Alyssa Towns Swantkoski
- We traveled to South Korea with my husband's grandmother in hopes of finding her long-lost family.Our only plan was to visit her hometown with the names and ages of the family she remembered.Despite little research, we found five of her siblings and other family members. It was amazing.
For the last 15 years, my husband's family has immersed me in South Korean culture, mostly by way of my stomach.
Whenever his grandmother, Kim, visited, she'd fill our kitchen with the delicious aromas of dishes she grew up with, from japchae to mandu.
Sometimes, she'd share memories from her time in South Korea before she immigrated to the US over 50 years ago. However, it was always a tender conversation topic, one that reminded her of a life and family left behind.
She'd lost touch with her relatives there and hadn't been back to visit. For years, traveling to a place she once called "home" was never a topic of much discussion.
But as Kim reached her mid-70s, she realized she'd rather try to reconnect with her family than have unanswered questions about their lives and what had happened to them.
With the support and encouragement of her children and grandchildren, we began planning a trip to South Korea in 2023.
Despite the hurdles ahead, we traveled to South Korea with hope and anticipation
Alyssa Towns Swantkoski
That summer, a group of 13 of us packed our bags and flew from the US to Seoul.
Kim preferred not to do any ancestral research before the trip. So, after a few days in Seoul, we'd travel to her hometown village of Eungwon-ri in Cheonan with a piece of paper with relatives' names and their approximate ages..
Our plan to locate her family was vague and optimistic at best, and we recognized that the language barrier would be one of our most significant hurdles.
Still, we stayed hopeful. When we arrived in Eungwon-ri, we checked into a small hotel near where Kim grew up.
We first asked the hotel staff if they recognized the names on the list. They didn't, but they eagerly offered to ask around and spread the word of our arrival.
Next, we tried the café located up the street from the hotel, but to no avail. However, much like in any small town, news of our arrival and the names of those we were searching for quickly spread throughout Eungwon-ri.
Within about an hour, a woman in a restaurant nearby caught wind of our search and invited us to join her inside as she called around town.
Chatter filled the room as she carried on conversations in her native tongue, of which we had little understanding. With the help of translation apps and contextual cues, the woman told Kim that her brother was on the way to see us and would arrive in half an hour.
Thirty minutes never pass more slowly than when it's about to change your life. As a car pulled up outside the restaurant and a man stepped out, we eagerly stormed the parking lot.
He and Kim shared their parents' names and some other details for additional confirmation, and we soon got the news we'd been hoping for: We'd done it.
Thanks to the kindness of the people of Eungwon-ri, my husband's grandmother was reunited with her brother in less than three hours.
Our family has grown significantly because of this once-in-a-lifetime trip
Alyssa Towns Swantkoski
That evening, we had dinner together right in the heart of Eungwon-ri. Her brother began notifying other family members of our surprise arrival.
In the hours and days that followed, Kim reconnected with five of her siblings, as well as some of her nieces and nephews.
And despite over 50 years of separation and most of us having never met, her long-lost relatives took us in and welcomed us into their lives and homes with open arms.
Alyssa Towns Swantkoski
We spent most of the remainder of our trip exploring South Korea with our newly found family members. They showed us around the country, cooked for us, and brought us to their favorite local places.
After leaving, we've stayed connected on WhatsApp, and some of us have already planned trips back to South Korea. It's incredible to know that we have so much family on the other side of the world.
If there's anything we learned, it's that family is family no matter the distance, language barriers, or years that pass.
And, above all, life is too short to wonder, "What if?"
