Day 7: Court

Today was our last full day here in Seoul and our big Court Day!!!!

Since we woke up fairly early and didn't have to meet at our agency until 1:20, we decided to do something fun (for me that is, maybe not so much the case for Casey). 

Casey again went for coffees at W while I got ready and then we took off on the subway for Namdaemun Market again. I just couldn't leave without buying SOMETHING there after all the awesome things I'd heard. 

This time we went straight to the children's area and bought several cute and unique things for Lola and a couple of things for Charlie (since I've decided he is built like a Korean child). 

We also got some more street food and then headed back to our hotel to get our fancy court clothes on. 

After getting ready, we met our TN friends downstairs in the lobby and then walked  over to SWS, where we got in a big van and headed to court. There were 8 total families there that day. Our friends were 2nd to go and we were 3rd. We had looked over a list of questions that they typically ask beforehand but had heard that court was fairly relaxed and pretty simple. We weren't really nervous until we walked in and sat down. It looked like a very clean and small version of our court rooms. The judge asked us a serious of questions including: 

How did our meetings with Lola go?

Did she look like the pictures that had been sent?

Did she recognize us when she saw us?

Why did we decide to adopt even though we have two boys already? 

Why did we choose to adopt from Korea?

What was our parenting plan?

Then, we heard the words "Heartland Worship Center"--that was the only thing she said in English. She asked us if this is a "normal" church or not. She then started asking about our support system and other adoptive families within the church. She asked how many. I think Casey got nervous or something because he said there were probably 30-40 adoptive families (probably quite a bit higher than the actual number at our church) in our church and about 3 families that we are close friends with that have adopted. The judge was flabbergasted with this large number and at this point we think she thought we were in a cult. There was A LOT lost in translation but I think we eventually got the point across that this was a large church and we had a lot of family support as well as support from our friends and church community. She ended by telling us that she wishes us a long and happy life with our daughter Yeojin. Phew! I'm going to be honest. I normally do well with public speaking, but Casey had to carry us through that court meeting because I was a nervous wreck. So glad that part is over! Now the wait begins for our Visa Court hearing date. We hope to hear something in the next couple of weeks.

So....after our court hearing, the agency told us we were on our own to get back to our hotel. Our TN friends waited on us and we all took the subway back to the hotel to change into something more comfy for dinner. 

We decided to head down the road to the more commercial/touristy area of Gangnam to eat. We actually hit up the Martial Arts store on our way and got Henry and Charlie some Tae Kwon Do outfits that Casey insisted they needed. I'm sure they will love them. 

Also, we needed to "Oppa Gangnam Style" for good measure. I think this might be our new family theme song! 

We then found a noodle restaurant where they hand roll these delicious noodles. Mmmmmm! 

As if that wasn't enough food, we then hit up a cake restaurant for dessert. We got a milk crepe cake, a chocolate cake and a cheesecake! Wow! They were outstanding.

Ta ta for now! Tomorrow we fly home!

 

Day 6: Lola visit

I'm a little behind on updates. Yesterday, Wednesday, we woke up hungry for a good and hearty American breakfast. Since Casey wakes up so early he went to get us coffees at W cafe again while I got ready. He got his standard mocha (Mr. Adventure right there) and he got me a plain latte, which was so unsweetened that I couldn't even drink it. 

Then we took off for Butterfingers Pancakes. It was a good ol' American breakfast and just what we needed to fill our bellies up before we saw Lola. We couldn't decide what to get because it all sounded so darn good, so we ended up getting the "Split Decision Platter". It hit the spot.

Next, off to see Lola at SWS. We arrived about ten minutes early and they put us in one of playrooms until she got there. I heard some people get off the elevator and then I heard the sound of little waddling feet running towards the playroom. There was our sweet girl. Omma and Appa had sent her in there to play with us, while they went to a different room. It started off great. We played with some of the toys, slid down the slide, and explored the room. 

Then..... Lola started trying to run out the door. We kept having to redirect her back into the playroom. After several times of redirecting her we decided to try and shut the door to the playroom to keep her in. Bad idea. That made her super anxious because she realized Omma and Appa were not there. The tears started to flow. I immediately opened the door back up and Appa came in to assure her that they were still there. Appa then sent Omma in, where she stayed with us in the room the rest of the time. We had an awesome time seeing Lola and getting to play with her, but it was definitely harder than the fist time. She was out of her element by not being in her home and she was also sleepy because she got up earlier than usual in order to get to our meeting. Further, she is very attached to her foster parents since she has been with them most of her life. I think we got a tiny glimpse of what custody day might look like. It made Casey and I both sad thinking about the grief Lola will experience and also the grief the foster parents will feel. You can tell how much Omma and Appa love our girl. Appa showed me some of the hundreds of photos he had on his phone of her. I am truly grateful for the hearts of this sweet family that has taken care of our sweet girl since she was less than 2 months old. I can't wait for the day when Lola is ours forever, but my heart is heavy thinking about the pain Lola, Omma, and Appa will all be feeling in about a month.

So, after playing with Lola for just over an hour we decided we needed to decompress over some coffee. Why not? It's the thing to do here in Seoul. NYC has nothing on Seoul when it comes to coffee shops. Probably 1 out of 3 businesses here is a coffee shop. No lie. This time we went to Topresso. I got a sweet potato latte (de-lish) and Casey actually ventured out ever so slightly and ordered a mint chocolate mocha. Baby steps.

Next, we got on the subway and ventured to Insadong. Insadong is an older area of Seoul that is known for their traditional goods and souvenirs. We really liked it here. We got some great street food and some really cool souvenirs for family. Plus, some Lady asked if Casey was 1/2 Korean while we were there so that was pretty hilarious and awesome. I always thought I was the one that looked the most Asian in the family, but it appears Casey has me beat. 

After a successful trip to Insadong we went to an Irish pub in Gangnam with another adoptive parent. She is actually staying the whole month or so until they take custody of their son. Her husband flew back home to work and he will rejoin her once they are notified of their visa hearing. We had a great dinner!

Dozing off now. I'm exhausted. Night night. 

Day 5: Traditional Korean lunch, Namdaemun Market, and North Seoul Tower

Today we both woke up at 3:30am. Casey never fell back asleep and I ended up falling back asleep for maybe an hour. Our bodies still haven't adjusted to the time change. No worries though...I'm sure we will get accustomed to it when it's time to leave Friday. 

After Casey grabbed us some coffee from W coffee, where he got his typical mocha and I tried a 7 grain latte (rice crispies + latte) we then decided to venture out around 8:30. We thought we would try and find an Emart or a Home Plus, which is suppose to be like a target or Walmart. However, stores don't really get going until 10/11 here so there was basically NOTHING open other than coffee shops and breakfast joints. We ended up grabbing some donuts and just walking around Gangnam exploring for about 4.5 miles. I got a pedicure and by the time we finished up there it was time to meet Jason for lunch. 

So......my Uncle Alex Azar arranged this meeting with Jason. My uncle formerly worked for Dako Corporation and Jason is the Country Manager for Dako Korea. 

He came to pick us up from the Hotel at 12:30 and drove us to a traditional Korean restaurant called Korean Grill Dining. 

This place was incredible. It was exactly what I think of when I think of a traditional meal. The walls are bamboo, each party sits in their own room, you take your shoes off before you go into your room, and then you sit in the floor to eat. He did all the ordering for us, which was wonderful because we had no idea what any of the stuff on the menu was. 

Everything is served family style. We started with some tea, kimchi soup, and a vegetable rice. Then, we ate some salad, some lightly friend eggplant, a seaweed ricecake dish, and a seasame soup (tasted like cream of mushroom almost). Then we ate a jicama slaw, another type of kimchi, and a pumpkin salad. Next, the main dish was heated over the warm coals in the center of the table. It was kind of like a beef stew. It had beef, rice cake, pumpkin chucks, onion, and peppers and it was all marinated in a soy sauce. Sounds strange, but it was delicious. Just when we thought we were almost done eating, more food came out. This time it was purple rice, a tofu soup, some other types of kimchi, and oysters (those were the only thing I wasn't a fan of....they had been marinated for 3 months and they were STRONG). I hope Jason didn't see the look of disgust on my face. Lastly, we were served a sweet plum tea as dessert. We were stuffed. What a neat meal! I know some of the stuff sounds very strange but it was all very very good (with the exception of the oysters) and I know this will go down as our favorite meal and an experience we will never forget. Jason was so incredibly kind. He took time out of his day to come and get us from our hotel, drove us to a very nice restaurant, paid for our meal, gave us a travel guide and some great advice about the city, and gave us several gifts. So very thoughtful. Thankfully, I had read up on Korean culture and thought he might bring us a gift so I brought him a gift as well--awkward moment averted. I still feel so grateful to him and that I should send him something else because he gave us such an incredible experience. Jason, thank you, thank you, thank you. And a big thanks to my Uncle A for hooking us up!!! 

After about 15 courses we headed back to the hotel for a few minutes then headed back out to explore. Jason recommended we check out Nangdanam market so we hopped on the subway and headed that way. Well, actually we bought tickets for the subway and just before stepping onto the subway we realized we were on the right track number but we were about to head south when we needed to go north. So 2 tickets later we figured out what we did wrong and hopped on the right subway. When I say subway most people think of fairly dirty subways like the ones you see in larger cities in the states. Not the case at all in Korea. There is actually a glass wall and door like the ones you see on trams for airports back home. And it was very clean. For that matter, everything here is spotless. To give you an idea, we saw a guy using a vacuum in a parking garage and another person using a dust mop on the front steps of a giant department store. 

Anyway, about 40 minutes after getting on the subway we found our way to the market. It's basically like NYC's canal street and a flea market had a very big baby. After walking aimlessly for a while we found a security guard who played a quick game of charades with us. Thankfully, he's good at charades because he was able to understand that I wanted to find the children's clothes. He pointed us in the right direction. The best way I can describe it is to say it was like they had taken every swanky kids clothing boutique (that Casey hates) ever made and had them set up their stores like The Shed over on the south side but with only 7 foot ceilings and about 1000 square feet. It was awesome! I think there were about 100 stores. 

Unfortunately, we arrived at 4:55 pm and they closed promptly at 5:00. Epic fail--Casey was crushed. The other problem was these weren't exactly bargains. Given the flea market set up we were expecting flea market prices. Not the case. We also expected some haggling. Also, not the case. One lady wanted $15 for a pair of sweat pants for Charlie. I offered $10. She countered with $14.50 and that was the lowest she was gonna go--"no pants for you"!

So after this deflating experience we headed across the street to Shinsegae Department Store. It looked like just another giant building from the outside but it was unbelievable inside. It had by far the fanciest food court I've ever seen. 

We stopped there for another caffeine fix then met up with our Tennessee friends, who are also here to meet their little girl, at the North Seoul Tower. It's sort of like their version of Seattle's Space Needle set on top of a mountain. BEST VIEW OF A CITY EVER! The pics on here are pretty cool but still doesn't do the views justice. It was mind blowing to see how vast this city really is. As amazing as it was, it makes me appreciate the small town and backyard I have that much more. 

After snapping some pics we hopped in a taxi and headed for some non Asian food. We found a pizza place on tripadvisor then held our phone up for the taxi driver to see. After pointing and grunting at our phone for a few minutes he figured out the address and took us to NYC Brick Oven Pizzeria. 

The pizza was awesome. An hour later we shut the place down (I know, we're party animals--I think it was 10pm). After a long day and about 10 miles of walking according to the Fitbit we headed back to our room for some much needed shuteye. 

Looking forward to seeing our little girl again tomorrow. We get to visit with her again at SWS at 11AM (6PM Paducah time). More fun to come...

Day 4: Meeting Lola

Wow, wow, wow. We have dreamt about this day for a long long time. The day we get to meet our daughter. Let me just say this, our expectations going into this were not very high. Lola has lived with her foster parents since she was around 50 days old and she is very attached to them, especially her "Omma" or foster mom. So, we expected some shyness, hesitation and clinginess to her Omma. Further, we are American and we speak no Korean whatsoever so we expected that Lola might even be afraid of us. Friends, God works in amazing ways and today He really showed up. 

We met our social worker/translator at SWS offices at 1:20pm. We went the 7th floor, signed some paperwork, and gave our gifts to our social worker and also the SWS staff. They did not open the gifts in front of us, as is very common in Korean culture.

The infamous SWS playroom where we saw the first pictures of Lola.

We then headed out via taxi to the foster parents home.

We've been a little anxious but the whole experience has felt more surreal than anything else. During the 50 minute taxi ride to her current home the butterflies finally showed up. Neither of us ate lunch so that probably didn't help much either. 

After rolling by miles and miles of giant buildings we turned into a short street that was basically a vertical ascent. The taxi dropped us off in the parking garage of a small apartment complex and we went up a small flight of stairs to the foster parents home. 

Without hesitation we knocked on the door and were greeted by a smiling Korean woman and OUR DAUGHTER. 

She was a little shy and timid for the first few minutes but she warmed up little by little and within 15 minutes she was smiling and laughing hard. We learned so much about her in that 90 minutes we were there. She is very observant and inquisitive. Everything we did she would immediately imitate. She makes many faces. She has lots of energy. Omma said that she started walking around 15 months but she was cruising and climbing long before that. She climbs on everything and even broke one of their chairs (she'll fit right in with our boys). She loves to eat. Omma says she loves meat like chicken, fish, pork, beef, she loves veggies and fruits and she loves sweets (that's my girl).   She is Miss Independent. She wanted to hold everything herself. She wanted my phone and anytime I'd try to help her she would push my hands away. Sassy pants!!!!

But the absolute best part....her giggles and laughter....well they are just infectious. I could listen to that all day. We blew bubbles and played peek a boo and Lola was cackling. Take a look for yourself.

I'm going to save the video of us first meeting her for our family only for right now. I'm so thankful for our translator for capturing this special moment for us. It's one we will never forget. Incredible, amazing, awesome, those words don't even do this day justice. Thank you Lord for this sweet day. We are already excited to see Lola again Wednesday.

We ended the day today by going to a Korean dinner with some friends we've met from Soddy Daisy, TN. They have two boys, ages 5 and 8 and they are also adopting a precious little girl. Sadly, we enjoyed ourselves so much and took no pictures. We plan to hang out tomorrow though so I'll try to remember then. It's almost 9pm here and we are exhausted. Night night.

Erin 

Note: This blog won't let me post videos, but I have some pretty amazing videos. I'll try and figure out the best way to share.