The Face in the The Face in the MirrorMirror Blossom Beeby

Context: Identity & Belonging Mary P.

Key Vocabulary

Accustomed (adj.)

- customary; usual; habitual: in their accustomed manner. Eg; people were not accustomed to seeing white parents with a smiley Asian kid in tow.

Scant (adj.)

- barely sufficient in amount or quantity. Eg. Parents who acquired ‘Made in Korea’ babies in the 1980s received scant care instructions

Tranquil (adj.)

- free from or unaffected by disturbing emotions; serene; calm, peaceful or quiet. Eg. There were tranquil countryside landscapes.

Fully-fledged (adj.)

- completely developed or established; of full status.

Adoption (n.)- to take into one's family through legal means and raise as one's own child.

Relinquishment (n.)

- to retire from; give up or abandon; to let go

Summary of the story

Blossom Beeby was born on the 1st Feb 1984 in Pusan , South Korea. She is an Australian girl that was adopted by white parents. The story is about her wanting to learn about where she came from and where she belongs. She takes Korean class and achieves a scholarship to South Korea to discover her origins.

In South Korea she travels to the adoption agency in search of her real mother. She meets up with her mother and finds the reason for the relinquishment. Ultimately, She finds her identity and realises where she really belongs…

Pusan harbour cargo container terminal

Pusan market

Middle-aged Korean women with perms wearing visors and bum bags

‘Kimchi’ Korea’s national dish

The Face in the Mirror & Stick and Stone Such-like

- Beeby was raisedby white family

- Her appearance doesn’t match where sheBelongs

-Blossom wantsto find her root - She proud of her name

- Sunil was raisedby Indian Parents

- Doesn’t fit in school

- Sunil wants to hide his

background- Sunil doesn’t proud

of his name

-Typical Asian appearance

-Strugglesof who they really are

-Growing up Asian in Australia

-Culturally-confused

‘When we looked at our faces in the mirror….foreigners would appear’, Blossom Beeby writes.

- Her appearance doesn’t match their sense of who they really are

- Feeling Australian while looking Asian creates a sense of dissociation from others.

- Blended culture- She feel ashamed of being Asian as she

originally raised by white parents

‘I had fully acknowledged my Asian-ness and was proud of it’ ,Blossom Beeby writes,

- Being proud of who she is once she feels comfortable around the people that have similar cultural background and appearance

- Acceptance of one self and others

- As she ‘found the places where there were a lot of people who looked like us’

Her association with a group of people make she has more confident to reveal her identity

‘Surprisingly, there were no feelings of ‘coming home’ or ‘finally belonging’’

- The place that we spend time the most of our lives or the place that we have been raised would give us more sense of belonging

- There is no connection with her sense of belonging even though she was born in Korea but she was adopted as a baby

- She only have a little knowledge about where she was born thus it may be difficult to determine her sense of welcome and her sense of belonging

-Asian adoptees may have to overcome the dilemma of their identity and who they are

-Different appearances may lead to isolation

- We may only share superficial similarities of age and residential location with our friends but they can still have profound impact