Seoul -Day 1

Hi all !

My first entry I put in a few hours ago did not save- now I am re-entering our Day 1 entry !

Well, we took off on time, Saturday March 19th-11:50pm- Everything went well, hardly any line ups. The Toronto airport is very nice- I have not been there since 2001.
Before we boarded the plane- there was an elderly lady with a small yappy dog !! It was going on the plane as carry on !!! I could not believe this !??? Thank goodness we did not sit near her !
We were seated by the window-3 seater--Just Ed and I in the row...This was great- stretched out a bit- hardly slept--the food was ok-but not the greatest !! Loved the movie selection though !!
We arrived on time in Seoul at 3:30am Monday March 21--around 2:00pm Sunday for you guys ! The airport was very nice as well. WE had to wait for a bus about an hour to take us to the Renaissance Hotel-near our final destination.
We boarded the bus-5:40am--then it took us through SEOUL - we were able to view many tall buildings, bridges and cars on their way to work.
We got to the hotel around 7:ooam and then walked to our Social Welfare Society Guest House ( SWS ). Boy, that was fun ! Walking up the hill with 3 suitcases and a stroller ! Whew !! Woke us up a bit ! The walking directions we had were clear- we had 2 of them ! Thanks for those Barb !
The weather is like Canada at the moment. Cool, damp in the morning, sun in the afternoon- around 13-15*. Not much greenery yet !
We found our SWS Guest House and met the doorman and a couple from Sweden who just adopted a baby girl !! They were on their way home- 3 planes -around 18hours total to Sweden!
I am now not complaining about our upcoming plane ride home !!

We are now in our family unit 1. Which has a kitchenette, TV, Computer, phone, washroom, 2 beds, and a crib for baby Kijin. We have been sleeping all day and as I write this, it is, 4:ooam Tuesday March 22. Their plug units are different here. 3 pronged outlets- We bought an adaptor before we left to plug in our electrical devices that need charging. I have yet to find out how to upload our pictures to the computer. ?

There are no clocks in the room. We are relying on Eds BB to set off the alarm to get ready in the morning. We are now in Seoul South Korea time. ( 13 hrs ) or so ahead of you guys in Canada!

WE meet our social worker around 10am or so and then travel on to meet Kijin and his foster family !!! So exciting and nerve racking !

Anyways, I am going back to bed to see if I can sleep some more !
Take Care everyone.

Karen and Ed( who is sleeping right now ) signing off from Seoul , South Korea March 22, 2011, 4:08 am !

The Journey--South Korea

Hi all !

I think i got some sleep, but not much ! We have a few things to pack and do before we leave so this may be the last blog entry before we fly out. We do have a computer where we are staying, and I hope to be in contact with family and friends and update our Blog.

Here is basically our Travel Itinerary : Canada time to Korean Time ( 14 hours ahead )
Day 1 : Fly out of Canada from Toronto for Seoul- Korean Air 11:50pm Saturday March 19th
Day 2: Sunday--still in the air
Day 3: Monday- Arrive in Seoul 02:30am and check in at the Social Welfare Society (SWS
Guest House ) then sleeeeeeeepppppp zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... ( i hope ! )
Day 4: Tuesday-Meet with our social worker and meet Kijin and his foster family
Day 5,6: Wednesday-Thursday Explore Seoul and receive Kijin , sight see if possible or just
hang out and learn more about Kijin
Day 7,8: Friday, Saturday Sightseeing or shopping
Day 9: Sunday 10:00 am fly out of Seoul---Return to Canada 10:00am !!

We are really gone 7 days, but because of the time difference back and forth it will seem longer or shorter ! Oh My !!!!

Wish us luck !

Talk to you later in Seoul ! ( I hope )

Karen

Ugh ! I can't Sleep ! zzzzzzzz

Hi all.
Bare with me on this blog entry !

Well its almost midnight and I can't sleep ! My mind will not shut down. I am very excited, nervous, scared and have a million things going through my head !
I am soooo excited to go on this trip, meet Kijin and see as much as we can of South Korea-Seoul in 7 days. ( less time with the difference--they are around 14 hours ahead ) Whew !
I am soooo nervous ! The whole flight, meeting Kijin, meeting his foster family , and especially just knowing we are not too far from Japan and what is going on there. I am praying every minute that we will be safe, stress free and come home on time as planned. We are flying out on Saturday, which means the airport will be a ZOO for all those travellers coming back from March Break and those coming in from Japan. Stress free, stress free, breeeeaaathhhheeee .....
Have I packed everything ? Do I have everything? Did I pack way too much or way too little ? ( too much i bet ) How do you people travel with babies????? Small kids??? All the power to you !!! Bring on the power to me !!! That flight home is 13hours plus with a 9 month old who hardly knows us !!! Thank you all who have called or emailed me to give me your support, suggestions and so on in the last week or so on how to travel with a baby !!! ( and more ! :)
I think my brain is in overload- !!!! Ya think ???
Kyler is a lot on my mind as well---a very excited big brother !!! He will have to adjust as well on all the changes that will occurr once we return ! Pray for him too that he will do just fine and learn that he is not the only child anymore. He has done really well in school this year, we hope he will continue to keep up his grades and that bringing Kijin home will not upset his school schedule too much !
Once we return on Sunday the 27th--lets hope I remember to pack his lunch and actually get him off to school on time on the Monday !!!

Once we are home, and have slept ( i hope so !!! ) and have finished with some of our appointments, etc, it may be some time before we venture out with Kijin and see our families and friends. So give us some time, we will get to you eventually, to show Kijin off !!

Well, thanks for letting me get some of these thoughts off my chest. I hope I can get to sleep now !

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts, prayers, emails , calls and keeping in touch on our Blog !

Off to bed zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz .........................

Karen

We are off to South Korea ! --Saturday March 19th !

Hi all !!! We got the call on Friday March 11th--that Kijin's VISA came in ! Yeah ! So we are booked to fly out on March 19th---YES this Saturday !!!! and return on the 27th ! We will meet him for the first time on Tuesday !!! We are very excited ! I think we have everything packed and more !! Kyler will stay with his grandparents in Kitchener as planned and anxiously wait for our arrival with his new baby brother ! Thanks everyone for all your thoughts and prayers up to this point and would love for you to continue to do so until we return !
We will do our best to stay in contact either by email/FB or our Blog while we are there !
Wish us a safe and stress free trip !

KEKK Wiersma

Kijin's VISA is in !

Hi all ! I got a call today that Kijin's VISA is ready ! Which means we will plan to travel to South Korea in the next coming weeks ! We hope by the end of next week that most of the details will be worked out and we will have a take off date ! Although we got our happy news today, our thoughts are with those in Japan and the rest of those who are devastated with this tragic event. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families who are in envolved and for those adoptive families who are waiting to travel to Japan or may be a "Family in Waiting" for a referral from Japan.

KEKK Wiersmas

New Photos of Kijin !

Hi all ! Today we got our updated photos of Kijin ! He is getting soooo big! He is a healthy almost 9 month old ! Wow ! We are currently on our 5th week of waiting for his VISA to be ready. ( it usually takes 8-12 ) Almost there !! Apparently our care package arrived at the right address and the right spot ! I hope there is a way for us to find out if it got to Kijin and his foster family :) Thanks again for all the emails, thoughts and prayers that we have been receiving :)

Karen, Ed, Kyler

Karen's work surprise !

You got me ! Thanks for my pizza party and gifts ! I had no idea my team was cooking up something behind my back ! heheeh lol...Thanks for all those who signed their best wishes in the lovely card that came with the gifts and gift card ! Thanks again ! Karen