Last Full Day in Korea

Our last day before we fly out! We had a day of ups and downs today. Jacob had a fitful sleep. He was all over the bed and whined in his sleep. Bless his heart. He woke up about 7:30 or so. He got out of bed and got a toy. I turned the light on, and reality hit him. He let out a moan, climbed back in bed and would NOT wake up. We tried to coax him with food and toys, but it did not work. He was like a newborn baby - completely limp and slept through anything we tried to do to wake him. This is a normal coping mechanism for grief. So we took the opportunity to snuggle him. Church started at 11:30, so at about 10 we got him dressed and managed to wake him up long enough to spoon yogurt in his mouth. I wore him in my carrier, and he slept most of the way to church (about 45 minutes in the metro). He woke up for a little bit on the trip, and some older ladies were there. I didn't know what they were saying, but they were pointing to their checks and looking at Jacob. I fought back tears because I didn't know what they were saying, but he does. Luckily he fell back asleep while they were still talking. It may have been innocent, but I wished they would just leave us alone.

We went to an English speaking church in Seoul. The pastor is Korean, but he is from the US. He is also very actively involved in adoption advocacy. He works with other organizations to promote domestic adoption and to stop the quota for international adoption. Church was really great. And Jacob did a great job. As soon as we got there, I took him out of the carrier and he woke up. We had a magnadoodle type thing that he played with. He sat on my lap for a while, and then sat next to me. He was so cute playing with his toy. He sang softly to himself. There was another child his age right behind us. They passed the magnadoodle back and forth under the chair for a little while. You could see that he was making sure it was ok with me. At first he dropped it and the other kid kicked it back to him. Jacob kicked it back and the other kid kicked it back again. Jacob looked at me as he slowly started to kick it again. I said yes and he felt free to play. So sweet. After church, we went up front and thanked the pastor for his work with adoption. He prayed for us, and we went back to the hotel. 

We were all very hungry by this point. We made some lunch, and Jacob climbed up into his chair, and grabbed his chopsticks and waited. I told him he could eat, but he looked to Rob. Rob told him he could eat and he dug in. Rice and chicken. Every couple of bites he would look to us to make sure it was ok. I think this might be a cultural thing. He also turned away with most bites. I am not 100% sure, but I think this might be a cultural thing as well. He chowed down - the first time I saw him eat a whole meal on his own! Then we played. We had such a great time throwing the ball back and forth. We laughed so hard. It was really wonderful. And he would run to Rob, jump into his arms, then run to me and jump into my arms. It was such a fun and special time. And if his cars that he lined up got out of place, he would have to stop and put them back into place. Kind of reminds me of Rob. With Rob, it is dishes. If there is a dish in the sink, Rob physically cannot do anything until it is put away. Even if something more important comes up. *Sigh* Rob suggested that he and Jacob can have their own space to obsessively clean and Elijah and I can't leave our stuff laying around there. For the record, Elijah and I are not messy. I prefer to call it clean clutter. Anyways, we had such a wonderful time. We even jumped on the bed and wrestled with Jacob. He had a blast and was laughing so hard!

We had dinner, and it went just as well as lunch. This time, we had spaghetti and Korean dumplings. He ate some of the spaghetti, but he chowed down on the dumplings. I got a video of him being so cute and using his chopsticks. He would take a dumpling, dip it in Kimchi (he did this because he saw Rob do it), and then eat it. I could not get over how cute it was to watch him skillfully maneuver those chopsticks!

Then we started packing. I was taking out all of the stuff his foster mom had given us for him - all his toys and stuff. Everything we brought out he would gasp and get excited. He would hold it for a second and then move on to the next thing. Once we were all packed, he was playing on the floor with a few toys we had left out. Suddenly he started crying. It was a sad cry. I scooped him up and rocked him in my arms while he cried. It was the same cry from the car ride away from the agency, but this time he melted into my arms rather than pushing me away. He allowed us to comfort him. We acknowledged that he was sad, and that it was ok to be sad. We assured him that he was coming with us. We showed him his stuff packed in the bag. He calmed down. We got him ready for bed and watched Thomas until he fell asleep. His sleep has been much more restful (it is about 4am here).

I am ready to be home, but not excited about the plane ride. I hope that one day we can come back to Korea and be able to see more and experience more of the culture. Here are some of my impressions. Seoul is a very busy city. It is lively all day and all night. Except at around 7am on Sunday - weird. The traffic is bad, but I'd say NY city is worse. And there are less cabs. And more minivans. Probably most people take either the bus or metro. And everyone seems to have smartphones. And some of them are pretty big. On the metro, most all of the younger people were playing with their phones with their earbuds in. People were very friendly. If we were holding the map and looking lost, someone always stopped and asked to help. Every time. People offered up their seats on the metro to older people, disabled, and people with children. People smile and bow. People don't push you out of the way to get somewhere. Cars won't run you over if you are walking in the middle of the crosswalk. In fact, they wait for you to cross! So even though it is a big city, the people are still friendly like a small town. The air smells of smog and Korean food. You also don't hear people beep their horns. And between the buses, train, taxis and metro, it is very easy and inexpensive to get around Seoul. And prices for most things aren't all that high. Except fresh produce.

I'm sure I'll think of more for a later post, but for now, I will leave you with the view from our hotel room.