The departure and arrival

The days leading up to my departure were quite hectic.  Many loose ends to tie.  A trip to the dentist, finding childcare in a matter of days, planning Brody's 2nd birthday party, preparing the registration packet for Kindergarten, packing...  Fortunately, everything came together as it needed to.

We found a lovely au pair named Sarah to join our family.  She is from Cologne, Germany and is such a sweet shining soul who we felt a great connection with.  What a blessing to have her support.  I feel such a comforting peace of mind knowing she is there to lend a hand and build a relationship with Mike and the kids.  Sarah will be living with us for 11 months, until March!  I am so happy I had an opportunity to spend time getting to know her before I left.  We were happy for Sarah to move in the day of Brody's birthday party.  Her boyfriend, Roger also joined us and it was so nice to meet a person that is so special in Sarah's life.  They are both au pairs sharing this experience in the US together.

We enjoyed such a wonderful time for Brody's birthday.  We were so thankful to have our family and new friends to share in the celebration.  Tyler and the munchkin enjoyed spending time with their cousins and relatives.

On Sunday, I realized I MUST pack!  Around 10am, I decided to pull out my passport only to find that both my passport and Mike's passports were not there!  We were in disbelief to find them missing.  We canvased the house for 6.5 hours looking for them.  In between, I was calling the passport agency and the airline to see about getting a replacement ASAP and to see about changing my flight.  While on hold with Korean Air, Mike rushed into the room with passports in hand. PHEW!  We have no idea how they ended up where they were found, but thank goodness he found them.  Now that the passport search was over, it was time to actually start packing.  I packed, reduced, repacked about a dozen times.  Packing for 5 months of travel over 2 seasons is challenging.  In the end, I made it all fit into 2 checked bags teetering on the weight limit of 50lbs each.  That evening, I had a little time to relax and shared a nice bottle of cherry Lambic with Sarah. 

Mom and Me

On Monday, we sent Tyler to preschool.  Mom, Aunt Shirl, Brody, Sarah and I said our heartfelt goodbyes at the house then Mike and I left to pick up Tyler to come along to the airport.  I told Tyler how much I would miss him and how we would be in touch often.  He said, "I won't miss you"!  He is looking forward to summer: camping, swimming, the beach, playing, going to the movies, spending time with family.  I know it will be hard on them, but I really think they will be OK.  I think they will be more than OK and be enriched by this experience I will share with them.  When they are old enough to truly understand, they will and I think they will appreciate it and give me their blessing.

At Dulles, I checked in and went through security without problem or delay.  Once I reached the gate, I was surrounded by Koreans.  Who would have guessed it, Koreans flying to Korea on Korean Air?  I grabbed some sushi before the flight as I hadn't eaten yet.  Boarded the flight at 12:55 and we had some delays taking off.  Our flight was full.  14 hours and 10 minutes to our destination.  Happy to have the direct flight although still a lengthy trip.  Settled into my aisle seat and watched a few movies: Up in the Air, It's Complicated and The Actresses.  Enjoyed some tunes on my ipod and thought it was cool that they have the port to plug into the seat to as a power source.  For lunch, we had bibimbap and for dinner I had chicken with rice.  I found it hard to get comfy in my seat and my legs kept falling asleep, thus no sleep on the plane.  Finally, we touched down in ICN at 5pm.

After going through customs and getting my bags, I exited to find a gentleman waiting for me with a sign "RAE ANNE JOHNSON".  I signaled to him and he scurried over to take my cart and lead me to his car.  He was a quirky fellow.  All I could think about was how he looked like a Korean Roy Orbison.  His hair, glasses and attire looked like he could have been an impersonator of Roy Orbison.  We had minimal conversation in the hour drive to the HOLT guesthouse.  When we arrived, I remembered I had been to this building during my first trip to Korea. When I arrived, the doorman guided me to the shoe locker to remove my shoes and swap for a pair of guest slippers.  I am aware of the protocol, however those of you who know me well know that I am a bit of a germophobe.  I kindly obliged but cringed thinking of how many people had slipped their feet into these cloth bedroom slippers!  As I type this, my feet are itchy. lol  I heard babies crying from the lobby area and asked him where it was coming from.  He told me the children are located on the 3rd floor.  I really hope to visit them and spend some time with the children.  Up to the 5th floor we went, room 502.  A comfortable room with 2 twin beds, a crib, cafe table, TV, bathroom, refrigerator just the essentials for what I need.  I will spend about 5 days here until I am placed with my home stay family.  The floors are heated and the bathroom has a shower fixture on the wall making the whole room a shower.  Not everyone has this set up, often they have the tub/shower as we do back in the states. It is customary to have wear the rubber bathroom slippers in the bathroom.   So again, I have another pair of communal shoes to wear.

After settling in a bit, I spent hours connecting with friends and family on Skype.  It was great to see the kids.  Tyler was not so into it, but Brody really likes it.



Sarah was sweet to post this photo of her and Brody with Lego construction hats on during breakfast.  I was so happy to see their smiling faces and to see the joy in Brody's eyes.



For dinner I had a granola bar which I'd brought from home.  After hours of connecting to everyone, I finally retired at 2am.