It is a glorious spring morning, and the sun is shining brightly in the front yard of KoRoot Guesthouse, located in the northern part of Seoul. Nearby is the presidential Blue House and the ancient seat of royalty, Gyeongbok Palace. Misun Ahn, an adult adoptee from Denmark, is trying to tell me the difference between her two “home” countries in her Danish accent as her young daughter plays nearby. “In Denmark, adoption is related to happiness because they have a child — so now they have a family. In Korea, it’s opposite because they miss their child.”

That sadness hit home for Ahn her first time back to Korea last year. “I was here last summer for a Korean adoptee gathering. The first night I was in Korea, I was sleeping in this room and I was crying. I think a lot of adoptees have emotional feelings about going back, and it’s really a very big experience.”

With an entire generation of overseas adoptees coming of age, Ahn’s story is becoming increasingly common. Korean children who were adopted to foreign countries are now returning to Korea as adults with different cultures and languages. Their growing presence here in Seoul is forcing us all to come up with new ways of thinking about personal, family and cultural identities. With a reported 200,000 Koreans sent abroad, it is somewhat surprising that a resource like KoRoot Guesthouse wasn’t established earlier.

It was in response to the growing number of returning adoptees that Rev. Kyeong-suk Seo, a prominent Korean social activist who has founded numerous humanitarian organizations, such as the Korean Sharing Movement, and formed a small committee of religious and social leaders, which includes Kil-ja Kim, founder of Kyungin Women’s University, to provide resources for these adoptees. In 2002, an anonymous benefactor donated a house for the express purpose of providing short-term housing for adoptees, dubbed “House of Korean Root” (ppuri ui jib, in Korean) or just KoRoot Guesthouse. Guests and their family members can stay up to a month or longer at a cost of only $15 a night. Nestled in the shadow of a mountain in a quiet, residential neighborhood, the not-for-profit KoRoot is still close enough to downtown Seoul for those who wish to explore the city. The house itself is a beautiful, two-story building with a distinctively Western feel. With a front yard and a garden and a spacious interior that features captivating artwork by adoptee artist Mihee Cho, the house seems quite large. And yet, with only four guestrooms and 16 beds, KoRoot prefers to keep things intimate and personal: At the time of the interview, there were only seven guests.

“It’s really fantastic,” says Misun Ahn (who goes by Ahn Andersen in Denmark). Ahn stayed at KoRoot for the first time last year and had her young daughter in tow this time around. “I think it’s the best house in the world. It’s really optimal for an adoptee because the surrounding is perfect. … Everybody is very friendly. They want to help you with anything you need. They have translation from Korean to English, and they can help you to call on the telephone or translate papers. The spirit is very, very nice here.” Misun is suddenly interrupted by her Danish-speaking daughter. She laughs. “She just made some Korean food, and she tells me it’s very strong!” (In addition to TV, Internet and other amenities, there is a full kitchen where guests can share and even cook meals together.)