LiNK’s People’s Tour in DC Feb 29 & Mar 1

The Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) Northeast Nomads are bringing The People’s Tour to DC on February 29 and March 1.

This spring, in light of the death of Kim Jong-Il, LiNK is focusing on the citizens of North Korea and their experiences. Despite his passing, many people remain ignorant of the suffering and oppression that the citizens of North Korea continue to endure. LiNK’s goal is to bring truth to this issue and move the conversation about North Korea from nukes and war to the human rights and social justice. LiNK’s new film The People’s Crisis tells the story of the average citizen who has had to endure the chaos of this rogue regime. The People’s Crisis highlights the experiences of North Koreans and provides the historical and political contexts to North Korean suffering and oppression.

On February 29 and March 1, LiNK’s Northeast Nomads will be in the DC metropolitan area on The People’s Tour.  Their presentation will include an introduction to the issues, a screening of The People’s Crisis, and Q&A.

Program details follow:

February 29, 2012 – 8 PM
George Washington University
Marvin Centre 311
800 21 St NW
Washington DC 20052

March 1, 2012 – 7:30pm
George Mason University
Johnson Center, Dewberry Hall
4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA, 22030

Both events are free and open to the public – donations to LiNK are welcome.

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2012 Coffee & Conversation Schedule

Everyone needs breakfast, and everyone enjoys an opportunity to get together with others in the metro DC Korean adoption community to discuss current issues, parenting concerns, adoption experiences and more.

This year, KF is scheduling Coffee & Conversation for the third Saturday of each month starting at 11 AM (with time off for August vacations and winter holidays). Mark your calendars now so you can join the conversation.  Waiting parents and adoptees and families new to the area are especially welcome; coffees are a great way to pick up information about Korean Focus and other DC area resources.

A Korean Focus Board member will be at every coffee to make sure we find each other. Adults only please! RSVP info@koreanfocus.org – but if you forgot, please join us anyway.

Day & Time: Third Saturday of the month at 11 AM
Dates and Locations:

  • March 24: Shilla Bakery, 2089 Veirs Mill Rd, Rockville, MD
  • April 21: Shilla Bakery, 7039 Little River Tpke, Annandale, VA
  • May 19: Bon Appetit Bakery, 10155 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City, MD
  • June 16: Shilla Bakery, 10940 Fairfax Blvd, Suite E-F, Fairfax, VA
  • July 21: Shilla Bakery, 2089 Veirs Mill Rd, Rockville, MD 20851
  • September 15: Breeze Bakery, 4125 Hummer Rd, Annandale, VA
  • October 20: Shilla Bakery, 2089 Veirs Mill Rd, Rockville, MD

 See you there!

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Congratulations to the 2012 Korean Focus Board

Korean Focus’s 2012 Board of Directors took office on February 3rd. This year’s Board is our largest and most diverse ever, with representation from the adoptee, adoptive parent and Korean American communities.  The Board was introduced at the KF-KUMCGW Lunar New Year Celebration on February 4th and will be at KF events throughout the year. Contact the Board with your ideas and suggestions for programs and services, or if you’d like to volunteer for a project, event or Board service.  We accept new Members-at-Large at any time during the year.

The 2012 Board Members are:

President
Vice President
Secretary-Treasurer
Outreach Coordinator
Outreach Coordinator
Program Coordinator
Program Coordinator
Member-at-Large
Member-at-Large
Member-at-Large
Member-at-Large
Member-at-Large
Margie Perscheid
Shawna Karlson
Debbie Dalton
Jennifer Downey
Sandra Eminger
Memi Miscally
Lauren Power
Kim Ferrell
Rosemary Stifter
Jenny Town
Sebastian Wang
Gill Wylie

Congratulations!

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KF eBulletin 1-29-12: 2012 Board & Lunar New Year Details

The latest issue of the Korean Focus eBulletin is online here. In this issue:

  • Announcing the candidates for the 2012 Korean Focus Board of Directors
  • February 4th Lunar New Year Celebration details
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Kimchi Chronicles: Episodes on MPT, DVDs and Book

Have you been watching Maria Vongerichten’s Kimchi Chronicles on MPT2 and other PBS stations? If you’ve missed any episodes (see the schedule of past and upcoming episodes here), visit the Kimchi Chronicles website for more videos. You can also pre-order the DVDs at H-Mart, alone or in combination with the Kimchi Chronicles book, which is available in bookstores and online now. You can also purchase the series on iTunes.

Eat your kimchi!!

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Happy Year of the Black Dragon!

Korean Focus wishes everyone a Happy Year of the Black Dragon! We thank our many  friends for your support and look forward to more  programs, events and activities this year.  As always, we welcome you to kick off the new year at our annual Lunar New Year Celebration. See you there!

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Year of the Black Dragon Celebration Feb 4 in McLean

On January 23rd, an auspicious year will begin in the Asian zodiac: the year of the black dragon.  Dragons are auspicious symbols in Asian mythology and culture, so a dragon year, is always cause for celebration. But because of the unique combination of the zodiac symbols and five traditional colors, a lucky black dragon year comes only every 60 years (from the Korea Times):

Among the cyclical years of the zodiac, the year 2012 is the Year of the Black Dragon, as “im” means black and “jin” means dragon according to Korean “Ganji” system, or the sexagenary cycle. The system is a combination of the 12 zodiac animals and the five traditional colors — blue, red, yellow, white and black.

The Year of the Dragon comes every 12 years, but the Black Dragon arrives every 60 years, making 2012 even more special. The birth rate is expected to rise next year, as many married couples will want their baby to be born under the energy of the dignified, powerful black dragon.

This is definitely a year to celebrate, so join the Korean United Methodist Church, Korean Focus and Ginkgo Leaf Arts for the best Korean Lunar New Year celebration in the Metro DC area:

  • Date & Time: Saturday February 4th, 1 – 4 PM
  • Location: Korean United Methodist Church of Greater Washington,  1219 Swinks Mill Rd, McLean, VA 22102
  • Fee: $5 per person, $20 per family

More information will be posted here, in the eBulletin, on our Facebook and Twitter pages. For now, save the date – we’ll see you soon to ring in the Year of the Black Dragon!

Volunteers are welcome to help plan or on the day of the event to man tables at the craft sale, help with the kids crafts, and for set-up and clean-up. Email us if you’d like to help.

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There’s still room! “All About Korea” with Ann Martin Bowler Dec. 3rd in North Bethesda

Join author Ann Martin Bowler and learn All About Korea!

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 3, 1 – 3:30 PM
Location: St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Rd., North Bethesda, Maryland 20852
$5 per family entrance fee

Family-friendly event – adults and kids of all ages welcome! RSVP announcements@koreanfocus.org. Click here or on the image below for a printable flyer.

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All About Korea with Ann Martin Bowler Dec 3 in North Bethesda

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 3, 1 – 3:30 PM
Location: St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Rd., North Bethesda, Maryland 20852
$5 per family entrance fee

Family-friendly event – adults and kids of all ages welcome! Space is limited – RSVP announcements@koreanfocus.org. Click here or on the image below for a printable flyer.

Author and adoptive mom Ann Martin Bowler, known to the Korean adoption community for her book All About Korea will be in the DC area over the weekend of December 3-4. For our last program of 2011, Korean Focus is thrilled to present Ann’s popular workshop to DC-area families.

During Annie’s lively, interactive All About Korea workshop, kids and families will learn about Korea’s daring favorite games and unique holiday traditions, make a Korean folk craft together, and participate in the reading of a silly yet thoughtful Korean tale. Older kids will be able to make the craft on their own and toddlers and pre-schoolers can work with Mom and Dad.  Everyone’s welcome at this fun-filled workshop!  All About Korea will be available for purchase at the workshop – cash and checks only, please.

About Ann:  California-born author, Ann Martin Bowler, has written many award winning children’s books on multicultural and environmental themes. An educator for many years before becoming a writer, Annie loves to create fun, engaging books and then share them with children of all ages. Annie’s two youngest children Sarah and Jacob, ages 20 and 14, were adopted from Korea. Her book All About Korea, Stories, Songs, Crafts and More was a family project which helped her family to develop authentic connections within the Korean culture.

All About KoreaPerfect for families wishing to learn about the Korean culture, All About Korea is packed with engaging activities and offers a fun-filled journey to a fascinating place. You’ll learn about traditional clothing and holiday celebrations, to sing songs in Korean, make arts and crafts, cook simple yet delicious Korean foods and play lively, popular games. Chock full of stories, activities, historical and current details about this amazing country and filled with gorgeous, full-color illustrations, All About Korea brings Korea to life for children from all cultures and backgrounds.

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Craft sale preview: Don’t miss the fun on Sat. Nov. 19th!

Join us on Saturday November 19th between 11 am and 3 PM at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown​ Rd., North Bethesda (Rockville), MD. Fantastic shopping for all kinds of items from Korea, bojagi wrapping workshops for the adults and paper bojagi placemat workshops for the kids. Click here for a printable flyer. 

We regret that we cannot take credit cards – cash or check only, please.

You definitely won’t want to miss this year’s Craft Sale!  On Ginkgo Leaf Arts’ recent trip to Seoul, we found some wonderful things that we’re very excited about!

We’ve got lots and lots of toys including cars, trucks, planes and trains with hangul lettering, Korean Air play sets, and Korean Lego-style building blocks in a Joesun Dynasty warrior theme for boys.  For girls we have Hello Kitty building blocks, play money, craft kits, stickers and Korean jacks or gonggi in their own little pouch.

Of course, as always, we have dolls, purses, pouches and fans galore. And everyone will enjoy these Korean folk marionettes!

For gift giving, we’ve got our largest ever assortment of jewelry, two hand-embroidered silk evening bags, some high quality silk ties and silver cufflinks for the men, and beautifully made boxes in a variety of sizes, colors, finishes and uses including jewelry, music, and even sewing boxes. 

You can decorate your home with colorful pillows, a lovely selection of celadon, beautiful table runners in both silk and ramie, picture frames, and even Starbucks “Seoul” mugs.

 If you’ve got empty wall space that needs a little something, you can choose from scrolls, original paintings, prints and exquisite norigae in shadowbox frames – all unique and beautiful examples of Korean art.

We were also fortunate to be able to get our hands on several hand-carved nativity sets by one of Korea’s last remaining woodcarvers that include figures in traditional Korean dress.  A very special heirloom indeed!

And finally, to wrap your gifts, we have a gorgeous collection of bojagi, or Korean wrapping scarves. You won’t believe how quick and easy it is to turn a simple gift into a work of art with these lovely wrapping scarves that can be used again and again, making them both an economically and environmentally smart choice.

To go along with your gift giving, we have a colorful selection of Lunar New Year’s cards.

Of course, all of your old favorites are here as well including wedding ducks, hanboks for both boys and girls, masks, norigae, books, etc.  There’s very little we don’t have, so come and do your holiday shopping with us, and even more importantly, bring some of the beauty and culture of your child’s heritage into your home.  And remember, as always, 100% of the profits from the sale go to support international adoption and post-adoption activities.

**We’re sorry but we are unable to take credit cards.  Cash and checks only please. 

ONE MORE THING . . .

We’ve several pieces of antique furniture that are the very last of what we will ever have.  When these are gone, there will be no more since all of our sources have sadly disappeared.  

Antique Korean Headside Chest  –  This quintessential Korean Headside chest, or mori-jang, made of elm root with white brass hardware, is a beautiful example of one of the most common pieces of furniture found in Korean households of all classes during the Joesun dynasty.  They were placed at the head of the bed in the lady’s quarters and used to store clothing, socks, jewelry and hairpins.  27”x16”x33”   $950

 

 

Antique Korean Chest-on-Chest – This gorgeous jang, from Cholla province, was originally used for storing clothing.  It is made of wonderfully grained elm wood with a black pawlonia wood inlay around the outer edge of each panel.  The butterfly hardware signifies love and happiness; the bats good luck and longevity. A second base is included so that the chests can be used separately if desired.  38”x17”x59”   $1950

 

 

 

 

 

Antique Baby Blanket Chest – Blanket chests or bandaji were found in virtually every Korean home. Used to store clothes (or documents in upper class homes), they were made of thick, wide wood panels so that mattresses, quilts and other households items could be stacked on top.  This one, made of elm wood as was typical of upper class furniture, was originally a larger chest that was damaged.  It was then cut down to a smaller size and reassembled.  26”x12”x17.5” (perfectly sized for use as an end table.)  $650

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