Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Here we go again...

I guess this is just a funny reminder of how when you think you have things figured out... life sometimes throws you a curve ball.

I guess the search continues.

I received a note from Jan at Dillon.  As previously mentioned, Ms Park requested that KAS (Korean Adoption Services) do another search on my birth mother with the limited information they have.

Apparently they found a woman matching the name and birthdate and sent her a telegram. The woman's husband signed for the telegram.  (see the update below)

While this update was a surprise for me... my first thought is with this woman.  Whether or not she is my birth mother... I hope the telegram did not create a rift in her life/marriage.  Ironically today I celebrate 14 years of marriage with my husband.  I hope she is in a strong marriage. I've heard too many stories of women who have lost everything when their husbands find out about the unknown child that was adopted out.  Again...this brings shame into a household.  My head is full of questions now.  I wonder if she'll ever even see the telegram.




Dear Ms. Dunn,

As you know that Jennifer visited Eastern on Oct. 8th.  She was with her friend (Korean adoptee) and friend's birth family members.  While Jennifer did the file review, her friend was there as well.  I explained her what has been done regarding the birth search and I told her that I asked KAS to re-try to search the birth mother.
I have received the reply from KAS this week.  I've got the one woman's registered address who has same name and same birth date as the birth mother.  I haven't confirmed yet whether she is the right person who we are looking for since the name is quite common for her age.  At the time of Jennifer's birth, the birth mother lived in Seoul.  But this woman lives in Gyeongsangbuk-do which is more than 3 hours away from Seoul to Southeast.

I have sent the telegram forward to the address I've got from KAS, and the mail man said that the husband received it.  His name is different as the birth father in the file.
I hope the telegram will pass onto the woman who we want to contact and will be able to hear back from her.   I will keep you updated on this.

Thank you.

Regards,
Park, Yoon-kyung

ESWS


I guess the search continues...and we wait.  But, this time my heart is a little more guarded.

Love and Joy,
J

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Day 7 - Friday 10/11 (Goodbye Day)

Last night's Karaoke experience was an absolute hoot.  It was so different than American Karaoke.  Olivia had fallen asleep so Noel sent me off with our nephews and Kun-Onni and Kun-Hyunbo.  It was just down the block so we walked.  

When we reached our location we walked up a staircase and I saw strobe lights from a room and you could hear people singing.  I had no idea what I was walking in to.  We walked down a little farther and entered the room.  A small room.  A private small room.  HUH?!  Ya...in Korea you rent your own Karaoke room and sing as many songs as you can within the time frame you pay for.  Ya, I'm not doing this.  LOL!  A gentleman brought us a bunch of Cass (Korean) beer.  I'd better drink up.

Kun-Onni sang first.  She sang a traditional Korean song and sang it beautifully.  I was really enjoying the experience.  Until all of them started on me.  "Jenny-pah...you go!".  Ummmm, No.  Thankfully I'm a good sales person and was able to pass the mic by introducing the next singer after each song.  "Aaaannnd..ladies and gentleman, I am proud to introduce our next singer...JunHoooooooo!".  JunHo sang "I believe I can fly" and actually crushed it.  Minus a few mispronunciations....he sang that song!!

We had a blast.  Brought to you by Cass Beer.  ;)




We got home a little after midnight and stayed up a little longer spending time with each other and laughing.

The next morning both Noel and I found ourselves to be subdued and trying to maintain our emotions.

We enjoyed our last Korean family meal.



We got in a few extra hugs.


And headed out to the airport.




We all walked to the security line before we gave our last hugs and had to say our final goodbyes.  





This is when I lost it.  I child cried.  You know when you can't catch your breath and sob in big heaves.  I tried with all my might not to as I didn't want to embarrass myself or anyone else with this display but I couldn't help it.

It was was so hard to think of leaving this country, the land that gave me life.  And to leave this family, that also gave me so much.  It was just an emotionally draining departure.



 
As I was starting to feel like I was gaining my composure (after through getting through the first security line)...I heard a slew of "Jenny-pah, Jenny-pah" and turned to see our family waving and smiling and Ol-Kay with tears running down her face.  Ugh...I lost it again.  And a few more times on the plane.



This trip...this journey...this week was everything I could hope for and more.  I am so thankful for the things I learned, for the growing I did, for the family I gained, and the friendship that became stronger.

Thank you, Noel, for being an amazing travel-mate and for sharing your family with me.  You are an amazing soul and I am honored to call you my sister!  xo



Love and Joy,
J

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Day 6 - Thursday 10/10

It was a late night for us, but we all 3 slept until 7:30/8am.

I woke up with a slight twitch under my left eye and it was pretty annoying.

The weather started out cloudy (just long enough for us to sleep a little later) and then got sunny and nice.  I'm seeing a trend here... we had a fun day.

We enjoyed our usual yummy Korean breakfast.  One of our last.  Ugh.


(this dish is one of Noel's favorites...sardines with beans I think.  See the eyes?)
After breakfast we showered up and got ready for our Korean Hair salon day.  I've been told by a few people that you HAVE to get your hair done while in Korea.  Especially if you want something done special...like color or what they call "magic straighten" which is basically like a Brazilian blowout except they have perfected it for Korean hair.  Contrary to belief...we don't all have thick beautiful straight hair.  Take for instance Noel and I.  She's got curls for days.  All natural.  I have funky kinky curly wavy hair.  Again...natural.  And seeing that the Koreans have figured out how to straighten hair without damaging it, we can't be the only ones.  Anyways...if you want to have your hair done well...go to people who really know your hair.  People with the same type of hair.

You don't make reservations here.  You just show up.  Yeah...that's crazy.  Kun-Onee and Ol-Kay stopped at a few salons to make sure they could take us.  When we found our place we sat down at at consultation table and they brought us coffee and water.  Then they asked us what we wanted done.  Noel was super excited about getting her hair magically delicious.  Sorry...I always sing that commercial in my head when we talk about the magic straightening.  


(before)
I wanted some highlights.  Er, I mean...my hair is naturally pretty with multiple colors from the sun.  I just wanted them to enhance it a bit.  Ahem...so anyways.  There was some communications challenges.  This was making me more anxious by the minute.  I tend to be rather picky...er I mean...sometimes people around me don't quite do things the way I would do them.  *Ok, clearly...the lack of sleep is catching up to me*  But, having people work on my hair without knowing exactly what I'm getting and without me being able to properly communicate exactly how I wanted it was really stepping outside of my comfort zone.  I finally turned to Noel and said, "Ok...I just have to just chill and relax.  I can always fix it if I hate it.".  My eye was twitching all morning and Noel's reponse was, "You just need to relax and enjoy this experience".  What a wise sister I have.  ;)  About 5 minutes later she asked how my eye twitch was and it had disappeared.  Hasn't been back!  Woot!

I just relaxed and went with it.  It was pretty interesting.  The stylist has an assistant with her to help with everything.  And the assistant does the hair washing.  The assistant even helped blow dry my hair.  Imagine two women standing by each other...both working on their own side of my head.  Princess J?  I think so!  I wanted some blonde and redish brown highlights.  They actually foiled the blonde first.  Washed it out.  Deep conditioned.  Then put the red foils in...and repeated the conditioning.  My hair actually took longer than Noel's.  I'm not sure why they foiled differently.  It seemed inefficient to me but I got two killer head rubs during the shampoo process so I was starting to think I should have added a 3rd color.  :)



(They did more of an overall head foil than I'm used to...but I think it looks good.  This pic looks lighter than I think it is.  The bottom looks more like it.  I think...I haven't seen the back yet actually.)



We didn't get out of there until 5'ish.  Oofda.  But, both Noel and I are happy with our new do's and it was a fun experience.  Have I mentioned the Chagen-Oppa has been our chauffeur this entire trip?  He has the patience of a saint.  And I've got to tell you...the myth of Asian drivers is bunk.  The streets in Korea are so tight and it is beyond impressive to see the navigation of parking in small spaces with big or small vehicles.  Chagen-Oppa gets an A++ for his driving maneuvering.  He even backed up through a crazy tight windy alley.  I would never have attempted it.  The car would have been abandoned for sure!

After we left the salon we went to the market so Noel and I could buy a few items we enjoyed while here.  This was a bad idea...as Kun-Onee emptied her closet giving us clothing and gifts.  Noel had offered me her extra bag and had to take it back to bring back all her goodies.  My luggage is jam packed.  And I'm doubtful I'll make the 50 pound limit...but since our first leg is international...I'm hoping it's 100 pounds.




Our last dinner here... I can honestly say that I will miss the kimchee even though I filled my face with enough for myself, Kari, and Jan from Dillon.  ;)




Later on we are supposed to go tear up some Karaoke.  Our nephews just arrived so hopefully they will come with us.  Should be fun.  Plus the more people that come with should make it easier to sneak away from having to sing.  To be continued...

Love and Joy,
J

Observations...

Here are just some observations and things I've learned while being here:


  • Koreans tend to smack when they eat their food and slurp loudly when they eat hot soups.  The slurping is a technique of breathing in and blowing out with your teeth to cool off the liquid/food.  I tried but could not get the technique down.  I'm not sure if the smacking is a sign of good food, if Koreans aren't concerned with the noise, or if it's because of another reason.
  • Some Koreans (especially women) will go to great lengths to keep their face shaded and not get tan.  Being dark complected used to be a sign of working in the fields and not having a white color job.  It is still frowned on now.  I'm kind of hosed in that respect.
  • Noel said she was very surprised with how westernized Seoul has gotten. Koreans have gotten bigger and the style has become very U.S. like.  
  • The Korean language is beautiful to listen to (in my opinion).  It flows very fluid like with round sounds vs. harsh tones.  Reminiscent of the french language.
  • Women are getting surgeries to give them larger looking eyes and to add a deeper eyelid fold.  They wear their makeup to enhance the look of their eyes to look larger like American eyes.  The woman at the salon today even had contacts with larger irises to make her eyeballs look larger.  It's almost to the point of looking like anime.  This bums me out.  Asian eyes are what gives them character and distinctly different from other races.  It is what many times gives us the "exotic" look that people say we have.  Maybe it's easy for me to say this because I was born with bigger eyes with eyelid folds, but it still bums me out.
  • Koreans tend to be night owls.  
  • Koreans like to throw up the 2 fingers in picture poses.  In America this means peace.  In Korea it means victory.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Day 5 - Wednesday 10/9

My brain has had a hard time shutting down here.  The visit to the nursery really effected all of us.

I woke up at 2am.  Noel woke up at 3am.  And Olivia even stirred crying in her sleep all night long.  At one point she woke up crying and said something.  Noel told me the next morning that she asked where her birth sister was.  She thinks she was referring to the babies in the nursery as she had a lot of questions for Noel.  "Where are the babies Mommys?", etc.

Noel gave me about 77 pills with naturalistic relaxing elements in it and it did help me fall asleep finally around 4am.  Poor Noel did not fall asleep at all.

Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day and like the day before…it was appropriate for the day ahead of us.  

We headed in to Seoul around 1pm after another family Korean lunch.  Noel is going to slap me for saying this…but I wouldn't be surprised if I come home 5 pounds heavier with all the food we've been eating and I haven't worked out once since we got here.  (I love you, Noel! ;)








Seoul is a magical place.  It's high energy puts Vegas to shame.  We headed over to Dongdeamun...heaven for anyone who likes to shop…literally 5 districts of shopping.  Shopping centers, outside shopping venders, a food shopping area…pretty much everything and anything you can think of.




At some point during the trip I was admiring some Louis V bags and Ol-Kay even offered to give me her bag.  This family is beyond generous.  The first place we headed was to find me a Louis.  It took some running around and Chagen Opah to barter a good deal for me.  I didn't want to pay real Louis money but the bag I wanted looks pretty dang convincing.  I was a happy girl.

The entire day the family wanted to make sure that Noel and I went where we wanted to go and asked if there was anything specific that we needed or wanted to see.  Our nephews, Minho and Junho, were such gentlemen and carried all of our bags for us all day, and sometimes even our purses and Olivia.  :)



Somehow the day turned from 1pm to 7pm and it was after 9pm when we finally sat down to eat at a restaurant in Seoul.  Noel's family feeds us so well that I never have a chance to get hungry and most of the time I have to force myself to eat so they don't worry or get offended.  They ordered us some soups.  All of us got a big black bowl of steaming hot soup.  Noel and I had a beef soup with what we found out was beef cartilage.  Oye.  We looked at each other…ok...We're trying it.  And it actually wasn't horrible.  It was almost like a thick chewy noodle.  The rest of the family had soup with what looked like huge dumplings.  And…of course... we just had to know what was in those dumplings.  They replied with a Korean word and then pointed to their elbow.  And then promptly offered us some.  Sometimes I wonder why I have to ask so many damn questions.  :)  My name is Jennifer…and I ate elbow soup.  LOL…actually it wasn't too bad.  Tasted like chicken.  (that was for you, Noel)



After dinner we were getting ready to walk back to the car finally...it was late and we were all tired.  There was street vendors out.  One was a Caucasian girl singing both American and Korean songs.  The next one we passed was a man who was creating asian scrolls.  This is something that I had read you could come across.  I really wanted to get my Korean name and some souvenirs for friends and family of their names in Hangul (Korean writing) so I was very excited to see him.  Noel (she fits right in with the generosity of this family) stopped the family so I could get one done.  Unfortunately it turns out that he was writing what appeared to be Japanese letters.  No Hangul.  Ole Kay and Chagen Opah tried to get them to write my Korean name (Kim Young Ae) in Hangul but he refused.  The script still looks neat.

As we were walking down... we noticed another street vendor who had drawn portraits all over his tent.  Chagen Opah talked to him for a little bit and all I could understand was "Kim Young Ae" over and over.  He asked me to sit and before I realized what I was agreeing to... he told me to sit still.  What seemed like an eternity...he was finished and he had written my name in the lower right hand corner.  He asked me to write my American name on top of it.  Wish I think messed up the whole picture as it didn't really belong...but it was kind of a fun thing to have from my day/night in Seoul.




We finally got home after midnight and got ready for bed.  After we laid down the siblings asked Noel to come in the other room.  They had purchased some things for Olivia while out shopping.  Anything child related (clothing, toys, etc) is really expensive.  Again...this family is beyond generous.  

Noel's phone starting chirping so I popped my head out to let her know just as I started hearing a flurry of them saying my name (Jenny-pah is they way they pronounced it...I just LOVED hearing them say it :).  They all asked me to come and sit with them.  They were using google translate to help with the conversation and showed me their phone which said, "Jennifer is family".  They told me that I am their sister.  Now the baby of siblings. 

This journey has opened up so many emotions for me and really made me yearn for a connection to the Korean part of me.  And it's funny...I made this trip 12,000 miles away to find out about my past and to ultimately find my Korean family.  And I did.  It doesn't matter that they are not my own birth family.  They consider me blood and are embracing me as their own.  And I'm touched, honored, and feel the same.  I've been careful to make sure that Noel was comfortable with all of this as I know she missed out on many years with her family and would never want to get in the way of her ever blossoming and evolving reconnection to her own past.  And she has been amazing...happy to welcome me as family as well.  I can't help but feeling blessed.  I responded to the family with my own google translate saying, "Thank you for being so welcoming and that I had found my Korean family after all."

This would be our last night together as an entire family this trip.  It was very bittersweet and both Noel and I were just trying to keep it together.  They kept telling us not to cry.  Koreans don't like to cry.  God, I am so Korean.


We stayed up until after 2am laughing and spending our last moments together. 

I really am thankful for this experience and it feels like fate was right to delay my trip so that I could experience it with Noel and meet her family...now my family as well.

Love and Joy,
J

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Day 4 - Tuesday 10/8 (Korean Adoption File review day)

We all slept really good last night and it was much needed for the day that was in store for me.

The weather outside is cloudy and rainy…and appropriate.  

I forced myself to eat some breakfast but my stomach was queazy in anticipation for my meeting at Eastern at 10am.


(Picture of Eastern Social Services office.  Note the banner message)

We got there exactly at 10am, but there was a small delay in our meeting so one of the social workers asked us if we wanted a tour of the nursery. Naturally we did.  That tour will probably change my life forever.  It was like coming full circle from the last time I was in Seoul.  Tears escaped the minute I walked in the room and saw of the sweet little bodies and faces like mine.

A Caucasian woman who was with 4 Korean kids and her husband approached me. She saw my tears and tried to comfort me.  She said she did the same thing the first time she came through the nursery years ago.

We couldn't take pictures or touch the babies.  They said to hold them we would need special aprons but they didn't have enough at the time.

There had to be about 15-20 small infants and another 15+ babies less than a year old.  The social worker explained to us that the Korean adoption laws changed about a year ago which has changed the process a lot.  Babies stay in the system for about a year as they go through the system.  They are understaffed and in need of volunteers to help especially with the small infants.  It was such a helpless feeling to see the newborns wiggle and cry and not to be able to comfort them.  And my heart wanted so much to hold them, load them with kisses, and to tell them that life was going to get better for them.

They, in fact, are the lucky ones.  I asked the question...and the answer will now haunt me forever.  I asked what were some of the biggest changes in the new adoption law.  The response was that parents now have to give a lot of information about themselves before they can put a child up for adoption.  They've done this to protect the adoptees who later in life want to find out about their past.  The challenge is now the people that are too ashamed to consent to the extensive paperwork are left with no choice but to really abandon their child.  So much so that they now have abandon baby bins.  Think about this… baby bins.  You put your child in a bin and walk away.  My heart can't take the thought of that.  And to add to this sad story... If proper paperwork is not filled out and you are abandoned, you cannot be adopted out. That child is left to grow up as an orphan in the system. Even as I type I can't help the flow of tears.

When we left the room I completely lost it and just wept.  I wept because I was once one of those babies in the rows and rows of cribs full of other babies.  I wept because it hurt to see crying babies with not enough people to comfort them.  and I wept because babies are being left in bins because their parents can't care for them and now there is too much red tape to put your child up for adoption without shame being brought on your family.

Ol-Kay grabbed me and hugged me and we wept together.  It was one moment in time that I'll never forget.  

The rest of the day I found that I was having an inner struggle within myself.  My self-protection mode has always been to take difficult memories, put them in a box, and store them away somewhere deep within myself.  I know it's not exactly healthy and those memories do tend to fall off the shelf and smack me upside the head sometimes.  But, I also wanted to remember every detail of the day.  Because while it was it was difficult and emotional… it was an important day.

After I was able to compose myself I met Ms Park.  She was just as sweet as Kari told me she was.  



(Ms Park and myself)

She explained that she didn't have enough room for all of us to meet, but Noel and I wonder if she might have been concerned that Ol-Kay and Chagen-Opah would have seen information that she could not share.

Noel, Olivia, and I followed her in to a small conference room and she went to grab my Korean file.  It was a manila folder that really wasn't that thick.  She explained that Dillon was established in 72' or 73', so I was one of the first adoption cases that went through their program and back that long ago they weren't as organized with information as they are now.

Much of the information was information that I have copies of from my US file, but the new information I did learn was that I was born at 2:30pm on 3/20/73.  When you are adopted many times the date is estimated, but it was confirmed that 3/20 is indeed my birthday, but not only that…they had my time of birth and that I weighed 2.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds).  The file also had not only my birth mother's name, but also my birth father's name.  He was in the Korean Army and both of their last names were Kim.  Unless my father was mixed with something else…I am full blooded Korean.  Contrary to the intake notes from the orphanage and most everyone else who has their own suggestions for what I'm mixed with.  I forgot to ask was if my birth mother named me or if the orphanage did is.  Many of these details I had to ask to get.  I don't think they realize how important how even what would seem like small insignificant details are so important to us.

I also learned that the midwives clinic's address where I was born was in an area called Bogwangdong (near Itaewon) in Seoul.  She couldn't give me the address, but the midwives clinic has since closed anyways.  She gave me a map of Seoul and marked the area I was born, the orphanage, and where Eastern is now.  It was helpful to see all of this information.

I tried to get the names of my birthparents several times but by law she couldn't give it to me.  She said she would make a request with the KAS (Korean Adoption Society) who works with the Korean government to get permission, but it was highly unlikely they would agree.

In my file was a letter written by my birth mother stating some brief information about who she was and that she could not afford to care for me and therefore was relinquishing me to the care of the Midwives clinic to be put up for adoption.  She signed this on 3/22/73…2 days after I was born.  I'm not sure if she held me or got to see me, but she was at the midwives clinic for 2 days recovering before she left.  I asked to take a picture of the letter.  I told her it was probably the closest I would ever be to my birth mother and she said it had her name and my birth father's name on it, but she would be willing to make a copy and cover the information I couldn't have.  I left with a copy of the letter.  It's not a lot…but it was written by the woman who gave birth to me.  It's something.




My file also had my post adoption forms which I had never seen.  They were reviews written by someone doing a post adoption home study and some of the comments were very enduring.  Saying that I was a very happy thriving child and how my parents were so in love with me and how happy they were and wished to adopt another child from Korea (which they later did).  Ms Park told me I could get copies of those reports from Dillon.

After the review of my file, Ms Park gave us a tour of the rest of the facility.  She also explained to us that they have a division that helps single moms now.  They had a cafe called "Eastern cafe" that employs single moms to help them learn some vocational skills.  I was touched by this.  It's nice to know that there are services that try to give mothers a choice and tries to help them keep their children if at all possible.  

When we were preparing to leave we ran into the same Caucasian woman who spoke to me in the nursery.  Her family was from Arizona and she brought her 4 Korean adopted children with her.  I was crying again (my day involved many tears) and she once again tried to comfort me.  I can't remember what her question was but I told her this was my first trip back.  She said, "Oh, is this your first adoption?" and I explained to her that I wasn't adopting. I was the one adopted.  And her eyes filled with tears and though I can't remember her exact words now…she basically told me how grateful she was for the 4 Korean adoptees she had and how much they had changed her life.  One of her Korean daughters was standing with her and I touched her arm and told her that her Mom was a special person and she was blessed to have her.  It was a nice way to end the experience like that. 

After we left Eastern's facility Chagen-Opah and Ol-Kay treated us to a tour boat ride on the river downtown Seoul.  I was able to take some nice pictures but it was bittersweet as it was rainy and time to reflect on what had just transpired that morning.  I again found myself crying.  

Despite having an emotional day...I was surrounded by good people and felt very blessed to have such great support and comfort.
(Noel, myself, and Ol-Kay)

(Danielle and Olivia.  Danielle insisted on posing like this.  He cracks me up!)








After the boat ride Noel suggested we try to find the area of my birth and it turned out that we were very close.  We stopped and I took some pictures.  Because I didn't have the actual address… I took a picture of a random door.  I guess any door in that area could have been the door to the location of where I was born.  






We were trying to find the area of where the orphanage was but I think we were all getting tired (it was close to 4pm by then) and I told them to please not worry about it and we should go home.

Ol-Kay has such a big and kind heart.  She called a friend of hers that speaks some English and put me on the phone with her.  Her friend told me that Ol-Kay was very sad for me and that she was sorry that I could not get enough information to help me find my birth parents.  She wanted her friend to comfort me.  I am very touched by the kindness I've experienced here.

There are little options now with respect to a continued search.  They all involve social media, TV, Youtube, and the like.  I'm conflicted with how I feel about it.  I am not sure I want to keep this painful process open with such little chances of a reconnection.

Chagen-Opah is now reviewing my adoption file.  There are some pages that have all Korean in it…perhaps he'll see something that new information.

Do me a favor.  Hug your children and/or your parents tightly tonight.  As I continue to learn…blood is important.  Family is important.  Don't take it for granted.  I'm cyber hugging my parents and children/husband tonight.

Love and Joy,
J

(edit:  I uploaded pictures from the camera, so will be adding pictures to this and other posts)

Monday, October 7, 2013

Day 3 - Monday 10/7


Today was a rest day. Well, it was supposed to be, but our little 4 yr travel-mate decided to wake up at 3am. Oye. ;)  It's a good things she's so stinking cute.

We hung out until early afternoon and then Chagen-opah picked us up and took us in to Inchon for lunch. 

They brought out a small burner and a pot with broth and fresh seafood and veggies. The seafood included: clams, shrimp, octopus, crab legs, and snails. 

Noel told me her first trip out she told herself she would try everything presented to her. And she did. And some of the items she was most hesitant to try are her favorite Korean foods. I loved her idea and decided to follow suit. 

Um. Until today. I just couldn't pull of the snails. I tried. I really did. I ate around it trying to get myself pumped up for it, but I just couldn't. It just looked too much like a snail. Ohma pulled it out of its shell and  put it in my bowl. It kind of taunted me the rest of the meal. I did eat the octopus and I pulled the head off the shrimp and ate that so I think I should get half credit, don't you say? ;)


(Chagen Opah, and Ol-kay)

(silly Danielle)

After lunch we were in the same boardwalk area that we had dinner last night so we walked down for a little bit. 

Some people were feeding the pigeons and seagulls so they kept circling around in hopes that they would get some food thrown out to them. 




It was overcast but still a beautiful day. 

There is such a sense of peace and tranquility here. In all honesty it is going to be hard to leave. 





After the board walk we went back to Seoung Nam and ate dinner and then packed fresh clothes for our overnight stay at the Grand Hotel in Seoul. 

(The blur in the picture is Danielle. He doesn't sit still very long usually. :)

We arrived at the hotel around 9:15pm. It's very nice and has a western bathroom. I can't believe I haven't written about this sooner...but Korean bathrooms are very different. The shower area is in the same space as the toilet and sink. Imagine a sink and toilet in your shower. Yes, everything gets wet. It's a trip. Kari had actually warned me about this before my trip and I have to admit...it's been a teensie (ok, a lotsy) source of anxiety for me. But, though it's very different...it works and wasn't as traumatic as I had imagined. LOL

(Korean bathroom)

Tomorrow I have my Korean file review at Eastern at 10am. It is supposed to be with Ms Park (the person who has been communicating with my contact at Dillon in Tulsa). Hopefully we will all sleep well tonight and be rested for this meeting. I don't think I can pull off another 3-4 hour nights sleep. 

I'm hoping for a few extra pieces of information. Wish me luck. :)

Sweet dreams!


Love and Joy,
J