A Teen's Experience At The KAAN Conference
PJ Perscheid

A Teen Experience at the KAAN Conference Last summer, a month or so before school started, my Korean drumming class and I performed at the annual KAAN conference. The KAAN conference is an annual event held by the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network. Ironically, the weekend the conference was being held was also the same weekend the Korean War Veteran Convention was being held. So while the young (to the veterans) were making all this hubbub over nothing, (they didn't really understand what was going on) the noble war veterans who helped save South Korea were convening and remembering times long past. Back to the conference-my Mom was the 2003 conference co-chair, so it seemed like a good idea to perform Korean music.

The conference was three days long-Friday July 25th to Sunday, July 27th. I wasn't there for Friday's festivities-I was returning from camp that day. Saturday was the main day of the conference. That Sunday would be a visit to the South Korean Ambassador to the United State's residence. There, people would be making speeches, handing out awards, and others would be

performing. I, however, was scheduled to perform Saturday night during dinner. Due to the fact that my mom was a VIP, my family was given the suite at the hotel in which conference attendees were staying. We had a living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom bigger than some people's rooms! (More on that later) At any rate, Saturday was the day in which the adults would be attending programs in the hotel while the kids and teens took a trip around

Washington and Annandale. From the hotel and back, we visited lots of places, including the White House and Koreatown. Koreatown is located within Annandale. The only difference between the previous trips to the White House I've taken and the most recent one is that on our mini-tour, we had to line up alphabetically, and the list of restricted items stretched to purses, bags, and candy. (You just have to watch out for those Snickers bombs these days!)

At any rate, we went from room to room, listening to various tour guides along the way. There was nothing new, nothing hidden, nothing really interesting, to be frank. After the White House, we proceeded to the Korean War Veteran's Memorial. As with all memorials, we were to be quiet and respectful, reading off all the dead people's names. The third installment of our trip was a fantastic lunch at a place called Il Mee. Il Mee is a buffet featuring Asian food. If you've ever been to an Asian restaurant, you might have had small grills on your table, where you could cook the meat, etc yourself. This is what I and the rest of the tour did. After the wonderful lunch, we proceeded to explore Koreatown. There were many shops, all selling different Asian products, such as Japanese collectibles and cell phones. The book store was interesting-we didn't know it was a religious shop.

Finally, we returned to the hotel and hung out the rest of the day. A few hours before my group was to perform, all the members began popping into my room. We talked about how we all felt (the overall emotion was nervous) and changed into our spiffy uniforms. We practiced for a bit before joining up with another drumming group, and then the wait began.

I'll explain what we were doing a little more. Korean percussion, called samulnori, consists of four instruments. The first drum, the changgo, is shaped like an hourglass with two skins-one sheep, one cow, on either side. The skins are kept in place by a rope going back and forth through holes in their rims. I personally believe that this drum was the inspiration for the larger army drums, which also have the hourglass shape. The second drum, the buk, looks like a short, fat cylinder that bulges around the middle. This drum also has two skins, kept in place with a wooden ring connected to the base of the drum, which provides guidelines for a thick rope to go diagonally up and down between the two skins. There are also two gong instruments. The first one is a small, handheld gong called a kwaenggari. When you hit it, it makes a shrill metallic ring. The second gong is larger, called the ching. It is kept in a large wooden frame, and has a much deeper sound than the kwaenggari. The most commonly played instrument is the changgo, followed by the buk. There are at most two or three kwaenggari players and only one ching player in a group.

Proceeding with our focal event, the doors to the dinner hall closed, with us standing outside them. We could hear my mom over the mike, introducing guest speakers and thanking people for coming. Every now and then, a straggler would comment on our attire before quietly sneaking into the dining hall. The situation was tense-we would be playing in front of people who know what we're performing, almost a first for us. To embarrass ourselves in front of representatives from halfway across the world would be catastrophic. You could cut the silence with a knife.

A few nervous minutes later, we were called into the dining hall. We started playing before we were in the room, and walked in follow-the-leader formation, winding in and out of the round tables until we got to the front of the room. That was the first part-then the instructors continued playing while we removed our instruments from our sides and sat down to finish the performance. After the brief reprieve, we struck up the second song, and played for a bit longer. I am proud to say I only messed up twice. When the whole thing was over, we all gathered our drums and went back to my room. Before we changed back into our street clothes, my group and instructors all stood in my extremely large bathtub and took a picture. (All nine of us!) After the group picture, we changed back into our clothes and the group left.

P.J. Perscheid Alexandria, VA

Kamsahamnida!

Many thanks to the volunteers who contributed their time, resources and support to make the 2003 KAAN Conference possible. In addition to the many conference sponsors, session participants and day-of volunteers, Korean Focus and KAAN thank the following who helped plan conference activities, solve logistical problems, or raise funds. The conference could not have taken place with out you. Thanks!

Ann Bullock,Wendy Cosby,Janet Farley,Marcy Gitt,Noreen Hannigan,Leslee Hecht,Shirley Kang,Gie Kim,Maude Lee,Nathalie Lemoine,Kathy Lique,Mary Maco,John McLaughlin,Nancy Pritchard,Barbara Ronnow-Bunker,Grace Song,Kim Stoker,Rev. See-Eun Sul,Tawni Traynor,Rebecca Waxler,Nancy Wiley,Theresa Williams

KAAN thanks 2003 Conference Co-Chairs Margie Perscheid and Michelle Howard, without whom the conference could not have happened.

KAAN and Korean Focus are deeply indebted to Ambassador Han Sung Joo and his staff at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea for welcoming KAAN to the Ambassador's reception on July 27.

We extend our deep gratitude to the Overseas Koreans Foundation, the Centennial Committee of Korean Immigration, and CCKI of Greater Washington, for their generous donations.

Very special thanks go to Ted Kim, President of ASIA (Adoption Service Information Agency). Mr. Kim's financial contribution, guidance, enthusiasm, and moral support were invaluable. KAAN and Korean Focus were proud to honor Mr. Kim and ASIA at this year's conference. We deeply appreciate ASIA's support.

KAAN and Korean Focus recognize and are very grateful to Also-Known-As (AKA) for their financial and organizational sponsorship of Friday evening's Adoptee Dinner.

KAAN and Korean Focus sincerely thank the Korean American Coalition Summer Interns (Grace Ham, Alex Kim, Brian Kim, Jane Park, and Nathan Shinagawa) and their coordinator Gie Kim for accompanying the kids and teens on the Saturday field trip.

KAAN and Korean Focus are grateful for the support of Terry Hong and the Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Program's Korean American Centennial Commemoration.

We thank the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, who assisted with Sunday evening's recognition of the contributions of legislators to adoptive families, and were also deservedly recognized for their achievements.