B-Girl Lee

Jan 19, 2009

Ahhhhhh so my friends Julie and Kim are staying a KoRoot and told me that this b-girl was staying there too and today I finally got to go hang out and practice with her and some of the boys from Rivers Crew.  I was so pumped but nervous. As I met up with b-girl Lee instantly she was a warm face and great vibe to be around. We walked to the practice spot and she introduced me to some of the boys.  I was only able to say hello and nod my head due to the communication factor of I DON'T KNOW THE LANGUAGE lol.   We started practice and I started out just looking around and staying to my corner, still nervous I just watched and danced a little. As I got more comfortable b-girl Lee started to practice. I was so amazed and started asking her questions on how she does certain moves.  What a joy it was to meet another b-girl IN KOREA and one I could communicate with AAAAAAND really learn from.  She was so helpful and I didn't feel like a burden on her practice time.  As practice went on I also had the pleasure of meeting b-girl Jade but she wasn't feeling well so I did not get to she what she could do.  From some the video footage I've seen though she is really good too.  As my body started to get a little stiff and sore I decided to retire.  I am suppose to go fishing tomorrow and hope to get back in time so I can hit up another practice.  Videos coming soon.

Love you all.

Cafe Time

DMZ

This experience is one that I wasn't sure I wanted to do but now that I have, I have learned so much.

fyi soldier on the left is a South Korean soldier. Soldier on the right is North Korean.

YAY! KIMs Home

Blog Posts coming to computer near you :)

Oooooooooooie its has been awhile since my last blog. So many things have happened and so many pictures to post. I will be doing that soon.

Will have more time to write but wanted to share these photos and pics.

Jan 11th, 2009 Today we got up and planned on the fish market as one of our ventures today, but was one thing we needed to take care of before we went. We ended up going to the shopping mall so I could pick up this memory card converter to put pictures on Julie and Kims computer. As we quickly found what we needed we also started to wonder more and venture through out the mall. Needless to say we did not make it to the fish market. It also would of been way to cold seeing as how most of the market is outside.

Still in thought about the movie and my decision to soon visit the Eastern Child Welfare Society I mood has been silently numb. So far much of my visit has been going out shopping and seeing the sites and only recently confirmed that its 100% sure that Eastern Child Welfare is the agency would need to go through if I was to one, look at my file and anything that it has to offer and two, start a search with what I know so far about myself.

Many questions have stirred. Before I even got on the plane to come here I really had made up my mind that I would not do a search this time, but that was only because I wasn't sure of the agency for a sec. I thought I might be a Holt baby. So the info I have and the assurance of what agency I will make a trip to G.O.A.L
and sit down with them to make an appointment to go look at my file at Eastern Child Welfare Society.

Note to mom and dad:

As much as I would like to call you and tell you and talk with you. I can only type to you right now. There are just a few things I would like to express to you. I Love you and dad with everything that is in me and you have given me everything and then some in my life. I can say that growing up my child hood was filled with unconditional love and compassion in allowing me to be the being I was and am today. The opportunity through cultural camps and life lessons taught by you and dad is something that only a MOM and DAD can give to their daughter and would hope that I will pass that on to my kids one day. This is not the usual selfish tail waging the dog situation but I will say that this is about me and not what our family already has. I have been thinking about this a lot and have decided to do an extended search for birth family and not to find a mom because I already have one and I want you to know that and have comfort that nothing can break our mother, daughter bond that we have built and fought so hard to keep. It is because this untold story has bothered me for quite some time and to not at least try to find out would leave a emptiness in my soul. I may not ever find out anything but to try is a fulfillment that needs to be done. Again I only express this because I do care about your feelings and you both as special beings in my life and think that sometimes you don't express them to protect me from mine but I no longer need that protection because I have learned that our family is stronger then that and I would hope that with your love will come expression, support and understanding in what I feel and search for. I'm not setting my standard high for anything only in fear that in reality there might not be anything to find and in the end I have to live with that. I love you both and especially to mom, Mother is a strong word and meaning and there is not other being that does that best for me then you.

Note: I also emailed you this before I posted it on my blog. Love you like no other.


continued day...
After we shopped I was craving Italian. We found this nice restaurant called Sarirotos. Mmmmmmm boy was the food good. I first intended to get pizza but ended up choosing the spaghetti and meatballs. Atmosphere, conversation, food and desert was great.

Koroot and A night out

Jan 10th, 2009

Well today we would make a trip to KoRoot to see the film called "Adopted". When we arrived it was amazing to see all the Korean adoptees that had come to see this film. I had many mixed feeling on this film but enjoyed it to the fullest. It had brought up so many questions, feeling and thoughts. For those who don't know about this film you can youtube it and watch some of the trailers they have. I wish I could on with more detail but its the kind of thing you just have to watch to get what I'm saying. After the movie there was a discussion. Some key points and quotes from the movie were up for discussion. How interesting it was to hear other Korean adoptees in-site on this film and on their own experiences. I ended up talk to this guy named Erik who shared a lot of the same view points that I had about the movie. The conversation was nice to share on something only an adoptee could really understand.

After we left to get something to eat and I have to tell you it has been freeze your but off cold. I guess I never really noticed because I'm always driving and keeping warm but when you walk and take the train your really realize just how bundled up you really need to be.

As the night passed Julie and I decided to go get a drink or two ;) We first started at this little underground bar called Yohimbe. Low setting lights, not too loud and affordable. It was nice to have small talk over a beer and to see where people hang out. The coolest thing had to be when I went to the bathroom and to my surprise Yohimbe bathrooms had heated toilet seats. That was much cooler then I thought it was. I mean I've heard about these toilets but to actually get to sit on one was quite the experience lol. After our first beer we decided to go to another place called Bar W.

Bar W, a bar for Ladies Only. We walked in we sat at the bar. This was a really cool and small bar that had these little toys to play with while you drank. When we ordered our first drink the bar owner came up and had remembered Julie from last time. What was so funny is that from a story that Julie told me from the last time they were there is the bar owner made the same small talk, "so did you have dinner?" "What did you eat?"

Over all this bar was nice little sit down and I was particularly taken by this bartender and how she made the drinks, such perfection and elegant way of making a drink. Sorry Nae but it was the hottest thing I've seen in Seoul so far LOL not necessarily the girl but how she made those drinks was kinda a turn on but know your the only one for me lady :)

A night out, not to shabby knocked out as soon as I got home, looking forward to what the day would bring me tomorrow. Well until my next thought and adventure. Love you friends and family.

Part 2

Jan 9th, 2009

Ahhhhhhhh shopping we hit a different shopping area called myeongdong and boy did I splurge tonight. Oops ;) well I'm only here for three weeks might as well treat myself LOL. This shopping area had more of the nicer stores. I guess you could say high end items. Soooooo many stores and I finally I found a PUMA. Koreans pronounce it PeUma lol.  I bought myself a pair a kicks that I hope we don't get in MN cause it would be nice to have something that we don't get.  It was again so great just to wonder around and think of all the things we do different. Towards the end of the day we sat at this little coffee cafe.  I saw this Coke can and just got one because I thought the can was cool.  It was the size of a RedBull can and it was funny trying to ask the server if I could take the can with me because I thought she might just throw the can away so I went up to her to ask if I could have the can to take with me. She didn't understand. One of the other workers tried to help but I think I was just complicating things.  She finally brought the Coke over and as I finished it I put it in my bag.  As the two girls looked they giggled and finally got what I was trying to say.  I smiled back and thanked them again.

Long day of shopping and walking around we left for home. We decided to chill until we met up with some people that Kim M knew for dinner. I cannot remember the place that we ate but it was a great experience.  We sat on the floor and it was like a little BBQ setting where you order for the amount people you have at the table and then they bring the sides and entree out. The food, the taste was soooooo good and filling. We had a lot of food and by the time we were done there was still a lot of food on the table. After we ate we met up with some more people and decided to go have a drink or two ;)

We ended up at this bar and ordered two pitchers of flavored SoJu. MMMMMMMMMM  and to my surprise the people we had met up with were some people that I had met in MN. Small world.  The night was fun until we tried to catch a cab back home. What a struggle it was to get back home we were about a 25 to 30 minutes away so her in Korea cab drivers never want to go that far. I'm assuming because it takes away from there business. Cabs are pretty cheap unless you are American.  A estimated 13000 won cab ride turned out to be a 30000 charge and then we kinda knew you just had to keep looking and asking for a one, a cab driver who was willing to drive you there and two, who wasn't going to charge you so damn much.  Finally we found a cab but on the way I think he might of misunderstood where we wanted to go. When we showed him the slip of paper again he started yelling at us and hitting himself in the head. I could only imagine what he was thinking and feeling.  I felt very flustered inside but knew that sometimes you just have to roll with the punches.  I think Julie, Kim and I thought we would get kicked out and have to walk but surprisingly he got us to where we needed to go. We exited the cab quickly and got home. Drained and frustrated I decided to retire and wake for another exciting day. 

An great start of the day

Jan 9th, 2009

Ssssssssssso I ended up staying in but stayed up till 130am so I would be able to sleep in and stay up tonight but as the day broke I found myself up again at 7am ish. I was able to fall back asleep though only to wake up again to the sound of Kim Ts voice and Julie talking through skype. I awoke to also hearing children in the background. When I came into the room Kim T was teaching her class and Julie was helping out. It was the cutest thing. These students would ask Julie three questions in English and then Julie would ask them three things in English. I'm hoping to post that video soon. As the students seem very shy some of the questions they asked were pretty gusty. Like what is your ideal man? Do you have a boyfriend? What is your favorite TV show? and so on and so forth. The kids were so adorable it left me with a giggle in my throat and a big smile on my face. Kim T had also put me on the spot and asked me to do a little footwork dancing for the students. We turned on Blackeyed Peas and the kids as I could see huddled around the computer screen. It was great my first little debut and an honor to dance a little for these kids. I wish I could of done more for these kids but I was in a small space as you can see.

Today we will start where we left off and hit the markets up again. EXCITING!! man it is fun to shop here I only wish my mom was here to share this with me she would love all the sales going on and a lot of the styles they have to offer. So many beautiful things I have thought to get her even though she only wants a nice robe aka kimono. Not sure what they call it here in Korea.

More pictures to be taken and gifts to be bought.

A walk through the markets

Jan 8th, 2009

So due to the time change and me knocking out early my a** woke up at 645 am'ish. Which was like 345pm US time. We all woke up and made eggs and toast. mmmmmmm good Korean breakfast. LOL I was also able to talk to Nae after her rehearsal because I was up so early so that was a plus. After breakfast and my skype date with Nae we all decided to get ready to go out and see what Korea had to offer us in the shopping department.  We met up with Sora who has been such a helpful blessing in directions around Hongdae and in figuring out our phones since some of ours are in Korean.  

We took the subway system to the markets and as soon as I can remember which market we went to  I will let you all know. LOL  But how amazing the subway system are. We have these what they seem to be look a like key accessory called T-money cards. You put money on them and swipe them at the station to allow you to ride the train.

The ride is smooth and its still pretty cool to hear Korean over the loud speaker to tell you which stop to get off and they play videos and advertisements on these screens on the train.  So many Korean faces but yet so different. Its kinda hard to explain but not everyone looks a like here, well at least to me. I feel like most people have at least one thing different about them. Some of the elder people look a like.  Even though I am feeling a little comfortable here I'm sure I stick out like a sore thumb ;) 

The markets that we went to were sooooooooo amazing. I couldn't believe it. Its like walking down every street and walls lined with stores and its not your typical retail stores its like out doors freeze your but off while you shop stores. So many things to look at and the temptation to buy everything, but I didn't.  Bargaining is also allowed here so that was pretty fun figure out what a good deal is.  I went into this one shop because it looked like I could buy a lot of little things I was looking for. This elderly man stepped to me and was helping me out I immediately said annyeong haseyo (hello) and right away I think he thought I know Korean and started talking to me. Like a dear in the headlights I didn't know what else to say but mi gook (I'm American). Finally he said English and I smiled. He showed me around his store as I told him in short cut English what I was looking for. He asked me where I was from and I said the US then I said  ib yong (Adoptee).  He asked how old I was when I left and I told him 1yr. He then asked how old I am now and I said 27 and this was my first time back.  What a feeling it was to say these Korean words and have him understand me and talk a little English and have him understand me. I looked some more around the store collecting the things I wanted and decided to check out. As I was leaving the old man handed me a little keep-sake from his store and gave it to me as a present. I bowed to him and said gamsa hamnida (thank you). Cant quite put my finger on how I felt just then but it was an overall great feeling.  As we walked some more each going to the little stores we wanted to look at I stood outside this one shop as the lady asked me what I was looking for.  Mind you, I don't say what I'm shopping for because that would spoil the surprise of what I'm bringing home for you guys lol.  Anyway when I told the lady what I was looking for she kindly brought me into her store and showed me what she had to offer. I ended up buying what I needed and left with gamsa hamnida (thank you) and annyeong hi gaseyo (goodbye, person staying) she said I said it very well which left me with a big smile on my face then said thank you and goodbye in English.

What a day it has been. Finally we rewarded ourselves with Starbucks coffee and headed back home.  When we got home Kim M took a nap and Julie and I decided to start drinking SoJu. My first shot in Korea. I got the camera out to capture the moment. After a couple shots  ok ok after 3 or 4 shots I started to get tired and decided to take a nap myself.  It was only a 2 1/2 hour nap just so I could start getting use to staying up late cause I know once Kim T gets back from teaching English at the temple I'm going to have to keep up with her LOL.

I think I'm still adjusting and still thinking about going out but I might just call it a night and try again tomorrow. Its about 1215am Jan 9th, 915am Jan 8th US and as I've been told this is when Koreas night owls start their night.

I almost forgot Julie was telling me also today at the market that there are a lot of knock offs and you can always tell when they are real cause they keep their merch sites small and easy so they can dip out with a quickness. They also have people looking out for I guess authority coming and clean up their stuff in a matter of seconds. We saw that first hand today. One moment your looking at what it is and right when you might wanna get something they just start cleaning up and leave.  I didn't get a chance to see or ask how much the real stuff was but it was really interesting to see how things work in these kind of markets. 

Adjusting to Korean time

Jan 7th, 2009

Well we are here in Korea and have adjusted ok to the time change here which is a 15 hour difference. It hits me once in awhile when I get tired and think I'm just going to lay down for a quick nap and the nap turns into oops I just slept through most of the evening. LOL

We went to the market earlier and it was fun to see all the things we don't have in our markets in the US. Its also cool to see everything written in Korean. They have these people that stand in an isle and advertise certain items. Between the three of us we spent 49,000 won getting the basics like cereal, water, junk food, noodles, bread, eggs and juice. In US $ that's about $45-50, not bad.

I'm really starting to feel comfortable here in Seoul, Korea don't know what it is but apart of me feels like my brain just had this shock and my heart and soul know I'm here in my home country. I often find myself thinking if I could ever live here in this culture. To see how hard people work here and how dedicated they are to living here throws me to a world of thought, the what if.

Some things though I don't know if I could get use too. The showers here are a little strange to me. The shower and the toilet are one unit. When you shower you have to be careful not to spray every where cause you might get the toilet paper wet and other dry towels that are hanging. I have not used the shower yet but will soon only because I don't think I could stand my own stank. LOL

Another really cool thing here is that the floors are heated. There is a switch here that lets you choose what to heat. When your taking a shower you have to press this switch in order to take a warm shower. When your done you have to switch it back so the warm water can flow through to the floor to heat your floor. I sleep on this mattress thats on the floor and its quite cozy to have a heated bed. My mom would love these heated floors. Quarters are tight but comfortable.

I was looking to go out with the girl later but I think the time change had caught up to us because before I knew it we were all knocked out. I took a nap hoping that that would help but after I saw everyone else sleeping I started to get tired again myself. Maybe tomorrow with be different.

Great News on Monday

To my friends and family

Well we finally heard the good news over the loud speaker and that was our names being called to board the plane. What was even more exciting was that when we stood at the counter waiting for our seating assignments we anxiously took the boarding pass to see that we would be seated in business class. It was all such a dream at first just and then realized as I was carried off the plane 26 years ago to be here in the US now I would be walking as a young adult to go back for the first time to my home country.

As I boarded the plane and walked to my seat the flight attendant offered me a glass of champagne. With a big A** grin I took two with excitement sat in my seat and buckled up for what was going to be the longest plane ride I had ever taken. Sitting in my seat I also discovered that the chairs totally reclined all the way back and that the foot rest did too. Like a little kid I started playing and exploring these first class seats. My TV played lots of movies, music, games, and tv shows. The compartment in front of me had our complimentary slippers and toiletry bag.

The doors closed and we began to take off. The excitement from Julie, Kim and I was radiating towards each other and more so because we all made the same flight and would be traveling together and we were all just stuck in Atlanta for three days. LOL I laid back my seat and decided to get a head start on my sleep. I knew once I got off that plane I would be filled with excitement and would want to see as much as I could before the time change really hit me.

During my flight I watched a lot of movies and fell asleep my girlfriends music whom I would like to take a moment and say I miss you and love you very much. My seat mate was even kind to let me take a picture of the beautiful view from his window. The meals served on the flight were quite good but it was a lot of food a 15 hour flight.

Tis the beginning and end of a great day and day on the plane, and when I say day and day it is because it never got dark outside. Its cool to think that we were traveling with and ahead of time.

Time of arrival 435pm on January 6th, 2009. Back home 135am January 5th, 2009

Trip Put on Hold

1/2/09
With the New Year comes new adventures with a trip to Korea. The anticipation has been building for years and now finally I was given the opportunity by a good friend to make this trip. So far it has been a little rough but am thankful I am with my good friends Kim M and Julie. We started our journey leaving at 530am January 2nd, 2009 making it to Atlanta. As we awaited to board the plane we soon found out that we would not be able to make the flight due to our status with our buddy tickets. I was a little disappointed but kept in good spirits knowing that I was going to make it either way. We got the news that we were stuck in Atlanta till Monday and had to make arrangements to tuck our selves into ALT for three days. On top of that we were not able to get our luggage until the next day.

Thanks to my parents and the wonderful beings that they are we were able to stay at this incredible hotel (Westin PeachTree Hotel). We arrived at the hotel, tired and drained from traveling all three of us decided to take much needed naps.

As the three days counted down we got out and saw what Atlanta had to offer. Well what we could afford. Didn't want to spend too much cause Korea was still ahead and the dollar is stronger there. LOL

Challenging but rewarding we will leave on Monday for the airport again and see what fate will give us.

Miss you mom and dad and thank you again for your gracious contribution.