Seoul- Day 7- Seoul toToronto!

Hi all ! Our day started off really early in the morning. Everyone woke up at5:00am to get ready, fed and packed for we we needed to head out the door for 6:00 am to get to the bus to take us to INCHEON Airport.Our flight time was for 10:00 am. We put Kijin in the small stroller once again and with all our luggage and headed down to the lobby. One of the weekend doormen helped us walk with our luggage up the street to the R. Hotel ! Perfect ! What a nice man ! Now before I move on, I wanted to explain about another boarding option anyone can take here downtown Seoul before flying out of the airport which is 1 hour away. This HUGE building is located downtown Seoul. You can purchased flight tickets here as well is check in to your flight. There is a luggage claim , a customs department as well as Immigration. ITs called CALT. It's an advanced common use passenger technology for airline check in counters at the City Aiport Logis and Travel (calt ). So if you took this route, you do all your checking in, you take the bus to the airport, go right by all the lines and basically board your plane with no hassels !!! This is soooo cool and so well advanced why can't Toronto do this???? WE were impressed !!!!

This was an option we could take or just take the bus immediately to the airport and do it the old fashion way. We took the old fashion way !!

So off we went on the bus to the airport. Kijin sat on our laps, took it all in then near the end of the bus trip started to snooze. We got to the airport---wow it was busy !!!! No wonder CALT was another option !! Oh well.....How are we going to do this? A stroller, 3 large suitcases, and carrying some of our purchases ?? We found our way to Korean Air-Toronto boarding- it took hardly an hour , since it was nicely organized considering how many people were at this airport !!!! We booked a bulk head seating with a baby bassinet.

Once on the plane- they showed us our seating--and attached this brown bassinet baby bed to the wall in front of our seats. This fits for about a baby who is 1 years old or so. This was neat. I have never seen this before !! We were unsure if Kijin would fit in it our use it !!! WE will find out I guess. !!! I fed Kijin his bottle, and he fell asleep while making our way into the air- this was a blessing !!! He slept for about 30minutes and woke up with smiles for everyone on the plane. He was a popular boy on the plane ! HE really did well ! Ed and I kept him occupied for about 4 hours or so ,then he had enough ! Started to fuss, so we played with him and walked him around the plane. I finally got him to sleep and put him in the bassinet ! Whew ! Another blessing !!! He was sleeping and fits into the bassinet !!!!! Yeah !!! 2 hours later, the seat belt light comes on. WEll apparently Kijin CANNOT sleep in the bassinett while this is happening?????? Really??? But he was so secured in this thing and he was barely moving !!! ??? Nope--gotta take him out and hold him until the seat belt light gets turned off !!! UGH!!!! Ed got him out, he was starting to wake, looked around and basically fell asleep again ! Thank goodness !! SO all 3 of us got a bit of a snooze until he woke up again, looking for food. ! IT was now only 4.5 hours into the plane ride--we had 6 hours to go !!!!!!

HE did not fall asleep again--he was fussy- tired, cranky, but did really really well. Ed and I once again had to hold him,and keep him occupied or stroll around in the plane to keep him happy. WE did not let anyone hold him really...maybe 2 of the attendants for not very long, for we wanted to Kijin to rely on us and get use to us. This was a great bonding time , if we could do it...holding him throughout the 13 hour plane ride !!! UGHHHHH the plane ride was soooooooooo long coming home !!!! The food was yucky !! The snacks were ok--but the 2 meals we were served was really gross ! WE may be picky eaters, but the food was on the plane in the warmers for many hours, and all they offered were 2 fish dishes ! Working in a health department now for 5 years, you learn a few things of do's and don'ts of serving and preparing food. REally??? They fed us fish, or seaweed soup !!! UGH !!! We took the plates anyways, since we were STARVING and ate the bun or fruit ! They actually still serve peanuts on the plane too...I was really surprised about this ! ? What about those who have deathy allergic reactions to the peanuts or the fish?? WE really don't know ourselves if Kijin is allergic to peanuts yet !? Then too top it off, Kijin and I spilled the seaweed soup onto Eds lap !!!! OOOPPPSSSS !!!!!

WE finally landed !!!!!! YEah !!!! Kijin fell asleep !!!!! Got our luggage, went through customs and Immigrations with no problems or hassels--this was great !

Grandad Marshall was ready to pick us up !!! He took pictures for us !!!Kyler and Nana were at his last hockey game for the finals !!! They will see us at the house !!!

Kijin did not mind the car seat, within moments of the moving car, he was asleep again ! Poor guy was sooooo tired ! We landed at 10:40 am---but really it was around 11:00pm hours for us coming from Seoul !!! He did sooooo welll on the plane !!!!!! A trooper !!!! Ed and I were exhausted !!!!!!!!!!!! No sleep on the plane, and holding Kijin and walking around the plane for many hours done its toll !!!

WE finally arrive home :) Kijin wakes up and slowly takes in everything around him ! I showed him around the house, his room, and many new toys....not long, he was a bit upset and sooooo tired !!! Kyler and Nana finally came home ! Kyler won both the games in his tournament and scored 2x !!!!! Kyler loves his new brother !! Kijin took to him with no problems...lots of smiles and a playing partner !!!!!!! Many pictures taken.....yes...i have yet to download some.................. we feed him and then mom and Kijin had to take a nap ! My head was spinning ! It felt I have been up for 24 hours--in the plane.....My whole body was so tired--JET LEG !!! Yuck ! Kijin and I slept for 4 hours- had a great nap, woke up for dinner, and now it was time to try and keep him up so he would sleep in the night for us....

Well its now 3:44 am on Monday March 28th. He fell asleep around 8:oopm on Ed watching TV-we put him in his new room and crib--out like a light ! With his soothie in !!! HE is still sleeping !!!! I hope he adjusts well--so far soooooo good !!!

All in all, it was a good but long trip home ! Once again for those who will be taking the trip--just be prepared for anything ! WE packed Kijin's spare outfits, food, his toys and tried to keep him on the same feeding schedule. He did use the bassinet, but not very long...just remember, once that seatbelt light comes on, and if the baby is in it, you have to take him out of it. But the bassinett also provided us a makeshiftshelf, so we loaded it up as much as we could to keep the floor space clear in front of us to get up and walk around with Kijin. :)

I will do my best once again to keep blogging while trying to catch up on sleep and plan out our days ! We still have a lot of paperwork and home stuff to do--but we will get through it all ! Kyler starts school again today--after a 2 week March Break ! HE will have some exciting news to tell his classmates today !!

I am getting tired and hungry again--ugh !! Kijin is still sleeping--better catch some zzzzzzz ;s !!!

Thanks again for everyones emails and comments and phone calls !! WE will keep ya posted !!!

Karen, Ed, Kyler and Kijin= KEKK signing off from home- Pickering , Canada !!!!!

Seoul Day 6- Day 2 with Kijin

Hi all !

Today was Day 6 for us, the final full day in Seoul South Korea! Ed and I enjoyed touring around Seoul, and learning about Kijin's birth country. Of course the whole high-light of this amazing trip was to come and take Kijin home with us :)

Day 2 with Kijin was a good day. We took another walk earlier this morning and another one in the evening with him in our front pouch carrier ! He was very content, just enjoying the fresh air ! We are just packing and getting ready to leave very early in the morning. We hope Kijin's feeding and sleeping schedule will last us until we get home to Canada. !

Today we bought some Korean children and Korean cook books from the Hospital and dropped off our gifts to the doormen and for the nurses who look after the babies until they can be placed in a foster home. Thank you for taking good care of us !!!!

We enjoyed our stay here at the Guest House ! We did not see any other families staying here- but for those who are coming, good luck and have a great trip !

Thanks for following our blog up to this point ! I will post more pictures once I get home !

See u in Canada !!!

Karen , Ed and Kijin signing out from Seoul, South Korea

Seoul-Day 5 Getting to know baby Kijin

Hi all ! Day 5 , Friday March 25th, 2011 started off as a beautiful day ! A bit chilly but getting much warmer. I saw snow come down late in the night. A beautiful sight , when its coming down above the mountains!!! Today was the day we will be getting Kijin forever. So nervous and very excited !!!!!!

We headed out for a coffee at the Starbucks. Its just around the corner and they are everywhere ! Same decor inside and a relaxed setting as in Canada. We also bought mugs here for the 4 of us. It wasn't long until we had to head up the the hospital, 7th floor for our 10:00am appointment.

Right at the top on the 7th floor we ran into Kijin and his foster mom on their way to get a physical from the doctor :) Our social worker met with us there too and told us they will be right back, and to please wait in their office.
Not much longer, they met us in the office. We had to do some paperwork first, meet the Director of SWS, and then they presented us with beautiful keepsake gifts for Kijin which was the Korean Flag, and a keepsake box. I was then given Kijin to hold while they went over his schedule and gave us the items his foster family provided for him and the things we sent to him from Canada. They gave us his bottles, formula , diapers, soothie and food snacks to last us until we had to leave Canada. This was wonderful !!!!!!!

Then it was time for us to go. We parted at the elevator. We thanked them all profusely , shaking hands and hugging them as well. Ed was holding Kijin, for I had the 3 bags full of his belongings and food. Into the elevator we went, waving good bye for the last time ! Off we went to our SWS Guest house room which was about 4 doors down.

Here , we started to play with Kijin, showing him his new surroundings and took many pictures !!! It did not take too long for Kijin to realize that we were not familiar to him and he started to get upset. So we feed him, he fell asleep, napped a bit then woke up to my face and did not what he saw ! Some tears and sad faces, it took him awhile but then he got use to us and started to play with the toys we brought and got happier as the day went on. We took him for a brisk walk around the block, got some air and headed back to our room for dinner. HE is a good eater, loves to snack on cookies and fruits. The hard part was for us to keep him up until 10:oopm !!!! For his last feeding then bed !! Both Ed and I were tired, but we were able to hang on until 9:00pm ! Gave him his bottle and then he was happy and wanted to play !!!! LOL !!!

We turned off the lights, put him in the playpen, and then he just could not get comfy to fall asleep. I picked him up, rocked him to sleep and presto !!!! He was asleep !!! 10:00pm right to about 6:30am !!!!! Now we will begin day 2 of being with Kijin. We will see what the day will bring...............!!!!!

Karen and Ed and Kijin signing out from Seoul

Social Welfare Society , Inc www.sws.or.kr

The Seoul Social Welfare Society works on adoption which connects the children to families full of love, and conducts rehabilitation and welfare services for those who have special needs and nowhere to go. This organization does many more things for their community and overseas. Ed and I are currently staying in their "Guest House" on the 7th floor. It is a place for Korean children who are being adopted overseas and their adoptive parents together can relax in comfort while staying in their motherland Korea.

There is also a famous rock out front of the doors. ( we did take a picture of this..have yet to later download some of our pictures ) Every day, Ed and I go up and down the stairs to the 7th floor to our room. On the way up, on every floor, there are beautiful full size photos of Korean famous people holding newborn babies ! Very cute !! There are 2 very nice doormen who try and speak English and assist us in any way they can. We have brought gifts for them from Canada. ( Maple syrup and chocolates ) We will be giving them their gifts some time today :)

If you would like to know more about this organization and where we are staying, check out their website ! www.sws.or.kr Karen and Ed, signing out from Seoul

Seoul- Day 4

Hi all !
Day4 for us started bright and early !! So we decided to walk some more and head to the Bongeunsa Temple. This temple is very beautiful and a very nice experience to see it. It was so quiet, so early in the morning. It is one of Korea's most traditional Buddhist temples built under the name of Gyeonseongsa. We took many pictures and felt we needed to be quiet and respectful of our surroundings. Many people came to pray and bow to their Buddhist Gods. The picture below is the Main Temple ( Daewoongjeon) It is the most important temple of Bongeunsa and the centre of all religious activities. The Korean's are mostly Christians here and many believe in the Buddhist as well.

Since the CoEx Mall was right across the street from the Temple, we decided to hang out, eat and do some more shopping. Ed bought a lovely Tea Set and we found the popular Porogo? childrens toys - trucks and cars for Kijin - the only place we could find these toys was in the Aquarium Gift shop.

Now it was time walk back to our Guest House !!! So once again , we find ourselves, having a much needed rest since we have walked many miles today !!!!

Seoul- Day 3

Hi all ! Well we decided to venture out and try the Seoul Metro Subway!

We were right in the middle of morning rush hour ! People rushing everywhere on their way to work. Everyone dressed in their business attire, on the phone or reading the paper. We found the Yeoksam Station, which is not far from our SWS Guest House. We just followed everyone else ! We go below and had no idea what to do or where to go ! So many people ! How do we do this??? I tell Ed , lets go to the Renaissance Hotel and get some help ! We need a map or a tour guide !!!!! So back up we go to the street and walk to the RHotel. By the way, there are many many stairs !!! I can't believe these ladies do it in their high heels !!!!!!!!!

We found the information booth, got a Subway map and got directions on where to go. Could we walk there???? Nope !!! Gotta take the METRO !!!! So off we went, back to the Yeoksam Station. Once below many levels, where do we get tickets ??? We found the electronic ticket booths and had no idea how to use it. This nice man who spoke english , told us how to use it !!!

We had to take 2 subways to get our destination 1 ( oh ,oh !) . We can do this !!!!!

We followed the map and got to Anguk Station. ( me asking Ed every few minutes=are we going the right way?? Will we get lost????? Where do we get off again?? )

Once climbing all the stairs to the street level- we just walked and walked and ended up at Changdeok Palace.

This is a palace that was built many many years ago on which the King and Queen lived at. We took an english tour and took many pictures. We paid about $6,000 won each and the tour lasted about an hour. It was very sunny, but very cold !!!! We did not pack well for our warm clothes. Its very damp and it goes right through you !!! UGH ! I tried to stay in the sun as much as possible and later grabbed a large coffee to warm up.

We then walked and found our way to the Insadong Market. More walking !!!!!!! It was a long and narrow street with many vendors on each side. Little closed in stores, or small malls, and or street vendors trying to sell their stuff. The Koreans really love their cell phone trinkets. Everywhere we looked there was stuff for cellphones, carriers, key chains, business card holders, cigarette cases, and many many more trinkets. We looked in many shops for a Tea set- that was reasonable and good quality. We did not find one but found the name chop shop.

This is a very famous stamp shop. They carve names, in Hangul- on soap stones and you can use them as stamps with ink. We saw pictures of the Queen Elizabeth, Prince of Netherlands and Queen Sophia getting their names carved for their own stamp. We bought one for Kijin and Kyler. They even gave us free ink !

I bought a keychain and a 1 year , TON birthday card for Kijin when he turns 1 on June 18th. We did not spend much, but we are going to go back to the CoEx Mall and get a Tea set before we go home.

We did soooo much walking, now it was time to head back before the rush hour begins !! We followed the metro map and made it back to the SWS Guest House without getting lost!! YIPPEE !!

For those who will be coming to South Korea and are following our blog-----make sure you ask Mr.Lee the SWS Guest House doorman for a Seoul Metro map or get one at the Renaissance Hotel before you head for the subway!!!!!

The Metro is very overwhelming at first, but take your time, read the maps, the stations are written in english and you will get the hang of it . Wear good shoes, bring your bags to carry your purchases, bring some snacks, your water bottle and your Won $$$$ ! They do take Visa and matercards at some locations.

I think for the rest of today we will be chilling out, watching TV ( yes , there is one or 2 tv stations that play english movies all day and night !) and resting our bodies !!! I bet so far we walked miles and miles and miles........................................ !

Take care !

Karen and Ed signing out from Seoul, South Korea.

Seoul- Day 2 Con't.....

Hi all !
Seoul- Day 2 con't.....

After we ate our pizza, we decided to head to the CoEx Mall . Why not? We have lots of time ! Why don't we walk !??

We have a map ( not the best ) so we decided to go on line for the walking directions to this HUGE mall. So we started to walk South- taking a guess we are going in the right direction. After a few blocks we decided to ask some one if the CoEx Mall was in walking distance. WE asked a young Korean man, and thankfully he spoke English very well. He told us to walk with him and he will take us there...he lives in the area and is going that way anyways ! So we had a great conversation with him on the way to the mall. He told us where to go and what to see if possible. He told us about where he worked, how long they worked, a bit of Korean culture and just what was going on around us. There were taxis, motorbikes, motorpeds, bycycles every where ! On the sidewalk, on the roads, they seem to have the right-of-way at every block. We had to be careful to make sure they saw us before they took off out onto the main road !!!!

We located the McDonalds on the way to the mall , and made a note to stop there on the way back- get this ! They deliver McDonalds food to your home on motorbikes !!!

Our guide took us to the CoEx Mall, which is.... the largest underground shopping mall in Asia, Coex Mall. Here you can find not only shopping, entertainment and fine dining but also a variety of cultural activities. There are about 200 stores with national brands such as WHO.A.U. and Basic House and international brands such as ZARA, Apple and NIKE. Visit the 16-screen multiplex cinema, Megabox, the Aquarium, the Kimchi Museum or just shop ‘til you drop’. Our guide then left us at our destination and we thanked him and off we went !

Once inside this HUGE HUGE underground mall , ( its like YorkDale Mall-but much bigger and smaller stores ) we decided to walk and go with the flow ! We mostly just browsed and checked out the Bandi and Luni's Bookstore. Here we found a couple of Korean books for Kijin including a Hangul/English dictionary. I think we will return to check out more of the mall. We have 2 full more days before we get Kijin.

On the way back....we are now getting reallllllyyy tired of walking but found the MCDonalds ! WE grabbed a coffee, and a bit of a snack !

Now off to bed to rest ! Both of us has not walked this much in a lonnnngggg time !!!

Signing off from Seoul,

Karen and Ed