Korea 1998

November 3th 1998
We’re off to Korea! Aviaq, Isak and I will meet with Tom in Seoul the day after tomorrow. Around noon we left for the airport. Our first flight was 1 hour 30 minutes to Frankfurt, Germany. Next flight was 9 hours from Frankfurt to Seoul. But we’ve been lucky, the flight’s not full and we had two seats each and could sleep OK.

Isak enjoying Korean snacks

November 4th 1998
We landed in Kimpo. First we found the restrooms! Then we stood in lines for passports, luggage, customs… Outside the sun was shining, it was warm. The children talked about changing into shorts! We found the KAL Limousine bus stop, there was a young man who sold us tickets. They were 5000 won for an adult, 2500 won for a child. It was an 1 hour drive to our hotel (Sofitel Ambassador). Even though Isak was very sleepy (he usually falls asleep 5 minutes into a car/bus/train ride), he couldn’t stop looking at all the strange sights around him. He didn’t say a word, just cuddled into my lap and watched everything… while Aviaq was chatting away.

At the hotel we unpacked and had a shower before we went for a walk. The streets were narrow, neon signs in Korean everywhere. We were hungry so we bought some different kinds of food from the street vendors. I found out that Isak doesn’t like spicy food. No one spoke English, but they all seemed very friendly. A man asked in Korean and sign language if Isak was Korean. I told him they both were Korean and he said ‘good, good’! Aviaq has noticed that everyone is looking at the three of us all the time. Isak nods and bows to people we meet – what else to do, as he can’t speak with them?
We were tired, the time difference and having spent last night onboard a plane made had us searching for our beds very early that night – so we woke up at 3 a.m. We had bought some juice and biscuits in a store last night, so we had a snack, watched television, did some of the children’s homework from school, fell asleep again.

November 5th 1998
Tom arrived at the hotel at 8am and woke us up again. We had breakfast at the hotel (not included in the room rate, and VERY expensive). Then we called Mrs. Shin at Holt’s to confirm our appointment in the afternoon. After breakfast we had arranged to meet with Mr. Park from Bridge Travel, I’ve never met him before, but I’ve often faxed with him as I work in a travel agency. So when I told him we were going to Korea he invited all of us to ‘a light snack lunch’. Well, after a ride downtown to see his agency, he took us to a very fashionable restaurant (near Tower Hotel), with a great view of the mountain, and we had kalbi and lots of side dishes. Very delicious, and definitely not a ‘light snack lunch’! He taught us how to put the meat and some soy bean paste inside a piece of lettuce, roll it up and pop it into the mouth. Delicious! After lunch Mr. Park drove us back to the hotel.

A little while later we were in a taxi destined for Holt’s office. Aviaq was a little tense. She looked forward to meeting her foster mother. We also visited her 6 years ago when we came to Korea for Isak, so Aviaq remembers her well. The taxi-driver didn’t know the address but we had Holt’s phone number with us, so he just called them for directions. I’ve never seen as many cell phones as in Seoul! We recognized Holt’s building, entered and went searching for Mrs. Shin. We were early for our appointment, but so was Mrs. Keum (Aviaq’s foster mother) and Mrs. Won (Isak’s foster mother). Lots of hugs and exclamations – happy chaos. We went into the visitor’s room where we first met with our children so many years ago. We all talked at the same time, Mrs. Shin tried to translate as fast as she could – it can’t have been easy. Both children sat very close to their ummas and enjoyed it tremendously. Mrs. Won gave us gifts, a little Korean wooden mask each. We told her about seeing her picture on the web – she laughed a lot at this. Mrs. Keum invited us to lunch the next day at 11am. Mrs. Won first explained that she couldn’t invite us to her home because she had another foster child now – but she changed her mind. If Aviaq was to visit her umma, so should Isak! So our plans for the next day were changed accordingly.

Meeting Mrs Shin of Holt’s, Aviaq Han Sook’s foster mother Mrs Keum (with a friend) and Isak’s foster mother Mrs Won

After Mrs. Won and Mrs. Keum left Mrs. Shin fetched the children’s files. We already had most of the information, but we did get some extra info on Aviaq’s parents. We also got both children’s exact time of birth. Mrs. Shin told us that most of the children adopted through Holt’s are children of young unwed mothers. So it’s quite unusual that both our children have divorced birth parents. Mrs. Shin gave the children gifts: Korean drums, a book ‘Korea, my Motherland’ and also a video tape about Korea.

We then left Holt’s, found the subway station (there was some construction going on, so we had to ask for directions. We’ve become quite good at sign language). Again we bought food from the street vendors and returned to the hotel to relax. The hotel has a swimming pool – great! We were all tired, so many things have happened today, so much to think about and talk about.

November 6th 1998
We went out for breakfast. We walked a while, trying to find a place that served breakfast. No such luck, at last we gave up and bought some burgers for the kids at a subway station. Then it was time to go to Holt’s to meet with Mrs. Keum (Aviaq’s foster mother) again. We took the subway – it’s easy to use & very cheap. On the map you check which line you want to use and the name of the end station. Inside the stations you just follow the color-coded signs for the end station. Getting the right exit from a station can be tricky, but take your time to look at the maps placed on the walls near the exits. There are several exits from each station but there are signs for major hotels, museums and universities.

At Holt’s we were met by Mrs. Keum’s son and their neighbor. They had a car and drove us to Mrs. Keum’s home. We recognized the street having visited 6 years ago when we adopted Isak. She welcomed us, hugged and cuddled the children. We were seated on the ondol (heated) floor of the living room, a table was set up and lunch was served. I believe Mrs. Keum had been shopping and cooking since we parted the day before! There was so much delicious food! We ate while our hosts watched us… Isak was not handy enough with the chopsticks, so they fed him. He was too polite to say no to another bite, he ended up eating so much he couldn’t eat any chocolate biscuits! After this gorgeous lunch Mrs. Keum served at cup of KOBI (coffee) for Tom. Hot, strong and sweet. All this time we spoke Danish and they spoke Korean. We had no one to translate for us, but it was OK. Mrs. Keum’s grown son and daughter were there, also Mrs. Keum’s mother and their neighbor. Before we left, more neighbors stopped by to have a look at us. Aviaq and Isak got so many gifts – clothes and toys and Korean souvenirs – it was almost embarrassing. They even received 10000 won each.

Visiting Mrs Keum’s home

Later Mrs. Keum and her son drove us back to Holt’s. We found Mrs. Shin who could translate our thanks, and we promised to return to Korea for another visit sometime. While we were waiting for Mrs. Won (Isak’s foster mother) to pick us up, we met another family. They were Norwegian, parents and two teenagers. They had a 2 year old Korean daughter (she was at home with grandparents) and were in Seoul to adopt another little girl. We watched when they met her the first time! She was only about 4 months old, with lots and lots of hair. Aviaq felt it was unfair that they could have another baby when we couldn’t.

Then Mrs. Won came in, smiling and talking in Korean. She brought us to her home in a taxi. Her neighbor had been looking after her foster son. He was 17 months old and she called him ‘Min Jae Min’ or something like that – I’m not sure we got the name right, though. He very quickly took to Aviaq and Isak, they played together. Mrs. Won served juice, fresh fruit and Korean cakes and candy. She showed us a box with all the photos that we and other adoptive parents have sent her. The little boy tasted all the food, but she made him spit the food out instead of swallowing it. Mrs. Won told us (in sign language!) that he would throw up if he swallowed it. But he was such a bright and cute boy – his new family is so lucky! (Mrs. Shin had told us that a family had just been found for him). He was very attached to Mrs. Won, he cried for her when she left him with the neighbor again to see us off in a taxi.

Visiting Mrs Won’s home

By this time we were very tired and happy. Full tummies, full minds. At the hotel we relaxed in the pool and jacuzzi. It was great to be staying at a hotel with a swimming pool, the children loved it.

Later, in the evening, we took the hotel bus to Itaewon, where the kids spent some of their money on souvenirs and gifts for their friends back home. Dinner was burgers at Burger King – yuck!

The children were very happy, they had really enjoyed the visits to both foster mothers. We really have to come back to Korea again soon!

November 7th, 1998
We had a busy morning. After packing our things we went to pick up a rental car from Hertz near Shinyongsan subway station. We drove back to the hotel, went out to find a bank to draw some cash, a bookstore where we bought a road atlas (and some breakfast – there was a coffee shop in the Kyobo bookstore), then back to the hotel to pick up the car and our luggage. The hotel staff were quite flustered when they found out that we had rented a car without a driver!

Our destination was Naejangsan National Park. It was Saturday and the traffic out of Seoul was heavy. We reached Naejangsan Tourist Hotel around 5 pm. There was 1 parking space left, the place was fully booked, but we had a reservation. Here we had the staff flustered because we had booked an ondol room! After checking in, we went for a walk in the tourist village. A few hotels, many yogwans, a police box, post office, bus station, lots of cars, street stalls selling all kinds of stuff and many, many restaurants. The place was crowded, but with a real holiday feeling with lots of music and lights in many colors. We had our dinner in a big tent with tables, chairs and a kitchen. We were handed a pencil and an ordering slip – I think we were told to fill out our orders, but who knows??? Instead we went to the kitchen and pointed out which dishes we wanted. Very tasty and very cheap.

We’ve only seen one other caucasian person here, and Aviaq got tired of all the stares that came our way, so she simply told us that she would walk around by herself, near us, but apart from us!

Back at the hotel we made our ‘beds’ in the ondol room. It was great to have a hotel room with lots of space for the kids to play, the floor was warm to sit on, but I admit it was not easy to get used to sleeping on a mat on the floor.

We let the children watch TV, Isak is very fascinated by Korean sitcoms!

Isak in the ondol hotel room

November 8th 1998
It’s Sunday morning. We had Korean breakfast at one of the restaurants in Naejangsan Tourist Village. Rice, mushrooms, soups, lots of vegetables – it was very good.

Afterwards we walked into the National Park along with hundreds of Koreans, past the long line of cars headed for the parking lots inside the park. There were many stalls where we could buy KOBI (coffee with cream and sugar), ricecakes, noodle soup, film, souvenirs – you name it! Many people were indeed properly equipped for hiking in the park: hats, vest, knee-high stockings, boots, ropes, waterbottles – we even saw an ice-axe – and of course, cameras. Families were having picnics on the grass, family photos were taking with the beautiful foliage in the background, children played.

We visited the beautifully situated Naejangsan temple. Isak wanted to try out the cable car to one of the peaks, but the queue was a mile long, so we decided to wait until Monday. We expected the park to be less crowded when people had to return to school and work after the weekend.

It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. We were tired when we returned to the hotel, so after the children had done their homework, we ordered some (Korean) food from room service. Well, we tried to order it on the phone, but gave up. Tom went to the front desk with the menu – yes, it had pictures of the meals – to order. We succeeded in getting another delicious Korean meal.

We also promised ourselves to learn to speak and read just a LITTLE Korean before coming back to Korea the next time. Numbers, food, being able to recognize names written in Korean – it would be very useful!

It’s a unique experience staying in a place where you can hardly speak to anyone. It’s not really a problem as all the people we’ve met are so friendly, but still….. One good thing is that our children are having such a good time together. No school, no friends visiting, no computer games, not much TV. We talk a lot about Korea and all our adventures.

November 9th 1998
Today we climbed a mountain! After another delicious Korean breakfast, we took the car into the National Park today, expecting it to be less crowded that at the weekend. It wasn’t, so it was quite a while before we were able to park the car. The line for the cable car was still a mile long, so we decided to walk on a trail to another peak, Soraebang, 622 meters high. Higher than the cable car!

It was hot and hard going up, we drank a lot of water. The sun was shining and the park was beautiful. Those temples! I had to stop just before we reached the top – I HATE rockclimbing. Tom and the children didn’t mind (and I had to turn my back to them so I couldn’t see them climbing) so they climbed to the top. A friendly couple gave us some fruit to eat before we went back down again. Half way down the mountain we stopped at a food stall, the children wanted some pot noodles. We were also served a small portion of kimchee. At another table sat 4 women laughing, singing and talking. They gave Aviaq and Isak some crisps and talked a lot about us – I think! The stall keeper came over and gave me a bowl of homemade makkoli, we tasted it, it was quite good. He wouldn’t let us pay for it. Tom said it was a good thing we still were a long way from the parking lot, the makkoli was quite strong.

Friends we met at Nae-Jang-San National Park

When we reached the souvenir stalls near the temple we sat down by the roadside to drink some KOBI, and we met another bunch of Korean women, very friendly. They gave the children more crisps, smiled and talked, took pictures of us. Tom also took pictures of them. They also wanted our address and phone number – we’re looking forward to answering that call someday. Again our conversation was in Korean and Danish and the very, very useful sign language.

We found our car, drove s l o w l y back to the village. What a traffic jam.

We went out for dinner, we found a place where they served us rice, stew, fish, soup and no less than 31 side dishes! We also met a young English-speaking man. He told us that he had wanted to help us order our meal, but he hadn’t had time to get up from his seat before we had ordered. Instead he told us the names of the dishes and how to eat them.

November 10th 1998
Today we drove to Sonunsan National Park, a 1 hour drive from Naejangsan. Most of the drive was through beautiful rural parts. The park is so beautiful, and much less crowded than Naejangsan (but Aviaq and Isak missed the crowds). The weather was cool but sunny, and we went for a long walk to a Buddha carved into a rock. Above the rock (no rock-climbing here, just a very steep stairway) was a temple. We enjoyed the beautiful surroundings, it was almost better than Naejangsan.

On the way back to the car park we had pancakes with spring onions – yes, there are food stalls even inside the national parks! We also bought ginseng candy (very good) and rice cakes.

We took many photos today, Aviaq took a roll with Buddhas and temples. She also bought some incense sticks at the temple. She’s very fascinated by religion. Isak spent most of the time having drinks of water and coke, taking quite a few leaks in between. We tasted a PINE TREE soda, a bit like drinking bath bubbles!

Photo by Aviaq Han Sook

Back at the hotel we started packing. Next time we really will bring less stuff with us! We plan to leave the hotel early tomorrow morning heading back to Seoul.

November 11th 1998
Goodbye to Naejangsan after one more of those delicious Korean meals. We hardly miss our coffee and cereals anymore.

We drove up a winding road to Paegyansan Temple. We were early, and among the first visitors. It was beautifully situated and we saw the monks praying in the temple. There was a book café with beautiful carved tree furniture. Another shop with handmade paper, candles, ceramics and paintings.

Then we headed for the expressway to Seoul. Lunch stop at one of the service areas. You can rely on good food at these service areas. Mandu, kimbap, pancakes, noodle soup, coffee and soft drinks. Toilets were OK, too. The traffic was not heavy, so we reached our hotel by midafternoon.

This time we had booked an ondol room and again had the hotel staff quite flustered: they thought they had made a mistake! We unpacked and then ran downstairs to the swimming pool and jacuzzi in the basement.

Later we took the hotel bus to Itaewon, did some shopping and had burgers – McDonalds this time – for dinner. We only did this so we could appreciate the Korean meals better, haha! Shopping is fine in this area, Nike and Reebok, suitcases and bags, ginseng products, souvenirs etc. but we didn’t like being approached all the time by someone calling ‘tailormade suits, low price for you!’.

November 12th 1998
This morning we returned the car to Hertz. Tom has done a good job driving in Korea – in Seoul the cars drive bumper to bumper, switching lanes all the time, parking – forget it! It’s much easier outside Seoul. The signs are good, with a good map it’s not difficult to find your way.

We then took the train to Suwon. At the train station in Suwon we bought tickets for the Korean Folk Village and boarded the bus (included in the tickets). As usual the weather was sunny and warm. We watched the Farmer’s Dance performance and a tight rope dancer. Then we had pulgogi for lunch. Isak now likes the spicy Korean food, but as he is a really slow eater, we sat at the table for quite a while. The staff thought we were very hungry, so they kept filling up our side dishes. We kept eating because it tasted so good, they kept filling up… Finally Isak said ‘kamsa hamnida’ and we were able to roll out of the restaurant!

We spent the rest of the day at the village. We bought a disposable camera for Isak, he enjoyed taking crooked pictures of everything – the backsides of his family, animals, a stack of hay, you name it, he took pictures of it! It was so funny.

We then took the bus back to Suwon and the train back to Seoul, where we went to the Namdaemun Market and Myongdong area. We bought a knife so we could buy some of the delicous fresh fruit that we all like, pae and kham (spelling???). Aviaq spent much time looking at the young women and teenagers and their very fashionable clothes. No casual dress here in Seoul – most are dressed in black, very trendy and with make up and smart haircuts.

Isak is very happy to be here, today he said it was so nice that here in Korea, Mummy and Daddy are ‘different’ not him and his sister! He’d like to come back soon, he suggested coming back for Christmas or maybe for his 7 years birthday next spring.

November 13th 1998
This morning we walked around in the Myongdong district, visited Kyngbokkung Palace where we saw many bridal couples posing for photographs. Aviaq was very fascinated by them! We had all our films developed.

We went to Korea House to buy tickets for the evening perfomance. We then decided to walk back to the hotel instead of using the subway. When we saw the top of our hotel (big pink Sofitel Ambassador) we decided to take a short cut instead of following the big streets. The small alleys were crooked, we went uphill, turned right, turned left, went downhill – got lost! The hotel was nowhere in sight, we hardly knew which direction we had come from. By this time we were SO tired, so when a taxi appeared we all jumped inside and were happy to pay for a (very short) ride to the hotel. The taxi-driver asked where we came from, he knew about Denmark and World Cup Soccer, yeah! He also asked if the children were Korean and said ‘good, good’

After another swim in the hotel pool we were ready to go back to Korea House for the show (we used the subway this time). The show was expensive, but very good. Afterwards we had dinner in a restaurant nearby. It was good, but not as good as the restaurants in Naejangsan, and much more expensive.

This was our last day in Korea, we’re sorry that we have to leave so soon. We could easily have spent another couple of weeks here but for the laundry situation! Next time we will have to travel light but with lots and lots of clean underwear and socks.

November 14th 1998
We had buffet breakfast at the hotel (good but very expensive!), checked out, and left for the airport on the KAL Limousine Bus.

At the airport we did a little shopping, and then it was time to leave Korea. The flight was full, but we had 4 seats in the middle row, and the children were very good even though the flight to Frankfurt lasted 11 hours and 30 minutes. We watched a movie (The Wedding Singer) which we all enjoyed.

We had a short stop in Frankfurt before the next flight to Copenhagen. Before take off both children collapsed in their seat, they didn’t wake up until we had landed in Copenhagen Airport. They also slept all the way in the taxi to our home where my sister waited for us. Not much to wait for, we were all so very tired.

It’s now been more than a month since we returned from our vacation in Seoul. We still talk about it every day and often talk about going back on another vacation. We are so happy to have had the chance to make this trip, to see Korea, meet Koreans, that our Korean-born children are not total strangers to the place they were born. I feel that by visiting Korea, it has ceased to be something strange and remote, it has become very real for our children and us. This, apart from having a really great vacation, was the best thing about the trip.

December 1998