Korea 2009: YES! We are here!

Hello All! It is so unusual to not have posted something by now. It has been a jammed packed week. We have just enough energy at the end of the day to shower up and collapse into bed!

Random thoughts (without spell checking!!!) to get us caught up to today with the hopes of giving more details later:
1. Long flight, but kiddos had more TV and Vid game time than they would in an entire week.
2. Compression socks really helped relieve some the cankles or thighckle issues from the last trip.
3. FYI: Cankles: where your ankles are so swollen that they are as big as your calves. And yes...thighckles where your ankles are as big as your thighs. Yeah...it's possible. Just ask Sistah Kim.
4. Minor melt down after arriving...a little Korean Cold Stone and the girls sleeping in one room the boys in another took care o that.
5. Korean Folk Village was great...Em found out she was getting her own hanbok. J got a new Pepe. Pepe= air soft rifle. All collapse onto Mom and Dad's beds. Yeah, beds...twin beds...mean no spoonin'. Too tired to care.
6. Holt Office. Meeting foster moms. Lots of tears. Lots of smiles. Lots of laughter. Take them to bulgogi bbq. Many foster mothers walk hand-n-hand with grown foster children. Precious memory. Go to the Secret Garden with the Mayor of Jonjo. Go to dinner with Mayor of Jonjo. Mayor feeds Jeff "Korean Oreo" or charcoled ginsing or what the Mayor tells Jeff and the room is good for vitality. Yes, personally fed Jeff the ginsing like he was a baby and then yelled "Man Power #1" and gave a fist in the air followed by a thumbs up. Jeff followed that up by grabbing a third and shoved it down his gullet. Previous to this the mayor was feeding Paul's wife Beth various foods, foods even Paul wouldn't eat, and Skip as well. Oh my goodness. This doesn't even do the evening justice, accept to say that a few hours later I started throwing up, and up, and up...until 7:30 a.m. the next day.
7. Yeah, it must have been the food. We've been immersed in Korean culture, mostly food. I spent the night thanking God for the cold sides of the Hamilton waste basket. I spent the whole next day in bed. Jeff brought me dry toast and chelsing cider. I tried to nibble and drink. I had a small scoop of B n R rainbow sherbet for dinner. Ahh...it was the best sherbet ever.
8. Jeonju beautiful babies, toddlers, kiddos doing dances, rubbing Jeffy's belly. Couldn't smell korean food without feeling dizzy. On to Daejeon told I wasn't smiling. To go to hotel or homestay? Chose homestay to prove to Emma that we would all survive. Fell asleep at 6:30 after not being able to handle smell of beautiful home cooked Korean meal. Thanking God for small breeze even though it was blowing past kimchi pots on terrace. Mrs. Lee was FABULOUS! Funny! and RICH! more explanation on that later. Homestay was in J's top three things of trip so far.
9. Headed to ancient city. Still feeling dizzy, but smiling I guess because people said I had my smile back. Tour unwed mother's shelter. Heartbreak while meeting unwed mothers who have questions for adoptees and the families. Adoptees thank the mother's for the choice they make to give child up for adoption. One says that they will never have to worry about whether or not their child loves them, because they always will. AH, sunglasses. The adoptees surround mothers and hug them. Thousands of tears are shed...
10. Stay at hotel. LARGE hotel. Fabulous salmon and pineapple. Finally not so many korean food smells to give stomach a break. Conversation in hotel lounge while listening to Asian Achey Breaky Heart. Jeff's parting words...nuff said.
11. Monsoon, rainbow unbrellas, and dramamine. Curvy roads, busload, buddhist temple hikes with "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" going through my head. Beautiful scenery. Bonding with other families. Romantic weather with passion person. The rising pheonix and a 5 star hotel. Great walk with a group of kids and watching J converse with peers. Leads me to pictures of today and then shut eye...
Monsoon weather. So not Oregon rain. Warm and no wind. What's that all about?

Yea! We made it! And Mom having so much fun NOT being sick.

Oh the pahssion persons walking in romantic weder.

World Traveler.

Our first family pic of the trip!

Oh, not nice sistah. Nikki can't help being shorter...

Adoptees Nikki and Sistah Kim.

Holt Adoptee Julie with an adoptive parent Stacey. Both Oreegone-eeans.

Traditional picture taking place on Holt tour.

Skip single handedly crushing the wishes of who knows who and then trying to build it back up again. Would that still be their wishes or would it be the wish of wishing to build back up the previous wish?

One of the Buddhist temples in Gyeongbok.

Holt adoptee Eddie, a bow & arrow, and ice cream cone in pocket. This boy is ready to rock.

Fish eye club. T, J, and Skip ate the eyeballs out of the fish. I gave that opportunity a pass.

#2 bus tired of following #1. Took matter into own hands. #1 bus now #11 bus.

Cousin Vinny at the temple mounds.

View out of our window in Busan.