I'm the worst blogger ever. We had a great time in Korea except our time was too short. We didn't have alot of time for tourist activities because of the time we got with Callie. However, we wouldn't have traded that time for anything. We luckily had a foster family that wanted to give us lots of opportunities to spend time with Callie before we left the country. We loved Insadong and highly recommend everyone going there. When we arrived in Korea, we were so tired. We checked into the Guesthouse around 7 p.m. and then headed out to find food. We ate food from street vendors and it was great. We were so tired that first night that we went back to the room to crash. The Guesthouse does not have air conditioning like we are use to at home, so we were hot. Also the beds were really hard! Other than that, we loved the Guesthouse. Our time clocks were off, so we were up around 2 a.m. We got up and made food in the kitchen. We loved having breakfast each morning at the Guesthouse. Then we got online and headed to see the nursery. While we were there, the nursery had 60 babies waiting on foster homes ranging in age from a few days to two months. I never got brave enough to ask to hold the babies. Those children were so beautiful! The next morning we got to meet our sweet Callie. The first meeting went well thanks to Gerber puffs. Our Callie loves to eat and is charmed by treats. After our first meeting, we went to Insadong, the World Cup Stadium and Itaweon. We vowed not to eat American food while we were in Korea and we stuck with it. We ate at a place called Mandoo in Insadong and loved it. We actually went back again before leaving. Friday we met with Dr. Kim and had lunch. That was very interesting. She had lots to tell about how Eastern got started and why so many orphans existed. After lunch, we spent some time online before getting to visit with the foster family and Callie at the foster family's home. It was interesting to see where Callie had lived for so long. We took flowers and a cake to the foster mom. Our foster family was young and had four children under the age of 15. Saturday was our only totally free day. We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace, the National Museum and the National Folk Museum before lunch. We went back to Insadong to eat lunch and shop since we were close by. After that, we went back to the Guesthouse to freshen up. That night we went to a baseball game. The crowd is like a mix of American baseball, College football and crazy soccer fans. We loved it! After the game, we went to Lotte World. A ten story shopping center and I didn't buy a thing! It was also election season in Korea. You would see trucks with politicians on them yelling and blaring loud music. There would be supporters with sashes on in large numbers everyone loudly cheering about their candidate. Sunday we got to spend the day with Callie and her foster family. It was a good time to get Callie more comfortable with us. We received Callie on Monday before getting onto the plane. It was hard to see the pain of the foster family as they parted from Callie. They loved her very much and treated her as if she was their own child. The flight home was miserable. Callie cried about 8 of the 14 hour flight. However, after that she did great. The first week was a hard transition-new home and jet lag. Each day gets better. Callie is such a joy. She eats anything and is generally really happy. We are still co-sleeping, but thinking of moving her to her crib before I return to work. She takes naps in her crib now without complaint. Jenny and Callie are finally starting to play together happily. It was rough at first, but now they are becoming friends. I'm posting some pics with this post and maybe some more later. I'm sure I left alot out! Our experience was a little different than most people adopting from Korea, but it continues to be a fantastic experience.
