Getting lost and finding Seoul

Whoever invented the map was pure genius. Without it, I would have probably taken one too many wrong turns and ended up -- well, you know the end of the story.

In the midst of my delusional state of mind last night, I forgot to add last night that yesterday was our last day with Luna! My parents and I could not stop saying and thinking about how lucky we were that she was our tour guide. She taught us what to order, where to go, and she really made our experience better than anything we could have done ourselves (and trust me, we probably wouldn't be able to do much without her).

The folk village yesterday was probably one of my favorite parts of this trip so far. It was really cool to see how Koreans used to live centuries ago. It was interesting to compare the styles of the homes in Eastern tradition vs. Western tradition. It was also fun to see people dressed up in traditional Korean costume.

One of the funniest things at the folk village was the government building at the jail. At the government building in traditional Korea, the judge would sit above the criminal, and sentence him to punishment. In the courtyard of the building, there were different traditional Korean torture devices.. that were able to be used. We made my dad lie down so that my mom could hit him with a paddle, and a group of Koreans came over and told my dad to sit in a different chair, and they showed him how it was really done. We were all laughing hysterically -- it was hilarious.

My mom's cousin Jeff joined us yesterday for the day at the folk village, and it was so nice to see family in Korea. Seeing him reminded me of home, and showed us just how small the world has become.

Today we had the whole day free. In the morning, we stopped at Cafe Benne for breakfast and then went to a shopping area around the palace we went to on the second day. What normally would take us a 20 minute walk took us 2 hours because my parents read the map wrong.. (thank goodness I was there). We ended up making it to our destination, but still had no idea which direction to go.

We got back to our hotel, rested for a while and then went out shopping for a bit around 6:00pm. The streets get so crazy at night. In the evenings, all the young people (and young couples, *sob*) come out for shopping, fried octopus legs, and more shopping. Evenings here are a completely different world than during the day.

After browsing through the malls, stores, and street vendors, we stopped to eat at a Korean barbecue restaurant. The food was once again superb, and we left with a full belly. 

Dinner led to wanting to walk around more after our feast, and we browsed more shops in the Myeongdong area. We came back to the hotel, had a drink in the lounge and came back to our rooms to do some packing.

We are heading to Busan tomorrow and I can't wait!

Update

Hi all! I'm so sorry but I am way too drained to post tonight! I have lots to say, so I will post tomorrow (and tomorrow we are free all day)! To give you all a short overview, today was so much fun. I loved the folk village and seeing my mom's cousin, Jeff. For dinner, we ate at the top floor of the Seoul tower. The food was delicious (it was Fench cuisine), and the wine went down smoothly -- almost too smoothly (that's why I'm so tired). I will update with ,more pictures and some more random thoughts of Seoul tomorrow! Love you all! Goodnight, Xx Meryl

Finally FAMOU$

Oh my word. This day has been one of the longest days of my life. I was on my feet today for a legitimate  10 hours. We met up with Luna and her friend, Jun, at the hotel at 9:30am, and our first stop of the day was Starbucks, of course. After Starbucks, we walked to Gyeongbokgung Palace to see how Kings in 14th century Korea lived. On our way to the palace, we came across a stream in the middle of the city -- a reminder to me that Korea is the perfect mix of tradition and modernity.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

This great palace was built during the Chosun dynasty. It was very interesting to see how these kings lived -- much different than those of Europe but lavish lifestyles, nonetheless.

Insa-dong

After the palace, we walked over to Insa-dong to see the famous Korean shopping area. This is exactly what I pictured Seoul to be. In the main part of Seoul. 

When we first got to the main shopping area, we were approached by students with cameras. They wanted to know if we knew a famous Korean actor that they showed us a picture of, and we said no. They interviewed us about the first impressions of his picture and what we thought about him. Koreans were crowding around us taking pictures, and we found out later that they were filming us for a Korean entertainment show -- similar to Entertainment Tonight. 

We ate lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant and yet again the food was delicious.

There were tons of food vendors on the street, and we stopped for some Korean pancakes, but we didn't stop for the larvae that were cooking -- well, we did but only for a picture. 

After some souvenir shopping, we stopped at a traditional Korean tea house and because we had been eating food non-stop, all day, we decided to share two cups of tea just so we could all have a taste.

Luna and I

After tea we decided to do more shopping at the Lotte department store, and then in Zara (which is much cheaper here). By the time we got back to the hotel room at about 7:30pm, I was dead tired and relaxed for a bit. 

We decided to go to dinner tonight at CPK here in Seoul because we all wanted something easy, something that we all know. After CPK, we decided to end our evening and our long day with a donut from Krispy Kreme.

It's 10:36pm now, and I am basically falling asleep at my computer.

Tomorrow, we are going to the Williamsburg of Korea, a folk village where the people are dressed in costume and act as if they are from another time. My mom's cousin, Jeff, is meeting us at the folk village and it will be nice to see family so far from home.

Until tomorrow,

Meryl 

Rambles

I wrote in a previous post that I wasn't looking for much of anything on this trip, and I didn't come on this trip intending to find out more than I already know about myself. Though I have only been here for 24-hours, I have learned more about myself in the past 24-hours than I have throughout my entire life.

Throughout my entire life, I have attributed my luck and my good fortune to fate. Fate matched me with my parents, fate brought me to the University of Arizona, and fate brought me to this Earth.

More often then not I end up thinking about what is really important in life, and what my goals in life should be. As far as I know, I have one life to live -- how am I going to spend it?

Though at times I don't feel Korean, I always feel special. I feel special because of where I am now compared to where I could -- or couldn't -- be. I feel special because of the luck I have had with fate. I've been handed a royal flush but I have never really taken the time to pay attention to the beautiful details of the cards until now.

In the past 24-hours this of trip have humbled me to the fullest degree. I am so thankful for health, for happiness, for my friends and family, and for every single encounter with anyone I have ever had in my entire life. I will stand by the saying that every person I have ever encountered in my life has made an impact on my life and on who I am as a person today.

That's enough rambling for tonight.

굿나잇,
Meryl

Back to my roots

Holt Korea - The Adoption Agency

What a whirlwind of a day! My emotions have been running crazy with going to visit the adoption agency first thing this morning. There were some things that were left out of my file that was given to my parents when I came to the United States, and I was able to hear more of my biological mother's story -- it was a little heavy for first thing in the morning.

My last name in Korean is Oh. It is one of the most common Korean last names, probably relatable to Smith in the United States. When the adoption agency named me, they decided to give me my biological mother's last name. Soo Kyung is my given name by the adoption agency. My first given name, Soo, means "excellence," and my second given name, Kyung, means "happy event."

We weren't able to meet my foster mother because she wasn't able to be reached at the last minute. She is now in her 70s and lives quite far from the adoption agency in a suburb of Seoul. Our social worker told us that the last time she saw her was in January at a foster mother-adoptee reunion. My foster mother cared for around 70 babies during her time working for the agency. I was number 12 of 70 -- and let's be honest, probably the favorite.

The social worker that we talked to about my file was named Esther. She was adopted by a Jewish family from Michigan when she was a young girl and has come to Korea to work for the adoption agency. She told us about Korean adoptees in European countries and places in the United States where communities are less diverse. She told me that I am lucky to have grown up in California, a place where the demographics are more diverse than other parts of the country.

After talking to Ester about my birthmother's history, we went to see some of the babies that do not yet have homes. It's weird to think that just 20 years ago, I was one of these babies. I was number nine hundred and something out of thousands of babies that were put up for adoption in that year -- I wonder if adoptees that came for a homeland tour played with me while I was in the care of Holt in 1991.

Most of the babies that were in the care of Holt were boys, because many adoptive parents domestically want to adopt baby girls. Of the eight babies in Holt, one was a baby girl. It was nice to see these children and know that they have their whole lives ahead of them. If they understood me, I would tell them how great their lives will be. All of the babies were pretty chubbs, so I don't feel as bad anymore.

Playing with the babies was so much fun, but ultimately we had to face the fact that we couldn't take one home. My dad thinking he's funny and being the practical one of the family said, "If we took one home, I would be paying college tuition until I'm 80!"

Touring Seoul

After going to the adoption agency, we met our volunteer tour guide, Luna. Luna will be taking us around Korea for the next few days, and she is so sweet and so cute! She first took us to Korea's National Museum and we walked around the gardens and the museum for a bit. There were so many kids running around, it was crazy!

Later, we went to Meyongdong -- a major shopping area close to our hotel. While there, we ate lunch of a traditional Korean meal at a restaurant that has been around for 50 years. At lunch we ate traditional Korean noodles, dumplings, soybean noodles, kimchi, and much more, it was delicious.

We continued to walk around Meyongdong after lunch, and we ran into a Korean movie star. I'm forgetting his name now (I'll ask Luna tomorrow), but dang that was a good-looking Korean man and the girls in the street were going crazy!

Now, we're back in the hotel relaxing for a while, it's been a long day! We still have dinner later, but for now I am going to make a cup of green tea.

SEOUL

After a full day of flying, we made it! The first thing I saw when I got off the plane was a Dunkin Donuts and a 7-Eleven -- and they're EVERYWHERE. We didn't get to see much last night because it was dark out and because I slept for the hour car ride from the airport to the hotel. I can't believe I was awake for 21 hours.

Because of jet lag, I woke up this morning at 6am Korea time, which is about 2pm in the US.

I am getting ready for our big day -- today we're touring the adoption agency!

I am so excited, everything seems so surreal.

Lots of love,
Meryl

Mom and I at Narita International Airport