Camp Choson in western Wisconsin is helping Korean kids connect with their identity
OSCEOLA, Wis. -- There are few places in the country like it.
Just an hour east of the Twin Cities, in Osceola, Wisconsin, there's a summer camp that's helping kids to truly find themselves.
Named after the last Korean royal family, Camp Choson is a family of its own. It's nestled in rural Wisconsin, but this week, Korea doesn't feel so far away.
"The people here make me feel like I am so at home," said Juliet Gilde, a high school sophomore and camper.
Home for Gilde is Eagan, but like all of the other campers, she has strong ties to Korea.
"My dad is white and my Mom is Korean so growing up I've always kind of felt torn be my two sides and this camp has really helped me understand who I am and that part of my life," she said.
She spent the morning making Korean ice cream, Bingsu, with a dozens of people who do understand.
"My Mom is a Korean adoptee, so I'm mixed but I've always loved Korean culture." said Scarlett Chaney who is also 15 and goes to school in Minneapolis.
And at Camp Choson, Korean culture is celebrated in a big way. This is the 30 year anniversary of Camp Choson - a place where Korean adoptees, their kids or anyone with ties to Korea can enjoy a week of seeing, tasting, and hearing Korean culture.
"I was adopted from a small town near Seoul, I was only a few months old. Now I live in Anoka Minnesota, two lovely parents," said Solomin Theisen, who has been coming for 12 years. "I feel like I like coming to camp to learn about the culture, see people who are like, who have the same experiences I can share. It's important to know yourself, know who you are, know where you come from and to embrace it."
And that is exactly the point according to the day camp director Matt McNiff.
"I hope kids really walk away from this camp knowing who they are is good," he said.
Matt, who was born in Korea and raised in Woodbury was once a camper here himself,
"I had never heard K-pop let alone the cultural pieces of that," he said.
His two sons are the ones learning new things now; they are campers too.
"If they have this solid foundation of who you are, what you look like, how you talk, what you know is good and cool that's such an important foundation for these kids," McNiff adde.
Camp Chosen has kids come from as far as Washington State and Florida. The camp is for kids in kindergarten through high school.
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