Santa's Christmas Prayer

The sleigh was all packed,
The reindeer were fed,
But Santa still knelt
By the side of the bed.

"Dear Father," he prayed,
"Be with me tonight,
There's much work to do,
And my schedule is tight."

"I must jump in my sleigh
And streak through the sky,
Knowing full well
That a reindeer can't fly."

"I will visit each household,
Before the first light,
I'll cover the world,
And all in one night."

"With sleigh bells a-ringing,
I'll land on each roof,
Amid the soft clatter
Of each little hoof."

"To get in the house
Is the difficult part,
So I'll slide down the chimney
Of each child's heart."

"My sack will hold toys
To grant all their wishes,
The supply will be endless,
Like the loaves and the fishes."

"I will fill all the stockings
And not leave a track,
I'll eat every cookie
That is left for my snack."

"I can do all these things Lord,
Only through You,
I just need your blessing,
Then it's easy to do."

"All this is to honor
The birth of the One,
That was sent to redeem us ...
Your most Holy Son."

"So to all of my friends,
Least Your glory I rob,
Please Lord,
remind them
Who gave me this job."

~ Warren D. Jennings ~ 

Chosen

I follow a blog called MPAK, Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea.  Today as I read the blog post, I cried.  He writes of a Christmas message he heard while visiting his parents. How true it is that we are all chosen by our Heavenly Father and adopted into His family and our lives are transformed because of this.

The Chosen Son - A True Christmas Story of Steve Morrison

This is a true Christmas story of my family in December 2004 that actually happened, and you have to read it to the end to understand the signifcance of the story. This story will tell you a little about who I am, and why I do what I do through MPAK.

 

It was first written in Korean, then translated into English. I heard that many people shared this story on other blogs, and some pastors have used it as illustration on their sermons. I am very privileged that so many have been blessed with this story.
 

 

The Chosen Son – A True Christmas Story

 

I will never forget the special Sunday of December 26, 2004.

My family was visiting my parents for the Christmas Holiday, and I had the opportunity to worship with my parents at their Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs. As members of the church, both of them had served at the church for many years.

It was the day after Christmas, and the church was filled to the capacity crowd. We dropped our kids at the children’s ministry, and my wife and I sat together with my parents to worship together. The church was predominantly white and there were around 1000 people, and it has been a while since we worshipped together. But ironically, the sermon on that day by the Pastor Wheat was on adoption.

 

Anyone who has attended some church services would have most likely heard about how God has adopted us through Jesus and given us the privilege to call Him the “Father”. The pastor spoke about the three important lessons on adoption. The first was that there is a transformation of our “special status”. That is, through adoption, an adopted child is entitled equally with the other children in the family the rights and privileges that the family bestows. Jesus Christ came to this world to give us that right.  

At the mentioning of the words “special status”, I thought about my parents sitting next to me. It occurred when they adopted me, I too underwent a transformation into a special status…from a lowly orphan to a son of great parents. This realization made me to be more appreciative of my parents while my heart was filled with gratitude.

Secondly, through adoption we have special relationships with the God the Father. The pastor claimed that adoption was God’s idea. Through adoption He has given us the right to call him “Father”. The pastor used an example where many adoptees become curious about their backgrounds and later ask the question“Why?” to the parents. “Why did my birthmother abandon me?” As many adoptees ask this question, they are often shaken by self identify as to who they are, and in some cases they fall into depression.

 

But the pastor stated that he has met many adoptive parents whose children asked such questions, and these parents have taught him some valuable lessons. The lessons came from what the parents said to the adopted children. They would say, “Do you feel you have been abandoned? We don’t fully understand how you came to be in this world, but one thing that is very clear to us is that we wanted you in the first place, and ‘we chose you’. Because of that you are more precious to us than anything in the world.” 

The pastor then stated that likewise, God has chosen us while we were yet sinners, and because He has adopted us, we now have special relationship with Him.

 

As I reflected on the statement, ‘We chose you’, I again thought about my parents sitting next to me. I thought about the hopeless days of living in an orphanage long ago. I also remember the time when my picture was featured on Holt’s newsletter at the end of my 13^th year.  

In that issue of the newsletter there were pictures of many other children needing homes, and most importantly they were all younger than me. My father looked at all the pictures of the children and his eyes caught mine, and upon seeing my picture, I don’t know what inspired him, but he said to my mother, “Here is the boy. Here is my son.” That day, far away across the Pacific Ocean in America, a man chose me as his son.

As I listened to the sermon I looked at my father. He was now 81, and he could hardly walk even with a cane as he was very weak. I wondered as he was listening to these words what thoughts were running through his mind? And what would my mother be thinking of? I became curious.
Likewise, they were probably wondering the same about their son Steve.

I was chosen and adopted, and through adoption I had a special relationship with them. I was able to experience their sincere and deep love for me. Because of this I was someone very special. My wife and I adopted Joseph from Korea in 2000. Someday my boy Joseph may ask the same question, “Why?” When that day comes I hope to answer him with confidence the words filled with strength and love.

 

The third lesson on adoption was that it renews one’s life. When God adopts a person, He does not try to fix the person up. He doesn’t take apart the wrong things one by one and fix them back. Instead, He renews the person. When I heard this, I realized for the first time that there has never been a time when my parents tried to take my bad habits or behaviors and put efforts to fix them.  

Of course it doesn’t mean that they never scolded me for my mistakes, but all I know is that they never gave up on loving me, and their kindness and love made a new person out of me. They accepted my weaknesses and allowed me to experience a new love, a new family, a new faith, a new hope, and a new dream.

It was evident the pastor’s sermon moved my mother immensely. After the service my mother got out of her seat and hugged me, and she buried her face in my chest and started to sob. I understood what she was going through. Mother held me for some time and finally lifted her face up to me. Her eyes were red and filled with tears streaming down as she said, “I am so thankful that you are our son.” And then she buried her face again and cried.

 

My heart was indescribably moved, and all I could do was to caress her shoulder. I said, “No mother, it is I who is even more thankful.” My wife was watching this whole episode and she took out my video camera and starting taking shots while tears streaming down her face. I was thinking, “How could she even think about shooting this scene at a time like this?” My wife’s tears were the tears of love. My father also came over and we hugged each other. In a trembling voice, he said, “We truly are grateful that you are our son, Steve.”

 

After the service, my mother and I, along with my kids Joseph and Helen went over to the pastor Wheat to thank him for the message. Later when our family was talking in the hallway, the pastor passed us by. While he was exchanging the greetings with my parents, I directed his attention to my father sitting on a chair, and said, “Pastor, this is the Dad who chose me a long ago.” Pastor Wheat exclaimed, “That’s Wonderful!”, and after exchanging a few more words he went on his way.

In looking back on that Sunday, I couldn’t help thinking about many things. Was our visit that day a coincidence? Or was it God’s will to bless me with this experience? Or how I was reluctant to drive from LA to Colorado for the Christmas, but my wife, who was at the time eight months pregnant with the fourth child, insisted that we visit my parents for the Christmas. 

There are many possible explanations, but I believe our trip to Colorado Springs that winter was divinely guided. It was God’s affirmation of how my parents chose me as their son, as well as God’s way of showing me His story on adoption. The Christmas of 2004 will always live in my memory.

Coming Home - The Longest Day

We awoke to a nice winter morning - cold, calm and sunny.  Around mid-morning, I looked at my e-mail and saw that my cousin Joe had emailed that North Korea had launched a rocket to commemorate our visit. Even though the e-mail was in jest, we're thankful it turned out to be a non-confrontational event at least in the short term.  It's  easy to forget that South Korea is still technically a country at war - the Korean War never officially ended.  A cease fire agreement in 1953 has held off fighting, but a peace treaty was never signed.  I hope war never breaks out again on the peninsula again, but we're especially thankful it didn't break out today.  As I consider the rocket launch, my heart breaks for the people of North Korea - their leaders are worried about missiles while millions are starving as their country decays.  (After I returned home, I started reading a book called Nothing to Envy, that gives an inside look into North Korea and the lives of everyday citizens - it's an eye opener).

Most of the morning was spent packing.  We ate leftovers for breakfast - last night's dinner, tangerines from Jeju, leftover breakfast from the previous morning, a bottle of formula (well, that was Alex anyway).  We didn't want to take it with us so we tried to clear it out.  Packing wasn't the easiest task as the kids were getting a bit stir crazy and Alex wanted to discover everything.  But we finally got it together and decided to head out for lunch.  We had heard about this fast food bibibap place called BiBiGo on the Kimchi Chronicles.  According to their website, there is a location at Gangnum station, one subway stop from our location.   Gangnum station is a fairly major subway stop with underground stores and shops so I figured we'd go there and walk around to see if we could find it.  I tried to look it up on Google Maps, but reading Korean Maps is not an art that I've mastered.  Just getting the address typed in correctly can be a challenge.

Watching gimbap being made at Gangnam station

So we set off for our one stop subway ride.  We arrived at Gangnum station and walked around for 10-15 minutes and couldn't find it anywhere.  By then the kids were getting hungry and tired and we decided that we'd go for plan B which ended up being a little restraunt where a lady was making gimbap at the entrance.  We ordered up five rolls and took them to go - most of it was eaten before we made it back to our subway stop.  On the walk back to the guest house, we stopped at a street vendor's booth to get a snack of sweet smelling waffle-like dough cooked in a peanut shaped mold with an actual peanut inside.  It was pretty good.

Waiting for KAL Shuttle with all our luggage

When we returned to the guest house, Dana inquired about getting a ride to the bus stop where the KAL airport shuttle picks up.  It's only a five minute walk, but with our 19 different pieces of luggage (that includes camera cases and kid's backpacks), it was going to be an interesting logistical challenge.  Luckily, the SWS driver was able to load up our stuff and take us down to the stop.  We arrived in time for the 2pm bus, but as we were unloading, the bus came by and decided it would be too hard or too inconvenient to stop and went right on by.  So we had to wait a half hour for the next bus.  Luckily, the stop is by the Renaissance Hotel so we took turns going inside to get warm, visit the restroom, and look at their Christmas tree, which was nice, but not quite the same stature as the Millenium Hilton.

Our ride to the airport was uneventful.  We all caught a few winks of sleep which is always a good thing when heading into a 12 hour flight.  We arrived almost four hours before our flight, but the Incheon airport is such a nice airport, I could spend half a day there without feeling too bad.  Even though its bustling with people, it has an overriding calm about it - I think it's the way its designed. 

It took us a while to get checked in since we had to purchase a ticket for Alex and we also asked if we could have a bulkhead seat so we'd have a little more space and a place for Alex to sleep.  In the bulkhead, they can attach a bassinet so a baby can sleep there and it's helpful because there is no one seated in front of you.  At first the agent informed us we'd have to pay extra for those seats, but Dana pleaded and the gate agent was nice enough to snag three of the "premium" seats for us at no cost.  Ben and I were seated in a window/middle seat 5 or 6 rows up.

Ian, a proud big brother at McDonalds in Incheon

After check-in, we looked for a McDonald's.  Ben wanted another bulgogi burger before heading back so we found the only McDonald's in the airport and got him his burger while Ian and Cami went for the exotic chicken McNugget and fries.  We took our time since we had arrived early and then we started our way through security.  We got stopped for a suspicious substance in our bags and I realized I made a packing snafu by packing our citron tea in a carry on instead of a checked bag.  It's a gel like substance so it had to go.  I couldn't even give it to the security person, she just tossed it.

By the time we walked to the gate, which seemed to be at the farthest end of the airport, our plane was ready to board.  We were standing around chatting with Nancy Fox from AIAA when the gate agent ran up to us and told us to board first since we had children.  Even though it was Delta (sorry Delta, that's not a compliment), we were in Korea and children seem to have a special place in the culture and their gate agent made the extra efffort to offered us this courtesy.   I know airlines offer pre-boards to families with children in the States, but I can't ever recall a gate agent going out of his or her way to tell us we could board early.  And the way the airlines are changing, I'm surprised those pre-boards haven't changed so that only Platinum Elite babies get the courtesy pre-board.

So you might be wondering why I titled this post the longest day.  Sure, it was a long flight with a toddler who didn't know us, but Alex really did well on the flight.  He fussed a little, but we averted long fits of screaming and he slept for a decent portion of the trip.  The reason it was the longest day was the way traveling east messes with time.  We left Incheon at 7pm and arrived in Detroit the same day at 6pm.  While it's cool to travel back in time, I wonder if the exhaustion of travel correlates with the time traveled?  If so, I think traveling back more than a few days would kill me.

The kids watching the fountain in Detroit's Terminal A

After arriving in Detroit, we had about 3 hours before our flight back to Milwaukee.  It took quite a long time to get through customs because of Alex - only certain agents could process his paperwork.  We then acquired our luggage and had a few people ask if we were moving back to the states.  Maybe we did pack a bit too much!  On the walk to our gate, we stopped at the fountain in the center of Terminal A.  By the time we arrived at our gate, they had started boarding - only an hour to go before we'd be back in Wisconsin.  The flight to Milwaukee was uneventful.  After we got off the plane, we were greeted by our friend Kristyna Wentz-Graff, a photojournalist and member of Families Through Korea Adoption - Madison (FTKA).  She was kind enough to snap pictures of our arrival home.  The picture at the top of our blog, where we are in front of the Christmas tree, is her work.

A welcome home gift from our neighbors.

After our photo shoot, we gathered the luggage, then Ben and I took a few pieces and got the car and brought it around to pick everyone up.  It was a cold, windy night, but we were warm and cozy in the van as we headed back.  While we enjoyed our time in Korea, it was nice to be back in familiar territory - well, geographically speaking.  Four children is new territory.

When we arrived home, we were greeted with a clean, warm house and a gift of cookies and a basket of fruit and bread from our dear neighbors.  It was hard to get everyone in bed as they were excited to be home, but we eventually got everyone in bed.  We then proceeded to bring in our luggage and throw our house into disarray while Alex reminded us that we were not baby proofed!

So that closes our journey to bring Alex home.  While the trip was exhausting, we are truly blessed.  We were blessed to have three wonderful children when we started our trip.  Blessed to be able to bring everyone along and spend two weeks experiencing Korea.  And blessed to return with four children.  We thank the many people who have been praying for us - we really appreciate the prayers and hope you continue to keep us in your prayers as Alex adjusts to his new home. 

The Day After

We made it through our first night with Alex.  Dana had the rough end of the deal as she slept next to him and comforted him when he cried.  I could hear his upset cry when he woke up - the emotions he must be feeling and not understanding is hard to bear.  I wish I could explain it all to him and tell him it will be alright, but only time will answer some of those questions and heal the pain.

So we started our day groggily.  Cami and I went for a little walk looking for breakfast.  We decided on a Paris Baguette place nearby and got a sampling of items for everyone to eat.  Despite the name, it is Korean based bakery that seems to be everywhere you find food.  The menu items don't scream "Korean food" as it is a bakery.  The favorite one was kind of like a pig in a blanket - a long sausage in a bread with slits.  It was over a foot long so they asked if I wanted it cut and they used a scissors to cut it into bite sized pieces.  Using scissors in Korean kitchens is quite common.

After breakfast, we slowly got moving and made the trip to Lotte World again.  On our previous visit, we had run across a little booth where you can rent hanboks and have your picture taken.  You pay for the hanbok rental and then you can take pictures with your own camera.  Originally, we had wanted to get portraits done by the photographer that did our gotcha day pictures, but with the cold weather our outdoor options were limited and we also had no idea how Alex would adjust and what kind of schedule we'd be on.  So we chose this option as the investment was less and we could do it more on our own schedule.

It took us a while to get all dressed up in Korean royal garb and as our family got changed, a crowd started to grow.  I'm not sure if a crowd gathers for all people who get their picture taken or not, but perhaps it was the cute toddler we had in tow.  I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with the fact that two, tall fair skinned Americans had four Korean-born children.  But it didn't matter and the pictures turned out well.

It's good to be king and queen.

After that, we got lunch at the Lotte World food court.  That was an experience itself.  The food court appeared to have several different restaurants  but we couldn't figure out to order food as there was only one place to order and it was not near the restaurant where we wanted our food.  Fortunately, the cashier explained the system to Dana.  You order at the cashier from any of the restaurants n the food court, they give you a buzzer, and then when the buzzer goes off, you go to the appropriate restaurant to pick it up.  So we got our food ordered and then found a place to sit.  Ben and I went to find a better place and while we were away, the buzzers started going off.  Dana, with Alex, Ian and Cami in tow was trying to figure out how to get the food when a young man who worked in the food court must have had pity on her and went to get the food for her.  When he returned, another buzzer had gone off and Cami handed it to him.  So we had our food delivered.

Ben's meal at the Lotte food court

After we finished, we weren't quite sure how to return the trays as it appeared you should return the trays to the restraunt where the food came from.  Since we hadn't picked it up and we weren't quite sure how to read the receipts, this could have been a challenge.  But once again, a young man appeared and cleaned up our mess.  I'm not sure if it was pity or sheer kindness or what, but we really appreciated that help and it's a reminder that whenever we see a foreigner from another country visiting the USA, we should do what we can to help them out.

With our tummies full, we went to the Lotte World ice rink for skating.  All the kids, with the exception of Alex, were up for trying skating.  However, Ian was still too young and Ben changed his mind at the last minute.  So it was Cami and I for some skating.  We both started out pretty shaky, but by the end Cami had really improved.  A few lessons or practices and she'd be proficient on skates.  While we were skating, Dana and the boys played a shooting game and visited the nearby Pororo stores.

Ian shooting to win a prize

Cami and Daddy skating

After we finished up skating and a bit of shopping, we took the subway back to our guest house, regrouped, continued packing, and then walked down the street to dinner at the place where we had gotten take out.  We ordered a variety of dishes.  The place is a bit small and fairly busy so we took up a fair amount of space and Alex was being pretty busy.  At one point near the end of the meal, he grabbed my bowl and flung it to the ground.  That was a bit embarrassing and a reminder that a split second of inattention with a toddler can lead to trouble.

On the way back we stopped at a convenience store to get some water and juice and then finished the short walk back to our guest house.  We did some more packing - trying to fit everything into a suitcase was a challenge - while getting everyone ready for bed.  Tomorrow we leave for home! 

We never really got organized in the guest house!  It felt like we unpacked so we could repack.

Gotcha Day

Note:  We aren't including any pictures of Alex in this post to comply with the non-public pictures of our child until the adoption is complete.  I'm looking at a few options for password protected photos or blog posts.  Stay tuned for more information.

Today is a big day.  We are changing lodging, meeting foster moms for Ben and Cami and then getting Alex. 

Before we left the Hilton, the kids wanted another dip in the pool.  So before breakfast, the kids and I headed to the pool while Dana packed.  Then we had breakfast and finished up our packing.  It was a bittersweet morning.  We were excited to add Alex to our family, but we knew our trip was quickly coming to an end.  Plus, we had become accustomed to the wonderful meals and great service and facilities (mainly the pool if you ask the kids) at the Hilton.  So after we finished packing, we made one last visit to the lounge for a snack.

We took a jumbo tax, which is a minivan taxi, to the SWS guest house, arriving just after noon.  We were assigned guest room 601, which has two rooms and two double beds with a common space.  In my mind, I had envisioned a different room when we made our lodging request, so this felt a bit small, especially with our mountain of luggage strewn all over.  But it worked and the location was great as it is about four buildings away from the Han Suh Hospital where we would get Alex.  So it would only be a short walk back after the hand off.

Our luggage filled up a good portion of our guest house space

Around 2:30pm, we headed over to the hospital to meet the photographer we hired to take pictures of the day so we could be part of the pictures and conversation.  We showed him the seventh floor where the handover takes place.  Previously, our social worker had told us that Nancy Fox, the director of AIAA, our international agency, would be at SWS on Monday.  Since we've never met her, we asked if we could say hi.  She popped out of a meeting where she was meeting children who needed a home and said hi.  We found out that she was flying back on the same flight as us and we joked that since AIAA technically has custody of Alex until the adoption is finalized that we'd be handing him over to her for the flight if he got fussy.

Our family with Nancy Fox, the director of AIAA, who happened to be in Korea during our visit

Next, we met with the post adoption services personnel on the 3rd floor to discuss a picture that had been taken of Ben nearly 10 years ago.  When Ben was just a little baby, maybe a few months old, his picture was taken with a Korean actress as part of a brochure SWS produces every year.  They are producing a 10th anniversary edition this year and there is a possibility his picture might appear in that publication.  In that meeting, they gave us the picture of Ben with the Korean actress.  We don't have a lot pictures of Ben when he was really little so it was a precious gift.

Next, we met with Ben's foster mother at 3;30pm.  It was like meeting an old friend with lots of hugs, kisses, and some tears.  Meetings like these are special because you realize how well cared for and loved your child was before being placed in your home.  Ben described the meeting as "overwhelming but exciting".

Our meeting with Ben's foster mother went beyond the allotted half hour, so we started our meeting with Cami's foster mother a bit late.  Cami's foster mother was excited to see her as well there were more hugs, kisses and tears and soon our time was up.

Now it was upstairs to the seventh floor for the "gotcha" part of gotcha day, or the day Alex becomes part of our family forever.  Coincidentally, Dec. 10th is also Ben's gotcha day.  So we were in Korea 9 years ago to get Ben.

When we walked into the room, Alex was already inside playing with the toys as were his foster mother and foster sister.  The social worker went over paperwork and questions with Dana and I while the the photographer snapped pictures and the kids played with Alex.  The room was full of chaos - 10 of us in a 10' x 10' room full of toys.  The foster mother and agency loaded us up with plenty of clothes, formula and snacks for Alex.  We also received a CD with a video of Alex's first birthday celebration called a dol, which is a big deal in Korea and something we were sad to have missed.  Alex was still feeling the effects of his cold and we were given a prescription with clear liquid for his cold.  He also had a little rash near his neck and we had some cream to help with that.  Nine years ago, when we got Ben, he had a cold and they gave us a red liquid for that and he promptly threw it back up so we were thankful this was at least clear.

Before long, the social worker was reminding us that it was time to leave.  After a few last pictures, we went to the elevator and headed back to the guest house.  Our photographer took a picture of our family in front of the rock that marks the guest house and then we headed upstairs.

We quickly figured out how busy Alex is.  He was in and out of every room pulling things out of suitcases, pulling things down, and playing in the toilet.  Ben, Cami and Ian were smothering him with love and I think at times he was just trying to get away.  But he was in generally good spirits.

Cami and I walked to a nearby restaurant for some Korean food - gimbap and mandu (dumplings).  The evening went quickly and soon it was time to get everyone in bed.  Alex didn't sleep very well and you could infer by his cry that he was sad, missing his foster mother and everything that was familiar to him.  Dana and Alex shared a room, while Ben was sleeping on the couch and got woken up from the crying.  Ian, Cami, and I were in the other room and while we still heard his crying, we managed to get a bit more sleep.  So that's the story of Alex's Gotcha Day

Still a Lotte to Do

Today is our last day as a family of five.  Tomorrow we will welcome Alex into our family.  So today, we headed over to Lotte World - a fairly long 15 stop subway ride from our hotel.  Lotte World is an indoor/outdoor theme park with the indoor part reminding me a bit of Mall of America's indoor attractions, but more comprehensive than Mall of America.  The ideas seem like a knockoff of Disney's - I'm pretty sure I saw Goofy out on their ice rink.  There's another theme park that is popular in the Seoul area called Everland, but that one is outdoors only so with the temps starting at 10 degrees in the morning, we figured the indoor option would be nice. We're not sure if Lotte World's outdoor portion was even open, but we didn't bother finding out.

We thought this was funny - socks in a vending machine in the middle of a mall!

The Lotte complex, which includes a Lotte Department store and other stops, is off the Jamsil subway stop - you don't even have to go outside.  We stashed our coats in a locker and went in.  We arrived not too long after opening and the park wasn't too busy and got on a few rides rather quickly.  Then we waited in line for about an hour for this hot air balloon ride that takes you around the roofline of Lotte World.  It was a fun ride, but the wait took its toll.  We grabbed a bite to eat at a hot dog place called New York Hot Dogs.  Most of the theme park food was very western - corn dogs, churros, popcorn, but there's a Korean twist in some cases.  For example, the hot dog called New York Hot Dog and Coffee had a bulgogi hot dot and a "w garlic crispy" hot dog.  Ben said the bulgogi dog was good and Dana enjoyed the garlic one.

Bulgogi and "w crispy garlic" hot dog at New York Hot Dog

Funny signs at the amusement park - no drunken ride and not allowed to pregnant are my favorites!

View from the balloon ride at Lotte.  We were in a balloon like the yellow one in the middle of the picture.

After lunch we rode the bumper cars and Ian did a few rides more for younger kids.  Then we went to the Korean Folk Museum in the park.  This is not the outdoor Folk Village in Suwon that we had considered visiting, but it gives a nice overview of Korea's history with some nice scale model military parades, palaces, and everyday life scenes.  There are also various Korean made arts, crafts, and souvenirs.  Near the exit of the museum, we saw a painter who turns your Korean name into a work of art.  We had him make a scroll for each of kids using the Korean spelling of their name.  The kids were enthralled watching him paint their names and wondering what kind of picture the artist would paint.  He painted a dragon on Ben's name, a tiger on Ian's and some love birds on Cami's.  We didn't get one for Alex because we weren't quite sure how Alex would be written in Korean and the artist almost spelled Ian's name wrong until Ben caught it and corrected it.

Getting on the balloon ride

After this, we started wrapping up our day.  We had all gotten chilly sitting and watching the artist paint.  Apparently, Korea has a national campaign to reduce energy usage and Lotte World is doing their part by keeping the temperature below 20 degrees Celcius which is less than 68 degrees Fahrenheit.  That's not bad when you're moving around, but gets chilly when you're sitting for a while.

Lotte World is open until 10 or 11pm, but we didn't want to stick around that long.  We went on one more attraction, a mirror maze.  Oddly, this attraction and several others that we didn't go on, required a special ticket even though we had purchased a "passport" that covered "Free usage of all facilities, Includes admission(Game attractions excluded)".  I guess the mirror maze was considered a game attraction as were several other attractions that didn't seem like games.  

Ian with the artist who pained his name in Korean -이안

On the way out, we stopped at a vendor and sampled a bunch of Korean treats - things that looked like rice krispy treats and other sweets.  We ate those on the subway ride home.  When we got back, I took the shuttle over to Itaewon to get my suit while Dana and the kids got a bite to eat.  Then it was off to bed so we could get ready to move on to the getting Alex and coming home stage of our trip.

Ben in front of the vendor selling Korean snacks

Shopping Saturday

Since we changed our hotel arrangements to stay at the Hilton until Monday, we didn't have to pack up and leave today.  We were trying to figure out the best use of our time since we had all day.  We thought about making the trip to the Korean Folk Village about an hour away or the Seoul City Bus tour.  Early in the morning, I took the subway down to the Han River to meet up with the Seoul Flyers running club for a 10k run along the Han River.  I met a bunch of nice people and ran with a guy from England named Matt and a American named Peter.

After I got back from my run, we still hadn't decided exactly what we were going to do.  The weather was pretty cold, so a full day of outdoor touring at the folk village didn't sound fun, so we decided to do a little shopping.  Namdaemun market, dating back to1414, is a five minute walk from the hotel, so we decided to go there and see what we could find.  There was a Starbucks, a bit more recent than Namdaemun on the way, so it took a little longer.

Starbucks near Namdaemun

We've shopped at Namdaemun  previously and even gotten a few deals, but today we weren't having a ton of luck with good deals.  The kids found some items they liked and ended up buying.  Ian got a pair of angry birds earmuffs.  Ben got a bomber hat.  Cami and Dana got scarves.  Even though we dressed in layers, the cold weather was chilling us to the bone.  We went to the underground market at Namdaemun for a bit to warm up, but then Ian fell asleep and we quickly decided to head back to the hotel.

Some earmuffs Cami didn't buy at Namdaemun

Ian with his Angry Birds earmuffs

Dunkin' Donuts Korean Style

Ian woke up as we got back to the hotel so we decided to catch the shuttle to Itaewon so I could pick up my suit, but we missed the shuttle by a few minutes and didn't want to wait around another hour.  So we headed over to Seoul Station to check out the Lotte Department store.  On the way, we stopped at a vendor selling hats and mittens and both Dana and Cami found cute winter hats at a better price than the vendors at Namdaemun.  Then we got sidetracked by a Dunkin' Donuts and since we've been telling the kids we would stop sometime while we were in Korea, we figured this would be a good time.  Finally, we made our way over to Lotte and shopped like a Korean, which is pretty similar to shopping like an American except there are different products with Koran labels.  We didn't really buy that much, but we picked up some teas, a few snacks, a Pororo spoon and chopsticks set for Alex, and a Pororo car set for Alex that Ian is testing to make sure it works ok for him.

After Lotte shopping, we took the subway to Itaewon.  My suit was finished and fit great, but they had misspelled my name in the embroidery on the inside of the suit, so they said it would take another day to fix that.  At Manchester International, the place where I purchases the suit, Ben found a hanbok he liked and Dana got a Korea t-shirt.  Then Cami and Dana went back to a purse place they had visited previously and bought matching purses.

Cami and Dana with their matching purses, new scarves, and cute hats!

Ben and Cami with new hats.

We took the hotel shuttle back from Itaewon and the kids and I headed to the pool.  The pool has been one of their favorite activities of the trip and they'll miss it once we move out of the Hilton.  They are disappointed when a day passes where they aren't in the pool.

Even with most of our shopping done, there's still a Lotte to do.  We're planning to head to Lotte World, an indoor/outdoor theme park kind of like Mall of America/Disneyland tomorrow.  Stayed tuned ...

Meeting Alex

Cami and Ian waiting in the SWS waiting room

Today we met Alex.  After over two years of waiting, the day was finally here.  It was a bit rough getting everyone up early, which is probably the first time we've had that problem since we've been in Seoul, but we managed to get on the subway and fight through the rush hour commuters to make it to our agency SWS, before 9am.  The social worker had us watch a short promotional film about SWS and their mission and then we loaded into a van and headed to Alex's foster mother.  It was snowing so the drive was a bit slow and Alex's foster mother lives in a hilly neighborhood, near the bottom of some steep roads.  The driver wasn't comfortable driving down the roads and I wasn't comfortable with him trying so we walked down the road.  Near the bottom of the road, near the bottom of the hill was Alex's foster mom with Alex strapped to her back in a carrier called a podaegi.  I think she was more sure footed than all of us without babies on our backs.

Alex's foster mother with Alex on her back

Our meeting went well.  Alex didn't seem apprehensive about meeting us at all and enjoyed playing with the kids and laughed when we played peek a boo with him and picked him up and played with him.  He had just gotten a cold so his nose was runny and that grossed out the kids a bit when he sneezed out some boogers.  Oh, how life is going to change for us all!  Alex seems pretty easy going and good natured.  He has been walking for a few months and is quite mobile and likes to move around.  The foster mother set out some oranges and cookies for a snack and he loved to grab the food and shove it in his mouth.  He still takes a bottle and if we got the translation right he wakes up to eat twice during the evening.  I hope we misunderstood that answer.

So I know you're probably wondering about pictures of Alex.  The agency has requested that pictures are not posted publicly until the adoption is final.  So, we can't put them on the blog since this is available to anyone.  However, if you would like to see some pictures, send Dana or I an email and we'll send you a private link to view some pictures.

After we returned to SWS, we got on the subway and headed back to our new favorite restaurant, a little gimbap and noodle place at Seoul Station subway exit #9.  We ordered 6 rolls of gimbap and everyone ate their fill. 

Since it was cold and snowy out and everyone was worn out from getting back from Jeju and then meeting Alex, we had a low key afternoon in our hotel room.  The kids and I went swimming while Dana organized our luggage.  Originally, we were going to transfer to the SWS guest house on Saturday morning, but a friend gifted us some additional Hilton points so we decided to extend our stay until Monday morning so we wouldn't have to move again so quickly.  As Monday is the day we meet Ben and Cami's foster parents and get Alex, there wasn't going to much time to do any sightseeing so moving our transfer to the SWS guest house on Monday just made good sense.  Plus, the packing and repacking gets old and the Hilton has been such a nice treat that it's hard to leave.   So we'll be here for the weekend and then Monday our life will change forever.

Jeju Tour - Day 2

View from our Jeju Hotel, note snow on ledge!

Our Jeju adventure continued today.  As we awoke this morning, we looked out our window and saw snowflakes!   So much for going to Jeju to enjoy some warmer weather.  However, Seoul had quite the snowfall and it was colder, so I guess we were lucky.  The weather in Jeju apparently changes quickly.  Shortly after the snow, there was sun.  That happened to us several times during out two tour days – it would be raining and we’d drive a few miles and then we’d have sun.  When the sun was out and the wind was calm, it felt very nice and we even took our jackets off for a bit.  But when the rain started and the wind picked up, the damp cold brought a shiver.


 

Since we were leaving after our tour, we got all packed up and ate our leftover pizza and lunch for breakfast.  Our room had a fridge so we were able to save those items.  Our first stop of the day was the Jeonbang Waterfall that falls directly into the ocean - the only one in all of Asia.  Ian fell asleep on the way so he totally missed that attraction.  But we’ve got pictures to prove he was there and when he’s older he won’t remember it anyway.

Jeonbang Waterfall

Ian asleep at the steps of Jeonbang Waterfall

 After the waterfall, we drove to the Seosokkak Lava Estuary.  This is a canyon-like creek bed formed by flowing lava from previous eruptions of the volcanoes that formed Jeju.  This flow is unique because half of it contains fresh water and half contains salt water.  The fresh water comes from rains and can be quite full after a heavy rain or it can dry up completely in drier weather.  There was just a bit of water in the freshwater side as we were not in the wet seaspon.  The ocean side always has water and we could see people kayaking and fishing in this area.  A short walk from the estuary is the ocean and a black sand beach.  The kids enjoyed playing in the sand and throwing rocks into the ocean.

Ben on the rocks at lava estuary - ocean water is in the background

Black sand beach at Seosokkak

Next up we drove over to Sunrise Peak in Seonsang (also called Seonsang Ilchulbong).  It was way after sunrise and it wouldn’t have mattered anyway because it rained for much of the trip there and was cloudy when we arrived.  Dana and Ian ducked into Starbucks and grabbed a latte for her and a hot chocolate for the kids to share.  As we made our way up the 182m peak, it started to rain/sleet/snow, but at least it was a peaceful rain without much wind.   

Sunrise peak - where the sun?

Starbucks in Seonsang - for all the Starbucks lovers out there!

After our good workout climbing the peak, we stopped for lunch.  Our guide, Victor, ordered a few dishes for us to try - fish, bibimbap, and a seafood dish that kind of looked like a pizza or pancake.  We probably wouldn't have ordered the fish on own, but we're glad it was ordered as it was very tasty.

Lunch - fish

Lunch - seafood pancake/pizza

Lunch - Bibimbap

Before piling into the van, we walked over to the shore and noticed some women with live sea creatures near the shore that were waving for us to visit them.  These are the famous haenyo, or women divers of Jeju. We went down to investigate and the woman wanted to sell us an octopus.  She was ready to cut it's head off and boil it up for us; or we could eat it raw if we preferred.  While we didn't buy the octopus, she did let the kids touch it and play with it.

Homeschool curriculum for 12/6/12 - Biology - anatomy of the octopus

After our sea creature adventures, we moved on to the folk village in Seongup.  This is a living museum as the houses are still inhabited by actual residents.  We learned through Victor that the government subsidizes the replacement of the thatch roofs and that the residents don't pay any taxes in exchange for preserving the historic nature of this area.  The houses are made of volcanic rocks and covered with thatch roofs.  Properties are outlines with the ubiquitous volcanic stone fences.  We saw some black pigs and a cabbage patch as we walked through the area.  And near the entrance, there were some of the island's oldest dol harubang guarding the entrance, dating back to the 17th or 18th century.

Seongup Folk Village - people live in the houses so there are interesting contradictions like a thatched roof and a satellite dish.

Old dol harubang or "guardians" at the entrance to the folk village.

Our time in Jeju was quickly coming to an end, but we got one last taste of Jeju at the Seogwipo traditional market.  Vendors were selling all kinds of seafood, fruits, vegetables, food, clothing, etc.  We only had a few minutes to spend there so we couldn't take it all in, but it was quite the sensory experience.

Traditional market in Seogwipo

Our tour ended at the hotel.  We had a few minutes before we had to leave for the airport and the sky had cleared so we could see Mt. Hallasan.  We went to the hotel roof and got a picture, then got a ride to the bus stop and caught a bus that took us back to the airport.  

View from atop Jeju Eco Suites - Mt. Hallasan in the background

We had a bite to eat before catching our plane back to Seoul.  The kids were exhausted from all the touring and the kids all fell asleep.  Rather than take a train back to the hotel, we grabbed a cab to the hotel and checked back in.  To our surprise, we were escorted to the room by the manager on duty and our room had a bottle of wine, fruits, chocolates, and cookies waiting.  Before leaving on Tuesday, I had written a note of thanks to the manager complimenting the staff and they were so appreciative they gave us this extra special treatment.  I must say, that if you are ever in Seoul and want to stay in a first class hotel, the Seoul Millennium Hilton is a wonderful place to stay and the attentive, accommodating staff is what makes it so special.  However, I'd recommend saving up your Hilton points for the stay (or have someone donate some to you) as accommodations are not priced like a Hampton Inn.

It took a while to get situated after our travels and we got to bed later than hoped.  Not quite what we had in mind before our day of meeting Alex, but we'll take the sleep we can get and tomorrow we will meet our son!