Roosters in the city

I think the last two days of being out for the day through the evening have helped me get over the jet lag.  I slept from 1am-8am last night.  The "sleep machine" lite app is my favorite so far!  I sleep the longest with it.  My favorite is drift, white noise and fan, all mixed together. 

I had a soft roll with sweet cream butter for breakfast and heard a rooster cock-a-doodle-do.  Keren had mentioned waking up to the rooster, but I really thought she was joking.  A rooster in the city?  I guess so!

I am gathering my things to repack for my move tomorrow.  I don't know what time I am moving, so I best be ready in the morning just in case.  I had a nice Skype with the family back at home.  The kids were in their jammies getting ready for bed.  Tyler was holding his little lego Darth Vader and was telling me all about General Grievous.  I am learning more and more about Star Wars everyday. :)  They had also gone for a hike today to the Potomac.  Sounds like they had a nice day.

Met Celine at Gwanghwamun station at 3:30.  Arrived a little early and noticed a vendor in the subway selling socks.  You find a lot of socks for sale here and they are very inexpensive.  I wanted to get some dark and fun patterned socks for teaching at the centers because I will otherwise be barefoot.  I brought almost all white socks, so I don't want them to get them dirtied up.  I found some cute Louis Vuitton-esque socks, some bright striped ones and basic black.  4 pair were only 3,000 won which is $2.70!  Celine arrived and we walked around the Gwanghwamun square area.  There is a statue of Lee Sun Sin and  King Sejong- creator of the Hangul alphabet.  We admired the pretty spring gardens and saw the changing of the guard ceremony.  We took a walk along Cheonggyechon stream all the way to Dongdaemun.  

We walked around the Dongdaemun area in awe of all the giant shopping complexes.  We just kept walking until we reached the Jonggak area.  Celine filled me in a bit about the centers and the students.  She said it would be very important to learn the kids' names.  I can get a list of photos and names of the kids to memorize.  This will be a challenge to learn about 80 kids' names and faces!  They're all Korean, all with black hair.  I will really have to distinguish their facial features and personalities to identify them.

Along our path, there were huge jumbotron screens that had cameras in them.  They took your photo and displayed it on the screen.  You could then email or text your picture.  You could even embellish it with graphics, but we couldn't figure it out.  It reminded me of the sticker photo booths I did in September.  So cool!

 

Check out this popular street food: a hot dog battered and deep fried with crinkle fries on the outside.  Um, ketchup please!

We stopped at a little cart that made these adorable cell phone charms and couldn't resist.  I can't wait to get my cell phone this week to add my little charm.  It seems everyone has a million pieces of cell phone flair hanging from their phones.  There are lots of stores that sell only fashion accessories for your phone. 

 We stopped in a Korean BBQ place and enjoyed some Galbi (Marinated short ribs)!  It's official, I finally had Korean food.  It only took 6 days and it was delish! 

Celine needed to pick up some notebooks, so we stopped at Artbox.  I found this adorable froggie contact case.  We made our way back to the subway at about 8pm.  I arrived back to the guesthouse at 8:30.  Put some more mileage on the feet today, about 4 hours of walking or so.  My poor blistered toes are screaming for mercy.  I regret to inform them we will be walking these city streets for the next 5 months, so they best get used to it.  I will try to be more kind and wear more comfortable shoes.  Sometimes fashion hurts. 

Drinking is really prevalent in Korea.  You see lots of older men with red faces the shade of Hellboy stumbling around.  They aren't winos, they are just average men, in suits or in casual clothes who enjoy throwing back a few too many.  When you enter the subway cars, you can usually smell the alcohol emanating from their pores.  I recall seeing men passed out on the sidewalks last year with their fine tailored suits and briefcase by their side.  People may laugh and point, but no one touches them, no one steals their belongings.  It is common to go out drinking after work and come home in the wee hours each night.  The drink of choice: soju, whiskey or lastly beer.  I wonder what the alcoholism rate is here?  By the looks of it, I'd guess 60% or more but it doesn't seem to be recognized as a problem.  

I forgot to mention some more details about the children who are available for adoption.  The 10 children downstairs have special needs, so they are kept in this facility.  Mrs. Seol says there are about 500 children in the foster care or orphanage who are awaiting adoption.  She said the amount of children being admitted into the system is becoming less and less.  The government is heading towards abolishing International adoption all together.  They want to keep the children within Korea.  It seems this will become a reality.

As I type this, I can hear a family in the hallway- a mother, father and son.  I think they are the ones who moved into my old room and are here to pick up their child.  I wonder who their child will be, an infant, a girl or boy?  What information will they know about the child's past?  How did they choose to adopt from Korea?  I wonder if they are aware of the implications of adopting a child from overseas?  Have they done their research to prepare themselves for bringing this child into their family?  Will they support their child someday in returning to Korea?  Will they expose them to their heritage?...

In the 60s and 70s, the record keeping for adoptions was not standardized.  Those of us adoptees from this time have very little information in our files.  I know many adoptees who have found conflicting information from what they were told in the past.  When I reviewed my file with a social worker in August, I learned I wasn't found in a phone booth as I had always thought.  My file showed an address in the neighborhood of Youngdeungpo.  I was case number K-6098.  HOLT named me Koo, Hee Sook and estimated age to be 3-5 days old.  Thus, my chosen birthday is November 10.  The file also showed information for another baby about 3-5 days old which was found at the same time a few blocks away.  This was the first I had seen or heard of this information.  There were photos of the baby.  She was number K-6099 and her name given by HOLT was Cho, Sung Ja.  Her given birth date is November 11.  When I learned this information, I was very curious to find out about the other baby.  I thought this might be a new lead to explore.  Maybe she has found her birth family, maybe mothers knew each other, maybe we are sisters, maybe someone would remember two babies being born on the same day or near the same day in that neighborhood...  I am trying to get assistance in locating the other adoptee, have not had much luck so far, but my search has only just begun.