NEW HOTEL VENUE! NEW ACTIVITIES! SPECIAL EVENTS!

Come to the IKAA Gathering 2010 in Seoul, Korea August 3 – 8, 2010! Meet hundreds of other adult adoptees from all over the world! See old friends and make new ones! All sessions and most activities are held at the Lotte Hotel in the heart of downtown Seoul. Great food is included in your registration fee, especially the amazing dinners, evening programs, special activities, concerts and gala celebrations. And we have some great deals on airfares that are available to our registrants! But, if you’ve never been to a Gathering, or if you’ve gone before and want to know why you should come back, here are some reasons to consider going!

What does it cost to go to the Gathering this summer? How about 1 week in Korea for as low as $1,600! Airfare to Korea, most meals for 6 days, registration fee (including entrance to ALL activities!), 7 night’s hotel. Approximate airfares to Korea range from $990 from Denmark, $1,070 from the West Coast of the US, $1,350 from the Midwest, and $1,390 from the East Coast (rates are approximations only and can fluctuate depending on day of flight and availability of seats). Early registration fee is $175 and 7 nights hotel (shared room) is $440. Add airfare and you’re at $1,600 to $2,000 depending on starting location. That’s doable, right?

Start with the new hotel – The Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul (Myeongdong district, not Jamsil) is a 5-star hotel and one of the top 3 or 4 hotels in Korea. It’s such a great location and we’re able to hold all sessions and most activities at the hotel. The hotel has a great room rate for our Gathering, at only $105 per night per room, single or double occupancy (KRW 120,000). As at any other hotel in Seoul, there’s also a 10% tax and 10% service charge added. The registration code is “IKAA Gathering”. http://www.lottehotelseoul.com/index.asp. The hotel has a fantastic grocery in the basement, amazing food court, and wonderful department store attached – you can seemingly buy anything there! The hotel even has its own subway stop and you don’t even have to go outside to catch it!

Airfares are available from a number of sources. One source is through Sharp Travel, (206) 464-1995 or sharptravel@hotmail.com who can book tickets for most North American cities, and through a variety of airlines. A plus to booking through Sharp Travel is that one lucky person will get their airfare for free! Book (and pay for) your flight before May 29th and there will be a drawing for one person to have their airfare refunded! An option for those from Denmark is through Finnair, who is offering a special rate of only DKK 5,400 ($990)! Contact Korea Klubben for this deal. Other local associations are working on discount airfares from their countries, too, so contact your local association for more information. But if you can find another, cheaper fare, by all means book it!! And tell us about it so we can post the information, too!

Your registration fee is only $175 if you book now! For this, you receive a value of more than $700! It includes all meals from Tuesday to Sunday (except for two lunches on your own), amazing meals catered by the Lotte Hotel as well as a few off-site meals provided by other hosts. Also included is the Research Symposium, attendance at the Adoptee World Cup tournament, daily sessions, special age-group sessions (that were “missing” in 2007 but are back by popular demand!), a special session for first-timers to Korea, a business/academic/professional symposium, film festival, World Series-type poker tournament, special activities with Korean nationals, fun evening activities, and a final night celebration with special performances. There will be a number of new sessions, including “team building” contests, games and prizes. And for you first-timers to Korea, or first time there as an adult, we have an “Amazing Race” for you! “Adoptees loose in Seoul” is the theme, where you can learn your way around Seoul by following fun clues and crazy experiences while earning some great prizes! In addition, registrants get lots of freebies, too – directory, Symposium book, group photo, t-shirts, and many other items from our various sponsors!

AND, if you want to continue the fun and camaraderie AFTER the Gathering, there is a Post-Gathering tour for registrants and their families that will take place from Monday August 9th to Sunday August 15th, where you’ll see Gyeong-ju, Busan and Jeju Island. Total cost is only $700 per person!

The long and short of it is YOU can make it happen! We hope to see you in Korea this summer at the IKAA Gathering 2010!

The IKAA Gathering 2010 will take place August 3 – 8, 2010 in Seoul, Korea at the Lotte Hotel Seoul.  Join AAAW and over 700 other Korean adult adoptees at this incredible event!  This will mark the third such Gathering in Korea for adoptees, following the Gatherings in 2004 and 2007.

• Registration is only $175 until February 15.  Click here to begin the registration process.
• Programming includes a research symposium, Adoptee World Cup (soccer) tournament sponsored by Nike, business seminar, film festival, sessions & workshops, concerts, cultural performances, and more.  View the updated itinerary here.
• Gathering attendees have access to significant hotel and airfare discounts.  It is possible to attend the Gathering for less than $1,700 (including registration, hotel, and airfare)!

After the success of the Adoptee Gatherings of 2004 and 2007 in Korea, the IKAA Network is pleased to announce another IKAA Gathering in Seoul. Over 800 participants from around the world are expected to attend the event. In addition to cultivating community among adoptees, the IKAA Gathering 2010 also hopes to promote dialogue and a greater understanding between the global Korean adoptee community and Korean society.

Please visit http://gathering.ikaa.info/en/page/446 for registration information. Please note that the best registration rate is before January 31, 2010!  The fee is $125*.

*The value of what you will get with the $175 registration fee will be $600 – $800 for your fee since the registration starting February 1st will go up to $250.

The IKAA Gathering 2010 will take place next summer in Seoul, Korea during August 3-8, 2010.  As is tradition at the Gatherings, the IKAA Gathering 2010 will provide the opportunity for adoptees to present a wide variety of sessions related to Korean adoption and living as a Korean adoptee.  The planning committee encourages submission of thoughtful proposals for sessions that will provide attendees an opportunity to learn, network, share, interact, and reflect.  We welcome session proposals from artists, academics, community organizers, filmmakers, writers, and other members of the Korean adult adoptee community.

For more information and to download the detailed Call for Proposals (with the application on pages 5-7), please visit the IKAA website at http://gathering.ikaa.info/en/page/451.  Completed applications are due to usa@ikaa.org by February 15, 2010.

To read about the sessions and workshops at the IKAA Gathering 2007 in Seoul, go to http://gathering.ikaa.info/en/page/359.

Here is The Call for Papers link:
http://gathering.ikaa.info/l/en/library/download/3575

to be presented at the symposium; these papers will also be published in the symposium proceedings. Brief proposals are DUE on SEPTEMBER 15th! Please read the attachment carefully, and be sure to include all of the requirements:

1. Completed cover sheet (see the Call for Papers link above)
2. CV
3. Paper proposal (NOT the actual paper itself – those are due on 1/1/2010) of no more than 500 words.

Everyone is encouraged to apply, although preference will be given to those who have already completed or are enrolled in terminal master’s or PhD programs. Additional information can be found at this link:
http://gathering.ikaa.info/en/page/428

Also, to read about 2007′s symposium, click on the link below:
http://gathering.ikaa.info/en/page/358

Click here for more information!