Thursday

June 12, 2025

It's only 2:30 in the afternoon but it feels like the day is almost over. I guess if you wake up at 2:00 in the morning, that will happen. Our sleep patterns are still all messed up. We've been out and about since Starbucks opened at 7 this morning. We just returned to our apartment for a little respite from the heat. Hopefully we won't fall asleep or at least won't stay asleep! Yesterday we were all sleeping by about 3 in the afternoon. I woke up at midnight and slept fitfully for a couple more hours. Today my goal is to stay awake until at least 6 p.m.

Today was packed with nostalgia. After breakfast the boys and I went to the subway station to figure out how to purchase a transportation card. I discovered that my card from 13 years ago still works! It had about 700 won on it which equates to about 50 cents. We bought three more cards at a convenience store and loaded them up with 20,000 won each.

After that we came back to retrieve Luke from the apartment. He rested after breakfast. Remember the whole hives thing? He didn't want to risk it so he rested for about an hour while we figured out public transportation. We figured out how to take two different busses on two different bus lines which brought us to Eastern Social Welfare Society- the place where the boys lived for a few days after their birth, where we met them for the first time, and where they departed from their foster mothers to live with us. We were given a tour by a social worker and I was flooded with memories.

After that we took a bus to Hyundai Department Store where Luke and I had spent some time on both of our trips to Korea to pick up the boys. There is a food court in the basement level where we ate. I remember disliking the food down there, but that was not my experience this time! Aiden and I both ordered Korean chicken which was delicious. Luke and Jordan ate Sushi.

Then we walked to the hotel where Luke and I had stayed during both of our trips. The hotel changed owners so the name changed and it looked different. But there were some familiar spots too. We took the elevator up to the 15th floor where we had been served breakfast on our previous two trips. We were told there was nothing up there, but we decided to explore anyway. When the elevator door opened, a tiny dog started barking ferociously and I about jumped out of my skin. Luke loved the dog, but I found it to be snippy and unpredictable. A woman walked around the corner who was likely his owner. But the language barrier was huge, so I'm sure she was completely dumbfounded as to why we were up there.

We took another bus and walked to a gym. Our Airbnb host arranged for us to get a 9 day membership to her gym. The map app took us to a restaurant, so we were all confused. Turns out the gym was in the basement of the building. We continue to be amazed at how densely packed everything is around here! Luke and the boys got their memberships squared away (no weight lifting for this girl!) and then we came back to the apartment. Aiden wants to go back to the gym in about an hour, but time will tell. It's about 90 degrees outside. We are all exhausted and are currently enjoying a cool, air conditioned apartment.

Enough writing. How about some pictures?

View from our apartment. Check out the crosswalks! All traffic stops in all directions and then all the people cross.

Aiden and I trying to figure out how to add money to our transportation cards.

I played with both boys in this room when I met them in Korea. They were much smaller then!

Same room- they might be bigger but they are still every bit as dear to me.

This was where the boys were measured and weighed each month when they were under their foster mothers' care.

"The throne." We have a picture of both boys with their foster mothers in this chair.

He's grown a bit since the last time he sat in this chair!

This was the room where we first met Jordan. When we met him, it was an office/computer area.

This is the sushi bar where Luke and Jordan ate. See the plates? They were on a little conveyer belt and were color coded. They grabbed a plate they liked and ate the food. At the end of the meal all the plates were counted up and that's how they were charged.