Our Korean adventure is planned out now! Here's what we're doing:
Saturday 9/22 - Fly to Korea (8:30AM Portland to Seattle Alaskan Air, 2:20pm Seattle to Seoul Asiana Air) Long layover, but at least I get to catch some of the Beaver football game at the airport!
Sunday 9/23 - 5:50pm Arrive in Korea (we lose a day crossing the dateline) Total time from start to finish - 17hrs 20min!!
Monday 9/24 - 9:30am City Tour. We get a personal tour of sites in Seoul from a Holt volunteer. The tour includes GyeongBokGung Palace or Deoksugung Palace
Tuesday 9/25 - on our own for more sightseeing and shopping
Wednesday 9/26 - 3pm appointment at Holt to meet foster family and pick up Sam!
Thursday 9/27 - free time with Sam
Friday 9/28 - more Sam time
Saturday 9/29 - fly home (Seoul - Seattle - Portland) Leave Seoul at 6:40pm, arrive at Portland 6:21pm. I've always wanted to travel back in time!
We are staying at the Somerset Hotel while we are there. It is really nice and is a great location right in the middle of Seoul. http://www.somerset.com/ Also, Julie will be accompanying us on the trip! My adopted sister will be making her first trip to back to Korea - the country she was born. She'll be a big help by being an extra set of hands for us and holding the video camera when we pick up Sam on Wednesday.
We'll be posting pictures of our adventure as we go. Please pray for safe travel, smooth travel logistics, and sleep for us! We are already having troubles sleeping over anxiety and excitement about the trip and we haven't travelled anywhere yet!
Wednesday will be an intensely emotional experience for everyone involved. We are tearing Sam away from the only mom and dad he knows. The foster family who has never fostered previously will be losing a loved one. We'll be finally getting our boy! After years of trying to get pregnant and failing. After an adoption that has been one of the most trying experiences we've ever experienced, with delay after delay, wondering if we'd ever get to see our boy. It all comes to a head that day. Please pray for God's hand over this whole event. And especially pray for Sam's transition to his new family.
One more thing... When we return with Sam I know everyone will be anxious to see him. We ask that you please allow us some time to ourselves initially as he bonds to his new mom and dad and adapts to his new environment. There will be no big welcome home parties or parades. I don't know how quickly he'll adjust, but I'd say after a week we can probably start taking visitors. If you want to come over, please call us first and we'll schedule you in!
OK, enough of that, let's get this trip started!
Its finally happening! We are going to Korea!!! The call came this morning while I was at work. It wasn't a total shock as I knew it could happen, but figured more likely it would be a couple weeks. Nope. Holt says as soon as you can manage come to Korea! We are so overwhelmed and thankful. God is good! Walking on clouds and finding it hard to concentrate on anything right now.
More news to come on details of our trip. Tomorrow hopefully we'll have things figured out, but we're working on flying out Saturday and being in Korea all next week.
Keep an eye on this blog as we start our adventure!
More news to come on details of our trip. Tomorrow hopefully we'll have things figured out, but we're working on flying out Saturday and being in Korea all next week.
Keep an eye on this blog as we start our adventure!
I called the National Visa Center today and they had good news for me! Sam's visa has been issued! He had his visa interview yesterday. This means the travel call is just around the corner! Looking at other adopting parent's timelines, the travel call usually comes two weeks after the visa interview. Although sometimes it happens after only a couple days.
So next week, note to self: make sure you have your cell phone on you at all times! and make sure it is charged!
Today we received a new progress report too. Here's some excerpts from it:
Runs. Puts both feet on the ground and hops. Climbs up and down stairs holding on to rail and with one last stair left he gathers both feet and jumps down. Sits beside the foster mother with book and asks to read it for him. Likes to look at book with pictures... Puts both hands on head and imitates hopping like rabbit. Watches the foster mother's actions attentively and imitates. Watches children's TV programs attentively and follows dancing and smiles or claps hands depending on different situations. Gets upset when TV is switched to another channel... Brings necessary items and garment along when getting ready to go out and when in haste he puts on shoes and raps on the door in order to be taken out quickly. Urges to enter bakery when passing and carries purchased bread.
Can't wait to experience these things ourselves! Almost there!
So next week, note to self: make sure you have your cell phone on you at all times! and make sure it is charged!
Today we received a new progress report too. Here's some excerpts from it:
Runs. Puts both feet on the ground and hops. Climbs up and down stairs holding on to rail and with one last stair left he gathers both feet and jumps down. Sits beside the foster mother with book and asks to read it for him. Likes to look at book with pictures... Puts both hands on head and imitates hopping like rabbit. Watches the foster mother's actions attentively and imitates. Watches children's TV programs attentively and follows dancing and smiles or claps hands depending on different situations. Gets upset when TV is switched to another channel... Brings necessary items and garment along when getting ready to go out and when in haste he puts on shoes and raps on the door in order to be taken out quickly. Urges to enter bakery when passing and carries purchased bread.
Can't wait to experience these things ourselves! Almost there!
And no big news to report. We were told the travel call could come anytime from September through November. As we get further into September it seems less likely it will be this month. I check with the National Visa Center every few days to see if Sam's visa has been processed and it has not. We are so tired of waiting. It's now been 13 months and 21 days since we were matched with Sam.
We got 3 new pictures of him on Friday. One of them is now posted to the right replacing his 1 year old picture. He is almost 2 now shedding the baby fat and turning into a handsome boy.
We got 3 new pictures of him on Friday. One of them is now posted to the right replacing his 1 year old picture. He is almost 2 now shedding the baby fat and turning into a handsome boy.
The last few weeks have been busy as we prepare for Sam's arrival. Here's what we've been up to:
- Garage cleaned up and organized
- Hallway painted (that's the last of what needed to be painted in the house)
- Our stuff is out of Sam's room - it's totally his room now
- Kristi found a used wooden high chair sitting on a sidewalk downtown that someone was trying to give away. She took it, stripped it down, sanded and painted it. It looks great. It's sitting in our dining room now.
- IKEA trip produced some more things for Sam's room including a table and chairs and toy storage bins.
- Studying Korean phrases to get us by in Korea, like 불고기 주세요! - Please give me Korean BBQ!
There's still lots more to do, but it's fun to finally get to this point where we are preparing in earnest!
No news from Holt since the last post I made. But at this point that is good - that means there were no problems with the Visa physical. We likely won't hear any more news from Holt until the travel call comes which we've been told could be as early as the first week of September!
During the wait for Sam, I've been studying the Korean language quite a bit. We are blessed to have many Korean-Americans in our community and at our church that have taken the time to teach us many things about Korean culture, food, and the language. Here is something that I have learned that I'd like to share. If you are family, then pay special attention. This if for you!
I'm going to teach you what your relationship is to Sam in Korean.
I'm going to teach you what your relationship is to Sam in Korean.
Chuck Mary
Grandpa - Weh Harabeoji Grandma - Weh Halmoni
\ /
Kristi Aaron - Katrina
Mom - Omma Uncle - Emobu Aunt - Emo
|
Samuel
Roger Sandra
Grandpa - Harabeoji Grandma - Halmoni
\ /
Steve Corey Reagan - Julie
Uncle - Samchon Dad - Appa Uncle - Gomobu Aunt - Gomo
|
Samuel
Kelsey & Natalia
Cousin - Sachon
You will notice that there is a different name for each relationship. There are different names depending on whether you are on the paternal or maternal side, or whether you are an in-law. If you think about it, English is a lot more obscure. When you say Uncle, it could be your dad's brother, your mom's brother, your grandma's brother, etc. In Korean, there are particular names for each of these relationships.
So those were the names Samuel would call you. How about what you call him?
Son - Adeul
Grandson - Sonja
Nephew - Joka
Cousin - Sachon
You can also call him chak ha da, which is "good boy".
For more information on relationship terms in Korean go here: http://blog.korea.net/?p=1926
We are cooking now. The Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare has approved Sam for the emigration permit! This happened yesterday, we were notified today. Again a bit of a surprise that the approval came so quickly, but we'll take it. Hopefully this pace keeps up!
Holt says that it is still difficult to say when travel will be since there are so many people being processed right now, but that it would likely be September - November. It took me a little bit to realize that September is just a month away. We need to be ready in a month! So my joy has been dulled a bit by anxiety. There is still quite a bit that needs to be done with the bedroom. There are several things to buy - like a car seat, a dresser, more clothes. We don't have any shoes or socks for him. Is that important? We've been holding off on getting things for so long because of the seemingly unending delays that it's kind of hard to get it in gear and realize that we're going to have to take care of a little boy soon.
Now what happens from here? I'm still figuring this out, but a lot of things will be happening behind the scenes and we don't get notification about a lot of it. He should be getting his visa physical tomorrow. If that goes well, then his paperwork is sent to the visa worker where they finish collecting the final documents to submit into the US embassy for the travel visa. It sounds like this takes about 2 weeks. After this, the foster family has to take Sam to the embassy for a visa interview. After the travel visa is issued then it's all about preparations for travel. I'm told when the travel call comes we'll be on a plane in about a week!
I'll post when we learn anything more about the visa status. Until then, we got some work to do!
Holt says that it is still difficult to say when travel will be since there are so many people being processed right now, but that it would likely be September - November. It took me a little bit to realize that September is just a month away. We need to be ready in a month! So my joy has been dulled a bit by anxiety. There is still quite a bit that needs to be done with the bedroom. There are several things to buy - like a car seat, a dresser, more clothes. We don't have any shoes or socks for him. Is that important? We've been holding off on getting things for so long because of the seemingly unending delays that it's kind of hard to get it in gear and realize that we're going to have to take care of a little boy soon.
Now what happens from here? I'm still figuring this out, but a lot of things will be happening behind the scenes and we don't get notification about a lot of it. He should be getting his visa physical tomorrow. If that goes well, then his paperwork is sent to the visa worker where they finish collecting the final documents to submit into the US embassy for the travel visa. It sounds like this takes about 2 weeks. After this, the foster family has to take Sam to the embassy for a visa interview. After the travel visa is issued then it's all about preparations for travel. I'm told when the travel call comes we'll be on a plane in about a week!
I'll post when we learn anything more about the visa status. Until then, we got some work to do!
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