Snippets from Seoul

Over the last number of days we have noticed a number of things that make Korea unique and as we wait until 11 am arrives so we can go to SWS (our adoption agency), we thought we would share a few of them with you.

First, high heels. Korean women wear high heels everywhere and with anything - jeans, skirts, pants, shorts, whatever. They could be wearing a casual outfit and wear dressy heels. We have seen a few women wearing flats or other dress shoes, but the majority are wearing heels. The one exception that we have seen is hiking. The people here are beautiful and dress well, but one image that stays with me is Korean women's shoes.

Second, bathrooms. We have been in many public restrooms over the last few days and many have two things of note in the women's restrooms. First, the toilet paper roll is on the wall outside of the stalls, so you need to grab a handful before going into the stall. This is an important detail to figure out! The other thing is the picture on the stall door which indicates the type of toilet in the stall. I stuck with the Western style toilet thinking that the toilet flush with the floor required dexterity that I likely don't have.

In the US we have soap on a rope. Here, they have soap on a stick in the public restrooms. Pretty effective way to provide soap without the bar sliding around.

The subway is easy, clean, cheap, and extensive. It is also a popular place for Koreans to sleep, use their cell phones (usually texting or listening versus talking but really, I don't know what they are always doing on the phones but then again, I'm not the most advanced cell phone user either), using other electonic gadgets that I have not seen in the US but then again, I am not the most up to date on these things, read, and did I mention sleep? In many ways, it isn't different from the good subway systems in the US, but the number and type of electonic gadgets that they all seem to have is fascinating to see.



Walking in Seoul is also interesting. We think you are supposed to walk on the left side instead of the right which we automatically defer to. This has helped us to not feel like we are walking upstream so much. Walking on the side roads mean maneuvering around cars (parked and moving), scooters, other people, and anything else in the way. You do get to a point of adjusting automatically but it does require more attention than what we are accustomed to.

Driving here is not for the faint of heart. There are lots of vehicles that drive close together and fast. Also, the cars fit into very tight places, weaving around people, buildings, and other vehicles and manage to fit through the narrow streets that are common in Seoul.

Here is a side street near the guesthouse...


And here is the major street about 2 blocks from the guesthouse...


It is a land of umbrellas. It is raining today and on our daily morning walk to Starbucks, we wore our raincoats and carried an umbrella. We were the only ones with coats - all of the Koreans had umbrellas. It was neat to see all of the umbrellas as people walked to work. A neat sight.

It appears that Maclauren has a strong market share here for strollers, since we have seen many of them this week. Interestingly, we didn't see very many when we were here two years ago and have both noticed that there are many more strollers this time. I don't know if it is because more people are using strollers or if we are just more attuned to them, but we have heard so much about Koreans carrying their babies, that it has been interesting to see strollers. Koreans are still carrying their babies, but we have not seen as many of the traditional carriers this time. We have seen many ergo carriers, which is our favorite carrier. We brought one for Natalie so I guess we will fit right in! We did see one notable exception to the Maclauren strollers yesterday at a store and had to take a picture. Thomas the Tank Engine apparently is as big here as in the US.



One of the most fascinating things about Seoul, we think, is the mixture of new and old and the density of people and buildings. There are major roads that roughly form a grid and within the "boxes" of the grid, there are many narrow side streets or alleyways where community life flourishes. There are many, many small shops and restaurants everywhere, mixing new global shops (like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts) with the old (small Korean restaurants and service shops). We are finding it to be fascinating once again.

We have seen a Korea in constant movement, a modern society with long, deep roots. When you think about how far Korea has come since the end of the Korean War, it is astonishing - Seoul went from a destroyed city to one housing over 10 million people, Korea has a modern, prospering economy, a democracy, and a people who are gracious. It is an amazing place, one that 5 years ago we would not have thought we would ever visit and now, we feel at home here.

Shopping

Today we shopped. Well, I shopped and Paul joined me. We went to Insadong first, which is a street of artist shops and restaurants in Seoul, and found a number of momentos, including a Korea t-shirt for Andrew and a Korean fan for Natalie. We had another awesome lunch of beef dunplings and noodles with leeks and soy bean sauce. They were both delicious.



On our way back to the subway, we found a painting scroll that is similar in style to one we bought two years ago but with a moutain drawing on it. We really like the one we have and thought it would be nice to have one from each journey to Korea.

After leaving Insadong, we hopped over to Namdaemun Market which is an openair street market covering many blocks in downtown Seoul. We were looking for a Korean doll for Natalie, thinking that it would be nice for her to have a doll that wasn't Caucasian. Well, interestingly enough, we have been unable to find such a thing. The dolls we have found are all Caucasian. So I think we will be searching the internet at some point to see if we can find one that way. Regardless, it was fun to stroll around the market for a little bit and were glad to be able to visit it again.



Our thoughts are turning towards tomorrow and Natalie. We know it will be a big change for her to be with us instead of her foster parents but hope that we have helped smooth the way, at least somewhat, with pictures and visiting her at the foster home. We will find out tomorrow!

Hwaseong Fortress

We had a wonderful day. After our morning trip to Starbucks (yes, they recognize us already), we headed back to the subway station for the 1 hour trip to Suwan, a city southeast of Seoul. We took a taxi to the Hwaseong Fortress and spent the day exploring. The fortress is really a 250 year old wall that was built to surround a palace and city. A Korean king built the wall and palace because he wanted to move the capitol to Suwan, which did not happen, but the wall and palace are intact and beautifully restored. We wandered along the wall this morning, stopping at the many look-out points and two of the entrance gates.








We had lunch at a small place right by one of the gates and were delighted to have a noodle soup and an onion and zucchini pancake. We have made these pancakes at home but they are so much better in Korea! It was a great meal and a highlight of the day.



Late afternoon we headed back to Seoul (seemingly with everyone else because the subway was packed) and had a great dinner of brushetta and mushroom pizza at the COEX mall. One of the easiest places for us to find food (ie - there are pictures or menus in English) is the mall but in Korea, mall food is good food and decent prices too. It was one of the best Italian we have had and not like what we would have at home.

Tomorrow we plan to do some shopping at Namdaemun Market and in the artist area of Insadong. We really enjoyed both places last time we were in Seoul and are looking forward to returning.

Bukhansan National Park and Verizon

It is just after 10 pm here and we have just returned to our room. It has been quite the day - full of adventure. Some planned, other unexpected. It all started with Paul wanting to hike in Korea...

We picked Bukhansan National Park which is about a one hour subway ride and a short bus ride on Route 704 from where we are staying. Bus rides are more of an adventure because the route maps inside the bus are strictly in Korean (the stops have not been romanized so that someone speaking a european language can read it). Nonetheless it worked out fine as we simply piled out of the bus when the other Korean hikers did.

The next challenge was to find the trail head in the park as that was not clearly marked. A quick visit to the ranger's station and we were on our way. We spent the late morning up until about one o'clock ascending to Baekunde Peak. In order to complete the ascent we hauled ourselves up a series of metal cables as the climb was too steep and the footholds weren't secure enough. We enjoyed a scrumptious meal of Korean apples, trail mix, and peanut butter crackers at the top of the world. The day was hazy so the pictures aren't as clear as we would like but you can get a sense of it, at least.









This is Yvonne again... let me just say that this hike was described by our guidebook as "moderate to strenuous". I think we missed the moderate part. But, the view from the top was amazing. I don't think I have ever been at the top of a mountain with lots of people looking out over a major metropolitan city. Hiking is a favorite pasttime in Korea, so we had company for most of the hike. That is until we came down off the mountain. Our guidebook suggested taking a different route down instead of retracing our steps. So, we headed laterally - not going much higher or lower in altitude but across to a lesser peak - and tried to follow the path to a gate in the historic wall that surrounded Seoul. We went from lots of people and a well-marked path to no people and no markings. We retraced out steps to check the map again at the last checkpoint, found a Korean couple that spoke no English who led us on the right path (we actually had the right one, but didn't believe that we did). We met up with a large group of Koreans who spoke English and they helped us figure out how to get back to where we started. Since they were heading part of our way, they invited us to join their group. They all work for Verizon and were on a team-building exercise hiking in the park.

We ended up joining their group for the rest of the way down the mountain (which took a couple more hours) and then for dinner before they got us on the subway. Now, before you think we were overstaying our welcome, let me explain that we experienced firsthand Korean hospitality today. They are an overly gracious and giving people and were genuinely happy to assist us. While I know Paul and I would have gotten down the mountain once pointed on the correct path, we ended up having quite the adventure with 19 Koreans who showed us again why Korea is such a special place.

Meeting Natalie

Our daughter is just perfect. Where to begin? We went to the adoption agency's office at 1:30 and immediately saw our social worker and Andrew's foster mom who was there with a baby girl that she is currently fostering. The foster mom, Mrs. Kim, recognized us right away. We are actually meeting with her on Monday to share pictures of Andrew but it was so nice to have such a warm greeting from both Mrs. Kim and our social worker, Soo Joo.

Shortly thereafter, we headed to Natalie's foster home, which was about 15 minutes away. She was sleeping when we arrived but her foster parents brought her out to see us and she wasn't shy or scared, just happy. We had sent pictures of us and Andrew to Natalie back in June and they were taped up on the bookcase where Natalie could see them. The foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kang, have been telling Natalie that we are her mother, father, and brother. She really loves the pictures of Andrew, they said. We just thought that was fabulous since Andrew loves looking at Natalie's pictures too. We think those pictures made a big difference because she wasn't shy at all and was content to be near us and let us hold her.

Natalie was happy and comfortable. Her foster parents have obviously taken very good care of her and love her very much. But they were also very happy to meet us and told us to come back to Seoul with Natalie and Andrew and they would show us around. We promised to send updates of Natalie too because they wanted to know how she is doing. The love and care provided by the foster parents is such a wonderful gift.

The Kangs gave us some gifts - a Korean wallet for me, a pen for Paul, and matching cell-phone accessories. Apparently matching accessories is "the thing" in Seoul. All were very sweet and unexpected. They also gave Natalie a beautiful hanbuk - the traditional Korean costume - and a little cell-phone toy and one for Andrew too. Very generous. They seemed to enjoy the gifts that we brought - the cross-stich that I made for them, the pictures of home, and especially the handmade cards created by our wonderful friends Kendra, Tricia, and Holli. I can assure you that they were very impressed and touched that our friends were so excited about Natalie coming that they wanted to make cards for her foster parents. We are very touched by that as well.

The visit was too short and suddenly it was time to go. But we each got to hold Natalie for a few seconds before she scooted away (she likes to move and was crawling and pulling herself up on the short table in the apartment). She has a lot of hair and graced us with a number of smiles and noises. She isn't walking yet (a milestone that we will be able to share with her!) but does have two bottom teeth that arrived over the last couple of months. And she enjoys eating the inside of purple grapes and was reaching for them while we were there. She seemed to like the rattle toy that we brought for her and some pictures of her room, us and the cats, though apparently she really likes dogs! Maybe we have another Bucky fan, Linda and Jason!

We learned too that Natalie will be ours forever on Monday morning! We will first meet with Andrew's foster mother and then with Natalie's foster parents, so it will be a busy day. We are thrilled that we will have a couple of days together to bond and get to know each other before heading home.

After the visit, we returned to the guest house and Soo Joo gave us a tour of the baby reception home where the babies are after birth and before they are placed in foster homes. With the new laws in Korea requiring children to be 5 months old before being placed internationally (the government is trying to encourage domestic adoption so children are first available to Korean families), children are in the reception home longer, until 3 or 4 months, because there aren't enough foster homes for all of the children, partially because children are staying with their foster parents longer. One of the reasons we chose to adopt from Korea is because the children are in foster homes. The reception homes appear to provide wonderful care but there are 15 babies to 2 caregivers which means individual care isn't possible. We enjoyed seeing the babies, though, and pray that they will be home with their families soon.

We are thrilled that Natalie will be with us soon. What a wonderful, wonderful day.

E-mart and Lunch

We have had a low-key morning, starting with a trip to the closest Starbucks. Paul enjoyed his cup of coffee and I had a hot chocolate since decaf coffee is non-existent in Korea. We then walked around the "neighborhood" of the guesthouse and found the local E-mart (like a super-Target, Korean style) where we bought some food and found two nice sets of Korean chopsticks for Andrew and Natalie when they are older. We also found Thomas the Tank Engine chopsticks for Andrew now - we just couldn't resist! Lunch was funny - I thought Americans ate fast but Koreans inhale their food. We were at a little Korean restaurant just around the corner from the guesthouse. We pointed at one meal, the waitress shook her head and pointed at another. We figured she knew what she was talking about and ended up with a chicken and rice dish that was very tasty.

The weather is warm and sunny - about 80 degrees - but you wouldn't know it by what people are wearing - long pants, long sleeved shirts for the men though some women are wearing skits and tops, and most are wearing heels. I am always amazed by how well the women walk on the uneven sidewalks and roads here wearing heels. I have tripped a few times in my nice walking shoes! Paul and I are cooling down at bit in our room before going to the adoption agency to meet our social worker who will take us to the foster home. I am nervous about meeting Natalie, not sure how she will respond to meeting us, but am excited too. Next post - meeting Natalie!

Papa at 5:30 am Thursday

After essentially doing an all-nighter, Yvonne and I were in bed by 9 pm Wednesday night in Korea (7 am Wednesday in Madison). I got up at 12:30 am awake and thinking that maybe I had slept all night, and ready to start the day that will lead us to Natalie. I got up again at 4:30 am but again forced myself to go back to sleep. Now its 5:30 am and there is no way I'm going back to sleep. I need to start the day that will lead us to Natalie. [Our Korean social worker left us a letter last night letting us know that we are scheduled to meet her at 1:30 pm for a trip to see Natalie and her foster mother.]

I'm wondering what it's going to be like to meet Natalie for the first time. Will she warm up to us during our first meeting? Will she smile? Is she walking?

I'm also looking forward to meeting our saints, Natalie's foster parents. How do you ever thank someone enough for taking care of your daughter? All I know how to do is say kam-sa-ham-ni-da (thank you).

While I am very much enjoying being back in Korea and am looking forward to discovering more about Korea, I am impatient for our first meeting with Natalie and for the day that we are permanently united. I am hoping that our social worker proposes Monday morning so that we have a couple of days together the three of us before we head back home.

While here I am also finding myself constantly thinking about Andrew and calculating what time of day it is for Andrew and wondering how he is doing. I know that Andrew is having a wonderful time with his grandparents, but just as my thoughts turned towards Natalie when we were separated from her, now my thoughts turn towards Andrew.

It's time to resurrect our cherished Korean tradition. Our first official act of every day is to go to Starbucks for coffee. It's 5:53 am and the day is getting brighter. It's time to shower and head to Starbucks.

We're here!

We have safely arrived in Seoul, South Korea and are making ourselves at home at the our adoption agency's guesthouse where we will be staying while we are here. Our flight was long, but went very well and we were again impressed with the service provided by Korean Air. Having been to Seoul before, we are finding that it is much easier to get around and aren't as culture shocked. We are also remembering when we were here two years ago to bring Andrew home - wonderful memories to relive and new memories to make. We are meeting Natalie tomorrow afternoon (yeah!!) and are looking forward to finally meeting her. Tonight, however, our goals are simple - food and sleep.

Packed and Ready to Go

Thank you all for your phone calls, e-mails, and comments over the last number of days. We really appreciate all the support and are blessed to have so many people excited about this journey. We are looking forward to introducing Natalie to all of you!

We have gotten some sleep, packed, stocked Andrew's favorite foods in the cupboards, finished Natalie's room, and are taking care of some last details so we can leave without worry for a week. Paul's parents arrive this afternoon to take care of our son and we head to o'Hare tomorrow morning for a mid-day flight. The direct flight is 13 hours long and we arrive in Seoul around 5 pm on Wednesday. Korea is 14 hours ahead of central time. Check out the clock above to see what time it is in Seoul.

We also bought a new camera and have been trying it out. Here are a couple of pictures from the last few days.

Some of the stuff to pack!



Last weekend, Paul's sister Linda and I built this quilt hanger for my grandmother's first quilt piece. I always wanted it to hang in my daughter's room and now it is!





We installed this shelf yesterday in Natalie's room. It is nice to have a spot where little hands can't reach! I'm looking forward to putting pictures and Natalie's Korean flag on the shelf after we return.

Travel Call!!

Our social worker called me this morning at 8:30 telling us that Natalie is ready to travel! Yahoo!! I called Paul and met him on the square (around the capitol - we work on opposite sides of the square and met halfway) for a huge hug. We were able to figure out flights pretty quickly and are leaving on Tuesday, August 26 on a direct flight from O'Hare to Seoul and return Wednesday, September 3. It is one day longer than when we went for Andrew, but we were able to get direct flights both ways with this itinerary, which will make the trip much easier (well, as easy as a 13-hour flight can be). We are both going to work tomorrow to take care of a number of things before our maternity and paternity leaves. After 1 week in Korea, I will be home for 7 weeks, Paul will be home for 2 weeks and then one day a week for the rest of the year. I will reduce my work schedule to 4 days a week starting in January.

So, between now and Tuesday we need to finish up at work, finish packing, and get things ready for Paul's parents who will be here with Andrew while we are in Korea. We are feeling pretty prepared, but there are always some last minute things and our digital camera died this week so while that was unexpected, at least it happened here.

We are planning to post while in Korea, so check back to see the next phase of our journey to Natalie!

One more step...

Yesterday I called the National Visa Center to see if Natalie's visa had been sent to the US Embassy in Korea. I was told they had no record for us, which could mean that it had arrived but wasn't processed yet. Today I called and was told that the visa was mailed on Wednesday, August 6th. I don't know why I got the wrong information last night, but am glad that the visa really was sent last week. Making progress helps...

The waiting

Tomorrow is the three month anniversary of Natalie's referral; 2 1/2 months since our acceptance paperwork arrived in Korea. One thing that is consistent throughout this process is the waiting. We have tried to break the waiting down into smaller pieces, hoping that would make the wait easier, but ultimately, we are waiting for the day, the moment that our daughter is placed in our arms and we can start our life with her.

But, first, a couple of things have to happen.

1. Natalie's visa has to be processed at the National Visa Center in NH and then it is sent by snail mail to the US Embassy in Seoul (this is new for us - with Andrew, it was electronically sent).

2. Our paperwork has to make it through the Korean government approval process.

3. Natalie's passport needs to be issued.

4. The visa and passport have to meet.

5. We get the call that Natalie is ready to travel.

How long does this all take? Well, we know that the National Visa Center has not processed the visa yet. We don't know where our paperwork is in Korea or if Natalie's passport has been issued. We know that we won't get the call until the visa is physically in Seoul but if the Korean paperwork path isn't complete, we will need to wait for that. So, it could be at the end of this month, or sometime in September, or later. Hopefully not later. We already feel like our life is on hold now as we anticipate traveling to Korea and the adjustment for all of us that will follow. Some days it seems like it will never happen, even though we know that it will and when we least expect it, most likely. We are within the time frame that our social worker told us months ago: 4 months from acceptance until travel. But that is such a long time and there is always that hope that it won't be that long for you; that we'll be the exception. We are 2 1/2 months in. And we wait.

Natalie's Room

Natalie's room is coming together. We started with the blue walls, red curtain rods, and navy blue curtains and decided on a flower/garden theme and this is what we came up with. It is hard to capture it in a couple of pictures, but these will give you an idea, at least. We still have a couple of things to put on the walls, including a quilt piece made by my grandmother, but it is really nice to sit in the rocking chair and think about rocking Natalie to sleep or Natalie playing with the books and toys that we have pulled out for her. I've really enjoyed making a special place for our daughter and I'm looking forward to showing it to her soon.

Visa!!

It has been an emotional roller coaster of a week, starting with despair that we would be waiting another 3 months to travel, mourning the loss of missing more of Natalie's first year, denial, acceptance, hope that maybe we would hear something sooner, to surprise, joy, happiness, and excitement today when Paul called me at work (yes, he was home again working on house projects, just like when we received Natalie's referral) to tell me that the visa approval notice arrived!! Next step - the call to travel! Hopefully within the next month we will get the call and head to Korea. Wow.

Despite the ups and downs this week, I have been feeling super-motivated to get things ready for Natalie's arrival. So, last night we put Andrew's new car seat in my car and turned his old convertible car seat to rear facing for Natalie. Seeing two car seats in the back seat is making it more real that Natalie is coming home. We also moved the changing table from Andrew's room to Natalie's tonight and put a newly painted dresser into Andrew's room. Andrew has handled all of these changes very well so far and even told Paul when we got home tonight that the second car seat was baby Natalie's. Soon, Lord willing as my husband always says, we'll be driving home from the airport with Natalie in her car seat. The week has been rough but today has been wonderful.