardemoen). I wonder if I'll get any sleep tonight.. I have too many butterflies in the stomach, and all these mixed feeling running true my whole body.

Jorån and I will arrive Beijing August 10th, 2 pm local time. So I guess it will be around 7 am in Norway..? We have a place to stay for the first 5 nights in Beijing. I just hope we manage to find the place. It's a good thing that my dear friend Aileen is Chinese and has written down the address in Chinese, so we just can show it to the taxi driver.. :)

Anyways..need to get some sleep now..

I'll write more when we have settled down at the hostel.

Good night everyone!

-Eli Anne-

Why I created this blog

”Going back to my roots” is my first attempt of ever writing a blog. The reason why I wanted to create a blog is to keep my friends and family updated on my journey back to my motherland, South Korea, and for myself to keep track of all the memories I will have after my journey is over.

All of you who read this blog probably know that I’m adopted from Korea to a loving family in Norway when I was two years old. I have lived 24 wonderful years in Norway, and I genuine feel that Norway is my home. It is in Norway I grew up to be the person I am today, it is in Norway where I have a family that loves me and I love them, it is in Norway where I have all of my good and dear friends who I love, it is in Norway I got the chance and opportunity to get an education, it is in Norway I know the culture and language, it is in Norway I feel comfortable, safe and know how things work, it is in Norway I want to settle down and grow old, Norway is my home.

But still I can’t deny that I was born in Korea and lived the first two years of my life in an orphanage. Korea will always be my motherland.

I will thank my parents for their openness towards my adoption. If I had any questions about where I came from, who I was etc., they would always give me a straight answer; they would tell me all I wanted to know about adoption; about my birth country; about how many children in this world who needs parents, family and a loving home; about how happy and lucky they were when I came in to their lives. I am the lucky one, who got to come home to them and to all the love and care they gave me, and all the love I still get. I love you!

Because of all the openness towards adoption in my home I have always been interested in South Korea, the Land of the Morning Calm. As I’ve already stated, Norway is my home country, I am Norwegian, but still there has always been a small part of me that have wanted to find out more about my roots. What is the country I was born in like, who is my birth parents, what would my life be if I hadn’t come to Norway?

Some of my unanswered questions, that my parents couldn’t give an answer to, I got answered when I in July 1999 went back to Korea for the first time. It was a family trip organised by Children of the World (adoption agency in Norway) for all families in Norway who have adopted children from Korea. I was so excited to go back to Korea. Was I going to feel home there, would I find my birth parents? All sorts of questions popped up in my head, and I would finally get some answers.

It was a really strange feeling to come back to Korea, maybe a little bit confusing. I was so sure I would feel like coming home, and that I would adapt to what ever in Korea. But I didn’t.. I felt like a completely stranger there, though I looked just as an ordinary Korean, and I think the Koreans were just as confused as me. They started to speak Korean to me because I look like a Korean, and I would say something like “English, please?” looking like a big question mark, and so would the Korean (Koreans are not so very good in speaking English).

At Holt Children Service (adoption agency in Korea) I found out for sure that there was no possibility to find out who my birth parents were, which I kind of already knew. When my parents adopted me they got all the papers on me, where it said that I was found on a police station stairs when I was a newborn, and then I was taken to Holt, and they placed me in an orphanage (Junjoo Babies Home). But I had this tiny hope that when I got back to Korea and I would look through the papers Holt had, that it would maybe say something more about my background and my birth parents. I was disappointed that they had no information, but I manage to settle down with that my birth parents are long gone; they didn’t want to be found.

Over the years the interest for Korea grew, and the summer of 2007 I participated on Holt’s summer school program in Korea (Seoul). This time I went alone without my family and it lasted for 3 amazing weeks, and I got to meet 13 other people from around the world who had been adopted from Korea too, and shared the same background as myself. We got to learn about the culture, language, cooking, traditional mask dance, taekwondo etc. It was a great experience and I got some good friends who were in the same situation as myself; adopted; an interest for Korea our motherland.

This experience helped me to take the decision that I definitively wanted to come back for a longer period of time to learn more about Korea and the language. So after I finally finished my bachelor degree, I started to work for a year to save up money for a 1 ½ year stay in Korea to study the language. I got accepted to Yonsei University – The Korean Language Institute located in Seoul (the capital). I was thrilled when I got the acceptance letter and couldn’t quite believe it. But yes, it was true.

My school will start on September 23^rd, so it is right around the corner. Time flies so fast by.. And now I start to realize what I actually have done, and I’m thinking: “What the **** have I done!!! I can’t do this!!! Moving far, far, far away from all my loved ones.. You’re crazy!! The Koreans are really poor in speaking English, and I am not better in speaking Korean.. How will I ever get around in Korea with now communication, except from body language?? I don’t have any place to stay there, where do I live?? On the streets??”

Yes, a lot of questions are starting to make a big mess in my head! But I know (I hope) everything is going to work out, and I will have an experience I’ll never forget! It is now I have the opportunity to this kind of a journey and I would regret it if I don’t go. So Korea, here I come! :)

By the way - to make the idea of moving to Korea for 1 ½ year not so scary (for myself and my friends and family..hehe), I just want to inform that I will take one semester at the time, to see if I enjoy it and are actually capable of learning the Korean language (it’s pretty hard). So I might be back home in Norway after 3 months ;)

I am so lucky that my good childhood friend, Jorån, is coming with me for the 3 first weeks in Korea. When we were younger we had talked about how we should go back to Korea together to see where I came from and to visit my orphanage, and many years later the day is actually here. I think it is pretty awesome that we have managed to go through with our plan to visit my motherland. I really look forward to show her “my” beautiful country :)

We decided that since we are going to travel all the way to Korea together, why not visit some other countries as well..? So on August 9^th we are leaving for China. We are going to stay there for approximately 2 weeks, and are going to definitively visit Beijing, X’ian and Shanghai. Then we are going to Japan for approximately 1 week to visit Tokyo and Kyoto before we’re entering our final destination, Korea. When we are in Korea we will have 3 weeks to explore my motherland before my school starts.

I’m really glad she is going to be with me the 3 first weeks in Korea, it makes it not so scary.. And I’m happy that we will share the first part of my journey – going back to my roots – together. This is a trip I think both her and I will never forget and treasure for life. But I’m not looking forward to the day I have to wave her goodbye at the airport, though she said she would start a really nasty argument so I would be glad to send her back home to Norway and get some distance from her, instead of missing her and be sad…haha.. She is so cute :) Love you!

The 6 first weeks of this blog will be about our backpacking trip, and the rest will be about my stay in Korea. I will try my best to keep the blog updated with pictures and writings about my experiences, thoughts and feelings, and I hope you will enjoy it! :)

Lots of love, Eli Anne :)