Looking in the Mirror of My Past as a Korean Adoptee in the United States

The article explores the author’s personal journey as a Korean adoptee raised in the United States, highlighting the complexities of identity and belonging.

The author describes living with a dual sense of time and space, where the present in the U.S.

intertwines with the past in Korea.

This duality is framed as a ghosting effect, a term borrowed from optics to describe a double image or blurred reflection, metaphorically illustrating the author’s fragmented self-perception.

The narrative emphasizes the emotional and psychological challenges of being displaced, caught between two cultures without a clear sense of home.

The author’s reflections are deeply personal, focusing on the internal conflict of feeling neither fully Korean nor entirely American, a common experience among adoptees who grow up in a culture different from their birthplace.