What we have learned about Korea

This isn't so much about adoption as it is about being in Seoul. I know I'm not the only adoptive mom who scoured the internet looking for tips about coming here. Apparently I didn't scour enough because I packed too much! 

Lessons learned:

1. Travel: If a flight gets delayed at all, no matter how long the layover or cushion you may have to a connecting flight, go talk to the airline people. No one wants to be stuck waiting for a flight that might get cancelled. The neck pillow that goes all the way around is awesome. Korean air is amazing. Delta is evil. 

2. Packing: Don't bring warm clothes to Korea in the summer. Most of us wouldn't be able to stand the sight of them. Do bring some laundry detergent to do laundry and save packing space. Don't bring tank tops because Korean women don't show their shoulders (though they DO wear tiny tiny mini skirts and 4 inch heels). Makeup is pointless because it sweats off. fixing hair is pointless unless there is some magical goo out there that is impervious to insane amounts of humidity. 

3. There's a Starbucks on just about every block in Gangnam. Coffee drinkers heaven. Also bakeries and 7 11, everywhere.

4. People don't tip in Korea. No tipping at restaurants or cabs or whatever. It's an insult. 

5. I just read this morning that people are not supposed to talk loud on the subway or bus. Also everyone should give up their seats for the elderly, but I don't see much of that happening. It's really not that hard to get around... Just read the signs. 

6. The best restaurants are the little hole in the wall places. They wait for you to flag them down to get your order. 

7. Koreans are friendly but they don't really want you to walk up and start asking about their life. Example: everyone on the subway just stares at their phone. They don't interact. People are very trusting though. 

8. If there's a big trash can next to the toilet, it's there for a reason. Don't flush TP. 

9. Pretty sure the water is safe, or I'm having a delayed reaction ;) 

10. The wifi egg rental is awesome. You can reserve it online at Olleh. Get it at the airport after customs. Worth every penny especially when lost in Korea.

Saying bye bye... for now

We had our third visit with Jonah Daniel today. We were lucky to get an extra visit because we stayed a few extra days. He met us at the adoption agency for some more play time. He only made it about 10 minutes without foster mom, so we can tell it's going to be difficult for him when we come back to get him. But as we have heard from so many other adoptive families and attachment experts, it is a good thing that he is so attached to his foster mom. He will be more likely to attach well to us. 

We left the cameras at the hotel today because we didn't want to be distracted by feeling like we needed to take pictures. We took a few on our phones but mostly focused on just being with him. He is a very curious little man. He likes to inspect every little thing within reach. We both took some time to walk around showing him everything. He really liked moving with the oscillating fan on the wall (mommy was melting as usual in Korea). 

We saw some other kids and adoptive parents and he just walked right up to them to see what they were up to. He was more chatty today but not knowing korean, I couldn't tell if he was using actual words or just babbling. His foster mom kept referring to us as Mommy and Daddy but we aren't sure if he knows what that means. Plus, mommy and daddy just left him behind, so I kinda hope he doesn't know what it means yet. 

After our visit, we got to go to his doctors appointment with him. Foster mom said he would cry when he saw the doctor, which is exactly what he did. Poor little guy knew a needle was coming before it even came out. It broke my heart to see him crying and have to leave him. Luckily he calmed down pretty quickly, gave us hugs, and waved bye bye to us as we left. 

It was a rainy day in Seoul today, which fit our moods as we left. We still have a full day in Korea before we head back but I don't really care what else we do now. Just want to get the next few weeks over with as quickly as possible. We're thankful for all the prayers and encouragement we have gotten. We'll just do what we've been doing... Stay busy and pray it goes fast. 

Jonah day 2

Argh..I hate it when I write the whole thing and it disappears!

We just got back from seeing Jonah for the second time :) I was feeling rough before we went but it was fine once we got there.
Today we met at the adoption office so we got to see all the toys from the pictures we have seen. Jonah is Mr curious, so he checked out every toy in the room. He seems to like the loud ones best- of course ;)
We got to spend time alone with him in the playroom just hanging out. He stayed with us for a while before he got sad about foster mom. He made this hilarious yet pitiful face when he was about to get upset-looked like he was about to sneeze.
He enjoyed taking pictures of himself on the phone and really liked the little Linus piano they had.   I TOLD Zach he would be musical ;)
We just played for a while and goofed off. I used Google translate to tell him stuff in Korean but he was totally confused where the voice was coming from. Ha! We got some snuggles but he just wanted to roam today. plus he was tired.
We had a chance to ask foster mom some more stuff and get sizes, so now we can go shopping! She asked what his name will be and I told her the story about my dream. Hopefully she will start calling him Jonah more :-)
Some other little girls came in when we were about to leave. He made one cry-already a heartbreaker!
Once again we didn't have to say goodbye. We get to see him one more time in a week so we can avoid getting all upset. I'm good with that. We're off to explore and find him some toys today.
It's almost 90 degrees and the humidity is 94%. Hoping we don't melt!

The day we met our boy

Well I'm not entirely sure what day it is but this is the day we met Jonah Daniel. I think it's Thursday ;)
We were supposed to meet him yesterday but our day of travel turned into 2 days.

THE NIGHTMARE THAT IS DELTA
First plane out of Louisville got delayed but we had a 5 hour layover in Detroit planned, so we weren't worried. Then it got delayed again...still not worried...Then they said we aren't sure it's going anywhere today. So everyone else had already gotten other flights to Detroit and we were stuck.
We stood in line forever and called delta and our travel agent but the best anyone could get us was a reroute to JFK and the red eye flight to Korea that left 8 hours after our originally scheduled flight from Detroit.
The good news was that we were flying Korean Air, which is very nice and more expensive. And that we got to the airport so early we were first in line when they finally opened the ticket counter at 9 pm and we got the exit row. The bad news was that Zach was sick the entire flight and was completely miserable. Good thing we were by the lavatory... He couldn't hold anything down. Not sure if it was the inner ear infection he has, a virus, or what. He's mostly better now.
So KOREAN AIR rocks. They were very nice except for the part where they woke me up to eat  ;). Gave us dinner and breakfast, snazzy slippers to walk around in, a toothbrush and face wipes, and lots of free movies. Zach didn't really enjoy any of it but I did.

Wednesday
We finally got here at 4am. Luckily they had rescheduled our appointment to meet Jonah because we would have been a mess. Delta never sent Zach's suitcase to Korea but Korean Air took care of it and got it here late last night. Another ding on DELTA. (Yes, they are going to get a strongly worded letter.)
Zach literally slept all day. I laid down for a quick nap at noon and woke up at 6pm. Oops! Glad we brought lots of snacks and some microwave dinners. Wednesday was a bust.

TODAY was wonderful.
We got up early (of course after those long naps), went to starbucks, and met our case worker at the office just up the street. Her name is Mimi :)
They took us right over to Jonah's foster family's home. He lives on the 4th floor of a building with no elevator.
Walking in, we had no idea what to expect. We had asked if it was ok to take pictures and videos but we were both in awe for a few minutes before we realized we should be taking pictures. We walked in and said hello and his foster mom literally picked him up and held him out to me. I thought we would have to lure him with snacks and toys (too much watching the little couple), but our kid is not shy. :-)
He just kinda looked up at me and gave me the Hey look. Not freaked out or anything. Just curious. I thought I would cry like a big baby, but I was just so happy to see him. I honestly don't remember much of the first few minutes except staring at him.
We brought him over to the couch and gave him some gifts... totally forgot to bring him toys! Mom fail! But we did bring him a little purple hippo that he liked and a Louisville snow globe....which is not really toddler friendly but he loved it. We brought him a little Kentucky t-shirt and foster mom stripped him down to put it on him.
Foster dad was not there but we saw mom, big sis, and big brother. Guessing big sis is around 13 and big brother is maybe 14 or 15.  They had a nice big apartment, but we never saw Jonah's room. Oops! Mimi told us that Jonah is their first baby and they really love him. Foster mom asked how I was feeling after seeing him and I said I thought I'd be crying but I was just happy. She said she thought she would cry too. So glad they love him but it feels weird to take him from them.
She brought out some snacks for us and we got to see how grown up he is. He drank out of a cup like a little gentleman. Of course then the toddler side came back when he ate a puff snack that he did not like and chucked it in his cup of milk. ha!
He showed us his foster brother's turtle and he did some chin ups on an exercise bar! Well his big sis helped him ;) he was a real ham-making goofy faces for the camera. He knew phones so we showed him the pictures and videos we have on our phones. He loved seeing himself and Shelby was a big hit.
After a bit we went outside because he likes to go out. He kinda showed us around his neighborhood, and threw a little temper tantrum when big sis wouldn't let him go see the kids at the school across the street.  He showed Zach the grass and flowers at the little park, and then we attacked Zach with foxtail tickles ;). We got some hugs and snuggles, and I continued my family tradition of giving him a zerbert (some of y'all call it raspberry) which I think he thought was weird. ;)
We only got to see him for an hour but we get to see him again tomorrow and possibly a third time next week a day or two after our court date.
It feels real now!

The rest of the day, we did some errands (exchanged our money, found the famous emart) ate the best pbj sandwich ever, took yet another way too long nap, and finally tried some Korean food. They gave us a menu with English but it just said the main deal... We had no idea there would be tons of side dishes. We tried a couple things but the BEEF was wonderful! They cook it right there at your table and it is awesome. Yay for bulgogi!

So now we're caught up. We bought more pillows today so we're ready for a good snooze. Jonah comes to us tomorrow so we will meet him either in the adoption office or the playroom in the guesthouse. Hoping to ask foster mom more questions this time. :-)
Not thinking about the leaving him part just yet...Just focusing on the part where we get to hug him :)