We're home, but I've had 3 hours sleep in the last 36 hours. Rai is doing great and was a real trooper through most of the day. He was overly tired on the plane which made for an incredibly noisy hour of so. Even still, we are thrilled that the 12 hour and 45 minute flight, not counting the one hour standing in line at immigration, is finally over.
Mom, Dad, and Donald met us at the airport wearing the family shirts in Hangul and English characters. I haven't seen the pictures but will post them when I have a little more sleep (hopefully) tomorrow. Rai's internal clock is totally off. He did get a few naps in today, but he was really sleepy by late afternoon. We did take teh advice from several adoptive parents and tried to keep the house well lit. When he got really sleepy, we brought him outside for a good 30 minutes in the front yard. Unfortunately, the tricycle we picked up at the garage sale is too big for him (can't reach the pedals). He's all giggles for the most part, but that doesn't mean he isn't grieving. It just may take a little more time. From bath time to bed time only took one hour, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that he'll have a good night's sleep.
If all goes well tomorrow, I'll have pictures up and a few cute videos. Thank you for all the advice and words of encouragement! Now off to bed...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
We have Rai!
I'm still in shock. Rai's appointment at 3:30pm went so smoothly. His foster father was there, and although we didn't get the greatest picture of everyone together, it is still neat to have one and finally meet him. The foster father watched Rai during our instructions, and luckily, I audio taped the social worker's (SW) instructions. SW read our letter in Korean and we all cried. It was so heart breaking!
When we walked over to the foster father and Rai with our Holt bag in hand, the foster father was holding Rai until one of the women who worked there picked up Rai and put him into my arms. (SW thought Rai would have a fit if we tried to walk with him in the carrier since he was wide awake.) When we walked outside, the foster father and mother kissed Rai, said good-bye, and walked toward the car. SW said goodbye as Aaron and I held Rai's hand (one on each side lifting him up and down) all the way to the cross walk. He was laughing since it was a bit of a game, and he was great all the way back to the room. We did try to keep him preoccupied with songs and other things to make him laugh.
Once we got back to the room, we set Rai down and PLAYED! It was so much fun to see him run around without one of us holding on to his arm to watch out for traffic, people, etc. We got him down for a nap around 5pm, but he slept 3 hours far too long for this time of day. (It's quite hard to wake a sleeping baby who's missed a nap!) He had a bottle, nap, and quiet play before he started laying down. Two hours later and he's still going. That's ok though. I'm still packing, and it's just the start of the day in Texas.
Since it's late, I'll post pictures when we get home. Have a good night (or morning)!
When we walked over to the foster father and Rai with our Holt bag in hand, the foster father was holding Rai until one of the women who worked there picked up Rai and put him into my arms. (SW thought Rai would have a fit if we tried to walk with him in the carrier since he was wide awake.) When we walked outside, the foster father and mother kissed Rai, said good-bye, and walked toward the car. SW said goodbye as Aaron and I held Rai's hand (one on each side lifting him up and down) all the way to the cross walk. He was laughing since it was a bit of a game, and he was great all the way back to the room. We did try to keep him preoccupied with songs and other things to make him laugh.
Once we got back to the room, we set Rai down and PLAYED! It was so much fun to see him run around without one of us holding on to his arm to watch out for traffic, people, etc. We got him down for a nap around 5pm, but he slept 3 hours far too long for this time of day. (It's quite hard to wake a sleeping baby who's missed a nap!) He had a bottle, nap, and quiet play before he started laying down. Two hours later and he's still going. That's ok though. I'm still packing, and it's just the start of the day in Texas.
Since it's late, I'll post pictures when we get home. Have a good night (or morning)!
CITY TOUR! Shopping, shopping, shopping...
April 28, 2009
As you can see, I'm way behind on the blogging, so I will keep this short. We had our city tour on Tuesday, and our three tour guides were great! All three volunteer with Holt and try to keep families together throughout the tour. Our tour consisted of three families: Aaron/Me, Kim (our fellow Texan), and another couple adopting through Holt.
Deoksugung Palace
Our first stop was Deoksugung Palace. Although we weren't able to view the changing of the guards, the palace alone was very impressive.
The building on the left is a museum.
The king's and queen's quarters. Yes, they had separate living areas and bedrooms. The tour guide from the Chongdeokgung Palace joked that they believed at the time that men and women were very different and should, therefore, live in different areas.
A peak inside...
When our tour guide said they did not use nails for any of these buildings, Aaron and I looked at eachother in confusion. How? It looks like they used grooves with wooden "nails" that fit through the slot. Even so, most of the walls do not show this type of construction, so we are still puzzled.
I think we puzzled the tour guides asking questions about these two figures. We still don't know what they are.
I am in awe of the great care for trees we have seen while in Korea. One of the oldest trees in Chondeokgung Palace was supported in the same way as this tree in Deoksugung Palace.
A Japanese show was broadcasting outside the temple, so we were not able to take any videos or pictures. I nearly fell to the floor laughing when I recognized one of the Japanese talk show hosts (a man dressed as a woman) from a talk show my mom and I watched while in Japan last year. Sorry, Mom - no pictures :-(
Aaron thought it was interesting that some of these tall office buildings had windows that open.
Namdaemun Market
We picked up several things for Rai at Namdaemun during the second part of our tour. There is only one Korean cartoon charcter that I have seen since we've been here - Pororo! Pororo is a penguin and has several friends who are different animals. While in Namdaemun, we picked up a Pororo backpack (very cute) and three DVDs of Pororo teaching English and a regular cartoon episode series. We also picked up Kung Fu Panda in Korean which had been "out of stock" on the Asian version of Amazon for quite some time.
Insadong
Had I known the amount of tourist shops in Insadong, I would have come much sooner! I did nearly all of my gift shopping in this one hour time span and bought several things for the house and Rai's room. After a short trip of shopping, our tour guides led us down an alley to a great bulgogi place for lunch. It was GREAT and CHEAP (less than $5 per person for a serving that should really feed two)!
The other couple had a doctor's appointment for their child at 2:30pm, so we headed back to Holt a little early. Kim also had several appointments that afternoon, so Aaron and I relaxed and started packing what we didn't need (less than 24 hours until we let Rai loose in the hotel room). Later that evening, Kim and I were crazy enough to venture out to Insadong again (by taxi) while Aaron took a power nap. (The poor guy was so wired after such a busy day yesterday that he didn't sleep.) Kim and I remembered that we saw the big souvenir shop as we were leaving Insadong, so we went back to look inside. After all, this was our last day to shop before the focus shifted purely on our children. It was amusing to see the Helllo Kitty section of the store (i.e. Hello Kitty in traditional clothing, such as a hanbok). Once we finished the last our shopping, we found a McDonalds, and having heard of a Bulgogi Burger, decided that our trip just wouldn't feel complete without trying it. As it turns out the burger takes like a pork patty with bulgogi sauce, not as exciting as we thought.
As you can see, I'm way behind on the blogging, so I will keep this short. We had our city tour on Tuesday, and our three tour guides were great! All three volunteer with Holt and try to keep families together throughout the tour. Our tour consisted of three families: Aaron/Me, Kim (our fellow Texan), and another couple adopting through Holt.
Deoksugung Palace
Our first stop was Deoksugung Palace. Although we weren't able to view the changing of the guards, the palace alone was very impressive.
The building on the left is a museum.
The king's and queen's quarters. Yes, they had separate living areas and bedrooms. The tour guide from the Chongdeokgung Palace joked that they believed at the time that men and women were very different and should, therefore, live in different areas.
A peak inside...
When our tour guide said they did not use nails for any of these buildings, Aaron and I looked at eachother in confusion. How? It looks like they used grooves with wooden "nails" that fit through the slot. Even so, most of the walls do not show this type of construction, so we are still puzzled.
I think we puzzled the tour guides asking questions about these two figures. We still don't know what they are.
I am in awe of the great care for trees we have seen while in Korea. One of the oldest trees in Chondeokgung Palace was supported in the same way as this tree in Deoksugung Palace.
A Japanese show was broadcasting outside the temple, so we were not able to take any videos or pictures. I nearly fell to the floor laughing when I recognized one of the Japanese talk show hosts (a man dressed as a woman) from a talk show my mom and I watched while in Japan last year. Sorry, Mom - no pictures :-(
Aaron thought it was interesting that some of these tall office buildings had windows that open.
Namdaemun Market
We picked up several things for Rai at Namdaemun during the second part of our tour. There is only one Korean cartoon charcter that I have seen since we've been here - Pororo! Pororo is a penguin and has several friends who are different animals. While in Namdaemun, we picked up a Pororo backpack (very cute) and three DVDs of Pororo teaching English and a regular cartoon episode series. We also picked up Kung Fu Panda in Korean which had been "out of stock" on the Asian version of Amazon for quite some time.
Insadong
Had I known the amount of tourist shops in Insadong, I would have come much sooner! I did nearly all of my gift shopping in this one hour time span and bought several things for the house and Rai's room. After a short trip of shopping, our tour guides led us down an alley to a great bulgogi place for lunch. It was GREAT and CHEAP (less than $5 per person for a serving that should really feed two)!
The other couple had a doctor's appointment for their child at 2:30pm, so we headed back to Holt a little early. Kim also had several appointments that afternoon, so Aaron and I relaxed and started packing what we didn't need (less than 24 hours until we let Rai loose in the hotel room). Later that evening, Kim and I were crazy enough to venture out to Insadong again (by taxi) while Aaron took a power nap. (The poor guy was so wired after such a busy day yesterday that he didn't sleep.) Kim and I remembered that we saw the big souvenir shop as we were leaving Insadong, so we went back to look inside. After all, this was our last day to shop before the focus shifted purely on our children. It was amusing to see the Helllo Kitty section of the store (i.e. Hello Kitty in traditional clothing, such as a hanbok). Once we finished the last our shopping, we found a McDonalds, and having heard of a Bulgogi Burger, decided that our trip just wouldn't feel complete without trying it. As it turns out the burger takes like a pork patty with bulgogi sauce, not as exciting as we thought.
First Meeting Summary (and more pictures)
From April 27th...
Oh there's so much to say and so little time (our City Tour begins in 2 hours)!
Our first meeting was WONDERFUL! In fact, the first day with Rai was wonderful! Let me explain...
After Kim, Aaron, and I got lost on the subway trying to find Namdaemun Market, we browsed the various shops for about an hour and then needed to head back to get ready for our meeting. Aaron was such a good sport and had tried to ask for directions in Korean which didn't work out well (pointed us in the wrong direction boooo). I tried to ask in English, but the lady responded in Japanese (didn't realize this at first). We ran into her again and I was able to ask her in JAPANESE! Wooohoo! (My mom would be so proud.) We got on the subway and make it back in time to run to the hotel, pick up our gifts, and run to our meeting.
When we got to the intersection in front of Holt, I told Aaron that some families actually see their children and foster mothers before they walk in. We started looking around for any signs of Rai but no luck. When we approached the office, a woman (crouched over a child in a Texas Longhorns cap) pointed to us and in slow motion we saw Rai look up!!! HE IS SOOOOOO CUTE!!!
We went up the elevator and were in awe of how surreal this moment was. We went up to the meeting room on the second floor and got set up. Luckily, Kim offered to take pictures during our meeting, and we REALLY appreciate the help! We had a video camera on a tripod but Rai found it half-way through the meeting and started pushing the tripod. Kim took the camera off and got great footage of several cute things he did as we tried to rush in as many questions as possible.
During most of the meeting, Rai walk around getting into trouble (drawing on the social worker's schedule, ripping up the cardboard box the batteries came in, pulling magazines and books out of a basket (but putting them back, too), and playing with every gift that was exchanged. He is such a cutie! Because he's 17 months, he was just a ball of energy but the foster mother is, too! She is such a wonderful person! She invited us (including Kim) to dinner and a performance at Korea House (traditional performances). At first, she also invited us to the Suwon traditional folk village, but we just went yesterday. I had no problem going again, but it was moving our pick up schedules quite a bit (Kim's would have been moved back an hour which had me in a panic), so the foster mother (FM) said that she would take us to a flower garden instead on Wednesday. (I think she wanted to take us somewhere new.)
After our meeting, FM took us back to the hotel to put our gifts away and then pick us back up only an hour and a half later for dinner. Poor Kim was running late from her meeting, so we waited (until FM and Aaron went in and told the hotel staff that we would look for her at Holt - passed by eachother on the way). By the way, I panicked when FM and Aaron left the car because Rai CRIED when she left the room during our meeting! When she left the car that evening, I tried hard to keep him preoccupied with a book and it WORKED! Whew! They actually left the car twice, but we survived. Wednesday will be tough!
Once we met up with Kim, FM took us to a traditional Korean restaurant for bulgogi. There were several small dishes everywhere, and we got a glimpse of what we're in for! Kim's description of Rai as a "firecracker" is perfect. He was very well behaved once FM could get him to sit down and eat. He LOVES food and sat on my lap a few times to drink water. He is afraid of anything hot, and I was so glad we learned what she says for HOT so that he understands.
After dinner, FM took us to Korea House where she kept buying us gifts (a lovely necklace, pen for Aaron, and an in-laid box for jewelry) and showed us how to put Rai to sleep (in a carrier on her back). He was out by the time the performance started. FM stayed out in the lobby with him while we went in. The performance, by the way, was wonderful! There were a series of dances (i.e. a fan dance) and folk songs, and at the end of the last performance, the drummers went down into the audience and dragged people (Aaron included) up on stage. Afterwards, they gave the participants drumsticks that say "Korea House" in English Korean. It was such a wonderful experience! Aaron cracked me up. I asked him what he thought at the end of the night, and Mr. "It Was Fine" said "It was pretty awesome!" LOL
Kim and I sat in the backseat with Rai (fast asleep) on the way back and Aaron (who claims to know no Korean) was able to communicate somewhat with FM. It was so cute to watch them.
Today is the City Tour and then we're all taking a taxi back after a full day of shopping! Kim has a meeting at Holt at 4pm, so we'll try to head back at the same time and REST! Wednesday, FM picks us up at 10am for the flower garden and drops us off in time for Kim's pick up. We get Rai forever at 3:30pm, so we might have an hour nap before that if we're lucky. (Aaron couldn't sleep last night, so he needs to crash at least once before we get Rai!)
Thank you to everyone for your advice and recommendations! We're having a blast, and the three of us just laugh at how crazy we will look on the flight back (yes, same flight though Kim continues past DFW to get home) with 2 children and three sleep-deprived parents!
KOREA HOUSE
ALL DECKED OUT IN RAIN GEAR
KOREA HOUSE (BOTTOM ROW: KIM, ME, AARON)
EARLIER IN THE DAY SHOPPING AT NAMDAEMUN...
Oh there's so much to say and so little time (our City Tour begins in 2 hours)!
Our first meeting was WONDERFUL! In fact, the first day with Rai was wonderful! Let me explain...
After Kim, Aaron, and I got lost on the subway trying to find Namdaemun Market, we browsed the various shops for about an hour and then needed to head back to get ready for our meeting. Aaron was such a good sport and had tried to ask for directions in Korean which didn't work out well (pointed us in the wrong direction boooo). I tried to ask in English, but the lady responded in Japanese (didn't realize this at first). We ran into her again and I was able to ask her in JAPANESE! Wooohoo! (My mom would be so proud.) We got on the subway and make it back in time to run to the hotel, pick up our gifts, and run to our meeting.
When we got to the intersection in front of Holt, I told Aaron that some families actually see their children and foster mothers before they walk in. We started looking around for any signs of Rai but no luck. When we approached the office, a woman (crouched over a child in a Texas Longhorns cap) pointed to us and in slow motion we saw Rai look up!!! HE IS SOOOOOO CUTE!!!
We went up the elevator and were in awe of how surreal this moment was. We went up to the meeting room on the second floor and got set up. Luckily, Kim offered to take pictures during our meeting, and we REALLY appreciate the help! We had a video camera on a tripod but Rai found it half-way through the meeting and started pushing the tripod. Kim took the camera off and got great footage of several cute things he did as we tried to rush in as many questions as possible.
During most of the meeting, Rai walk around getting into trouble (drawing on the social worker's schedule, ripping up the cardboard box the batteries came in, pulling magazines and books out of a basket (but putting them back, too), and playing with every gift that was exchanged. He is such a cutie! Because he's 17 months, he was just a ball of energy but the foster mother is, too! She is such a wonderful person! She invited us (including Kim) to dinner and a performance at Korea House (traditional performances). At first, she also invited us to the Suwon traditional folk village, but we just went yesterday. I had no problem going again, but it was moving our pick up schedules quite a bit (Kim's would have been moved back an hour which had me in a panic), so the foster mother (FM) said that she would take us to a flower garden instead on Wednesday. (I think she wanted to take us somewhere new.)
After our meeting, FM took us back to the hotel to put our gifts away and then pick us back up only an hour and a half later for dinner. Poor Kim was running late from her meeting, so we waited (until FM and Aaron went in and told the hotel staff that we would look for her at Holt - passed by eachother on the way). By the way, I panicked when FM and Aaron left the car because Rai CRIED when she left the room during our meeting! When she left the car that evening, I tried hard to keep him preoccupied with a book and it WORKED! Whew! They actually left the car twice, but we survived. Wednesday will be tough!
Once we met up with Kim, FM took us to a traditional Korean restaurant for bulgogi. There were several small dishes everywhere, and we got a glimpse of what we're in for! Kim's description of Rai as a "firecracker" is perfect. He was very well behaved once FM could get him to sit down and eat. He LOVES food and sat on my lap a few times to drink water. He is afraid of anything hot, and I was so glad we learned what she says for HOT so that he understands.
After dinner, FM took us to Korea House where she kept buying us gifts (a lovely necklace, pen for Aaron, and an in-laid box for jewelry) and showed us how to put Rai to sleep (in a carrier on her back). He was out by the time the performance started. FM stayed out in the lobby with him while we went in. The performance, by the way, was wonderful! There were a series of dances (i.e. a fan dance) and folk songs, and at the end of the last performance, the drummers went down into the audience and dragged people (Aaron included) up on stage. Afterwards, they gave the participants drumsticks that say "Korea House" in English Korean. It was such a wonderful experience! Aaron cracked me up. I asked him what he thought at the end of the night, and Mr. "It Was Fine" said "It was pretty awesome!" LOL
Kim and I sat in the backseat with Rai (fast asleep) on the way back and Aaron (who claims to know no Korean) was able to communicate somewhat with FM. It was so cute to watch them.
Today is the City Tour and then we're all taking a taxi back after a full day of shopping! Kim has a meeting at Holt at 4pm, so we'll try to head back at the same time and REST! Wednesday, FM picks us up at 10am for the flower garden and drops us off in time for Kim's pick up. We get Rai forever at 3:30pm, so we might have an hour nap before that if we're lucky. (Aaron couldn't sleep last night, so he needs to crash at least once before we get Rai!)
Thank you to everyone for your advice and recommendations! We're having a blast, and the three of us just laugh at how crazy we will look on the flight back (yes, same flight though Kim continues past DFW to get home) with 2 children and three sleep-deprived parents!
KOREA HOUSE
ALL DECKED OUT IN RAIN GEAR
KOREA HOUSE (BOTTOM ROW: KIM, ME, AARON)
EARLIER IN THE DAY SHOPPING AT NAMDAEMUN...
Monday, April 27, 2009
First Meeting!
I have to keep this short because we're leaving in less than an hour again. (Rai's foster mother is taking us to dinner and a traditional Korean show!) Our first meeting was wonderful! I feel horrible that went longer than scheduled and hope that Kim's first meeting with Zoey is not cute short because of it. We hope to catch up with her tonight and find out how everything went.
I will post more details later, but here are the pictures and videos in the meantime:
**By the way, the foster mother bought this hat for Rai before she knew that we lived in Texas!**
He LOVES to draw!
Rai has a foster SISTER (not brother as we thought) who waves good-bye when she goes on walks. Rai imitates her quite well! (The bag he's carrying is meant to imitate her purse)
FIRST FAMILY PICTURE!
And once again Rai squealed with excitement at the sight of a camera!
Does this look familiar??
Sneaky, sneaky boy :-)
Rai's foster mother was nice enough to drive us back to the hotel. Aaron had a blast amusing Rai in the back seat.
Rai was really interested in Aaron's finger nails. I'm guessing Rai's foster father doesn't play classical guitar. :-)
I will post more details later, but here are the pictures and videos in the meantime:
**By the way, the foster mother bought this hat for Rai before she knew that we lived in Texas!**
He LOVES to draw!
Rai has a foster SISTER (not brother as we thought) who waves good-bye when she goes on walks. Rai imitates her quite well! (The bag he's carrying is meant to imitate her purse)
FIRST FAMILY PICTURE!
And once again Rai squealed with excitement at the sight of a camera!
Does this look familiar??
Sneaky, sneaky boy :-)
Rai's foster mother was nice enough to drive us back to the hotel. Aaron had a blast amusing Rai in the back seat.
Rai was really interested in Aaron's finger nails. I'm guessing Rai's foster father doesn't play classical guitar. :-)
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