Kyobo Book Store - Click to Zoom

Our appointment to see Halle was at 3pm today.  We started the day with plans to go see the Korean War Memorial, but we were being kind of lazy and decided to just hit the Kyobo book store downtown.  We later found out that the Korean War Memorial wasn’t even open today so that would have been just like us…go to somewhere only to find it closed (ie: Wallyworld).  We went to the Paris bakery again and had our normal coffee and baked goods…nothing too spectacular there.  We were actually all kind of spaced out thinking about what was to come at 3pm.  We headed to the subway and after only one transfer we were at the bookstore.   We picked up some trinkets and books for Halle that are written in both Korean and English.

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Wow…what a full day!  First of all, happy 12 year anniversary to my beautiful wife.  I can’t imagine life without her.  She is simply amazing!

Gyeongbukgung Palace - Click to Zoom

I’m going to do something a little different today. I’m going to try and make is short on explaining our activities today and post some more photos of our first meeting with Halle.  After all, that is why we are here.

So…here is our day in a nutshell….

It was really cold today…high of 39 degrees.  We headed out at 8:30am after waking up at 5:30 thanks to Jake’s screwed up sleep schedule.  We went to the French Bakery again for coffee and weird pastries (hot dog in a flaky bun, donut twist thing, etc.).  After that we headed to the subway and went to

The family with the Palace Guard - Click to Zoom

Gyeongbukgung Palace. This place was originally built in 1394 as the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The grounds were massive and the buildings and colors simply amazing.  Jake was able to dress up in the traditional palace guard uniform (dress/pajama thing) and everyone was taking photos of him.  Again…rock star status for Jake in Seoul.

Jen and Jake at the Palace - Click to Zoom

After the palace, we went into the adjoining museum for coffee and hot cocoa…just to get warm after being in the freezing cold breeze for a couple of hours.  We took off on the subway again to go to Insadong Market.  A couple of days ago we went to another market (Namdaenum) so I expected this to be much of the same….not so fast bucko!   Namdaemun is a lot more rustic.  Insadong is more westernized.  We found some cool trinkets and had lunch at a place we imagine is more like the Noodles & Company of Seoul.  More accessible Korean food for westerners who get freaked out by octopus, squid and unusual pork parts.

Jake and I sampled some street vendor food while Jen search for trinkets to buy.  Jake and I then hit an arcade.  I love a good arcade.  It takes me back to the massive arcade at Valley West Mall in Glendale, AZ in the mid 80′s (I just can’t remember then name of it).

Jake at Insadong Market (Jen is to the left) - Click to Zoom

We headed back to our home away from home after 6 hours of being on the move.  We had dinner plans at 6pm with our neighbors, the Petersons.  We took a quick cat nap and got ready dinner.  I convinced everyone that we needed to go to one of the restaurants that let you grill your own meat in the middle of the table.  After checking out several of these places near Hongik University we settled on one place that had an equal balance of people, cleanliness and hot coals vs. propane in the table.  We had a great meal and Jake did great putting up with boring adult conversation.  We really enjoyed our time with the Petersons and we look forward to seeing them more after we get home.

We are now back in our room and getting ready for bed.  Our last full day is tomorrow…and best of all, we get more time with Halle at 3pm.

And now…more photos…

Halle - Click to Zoom

Halle - Click to Zoom

Halle - Click to Zoom

Halle - Click to Zoom

Halle - Click to Zoom

Halle - Click to Zoom

Halle - Click to Zoom

Jen and Jake in the Drunken Basket - Click to Zoom

The introduction to today’s entry will be written by Jake….

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Hi everyone!  It is really fun here is Seoul.  Today we went to Lotte World.  It is basically like a Korean Disneyland, but smaller.  It was really fun.  We started by going on a ride called The Drunken Basket.  It was kind of like teacups, but the platform rose diagonally and we still spun.  My dad kept on spinning the middle wheel really fast to make the basket spin around fast.  I thought I was gonna yack.
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Our day has been incredible and as I write this, it isn’t even 1pm yet.  The meeting with our social worker was scheduled for 9:50am.  Of course, we got there 10 minutes early and had to wait for the longest 10 minutes of our lives!  We were then taken into a room where we were given all of Halle’s paperwork (passport, immigration papers, etc).  Then our social worker (didn’t catch her name because it wasn’t thrown) took us to meet Halle.  We were in instant shock!  She was cuter than we could have imagined.  Tears were rolling on cue.  We all took a deep breath and went into the playroom with her.

We took our shoes off (very important here) and sat on the soft playmate with the foster mother, the social worker and Halle.  She kept starting at me and wouldn’t stop although she clinged to foster mom like crazy.  She was wearing a hat with what we found out to be little fake pony tails sticking out of the side.  We thought that was her hair and were in a bit of shock when the hat came off, but she still does have lots of hair.  As we played with her, she got more comfortable with us and would let us hold her for short periods of time…I’m guessing the plane ride back home will be pretty stressful as she will be wanting her foster mom.

We were able to ask the foster mom questions through a translator.  We then exchanged gifts.  I think Jake made out with 3 or 4 gifts!  One of the gifts was 5 full photo albums of Halle in her first year!  INCREDIBLE and just what we wanted.

The hour we spent with her flew by.  We were told we will be meeting with her again on Monday and then we will be leaving early on Tuesday.  After our meeting we were taken to Dr. Kim’s office for a meeting with her and 2 other couples.  We were all from Minneapolis.  Dr. Kim told us the history of Eastern Social Welfare Society and the history of Korea as well.  We were then invited to have lunch with 3 other couples.  It was a traditional Korean meal and very tasty.  Dr. Kim then left us and we all chatted for a bit about our new kids and what we were all planning on doing next in Seoul.

We will be heading out in the next hour to go to the lantern festival at Namdaemun Market.  I will take lots of photos and post them, but first…the moment you have been waiting for…  Halle Rose Johnston.

Halle Touches Jen for the first time - Click To Zoom

Clay with Halle - Click to Zoom

Jake offers Halle a new bunny - Click to Zoom

Another Bunny offering - Click to Zoom

Halle trying to figure Jake out - Click To Zoom