We made it to Seoul!

We made it. Whew. I can’t believe we’re here. I'm going to write out all of the details of the trip so I don't forget them. It's probably way more than anyone else wants to know. Sorry!

I truly think the flight couldn’t have gone any better. Korean Air was wonderful and the staff throughout the entire trip couldn’t have been nicer. We got to our gate about an hour before boarding which was fine. We just hung around and the kids played and ate some snacks that we brought. Our seats were all in a row – three together and one across the isle. Luckily the plane had the individual TVs in each seat so the kids could pick their own movies. Having two meals really helped to break up the trip and the kids stopped a few times to play with toys. I got a few Star Wars sticker books for them which they loved. We had worried about Micaiah getting motion sickness but he did great.

As we landed at 3:30pm local time and I teared up a little thinking that we were in the same city Sora was in. Of course, anyone would probably be emotional enough to tear up at 12:30am after a 14 ½ hour flight.  The kids had fallen asleep for the last 2 hours which was good, but it was hard to wake them up again. Especially Orin – he was OUT! Micaiah woke up very happy which I was thankful for. As soon as we landed Micaiah asked where Sora was.  He started crying when I told him that we wouldn’t get to see her for a few days. He kept saying, “But I want to see her now.” He got over it quickly and we were thankful those were our only tears throughout the entire trip.

Immigration when fast and smooth. Our only excitement happened when Orin pressed the emergency stop button at baggage claim. Woops! I don’t think they were too happy with us. But they got it moving right away. Poor Orin felt guilty though and we had a little talk about asking BEFORE pressing any buttons. Especially red ones!

We exchanged our US Dollars for Won and found an information desk to ask about where to go to catch the bus. The SWS guest house is only a few blocks from the Renaissance Hotel in Seoul so it’s much, much cheaper just to get the bus to the hotel and walk to the guest house then it is to take a Taxi.

We waited about 15 minutes for the bus which wasn’t too bad except a couple of taxi drivers kept soliciting us to ride with them. It was 32 degrees out but didn’t feel bad at all after being on the hot plane. The 1 ½ hour bus ride was probably the hardest part of the trip. As good as the flight was, the bus was equally as miserable. By this time it was 2am our time. Orin was a zombie and was just staring off into space. He said his tummy was hurting so we had a bag ready just in case. The driver was a little erratic and my stomach was feeling a little yucky. There was TONs of traffic and a very strong exhaust smell. Orin ended up throwing up twice. Fun times. We had noticed on the plane that he felt a little warm so by this point we figured he was sick.

The bus dropped us off at the hotel. Orin was freezing and somewhat covered in vomit. We look at the map we were given by our agency to help us get the guest house and realized it didn’t make sense. So, the nice people at the Renaissance Hotel drew us a map and told us where to go. By this point we were wishing we had just taken a taxi and not worried about the extra money. Oh well. The walk to the guest house was comical. Just think NYC during rush hour, trying to cross a 6 lane street. Crazy. Even worse, the pulling handle on one of our suitcases would not come up so I’m having to try to roll it without a handle…. while holding the other million items and making sure Micaiah didn’t get killed. We finally made it to the guest house with the help of a few nice people on the street! We must have looked lost (even though we weren’t) because someone even pulled over and asked if needed help. Pretty nice! A few ladies on the street kept bending over and hugging and kissing Orin and saying how cute he was and all I could think of was the vomit in his hair. 

Our room is wonderful. Two bedrooms and a nice little living room/kitchen. It was about 4am US time when we finally got settled. We gave the kids a quick shower and went right to bed around 7pm Seoul time. Orin threw up twice again during the middle of the night (probably from Tylenol on an empty stomach) but hasn’t in about 8 hours thank goodness. Now we just need to get rid of the fever.

Orin and Micaiah woke up around 2am and didn’t go back to sleep. That is about 10am US time so it’s not surprising. It was strange because even before that I kept waking up and looking to see if the sun was up. I stayed up with them until about 5am and then Damien woke up and I slept for another 2 hours. It’s about 10am here now and they are both taking little naps.

I ventured out once which was fun. There are little “Family Marts” everywhere. I got Orin some Sprite (or at least the closest Korean equivalent which is a little more carbonated and less sweet) and some rice and bananas. I then went to Dunkin’ Donuts and got some donuts for us all. It was fun being out and about and I can’t wait to sight-see some more. A couple of people at the hotel and airport spoke English but other than that we just do a lot of pointing if we want to communicate. I had my little Korean phrase book and attempted to tell people thank you (I’m sure totally murdering it though). I think they understood me.

Please pray that Orin feels better soon and that Micaiah doesn’t get sick. We’d really like to go do something fun tomorrow. Plus I don’t want them sick when we meet Sora. I know God has a reason for this and I’m trying to trust him.

I’ll try to upload some pictures from the trip soon.