I can't believe this is our last night in Korea. I'm not going to lie, some days it felt like it was never going to come! On one hand, we laughed at ourselves for complaining- after all, we are using our sick leave and getting paid to live in Seoul while we have housekeepers, a buffet breakfast every morning and our ONLY job is to parent our two boys and have fun. But on the other hand, this was no vacation and we were trapped here once we took custody of Grant and were at the mercy of the Korean Court and had no idea when we could come home- that is a very scary thing. Not to mention, it's not easy to be "on vacation" for two months in one of the largest cities in the world with two small children. We were very fortunate that we were here during good weather when we could be outside everyday and could find water activities. That obviously played a role in our decision to stay for one trip. Cody did a great job finding ways to get us out and tire the boys out every day but it was not easy and definitely felt like a job in and of itself.
We know that we will likely never ever get to spend two months together again as a family with no work and no school. We appreciate and know how rare it is to be able to do that with successful careers. But on the other hand- two "stay-at-home" parents every day is pretty intense and we are definitely sick of hearing our own voices constantly telling two young boys what they should or shouldn't be doing. I'm pretty sure Cody is counting down the hours until he goes to work on Monday and shuts the door behind him and hears silence:-)
Now for the good stuff. Grant, when you see this blog in the future, I hope these posts from our time in Korea show you how absolutely amazing your birth country is and how much fun we have had here. Sure this blog is for friends and family to keep tabs on us, but it's mostly for you. We never intended spending two months in Korea but that is how it worked out and we already have no regrets about choosing to do one trip. We feel like we really have seen and gotten to known Seoul in an intimate way. We have learned so much about your birth culture and what it means to be Korean. We've been to parks that hardly any tourists visit, public pools, spend our weekends on the river in our tent with all the other Korean families, we've gotten to know our way around the city and how to navigate the subway system, seen the fish markets, hiked the mountains and the list goes on. And more importantly, during the last two months we have felt what it is like to be a minority. An important lesson for anyone but especially for a family of transracial adoption. Korea, even Seoul, is a very homogeneous society and Caucasians definitely stick out when you are not in the few tourist trap spots. This comes with constant stares and looks (friendly and curious, but still there) and Auden got the worst of it with all the picture taking and the older generation giving him pats on the head and trying to talk to him a lot on the subway. Even though we were treated just fine, some days, you just missed blending into the crowd. It made me appreciate even more that we are bringing you home to a fairly diverse county with a large Korean population. I'm not saying we will ever know what it is like to be you, my son, but at least we got a small glimpse.
When we get on that plane tomorrow, we are leaving behind your birthplace, your wonderful foster family and your birth parents. The gravity of that is not lost on me. We promise to come back to Korea when you are older. We promise to keep in touch with your foster family as long as possible. We promise to help you find your birth parents when you grow-up if that is what you want. We are forever grateful to your foster family for raising you the first 2 years of your life and your birth parents for giving you life.
We will miss our time in Korea and always hold it dear to our hearts but it is time to get you home and settled!
To end on a lighter note, before we mix up Grant's world again and he regresses a little, here is a random top 10 list of silly little Grant mannerisms that we will look back on and laugh about from our time in Korea.
1) Every morning we get dressed and go down to the breakfast buffet in the restaurant on the Lobby floor. Yet still, six weeks later, Grant gets off of the elevator and walks to the revolving doors to go outside instead of into the restaurant and we have to correct his direction. (He knows better, he just rather go outside than eat breakfast!) This makes it feel like the movie "Groundhog Day" every day.
2) There are lots of statues around the palaces and city that look like various lion type creatures. When Grant sees one he says "raaaaarrrr" and put his hands up like claws. Cody did it so much with him that now he just yells it to greet Cody whenever he has come back from an errand. It's quite the greeting and is so funny.
3) I've been walking several miles a day with Grant on my back. This is the time he is the most chill and when we practice so many words. He is like a little parrot on my back through the city and he points out and repeats "bus," "car," "taxi," "choo choo," "fishy," "chicken," "up, up, up," "down," etc. Now that we won't be living in the city anymore, especially one with live fish on the sidewalk and fried chicken everywhere, we will need to practice words in different ways:-)
4) Grant learned about "cheers" with drinks and is obsessed with it. The kid wants to "cheers" anything that's the same- ice cream cones with Auden, plates at dinner with me, toy cars- you name it, he will give you a hardy "cheers!" several times a day.
5) Grant knows all of Mommy's silly songs that I make up for daily chores. In the morning he starts to sing the tune to "Turn Auden's bed into a couch, bed into a couch, do-do-do-do-do do-do, his bed into a couch" and he starts to push the cushions back to make the couch. He knows the song I made up for when he pees in the potty, which he does about 2 times a day now! And he loves the "clean up" song so much (the one everyone knows, not a mommy original) that he makes messes just to sing the song while he is cleaning up.
6) He has figured out his older brother has a short fuse so he takes toys out of his hand, not to play with them rather just to see Auden freak out, then promptly gives them right back. It's cruel but makes me giggle instead. I hope it teaches Auden to chill a little bit, ha.
7) His favorite thing in the world is waking Auden up if he takes a nap or in the morning. He will kiss, squeeze, poke and stroke him. Auden is less than thrilled to wake up this way:-)
8) I'm sure (and hope) this will continue in the U.S. but every night as I lay next to Grant to get him to fall asleep he does 15 minutes of loudly singing and practicing words. You will hear the tune of "Old McDonald Had A Farm," then "no, no, no" "I don't know," "bye-bye pee pee," "car," "taxi," "down," "banana," all mixed in with Korean babble and songs. It is hilarious and you would have no idea he is ready to go to bed the way he belts it out. Then suddenly, he stops and is asleep. I really should record it because soon he will sadly lose the Korean parts and it's so cute.
9) Since we have no high chair here it is less than ideal to get Grant to stay seated at the table when we are eating. When he is finished eating he quickly says "all done" while shaking his hands doing the sign for it, then leaps out of his chair and runs away before I can wipe his face and hands. He laughs so hard and looks behind him because he knows this is going to get me to jump up and chase him down before he touches anything.
10) He will disappear for a second and come back into the room with his bathing suit on, usually over his shorts and the little raft on him already and says "pool? pool? pool?" with a big grin and nodding his head up and down. How can you say "no" to that?
Signing off from Korea! Can't wait to see you all on the other side of the world soon!
Oh, and the blog will continue- I just can't promise the frequency of the posts:-).
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