BAXTER -- There was a time as a teen-ager when Ted Thaden didn't like being Korean.
Adopted as an infant from Korea, Thaden looked different than his parents and most of his friends growing up in Minneapolis. He spent years struggling with his identity and self-esteem.
"It was like an identity crisis," explained Thaden, now 25 and living in Fridley. "I wasn't happy being Korean because I wasn't like everyone else. I rebelled against myself, really."
And that's why Thaden took his 4-year-old daughter, Asiah, to Kamp Kimchee, a Korean culture camp for Korean adoptees and their families, held this week at Baxter Elementary School. Thaden attended the camp seven years ago, and wanted to help his daughter learn to embrace her Korean identity so she won't suffer through the same problems as he did. He volunteered as a camp teacher/coordinator and his brother, Derik Thaden, 19, also adopted from Korea, volunteered to serve as a mentor at camp this week.
Kamp Kimchee, a 21-year-old parent-run culture camp with several Korean staff members, ended today. About 115 campers, from preschoolers to high school students, and their parents participated in the camp, which drew campers from Minnesota and as far away as Montana, Alaska and Michigan.
The purpose of Kamp Kimchee is to help build positive self-esteem and feelings about each family's International heritage, in addition to developing an appreciation of Korean culture. Siblings who are not Korean are encouraged to participate in camp as well, to gain an understanding of Korean culture and to see what it's like for their adopted siblings to be a minority.
Paul Anderson, Plymouth, served as this year's board president. He and his wife have two children adopted from Korea, ages 17 and 12, and a biological daughter who is 6 and also attends camp.
"It gives them an opportunity to see what it's like to be their sibling," explained Anderson. "Blonde children are a minority here. They stand out."
"We do parent programming here, too, and share experiences," he added. "We're not only dealing with parenting issues, we're dealing with adoption, multi-cultural issues, prejudice issues. We're dealing with different issues, not just growing up and adolescence."
Campers take classes each day in a variety of subjects and activities, including Korean social studies/culture, Hangul (Korean vocabulary), Korean music and dance, Tae Kwon Do, artistic expression and self-esteem. They've added extra classes for teens, based on what they want to learn about. For example, a class on make-up was added this year because teen-age girls wanted to know what types of make-up they should use and how to properly apply it.
Lou Jagielski, St. Joseph, and her husband adopted their 5-year-old son Matthew and 3-year-old daughter Emee from Korea. They've been attending Kamp Kimchee for the past three years and Jagielski will serve as board president this year. She said now that her son is starting kindergarten and around other children, he is starting to realize he's a minority, that not all families have children from Korea.
During a recent t-ball game, another boy started making fun of Matthew's eyes, pulling at the sides of his own eyes to make them appear slanted. While Matthew didn't grasp what the boy was really doing, Jagielski said it's hard for her to watch things like this happen to her children. At Kamp Kimchee, Jagielski said, her son has older children and teens to look up to, to view as role models. They can talk about things, like dating and dealing with prejudice, that they may not be able to talk about with their parents.
"It makes me feel better because we're giving our children something we can't provide for them," said Jagielski, of camp.
John Park, 18, moved from Korea with his family to Rochester in 1999 so he could receive an education in the U.S. He taught Hangul to older students and was able to answer questions about Korean teen culture, music and dating, topics that they were highly interested in. Park is a "Korean-Korean," his students at Kamp Kimchee were quick to point out, not "Korean-American" like they are.
It has made me more self-aware," said Sam Nelson, 17, New Ulm, of camp. "I really didn't know much about Korea."
Debra Cary, Brooklyn Park, came to the U.S. 30 years ago from Korea as a young adult. This was her 10th year as head cook at Kamp Kimchee, where she cooks authentic Korean food for campers and teaches Korean cooking classes for teens. She manages a deli in the Twin Cities. She is obviously well-liked by campers and their parents, many of whom call her "Mom."
"I look forward to this every year," said Cary, of camp. "I feel like I'm home. I used to feel all alone, but now I feel like I have a very big family."
As for Ted Thaden, he said he is now proud to be Korean. He wants to go back to Korea someday, but not necessarily to meet his birthparents or foster parents. When he was 7 months old, the day he was going to leave for America, he was severely burned, losing three fingers on his right hand and left with deep scars on his hands, back and chest, not to mention the emotional scars he suffered. After several surgeries he finally came to the U.S. at 11 months of age. He said his foster parents said he reached up and grabbed a pot of hot water cooking over a fire, but Thaden isn't sure he believes that.
"I have a lot of anger I can appropriately channel now," said Thaden. "I'm angry about it and I've forgiven, but I don't want to find out the truth and be angry about it again."
"I think the girls like to find out about their past, more than the boys do," said his brother, Derik.
To find out more about Kamp Kimchee, visit their Web site at www.kampkimchee.org.
