Day One!

It's funny to be posting "Day One" on day two.

First off, jet lag is kicking my butt.  There is nothing like it to make you feel old! I barely slept on Monday night since I was flying. Tuesday night I couldn't fall asleep and ended up waking up after only 2 hours. Last night I finally got about 4 hours of sleep. The body is such a funny thing. It remembers its own rhythms.

The pinnacle of the trip was the visit to the Eastern Social Welfare Society.  I must've dreamt about going to this place for years. What would I do when I got here? Would I melt into a puddle of tears? Would it bring back any forsaken memories? Would I finally be able to let go of some long held abandonment issues and be able to go on with the rest of my life, hopefully on the back of a white horse riding off into the horizon?  Whatever fantasies I had about this place, they were properly squashed.  It did not bring forth any sort of tidal wave.  In fact it was the epitome of an anti-climax.  Nothing happened.  Don't get me wrong, I was glad I went. But it didn't emit from me any sort of emotional outbreak.

We sat down with a woman at the top floor of the offices.  She brought out my paperwork, all ones that we had already.  And proceeded to explain to me that there was so little information about the first 4 years of my life.  At that time, there was little to the process of accepting an orphan for adoption.  Whatever was put on the application was accepted.  They could've put Minnie and Mickey Mouse on the paper and it would've been accepted. So different from now, whereas every information about both parents is obtained such as identification numbers, addresses and all other contact information.

I did fill out an application to open up an investigation.  I had to hold back from laughing when she said that if I didn't hear back from them in 3 years to give them a call.  Oh well, I still believe in miracles. As I said, I'm glad I went because, now I can say that I've gone.

Doors to a house. 

Hyun Ji Ha is a sister of a dear friend of mine. She has been so gracious to spend every day so far with me.  Without her, I'm not sure how I would've navigated the streets of this confusing city.  I find that people here are not very friendly. Perhaps because I don't look like a foreigner, so when I ask people for help in English, they look at me very funny and then proceed to ignore me.  Hahaha!  And this is supposed to be my country!  As it is, I adore Hyun Ji!  We became fast friends and already I feel like I have a Korean sister!

After the visit to the orphanage, we went in search of a restaurant for some lunch.  Unfortunately, I have developed a reaction to MSG, monosodium glutamate.  I can get by with a little bit of it but if I have too much, my throat starts to close up and I get extremely thirsty.  To my dismay, it is difficult to find a restaurant that doesn't use MSG.  We looked and looked and finally decided on a Japanese restaurant.  It was such a cute little place.  Exactly out of a movie that shows those 6 seated ramen houses.  I didn't get ramen but instead some sort of breaded shrimp on rice.  It was good.  I think I enjoyed the ambiance more than the actual food though.

The Japanese restaurant where I had lunch with Hyun Ji Ha. 

I took a bus to the outskirts of Seoul to meet with my friend Hak Soo, Hyun Ji's brother.  The bus ride might have been the peak of my day, not because it was anything special but because it was memorable.  I had been riding for an hour and we had finally stopped. I wasn't sure that this was my destination, so I had proceeded to ask the bus driver the name of the place.  He didn't speak English and I didn't speak Korean.  When traveling, language barriers have never stopped me before with kind strangers.  But this guy, was yelling at me as if by being louder and more indignant, he could get his point accross.  I even showed him my phone, with the name in Korean.  But he was so angry at me that I finally cussed at him and literally told him to F*^# off.  He had such a surprise look on his face. Apparently he knew what that meant!  He stood up and looked like he wanted to hit me.  I gazed back at him directly and dared him!  I don't think he was used to someone, much less a woman yelling at him in public.  I got off the bus and found a guy standing there. I showed him the phone and he politely pointed to the building.  Whew.  Later that night, I ended up laughing about it.  Perhaps, I have more Korean in me than I know, being rude. Ha!

Dinner was a wonderful affair. What I imagined, a typical Korean feast.  Beef cooked over charcoals and numerous side dishes.  We sat on the floor and yes, it was heated.  I'm so hooked on these heated floors!  Apparently, everywhere you go they have this.  I'm seriously considering putting this in at the Dearborn Heights house! The tile floors would be so warm!

After this, we went to a bathhouse.  This was also a typical Korean affair.  The women's side is separated by the men's.  There are hot spring fed baths.  I was shy about being naked and had brought my swimsuit.  For whatever reason, I had it in my mind that all the women would be pencil thin and gorgeous. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that we all looked the same!  All the women were so unabashedly open about being naked that I would've looked quite absurd with a bathing suit.  So off went the clothes!  I got a massage, Chinese style. It was deep and many pressure points were applied.  At the end, a man came in and popped my spine like a chiropractor. It was unexpected but not an unwelcome experience.

Korean bathhouse.  I found this to be a funny mix of commercialism
 along with genuine quality building materials.
 such as alabaster tile flooring and crystal rocks lining walls.
And no, it's not a misspelling of "happy land"
  Apparently, it is the name of the owner. 

These pharaohs were at the entrance to the bathhouse. 

Here are some pictures of my room. This is mostly for my mom. I think she would be curious to know where I'm staying.  The room is only 200 square feet if that.  It was quite comfortable and met all my needs.  I actually feel like I have too much crap and wondering if I'm going to go home with the desire to get rid of everything.  And if I do, it'll probably only last a week, knowing myself. LOL.  The room is on the 26th floor and the view is spectacular. I can see much of the city.

My bed. Heated floors! I spend most of my time on the floor,
 even now as I'm writing this blog. 

Yes. That's my shower.  A handheld hose attached to the sink.
 The toilet is awesome though. It's heated and has a bidet. 

This is the kitchen. It's in a closet. The doors are open here. 

Doors are closed here. The kitchen. 

The view from my room in the morning. 

The view from my room at night. 

Ok! That's it for now.  I wanted to get this posted.  I'm about to be off for Day Two!  Mom, I wish you were with me.  You'd enjoy seeing all the people who look like me!

Love to you all!

Anne

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