First full day in Seoul

Brent writing - We got about 6 hours of sleep, which was enough, and headed out early for the breakfast buffet provided by the hotel. Nothing like a traditional Korean breakfast of bacon, eggs and waffles to get us going.




We went to the ATM in the convenience store to get some Korean Won. For our adoption friends reading this who will be travelling to Korea, you get a better exchange rate getting money directly from the ATM than at the Currency Exchange places.

Around 9:30AM, we were scheduled to take the city tour which Holt setup for us. We were met in the lobby by 3 smiling young women who would be our tour guides. Korean students who are learning English usually serve as tour guides because they are bi-lingual and it gives them a chance to practice their English.


They were so helpful, and we got to practice our Korean on them as well without any pressure. There was another family on the tour from Michigan is here to adopt. They are getting their son tomorrow and he is 2 years old as well. It was so good to share and talk with them.

We headed out on foot as the Gyeongbokgung Palace was very close to our hotel. With thousands of people there, we were glad that our guides were with us to help us navigate and to explain the historical significance off the site.

Many of the historical sites in Seoul are in the middle of business districts or by modern structures. It gives an interesting mix of old and new.

Our guides were so helpful and friendly.It was so fun to talk with them.

As one of the few Caucasians there, many of the students there were wanting to practice English with me and get there picture taken together. This guy had me dress up in the traditional Korean hanbok and takes pictures as part of a school project. 

The Guards would not move. The school children (mostly the boys) would jump up and down in front of them and wave their hands to see if they would blink. A few of them had swords so we pretty much left them alone.

We then walked to Insadong to eat and do some shopping. We ate a traditional Korean meal with about 12 different types of dishes with the main course being pork bulgogi. With my apologies to Sharon and Delta Airlines, I have to say that it was the best Korean food I have ever had.

Lunch with our new friends

We then said goodbye to our friends from Michigan and will be praying for them as the see their son tomorrow for the first time like us. Their daughter is also 2 years old and is so cute! Our group kept getting stopped by people all day who wanted to see her blond hair and talk with her.

After this we went shopping for a while in Insadong and picked up some gifts, including two Pororo cars for Isaac. We found out that Isaac likes Pororo (a Korean cartoon penguin), so we put a few videos on our iPad and got a couple of Pororo apps just in case we need it for, oh I dont know, maybe a 14 hour flight or something...

After dark, we went out to Seoul Tower to see the city from above at night. Again, if you are travelling there, some advice: don't take a taxi. They won't let taxis in to the place where the cable car goes to the top so we had to walk most of the way up the mountain. The taxi driver told that it would "bout 10 minutes walk to top", but after about 20 mins and no end in sight, let's just say that I was struggling a bit with my attitude.

Finally at the top we took the elevator to the top and the view was pretty amazing. It is a 360 degree view of Seoul and you get to see just how big the city is. The last number I saw was over 20 million people.

Off to bed...big day tomorrow. We get to see Isaac for the first time!