Enjoying Seoul

Yesterday we got in some great sightseeing. We've been waking up quite early, ready to go. But, have to wait until things get started. There doesn't seem to be many shops, marts, or even coffee shops that open early but, everything stays open late. This gives us some time to update the blog and get in some computer time.

Our hotel is great! Everyone speaks pretty good English and are more than gracious. The concierge almost laughs when we approach because we ask so many questions about getting around before we venture out. :)

We started out the day taking the Hotel Shuttle to a subway stop about six blocks away. Since it was raining, we decided to take the shuttle rather than walk. It's been raining pretty steadily since Monday afternoon but, luckily it's a light rain and we can still get out without getting soaked. We took the Subway to Gyeongbokgung Palace. This is a sprawling palace just on the edge of downtown Seoul. It's beautiful!



After walking around the palace for awhile, we decided we were going to walk over to Insadong, a nearby market. We knew it wasn't far but, it was quite humerous trying to find our way there. We just kept asking until we got there. Our last inquiry was at a nearby hotel. We finally found the entrance behind the "big brush"......ahhh the "big brush". We were so excited when we spotted it.

Insadong is an artsy neighborhood of Seoul that is known for it's huge market. It was pretty empty when we got there. I think because of the rain. By the time we left, the rain had let up a bit and it was packed. We shopped and just browsed around. The people were all so accomodating and welcoming. We stopped for coffee and then lunch after a few more hours of shopping.

This market seems to attract a young crowd. The tweens seem to like us American tourists (or maybe they are just laughing at us....ha! ) . They would wave, giggle, say "hi" or "hello" and then giggle some more as they ran away. We even had some older students ask us if they could interview us for their English class.

Here they are posing after KJ's interview.

After a great afternoon of shopping and taking in the culture, we walked back to the Subway and then walked back to the hotel for a short rest. We needed it after all that walking around.

Our next stop of the day was the Seoul Tower. This is a great sightseeing spot at the top of Namsan mountain. You can see all of Seoul from the tower...every direction for miles and miles. It's incredible.

On the gates and "lock trees" surrounding the tower, you'll find thousands of upon thousands of "love locks". People place locks on the gates symbolizing that they will never seperate.....locked in love forever. We knew about the locks and hoped to place one on the gate for our two children. Sadly, we didn't bring any locks with us. I guess we just assumed we could buy locks there but, couldn't find any. We hope to make it back to the tower but, not sure if we'll be able to.

One of the highlights of the tower, is the observation deck. That's located in the big dark circle you see near the top of the tower in the pictures.

Here are some pics from the deck...

While we were up in the tower, we decided to go ahead and have dinner in one of the restaurants located up in the sky :). We chose a great place that serves Italian cuisine...yes, Italian....although we love Korean food, it was nice to have something a little different. Pictures of this restaurant could not do it justice. So, we took a little video, you'll see below. Our tables were attached to the windows facing out to the amazing view the entire time.

After dinner, we headed down the tower and we're delighted to find it all lit up.....just beautiful!

It was really an amazing day.

We are saving all our pictures here. There are quite a few so, you probably don't want to bore yourself. But, if interested...feel free to check them out!

Quick Rewind back to the Flight

It was a bit of a whirlwind when we got into Seoul and we were so very tired so I didn't get a chance to post this earlier.
Our flight experience was quite nice. We flew Korean A*r. This airline is incredible. If you're like Kirk and I and have a really hard time sleeping on a plane, you'd wish every airline was this accomodating. Some of the highlights include warm, scented towels before meals, full meals with actual silverware, a large selection of TV shows, Music and movies, and slippers and toiletries. The flight attendants are always walking around offering juice, water, snacks and wine with dinner. Since we didn't get much sleeping in, we watched quite a few movies and really enjoyed our Korean meals in the air.

Our Flight Tracker 10 hours in ....almost there..

KA is known for their eloquent and prestigous flight attendants. They are extremely beautiful and very gracious. Here are a few pictures I pulled off the internet. They really all look exactly like this and keep those heels on the whole flight. :)

If you're going to be on a long flight, this is the way to go. We know our flight home is going to be much different and much less relaxed but, we are not complaining and looking forward to going home with our beautiful new son and to see our sweet little lady.

We met our Son!!!!!

Wow, I don't even know where to begin. We are filled with so much happiness right now. Our first meeting with Jackson (Yongkee) went better than expected.

We arrived at Eastern way earlier than we anticipated but, we had no clue our hotel was a short 10 minute cab ride away. For some reason, we thought it was more like 45 mintues away. But, we planned our route to Eastern after a 12 hour flight and no sleep for 24 hours. We will venture out later today and figure out the subway for future trips and sightseeing excursions. We were a little nervous about getting there early. We had been told by other families that there is really no waiting room if you arrive early....which is true because they are so busy at Eastern. Babies, Foster families, new adoptive parents, are constantly coming in and out. What wonderful, amazing people these Social Workers are. They are just go, go, go. Anyways, we decided to just to go in and see if they would take us early. This worked out quite nicely, they let us fill out our paperwork and then sit with a few other couples while we waited for our turn to meet our son.

When we first walked into the room, he was scared and clung to his Foster Mother. It was very clear, he has a tight bond with her. She is so loving and happy and full of life. She quickly tried to hand him off to us and kept exclaiming "Omma" (momma) and "Appa" (Dadda) but, he was having none of this and wouldn't stop crying. So, she went and pulled in his Foster Father and and to our surprise, his Foster Brother...we had no idea he had a foster brother....more on that later...we really hope to find out who his adoptive family is at some point. That little boy is going home to his family next month.
He then sat in FFather's lap, he seems more attached to him. FFather pulled out some snacks and I pulled out a toy car we had brought. After some more crying and questionable stares to us, Jackson started to calm down a bit and just looked as curiously for awhile. His Foster Mother took this opportunity to pass on some information about Jackson. She said he is very smart and loving. He likes to wake up early and is a great eater. She said he has been calling our pictures Omma and Appa and points to his Gracie's pictures. She then pulled out FOUR jammed packed albums filled with pictures of their time together. We couldn't wait to get back to the hotel and scour through them. We have looked at every sweet one. It is so clear how loved this sweet boy is and was during all the time they have been together. Words can't even begin to express the gratitude and love I feel for this family.....so amazing!!
After playing and snacking while keeping us at a distance. He started warm up and run around with his foster brother. They are really sweet together....all boy. We took this time to jump in and get close to him. You'll see from the pictures, he was feeding us his snacks (oniony Funyun type rings and baby cookies) and getting close with his toys. I also tried some Puffs and Yogurt bites we had bought but, he didn't want them. We are going to pick up some recognizable snacks for him before Friday. He was sure to keep his Foster Family in his view but, but we got some smiles, laughs out loud, and even managed to grab some quick hugs before we left.

Enjoy these pics, I know his hair is going to bring you some smiles.




Not so sure of us yet...(look at those cute spikes)


Warming up to Daddy..

feeding Mommy...

...and playing

Sat for a bit in Daddy's lap....

Starting to smile and move around happy...

he loves to smile for the camera.. "Kimchi"
:)

and play some more..

Our meeting was pretty short today because we had to head into our meeting with Dr. Kim, the director of ESWS. We sat in the Chaplain room with eleven other families and two Korean Adoptees. She gave us some background on Eastern and adoption to the States and Australia. She talked about the baby hospital; which we learned is currently holding 5o or so babies :( until they are placed with their Foster Families; she discussed the push for domestic adoption and why this is difficult. We then ate lunch at Eastern with the other families. We enjoyed this time. It's so neat to hear other's stories and how they were led to Korean Adoption.
We meet Jackson again on Thursday morning with his Foster Family and then on Friday morning we will pick him up. He will spend Friday and Friday night with us. We fly home mid-morning on Saturday.

Happy Mother's Day to my Amazing Mom and all the wonderful Mommies I know!

Travel Call!!!

We got it yesterday! We are so very excited and nervous all at the same time.

We will be leaving this Saturday and meeting Jackson for the first time on Monday (which just so happens to be my birthday, not that I get excited about birthdays anymore.......but, what a day that will be)

I know I will never forget Mothers Day or my bday 2011. We are all Smiles today...

EP APPROVED!!!

Our son's EP has been approved!

We received an email from our Social Worker yesterday stating that our son's Emigration Permission has been approved and we can expect to travel to bring him home within the next 3o days!! She recommended we start looking at airfare and hotels. If all goes smoothly, we will be in Korea sometime in early May!

Today I am pretty calm and good with it all. Yesterday my mind was completely spinning. I couldn't concentrate on one thing. I kept coming back to the computer to add to my multiple lists.... lists of things to pack in Jackson's bag....lists of gifts to pack for Korea...lists of purchases to make....lists of little informative things to leave behind for the Grandparents that are staying with our Gracie.

We are so very excited!!

Daddy / Daughter Dance

My Princess and Her Knight in Shining Armor at the recent GS Daddy/ Daughter dance. They had a wonderful time together and with friends from our troop.

GOOD NEWS and I've Decided..

...to try and become a better blogger. I've been doing some reflecting lately and took a look back at when I started this blog...1st post. I started blogging because I thought it was an easy way to track fun family events that we may want to look back at one day. I had no idea at that time that this would also be where I kept track of our adoption process. In looking at pictures in some of those older posts, I can remember exactly what treatment we were going through or where we were in the adoption process. But, I really didn't document much of that. For a very long time, I was pretty quiet about both of these processes. I guess because I was so afraid of the uncertainty that came with both. But, what I know now and am so certain of is we are one step closer to the next big step in the Adoption Process! Yippee!!!....a huge step closer to being able to go get Jackson.Today we found out we have been submitted for EP (emigration permission). This is what we have been waiting for for MONTHS. This is the document on the Korean side that had to be submitted for things to "start moving" again. We now wait for this permission to be approved. Once this is approved, we wait for our son's passport to be issued and his Visa Interview to be scheduled. It's so exciting to finally say that we can start counting down the wait in weeks rather than months. Our SW could not give us an exact timeframe (as with everything else in this process) but, her best guess for all of the next steps ... 6-8 weeks....early to mid May for Travel.. Yeah! I really hope things stay on track and everything goes smoothly.