Day 7 Plane Day

This is the day we have both been dreading.  Our day looks like this:

11:30 AM Pick Up by Holt van and head to Incheon International 

Through immigration... interesting but thankfully brief.  We actually spent longer returning the rented phone.  It's odd how stressful it is.  It feels like we are trying to get away with something getting him out of the country.  Even though we have all of the i's dotted and t's crossed.  I don't know how people who do this illegally don't die of a stroke.  I think I'd explode right in line!

Flight 17 Korean Air to LAX 3:15

Can you believe that child slept most of the time?  He woke up a bit here and there and there were a few rough moments where he woke up from a deep sleep and had some grieving but thankfully that's when his Pororo obsession helped out and he was distracted with shows for awhile. 

11 1/2 hours later we land at LAX

Let me say: Korean air rocks!!  Hostesses are excellent, polite, helpful.  Planes are modern and clean.  

LAX: HORRIBLE!  Note to self: don't do that again!  And definitely not with US Airlines!  Every hostess was angry at something.  Grouchy and snarly.  Service with a sneer must be their motto.  When we got there we asked what terminal we needed to be at for our connecting flight (it wasn't printed on our ticket for some reason).  The lady glanced at it (after huffing) and says "6, that way" and points towards where we are supposed to go.  Which is 1. on the opposite side of LAX because we came out of terminal 2...and #2. She told us the way that made us leave the airport thus having to pass through security again....and #3 She sent us to the wrong terminal anyway.  She send us to United, we needed US Air.  Terminal 1 (right next to where we started) so.... Back across the entire airport.

Thank God we had a 4 hour layover.  

Another interesting caveat about LAX our terminal waiting area didn't have enough seating for even the amount of people who would be on the plane and so many families had set up squatter camps along the hallways.  Thus triggering announcements over the loud speakers to not block the walkways.

Interesting...

US Air flight 500 to Phoenix, AZ 4:15

Again, he sleeps most of the way.

and an hour and a half later we arrive in AZ.

This airport was easy breezy.

US Air Flight 596 departs 6:50 PM...or so we thought

We got on the plane and that's when it all went to pot.

The tug that pulls the plane to the taxi somehow failed causing our plane to hit it, damaging the nose of the aircraft.

Everybody off!

New terminal, new plane, departure 8:30 PM two hours later.

Horrible service on the flight.  Mean hostesses.  Not just rude but actually mean.  This was also the first flight that Oliver fussed through.  Mostly because they made me get him out of the carrier.  They also had different rules about how he was to be in the seat with me.  The other flights wanted him either strapped in the carrier to me while I was seat-belted or in the seat belt with me.  Not US Air.  I had to be in the belt with him in my lap facing out.  Tell that to him.  Totally freaked him out.  Which caused the stewardess to glare and say rude things under her breath.  Good grief.

We got into Kansas City at just after 1AM, home after 2...then we finally got to eat dinner!  No meals (not even peanuts) on either of our US Air flights.  WOW!  Never again with them.

But can I get an Amen for how wonderful a traveler this guy was?!


And when we got off the plane even though it was 1 in the morning, Lee's lovely mom was there to pick us up AND she had our two kiddos, complete in PJs!  

Someone is super excited his brother is finally home!!

  

Day 6

Our Last Full Day In Seoul.

We'll start with the guy outside he apartments this morning working on the ground crew. Wearing a Manhattan, KS Country Stampede staff shirt. So weird to see that half way around the world!

In other news after sleeping all night clear until the late hour of five AM, we only had about 20 minutes of grieving and then he was happy as a clam! So awesome to see these glimpses of his personality popping through.

We decided to do Itaewon and the War Memorial today. Long long ride in a very packed subway. Thanks to a certain early riser we were ready to go with the rest of Seoul going off to work.

Once again as soon as we got into the subway Oliver fell straight to sleep. We hit Starbucks for breakfast and this kid LOVES chocolate. 

 He downed a whole muffin himself and then had most of my fruit smoothie. He seems to be making up for refusing food for the entire first day we had him. Itaewon is a really neat place for the foreign crowd. There were nationalities of every sort there which for Korea is really different. As a whole, Korea isn't a very diverse country but here was a different story. It's close proximity to the army base probably has a good deal to do with this. There is a street actually called Rodeo Drive and it is Seoul's interpretation of the famous Californian Mecca of the same name. 

 A shot looking away from the second floor of the Starbucks we ate at in Itaewon near the base.

Along Rodeo Street

 We decided to cruise around and of course, when you are cruising aimlessly around Seoul during monsoon season without your umbrella it's going to rain. So we had to scramble to find somewhere that had them for sale even though we had not one but two back at the apartment... But I digress... So, if you happen to stay at 702 in the DMC ville don't bother to pack an umbrella. Your covered. By two HUGE umbrellas. We can't take it back with us because it doesn't retract and I'm pretty sure they would confiscate it at security because you could definitely take down an aircraft with the thing.


So, we looked at the map and decided it was easily in walking distance to the Korean War Memorial. What we didn't figure was the added weight I was toting around with gargantuan baby (did I mention he is already as big as our three year old) and now a huge umbrella. I'm soooo exhausted by the time we got there. But it was worth it. Such a neat museum. And so neat to see how intertwined our countries histories are. It really hits you when you see USAF on the sides of our aircraft in their museum and our tanks in their displays.

Anyway, we learned from

Experience that Oliver promptly expires at three so we headed back to the apartment before he reached critical mass. We had a low stress afternoon wandering around close to home and playing in the apartment. Highlight of the day... Apparently we are now "Omma" and "Appa" to the little man.


One way to avoid the grieving at bedtime..
Fall asleep standing up:

Day 5

This is also known as the day from hell with bits of sunshine here and there.  Last night our adapter started smoking and then smelled really bad.  Now it doesn't work...soooo:.. computer down!  We were able to get a different cord for the iPad because there is an Apple store on every corner but that means every post has to be typed on this tiny phone!  It also means no pics from the camera:(  but I will try to use the phone camera more.  We started out the morning with pure terror as he woke up and realized it was still the horrible people here and not his beloved Omma. He commenced operation "Stony Silence.". This is carried out by standing in the bathroom doorway and watching us.

 No moving, no facial expression, nothing. No matter what we did he didn't respond. Really freaky. Almost made me wish for the screaming and crying again. At least that was honest emotion and completely understandable. After about an hour he was lured out with Kka Kka (spicy shrimp crackers in this case) and apparently this is his weakness because we actually got a smile. This kid also has consumed a lot of soda in his small life. When he saw it in the fridge, he immediately started pointing in his mouth. I'm sure this will earn me Mom of the year points here, but I'm in survival mode and this is the first thing the kid has ever asked for. Yup, breakfast of shrimp crackers and coke it is!

 So we get dressed and in the carrier (screaming and pure terror while we strapped him into the thing) and the minute we get into the cab he's out like a light. We decided to not do any real sight seeing today. Mostly just a test drive to see if we could manage anything Friday. We took the subway down to Seoul Station, wandered around Lotte Mart, and came back.

 Nothing big or stressful. He was a trooper. I'm glad he slept through most of it. I'm from a small town and the area around Seoul station is not for the faint of heart. There were so many older men crouched on the ground surrounded by Soju bottles and litter. I imagine it's much like any rough neighborhood in cities like NY or Chicago. Anyway, just keeping it real. We had a pretty uneventful outting. He did freak out though when he woke up on the subway when we were almost home. It seems when he gets into a deep sleep and wakes up it hits him all over again. When we got off the subway Lee asked me if I noticed the nasty looks the two older women next to us were giving me. Thank goodness I was oblivious. Adoption by foreigners is not a popular topic here and while most Koreans are polite enough not to mention it, it doesn't always stop the dirty looks. Anyway.... This afternoon was rough. There seems to be a lot of grieving when he slows down and isn't distracted. We wandered around outside for awhile and then came back in to rest. We also went down and played in the play place in the basement of the apartment building.  Finally a place he LOVED!

He finally ended up eating and entire bowl of rice and seaweed. 

 Poor guy had to be starving but he had been rejecting anything we offered him. This seemed to open up the gates because after that we got giggles and playing and laughter. Whole new kid! 

Right now, I have to go clean up puffs because apparently he took that song "make it rain" literally and he's dancing around throwing puffs. Did I mention he's obsessed with "Girl's Generation"? It's hilarious! His foster mom wasn't kidding. It totally turns his mood around. Google them. Now. So funny!

Another thing he's obsessed with...Pororo.  It's a kid's cartoon here in Korea.  Even Jackson loves it.  I had come across it while learning Korean and downloaded a bunch of episodes and games on the Ipad for the flight.  His addiction to this Penguin is no joke. His foster mom warned us when we picked him up that he would go crazy for Pororo.  She packed him forks, spoons, chopsticks, stuffed toys, his backpack, even his sippy cup.  All with Pororo on it.  She even got him clothes for as he grows with Pororo on it.  Clear up until size 5.  It's true too.  He won't drink unless it's that cup.  He checks his spoon for the picture of this guy.  It's crazy!!

Day 4, Family Day

Today was the day we went to pick up Yun-su.  Holt is quite far away from...well...everything.  And today, out of all days, the Taxi drivers all across Seoul are striking.  REALLY?  I won't sugar coat it.  We were terrified.  Our plan had been to take the subway as directed and catch a taxi to the building.  No cabs mean we have to take the shuttle from the DMC Ville.  The shuttle runs at 8 and 10.  We decided to take the 8 even though we don't meet him until 10:30 because we didn't think 30 minutes was enough of a buffer if we got lost.  Which we did.  For almost 2 hours.  The directions they give you are absolutely horrible.  We didn't notice until right before we headed out that there was no North/South marked on the map they gave us.  So, we headed up out of the subway at the designated spot.  Ok, good.  Here we go!  This is the right intersection (by the way, the streets on the map are only marked in really faint hangul)  So we take a guess and head off down the street.  Wrong street.  Walk all the way back.  Try other street.  Wrong street.  Walk back.  Try again.  Again.  Again.  Finally, found Holt.  We're dripping in sweat and I'm sure smell like homeless people.  But we are here.  And really early.  Don't care, I'm getting my baby and I seriously doubt he's going to give a hoot about the state of my hair.  Which is bad.  Really bad.  We may have fixed the plugging in the computer problem but we didn't foresee the smoking converter issue but I digress....

We are set in this little waiting room.  And here is where I start the paparazzi action.  Here comes the Holt Van!

It's FOSTER MOM!!  

Did I mention there are no car seats?  And here's our little man riding in the front!

Thank goodness for my telephoto lens!  They are two floors and half a block away!  

Before I forget what is inside this bag, I should record it.  In this bag, his foster mom packed all of his Pororo stuff (clothes, eating utensils, coloring stuff for the plane), all of the toys we had sent him over the past year, PICTURE ALBUMS!, hanbok for next year's pictures, traditional embroidered purse for me, chopsticks for the kids, traditional fans for Grace and Jack, and tons of snacks and diapers.

Sneak Peak!

We have video of the entire meeting but it's a bit too private to post here.  Foster mom recorded a message to him too.  So glad I chose to take video!

 Talking over video chat to Appa.  Saying goodbye.

 Popos (kisses)  Appa called literally five times to say goodbye while we were there.  My heart was breaking for them. 

 Our kiddos went to build-a-bear because they decided it would be the perfect place to get gifts for the Holt staff.  I'm sure there was no ulterior motive there...

Anyway, apparently DJ is a Spiderman lover (even knew the date it would be released in Korea and was anxiously awaiting) Jackson thought that she must be a superhero because she takes care of so many kids at once.  He was dead on there!

 Two twins bound for Michigan!

 Off to the Dr. office for the pre-flight physical.

  This little guy was in to get a bandage off of his finger.  Looked like he'd smashed it.

 Another little guy headed for New Jersey.  Literally the biggest baby I've ever seen.  He weighs the same as our 6 year old.  40lbs.  The foster moms were all joking around pretending to not be able to lift him and he was giggling and laughing about it. 

 He was fine all the way home.  Because of the taxi strike DJ drove us back to the DMC herself!  Lifesaver that woman is!  He played on the phone the whole way.  He was drawing pictures and saving them all on his own.  This kid is so very smart.  He's had a smart phone longer than we have and he knows exactly how to work it!  He can open programs himself, draw pictures, and save them.  He'd filled my phone with 17 scribble pictures before I even knew what he was doing!

Never cried at all.  

Until we got to the elevator to go up to the apartment.  Then all heck broke loose.

He runs for the door and gets his shoes and throws them at us.  He won't take off his backpack because he's convinced as long as it's on he will be going back out of this place.  It's so hard to watch his cries for Omma.  I'm praying he finds comfort soon!