Korea part 1

We made it! It was a long day of travel but we are here in the same country as our daughter. I can hardly believe it.

Let's start with the flight. 13.5 hours on a plane is just not fun. It is boring, uncomfortable and borderline gross. Luckily, Korean Air is fabulous. The food was decent not great but edible. The staff was very friendly and the served free wine with lunch. I was able to sleep some and watched 2 movies. I got a good glimpse as to what the flight home might be like since I had a 15 month old sitting next to me the whole time. She was actually very good which couldn't be said for some other kids on the plane.

Once we landed in Seoul we went through immigration. Super easy, super high tech and really very fast. We gathered our bags and went through customs which again was super easy as we had nothing to declare. We exchanged money and set out to find a way to hotel.

We wound up taking a bus. I was a little nervous at first that we weren't going to the right place but it dropped us off right in front of our hotel. Again super easy and very cheap.

Once at our hotel I took a shower. We then hit up a local cafe for some sandwiches and I was in bed by 9:30pm Korean time. The bed is definitely on the firm side but we both slept well and all night.

Saturday morning we Skyped with Kiya. It was so nice to see her face and talk to her. She is doing great  but kept saying "Mommy come home." That was hard to hear but I know she is in great hands. She is enjoying her gift a day and she found out that she will get to join her friend Lily's class in the coming weeks.

After our chat, we met up with another adoptive family staying at our hotel. We attempted to go to Seoul Tower with the intention of riding the cable car up to the top but got there and it was closed. We all hopped back in a cab and headed to the Korean War Museum/memorial.

It was a very moving and powerful experience. There was so much to see and do and lots of it was in English. Oh and did I mention it was free. I couldn't believe it. A museum like that in the US would easily cost $15-20 a person.

At one point a Korean man came up and asked Dave if we were from the States. He then bowed and thanked us. It was really touching and very sweet.

So that is what we have been up to so far. This whole experience is so different from Ethiopia. We are two days away from meeting Katie and a possible typhoon. Things are going to be interesting for sure. Tomorrow we may hit up a palace and do some shopping.