Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

So it is time to say goodbye to Korea. After 17 days of travelling we are doing the final pack (well Ian is) before heading to the subway to catch the train to the airport.

Today we packed our suitcases, tidied the room, paid the account and left a donation for Eastern to continue their amazing work finding forever homes for the babies.

We headed into Seoul for one last wander through the streets - stopping at Tapkol Park, Insadong for some last minute shopping, had a wonderful lunch at our favourite restaurant in Insadong and then wandered along Cheonggyecheon stream. We wanted to just soak up the atmosphere of our favourite home away from home.

We have had an incredible trip - so many wonderful memories. Can't wait to come back again. Hope you have enjoyed the journey with us.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon - and to hug my furry friends back home.

And so until the next time, in the immortal words of the final episode of MASH - Goodbye, Farewell and Amen (which is kind of fitting given we are leaving Korea).

It got better after Jongmyo....

Frustrating start to the day today. Firstly the boys slept in - not just a little but we ended up having to wake them at about 9.00am. So by the time we got everyone organised, and Han's hair styled for the day, we headed in to Jongmyo Shrine. Ian and Kim headed off first as they were both ready and went by KTO to buy rush tickets for our last show in Korea - Action Drawing Hero. However, despite being told that we could by tickets from 11.00am onwards they got to KTO to be told to come back at 1.00pm and then we could do it. So - frustration number 2 for the day. 

We met up at Jongmyo Shrine - which is where the memorial tablets for the kings and queens of the Joseon dynasty are kept. It is a beautiful place - and is probably one of my favourite places to go to in Seoul. We had saved it for today - our last full day in Seoul, but having arrived discovered that the only way you could visit the shrine at the moment is via a guided tour and that the next tour was not for another hour! So - frustration number 3. We didn't stay for the tour as the shrine is somewhere that you just want to experience at your own pace - not with a guide telling you to keep moving, keep moving.....so we changed plans again.

We grabbed a taxi to Changyeonggung Palace. This is my absolute favourite palace in Seoul. It is the least flashy of the big palaces and is often fairly quiet so you get to enjoy it a lot more. In the past you visit the Shrine and then walk over a walk bridge into the palace but the bridge is now gone. The visit was fantastic - I was reminded about all the reasons why I love it so much. We were able to wander at our pace, take pictures, Han got to trick and the boys got to toss coins on the lucky temple. Ian was slightly frustrated at the beginning as he was told to go to 2 different information booths for a guide map - only to find that in the end he needed to get a map at the ticket booth!

After the palace we headed back to KTO and managed to get our theatre tickets, found some lunch at a cool place called School Food and then headed up to Gwanghwamum Square to watch the martial arts demonstration again. Ian got dragged up to break a board - and yes I have it on video and at the end of the performance Han asked the team if he could perform a 540 hook (also known as a cheat 720) with one of the team and they happily agreed. We have video of that too (Han's video is more spectacular than Ian's).

We filled in time between the martial arts performance and Action Drawing Hero by catching a train to Myeongdong for the boys to do some last minute shopping and watched some live music in the streets. Then we went to the show - which was awesome. Basically there were 4 guys who did a performance to music which involved drawing and dancing. The art that they created was incredible - chalk drawings, painting, sand art, ink on water and drawing using what looked like UV light. It was amazing to watch and to see them dance along the way. This show is not as well known as Nanta and Jump - but it is definitely worth seeing.

Our evening ended with tea at Hongik - for the last time. We went to a place called Meat-ing. It is an all you can eat Korean BBQ. You go and pick what meat you want from about 10-15 different choices and then BBQ it at your table. There were also lots of sides to pick from - so we were all well fed.

So - last day tomorrow (sad face). Packing in the morning, check out and say goodbye to the agency and then we will head into Seoul for the last few hours before heading to the airport. We are all sad to go - and have already started talking about when we will come back again (the boys and I are working on Ian for April 2015). This has been an amazing trip - we feel like Korea is our second home. My final post may not happen tomorrow - but I will make a final post before I end the blog - so stay tuned.

Changyeonggung Palace

The last time we took a family photo here there were four grandparents in the photo.

Powerful strong women.

Action Drawing Hero

YUM!!

One Heart, One Mind - Abundant Love

We are back from 2 very special days at Gongju as part of 'One Heart, One Mind - Abundant Love' which was being run by ESWS. It has honestly been a very unique and thought provoking experience. We gathered together at ESWS early yesterday morning to travel down to Gongju, which is about 160 Kms south of Seoul. There were 10 families altogether - 5 local Korean adoptive and 5 overseas adoptive families - although not everyone travelled down in the bus. As we boarded the bus we were given a sandwich, water and a bag of goodies including biscuits, lollies, juice and chocolate. That was to just keep us 'nourished' for the trip down!

At Gonju we stayed at a traditional Hanok village - very picturesque, beautiful buildings and futons to sleep on - but more about that later. When we arrived we got to meet our translator DaHye and the family that we where matched with for the event - the Cho family. DaHye is a senior at secondary school who was majoring in English and English literature and wants to works as a translator. She was really sweet and very quiet.

The Cho family - Dad (JoongKee), Mum (HyeYeong), eldest daughter (YeonSoo) and youngest daughter (YeonJin). YeonSoo is their birth daughter and is 26 and YeonJin is their adoptive daughter and is 8 and joined their family when she was 2. I am not quite sure how ESWS did the matching but they did a great job of pairing us as both of our families are fairly quiet and tend to be very ordered and methodical.

We had a massive lunch together - the food just seemed to keep coming. JoongKee and DaHye did a great job of telling us what we were eating throughout the meal (and for the grandparents information - there was no Korean sausage!). Mrs Kim, who is the director of the agency opened the event before we began a series of activities including T-Shirt painting, which allowed us to get to know each other and to decide what our group was going to be called - Kimchi and Kangaroos; we also dressed in traditional costumes and did some beautiful Korean paper tray art.

We had time to check into our rooms before heading over the the BBQs where the fathers were to show us 'their cooking nature'. Unfortunately Mr Cho had to head back to Seoul for work - which left Ian in charge of the BBQ - ably assisted by YeonSoo. Our one activity after tea was called Talk Time - where, with the assistance of and ESWS social worker, we had the chance to share our story with the Cho family - and they got to share theirs. Kim and YeonJin opted to be outside with the kids - who were supervised by the translators, but Han came in and joined in. 

This was the most moving part of the event. Listening to Mrs Cho talking about the difficulties they experience with having an adopted child in a society that does not really support it made us realise that our journey is actually easier in many ways. We cannot hide that our boys are adopted - not that we would want to - but the fact that we look different to the boys means that explaining adoption to them is in some ways easier and more easily accepted. The large gap in age between YeonSoo and YeonJin makes it even more complicated and added to that YeonSoo is not adopted - so there is added pressure from YeonJin about who is more loved. Mrs Cho was grateful to be able to ask Han about how he felt about being adopted which in many ways reassured her that as YeonJin gets older her current feelings about being adopted will change. Han made us very proud as he shared his thoughts on being adopted.

After tea we opted to call it a night whilst others headed off to the night market - but given it was already 9.30 we felt that by the time they got organised and went to the market and then came back it would be very late (which it was according to some who did go). Instead we went to our room - made up our futons and settled in for sleep. Unfortunately sleeping on a futon on the floor did not really work for me so this morning I had to take lots of painkillers and needed to ease my poor aching back into the world again. The boys however all slept well.

Today we shared breakfast - with more chances to chat and share with each other before walking to Muryeong Tombs and the Gongju Fortress. The Baekje festival was on so the streets of Gonju were filled with street stalls and the gardens had been specially planted for the event. It was a lovely morning - having the chance to see another part of Korea that we had not expected to see. After another scrumptious lunch - boy does ESWS know how to feed a group of people - we were brought back to ESWS by bus, said our goodbyes and collapsed upstairs in our room.

One other very special person that we got to meet at the event was Heather - a Korean adoptee herself  who brought her son Zachary along. Heather was adopted in 1976 to an American family and normally lives in Chicago but at the moment is living in Korea with her husband (and daughter Sam) as he is with the army and is currently stationed in Seoul. It was lovely to spend time talking to her, to get her perspective on being adopted, and for the boys to see someone who is an adult who is accepting of their adoption. Heather has recently found her birth family and is spending time getting to know them whilst living here.

And so - the day has now come to an end. We have been in to Namdaemun Market this evening - for some street food and shopping. It has been a busy and exhausting two days - but very very special.

The Hanok village.

This was the second course of lunch.

Kimchi and kangaroos...

Traditional costumes - Ian, Han and I were people of importance, Kim was a peasant!!

Korean paper tray art - we have 4 of these beautiful bowls - all made by us!

Our room for the night.

Han settled in....and no we did not use the TV (not very traditional)

The Cho and Phiillips families.

DaHye

Gongju fortress wall

We climbed along this wall.

Foundation Day - Pt 2 - The baby hospital

Ian and I have just returned from a visit to the baby hospital on level 3 of the agency. So many babies who need love, a home and a family. 

We weren't allowed to go in and cuddle the babies - on past visits you could go in and feed or hold the babies - but this time the staff indicated that we could not. Sad - cos I wanted to get in there to hold them and to comfort the little ones who were crying.

There seemed to be less babies than we have seen in the past - but there was one room where the babies were much older - somewhere between 12 months and 15 months. Not sure why - normally they would be with foster mothers.

The changes to the way the Korean adoptive program works means that the babies are much older when you actually get them then when we went through the program. We were lucky to get Han at 6 months and Kim at 5 months - but from what we hear now the babies are closer the 2 - 2 1/2. So much time lost.

I am so grateful to ESWS - they gave me the chance to be the mum to two beautiful young men. I will always be thankful. I am grateful to the wonderful nurses who look after the babies in the hospital, and to all the foster mothers who care for the babies until they reach their forever family.

Foundation Day - Pt 1 - A public holiday in Korea

Today was Foundation Day in Korea a national holiday - for us it shall be known affectionately as the day of the 'Seething Mass of Humanity' - SMoH.

Today was a beautiful day in Seoul. Lovely sunny weather with a nice gentle breeze. We hadn't realised it was a public holiday until Ian went downstairs to settle our account with the post adoption services and discovered that they were closed. Not deterred we headed out into the world to visit my favourite palace - Gyeongbokung. The subway was still running but on a slightly altered timetable - meaning they still were running more frequently than any service in Melbourne!

We arrived at Gwanghwamum station and when we came up from the subway we encountered the SMoH with thousands of people enjoying the beautiful day and the public holiday. The queue to get tickets to enter the palace was probably about 1000 people long and the crowds of people wandering up to the palace quickly had us changing our plans and high tailing it out of the area.

We decided instead to head to a much smaller palace that Ian and I had visited when we came to pick up Kim - Unhyeongung. This palace isn't as fancy as the larger ones and it is made of more natural colours - rather than the elaborate decorative artwork of the large palaces. There were people there - but nothing like the crowds we had seen at the gates of Gyeongbokung - so we were able to wander around at our own pace to enjoy this beautiful place.

After Unhyeongung we headed over to Insadong for some lunch before hitting the shops for a little retail therapy. Again the SMoH was present - but with the bustle of the market stalls it didn't make you feel overpowered. We did a little shopping - okay - I did a lot of shopping, ate some street food, watched some buskers and even saw a Korean drama being filmed. 

As we had had such a physically demanding day yesterday we headed back to the agency about mid-afternoon for a bit of a relax before heading out to Hongik tonight for a walk to the university, along the fashion streets and then on to find some tea before going back to the guest house to get ready for tomorrow. The SMoH was in full force around the Hongik area - lots of wonderful hustle and bustle, car horns, motorbikes and people moving from one place to another.

Tomorrow we are heading off to participate in a special adoption event being run by Eastern Social Welfare Society (the adoption agency). We are travelling to Gongju to stay overnight in a traditional Hanok village with 9 other adoptive families. Five families are overseas adoptive families (which includes us) and the other five families are local adoptive families (Korean families who have adopted Korean children). Each overseas family is paired with a Korean family and we have a translator to help us communicate. We get to do some traditional Baekje (local cultural) activities and to share our stories of adoption and what it means to us. I may not be able to post tomorrow night - but will fill everyone in when we get back on Saturday night.

Till then - stay safe and hug your loved ones!

Gyeongbokung - before we bailed...

The guards at the gate of Gyeongbokung.

Peaceful, serene - Unhyeongung Palace

Korean drama being filmed.

Insadong

MMmm - yummy

Just a few people at the stream!

Hongik - people everywhere.

Busan - Day 3

So our last day in Busan - and man was it a long one!

We were up and checked out of our lovely hotel by 9.30 and grabbed a taxi (another adorable taxi driver - he was so happy and kept telling us we were a lovely family) to the station to drop off our luggage in a storage locker and grab some breakfast. Again we split for breakfast with Ian and Han choosing Korean and Kim and I opting for western - but we were all well fed. The lockers at the station were really cool - for $3 we had the use of a locker for the entire day which required Ian's fingerprint to open and close it. It was great to be able to leave the luggage for the day at the place we would need to head back to in order to get back to Seoul.

Our day began with a longish taxi ride to Beomosa Temple - which is located up in the mountains high above Busan. Our taxi driver at first didn't know where we wanted to go - but after consulting with about 3 other drivers he worked it all out and got us there safely - although the 50 km/h up the winding mountain side with the boys and I in the back was a little scary!

The temple was quite lovely - not as beautiful as Haedong Yonggungsa yesterday - but still very pretty and serene. There was a temple service happening when we got there - so again lots of chanting and praying. You can do a temple stay there - but I think that it would be very full on and maybe a little intense, especially for the boys.

After the temple we began the 'hike' - hmmmm - where do I start? It began at the temple and headed up the mountain to the North Gate (Bungmun). Now when I say up - what I really mean is UP. Up long steep inclines, with lots of rocky steps. I had been told that this was what it would be - so I was a little prepared. However, what I didn't know (and I must add - nor did Ian - and he feels really bad about how the 'hike' turned out) was that the rest of the journey beyond the north gate was pretty much the same. The north gate was lovely - with very light drizzle to keep us cool. From the north gate we headed to the East Gate (Dongmun) along the Geumjeongsanseong - which is the Mount Geumjeong fortress wall.

The track was sooooo hard. I knew it was going to be at least 8.8km but I had not anticipated the hard terrain that we were going to cover. When we weren't climbing - it was quite pleasant - but when we were it was hideous. The east gate was lovely, and along the hike we hugged the fortress wall. The views from the top of the ridge were amazing and we walked through soft misty clouds. From the east gate we headed to the South Gate (Nammun) but I didn't actually make it to that gate. The last 400m detour down the hill - knowing that we had to turn around and hike it back up was just too much and I opted to sit it out. Han - who had saved me along the way by pulling me up inclines - opted to stay with me (I think he was worried I might keel over) - so in the end it was only Kim and Ian who made the trek. 

With the hike over we crawled into the cable car station and took an awesome ride down the mountain in a cable car - giving us incredible views of Busan below. Then after a short walk (walk - not hike, along civilised roads) we grabbed a taxi back to the station where we got our tickets, a well earned donut and boarded the train back to the agency.

Now - home again - we have had a bite to eat, a lovely warm shower, chatted to some new families and will collapse in a heap in about 10 minutes.

Smart lockers at the station.

Beomosa Temple.

The map of our 'hike'

And so it begins....

Bungmun - North Gate

Han - way of in the distance....

Amazing views of Busan along the walk.

Nature boy.

Cable car down - much easier than up.....