Official Day 1

Am posting yesterday's pictures today :)

Korean Air - the plane that got us here safely.

So today is our official day 1 - We had to meet by 7:00 a.m. for a great buffet breakfast (many, many kinds of food both Korean and American breakfast foods). Kimchi for breakfast anyone?? 

Then we had a group orientation/introduction. Time to meet the other 100 or so people with us. Then off to the busses - three of them, loaded according to the ages of kids you have so they can befriend others their ages. Our local Korean Connection group is all on our bus, even though the kids' ages are not all compatible. It's nice to be traveling with so many friends that we know.  Our first stop was at the   ChangDeokgung Palace, located right in the heart of the city. 

Great place for taking pictures.... unfortunately this is not one of ours. I didn't bring my ipad/camera and that is the only way I can post photos. Will do so on our next days. Jaden really seemed to love the place and experience and took many great pictures there on his ipod (Julie and Grandma, you remember how great his pics turn out!!)

The highlight was seeing the kids there on a fieldtrip and initiating a connection by saying "announg hasseo" (hello) to them and then hello in English. They seemed genuinely surprised that I was trying to talk to them - but then they smiled and answered shyly. We even were able to ask some boys how old they were and learned they were 12. I guess it's the teacher in me that had me interested in talking to the kids. 

Then off to lunch - I KNOW, it felt like we had already eaten, but it was a long drive (on the way to our next sightseeing location). We had another awesome buffet in Siwon where we had all kinds of food - seafood, pizza, whelk. Claire actually tried to pry one of these shells open - the shell was pretty, but the creature inside was slimy and kind of gross. She got the award for the most adventurous eater. 

Got a quick peek into a Korean grocery store where you needed to take an escalator up - reminded me of Whole Foods in Milwaukee, Jim of the big Menards store!! We would have loved to walk up and down the aisles to see all the various kinds of food but had to get on the bus to the next stop, the Korean Folk village.

Saw this rope walker...an older gentleman who did awesome things on the suspended rope. Jim and I wondered if it was the same man as we saw 10 year ago when we were there the first time. 

Saw the farmer's dance. These guys are awesome the way they twirl their heads and sway the long ribbon on their hats, when the drums bang the rhythm. Claire wants to buy one of these hats for herself and learn the dance!

The weather is really humid and sticky and hot, but today was overcast and there was a slight breeze so that helped a bit. We are getting used to being kind of soggy, inside and out, as the air conditioning in the hotel is not too cool. Today we bought fans to keep us cool while sightseeing in the upcoming days.

Now off to do some exploring the neighborhood around the hotel - Myeungdong. It's an awesome shopping area with tons of stores and restaurants. We had dinner there last night - Korean BBQ and kimchi pancakes. We sat at the tables where we sat on the floor (and had to take off our shoes). The kids' first experience with this. Tonight we may try the Korean McDonalds as Claire is interested to see if they have kids' meals. 

Tomorrow is a big day for Claire - she reunites with her Foster parents who took care of her for the first  4 months of her life. We are also visiting the hospital where she was born - a place to connect (at least in spirit) with her birthmother. Jaden's day comes a bit later when we travel to Gwanju, his birth city. We know it will be an emotional day for Claire, but an important and very special one as well. Emotions are good, especially when you are validating who you are and where you came from.

Hope to post "real" pictures soon. Jim has been taking TONS with our new camera.