Never ending Everland

I had thought simply to cut and past my entry from our last visit to Korea (www.koreathereturm.blogspot.com) especially the Post regarding the never ending cute. Koreans certainly have perfected kitsch raising the bar to unreadable levels for any Australian Resort.

however the big difference with the experience of Everland this time is a 7 year old girl! the focus is clearly away from the animals, performances and any activity at ground level. I'm afraid we have now the female version of Top Gears Jeremy Clarkson.........POWER!!!!!

Everland Sojourn

If a ride does not have an element of risk involved. If a ride does not involve possible death, cessation of heart beat, removal of lungs. if the ride operator rePlies to the question, "How many G's?" With "What's a G?" If the ride takes place less than a thousand metres above the ground, then I'm not interested.

I want rides. More, not less. Don't bother about lunch, I'm defying gravity here. no I do not want to see the seals unless they are strapped into the roller coaster.

Yep our little girl has become a ride junky! She simply could not get enough. It was lucky that there are still rides that have height restrictions, at least from her parents perspective. roller Coastes aren't bad, but those ones that simply treat the humN body as clothes in a washing machine..... A front loader at that, then we draw the line.

We managed to keep up with the Rides queen and we're lucky enough to have some of the parents of fellow Han Ho children look after whilst Liz and I deserted Amelie for what is claimed to be the biggest Wooden roller coaster I. The world. We learned all about this ride whilst I. The 60 minute queue. We somehow np managed to swap our very chatty child with an older version.

Kim, dong Ha a high school student on a two excursion to theme parks of Seoul and general chatterbox, regaled us with all the facts about the T-Express. Apparently it is the fastest, steepest and biggest wooden roller coaster in the world...... Brendan you should have been there.... Seriously you should.

Somehow 6 different families managed to make their own way from Seoul to Everland and locate each other in the crowd. we felt a .ittle guilty as we probably had the best service. Liz had checked up on advice from INKAS and KIA Consulting, but the best option seemed to involve incredibly long travel times. so she went tot the Everland website, clicked on transport and found an express bus service that ran from AnGuk station in the morning, for us 12:10pm and returned to Dongdamun in the evening leaving Everland at 9pm. the trip there took just over an hour and return about 50 mins. not only that it only cost 10000won per person and came with discounted entry to Everland.

The guilty part for us came on leaving. We managed to be home slurping on a Soju nightcap just after 10pm whilst our colleagues still probably return close to. Id ight at best. I tried to phone to get the others on our bus only to be told they needed a booking. Out of remorse, I have poured a second glass for their benefit.

Hurtling along at some 200 klms on what appears to be rickety wooden structure... Are we mad?

Sorry there are not many pictures today. We didn't take many. We only,took little pocket digital cameras and the. Allowed Rose "Merakis to be the official photographer for the day as she did take her hefty SLR Long. this meandps our photos,are scarce so far. But here are a few.

 

so guilty about our fast trip home... We resorted to drink.

 

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Indulging our Princess

Today was meant to be another "quiet" day as Tuesday is the biggy to Everland.

I've .skating, Lotte Workd, Seoul Korea

 

Amelie has been bugging us ever since the trip to Lotte World for us to take her ice skating. Today we relented. I took Amelie ice skating while Liz went to do did a little shopping in the department store and arcades attached to The conglomerate known as Lotte.

Pooh the concentration

 

Lotte claims to be one of the biggest, or is it the best of the indoor/in shopping centre ice rinks. Yes it looms impressive as the ground level of a void, making it possible to view who is on the ice from 6 stories up, hanging from the roof in a hot air ballon fairground ride. Yes the ice is very nice because a Zambone groom it carefull every 3 hours. Yes there is plenty of room for all despite being in the middle of a bustling department store at sales time. however one fact still remains true and constant t with any ice rink...... THE RENTAL SKATES ARE CRAP!!!!!!!

 

Yep they were blunt, that goes without saying. Mine were so cracked that ther was absolutely no ankle support and Amelie's had such a burr inside that they gave her a most terrible blister. we managed to cover it with several layers of band-aids, but that only lasted so loud as sweaty socks and feet allowed the plasters to slip and became ineffective. still that was after nearly 2 hours so we cannot complain too much.

 

Actually I pretty impressed with how the rink was managed. at all times there was at least one supervisor on the ice ensuring good behaviour from patrons and quickly attending to fallen skates trying to recover and stand up. They were attentive, but not intrusive. Well done Lottee.

 

Liz managed to get in a brief lone time and some personal shopping. We will try to rectify this before leaving Seoul.

 

Following skating, we headed over to Gangnam, not just to be able to say "been there, done that!". although now we can so there. Gangnam is the rah ran/South Yarra of Melbourne, the up and coming Tracy shopping spot south of the river. Having been shopped out ist Lottee, our focus switch to an interest of a more violent kind.

 

Hidden behind the facade of commercialism is the headquarters of international Taekwondo at the centre we know as Kukiwon. Since Amelie has been learning all this year, we thought she might enjoy a visits to Taekwondo Central Sed Did. At the Kukiwon stadium, a tournament facility that rivals that of the more recent "Jackie Chan" Karate kid movie, Amelie delighted in watching a lesson to a class of international black belted students.

 

However a Han ho Friend Paul Turpie and Amelie's teacher Mrs Trainor, had told us where to find Taekwondo shops close to Kukiwon. At the very first shop we tried, the owner confirmed his identity of Mr Soo and smiled broadly when we said Mr Trainor says helo and Amelie is a pupil of his Academy.

 

Kukiwon, Taekwondo Worl Headquarters, Korea

prepared for next terms Taekwondo lessons with Mrs Trainor

Amelie did well from The visit, with a new Taekwondo uniform sporting her name o pn the front hem and Taekwondo emblazoned on the back. We bought a set of shin, arm and chest protectors for future levels as well as a couple of extra pads to,practice kicks and punches. to store and transport all this booty we purchased a bag proudly denoting the Taekwondo sport and having special pockets to transport pads in too. All I can say I'd girl. You'd better stay at ift now. I think she will as Mia Christos earned her black belt just before coming to Korea and Amelie is well impressed..... and inspired. How lucky to have such a great role model.

end of a Taekwondo class, Kukiwon

 

The evening ended with a return to Dongdaemun Market and the History and Culture Park.it was great to see the building I. The last moments of day.ight and a.so gave us time to better explore the design centre. I can thouraghly recommend this area if you are looking for something a bit special other that av good at the. Arrest and upmarket over hyped fashion from the department stores. There is a refreshing level of shopping at the centre and amazingly much is accessible for tourists.

 

If you want to sense architecture every bit as confronting and exciting as Federation Square in Melbourne, but totally out does it for innovation, fluidity and dare I say style, then the Culture park is it. I thoroughly recommend any tourist factoring in a visit.

InKAS - International Korean Adoptee Service Inc

contact@inkas.org | Phone: +82-2-3148-0258 | Fax: +82-2-3148-0259

(100-070) Bok-Chang building #703 80, Sogongdong, JungKu, Seoul

 

 

 

 

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Untitled

Now Grumpma is gone, a traditional Korean breakfast, Kimchi, rice and cornflakes...,oh yeah and purple grape juice

Today was intended to be a quiet day after two long and very late nights, particularly for Amelie. This means instead of walking 15 kilometres, we only manages a mere 10.

along the avenue towards Gyeongbokgung Palace each Sunday a Farmers market is run. It was fun to wander the stalls, sampling the fare. The variety of food available is from fresh fruit, to honey, to Kim chi, to dried fish, to rice cakes. Certainly vastly different to the produce found inFarmers markets back home.

Today another Market accompanied the farmers market. I would tend to describe is as a trash and treasure I n Australia or a car boot sale in the UK. Basically it appeared anyone wanting to sell off old clothes, books and bric'n'brac could hire a stall to sell.... Stuf.

After a brief sojourn amongst the stalls, we ventured back to the farmers market to buy a little produce. We thought it may be nice instead of wafting chips before dinner, to have some kimchi instead. Well something must've been lost in the translation as we intended to oeprder a little of two types of ki chi and somehow ended up with 2.5kgs of the stuff.

Taekwondo demonstration, Namsagool, Seoul

At this rate we'll have to consume it morning, noon and night, plus roll it up to smoke just to have some chance of finishing it before we fly out Friday. I'm pretty sure Australian customs won't let us in with a half eaten bag of pickled veg.

"What's that suspicious half rotten vegetable matter you have in that bag swimming in a toxic red liquid?"

"Um, officer would you believe it's lunch?"

"Kindly step this way sir while we slip on the rubber gloves."

Taekwondo :eom stratify Namsagool, Seoul

Quickly ducking back to the apartment to attempt to make some dent in the Mountain of preserved plant material, accompanied by rice and seaweed sheets, new plans were formulated for the afternoon.

We decided to head over to Namsongol Traditional folk village below the towering heights of ?Seoul Tower. Here, there are to add to the festive air of the traditional buildings, public performances demonstrate aspects of Korean .culture. this week the performance is Taekwondo. It was billed as a dymanic demonstration of Koreas traditional martial art. Well it certainly was that, but was the greater surprise was the age of the troop. I'd say the oldest may have been 15, but all would have to have been black belts to make a demonstration squad of this quality. Certainly to be breaking boards etc. they would have to be highly ranked. It was difficult to tell because their uniform had a red and black collar and the belt was a red and black stripe running the length of the belt.

YyDespite their age the demonstration certainly lived up to the descriptor dynamic. High kicks, split boards and giant leaps displayed a high degree of skill and athleticism. It certainly impressed Amelie who quickly snaffled a couple of broken boards as souvenirs and climbed on stage to have her photo taken beside the performers.

It did say it was dynamic!

Amongst our travels today we managed to bump into two groups of Victorian .han Ho families separately. We never bump into them during trips to Melbourne, so what does Seoul have that Melbourne doesn't, apart from about 5 million people. What are the odds?

well alright, narrow it down because we are all North of the river. Further narrow it down that we are all tourists doing touristy things, then bumping in to someone we know to be In Seoul at the same time as us greatly reduces the odds to a point where a casual meeting is practically certain. still it was nice to see a dozen or so friendly defaces amongst the 10 million or so other friendly faces.

Since we haven't really done much this rptrip, we headed over to Myeondong for a little retail therapy. The focus was primarily on foot ware as amongst all the fashion shops is a healthy representation of.most sporting goods manufacturers. Being a Sunday, the joint was jumpin packed to the hilt with shoppers and to add to the atmosphere a great number of street vendors. We all came away with something formourmefforts, all be it with very little imagination.... I mean all we got were crocs. Not the sandal variety, sandals and shoes, but Crocs just the same.

Posing with the Taekwondo Troop

at least I had some nerve purchasing a pair of Nike runners I could never lose in a fit. It is my belief that to earn a "blue shirt" at the Ballarat aquTic centre one must sport a pair of brightly coloured forward. My fear is these may just put me in line for promotion....they are practically illuminois, not that I could have bought a pair of luminous runners in bright orange and yellow, but even I draw the line at glow in the dark footware

On the way home one aspect really highlighted the major difference of Seoul to Melbourne;

Melbourne is predominantly a 2 dimensional city. sure it has great tall buildings, but if you know the city at ground level, the you can basically know the city. apart from the underground and a underground tunnel here and there, one has to return to ground level to go up or down another building.

Seoul on the other hand not only has a far more extensive underground rail network, it also supports a great nUmber of underground shopping malls and interlinked tunnels meaning one can navigate vast areas of the city without ever seeing day light. Often these underground warrens do not reflect the street alignment above so one must really have a three dimensional internal map of the city to function effectively.

honestly I do not see Melbourne ever matching this diverse array of three dimensional communication and commuter networks within the city. I honestly think we can never call ourselves a Metropolis until we do..... Perhaps I may begin to believe when a raillink is finally established between the CBD and the airport.

 

 

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UKEFAFE Ukulele Festival

Hawaiian dress ups at UKEFAFE

what a great day we've had attending UKEFAFE, Ukulele Fair and Festival on the outskirts of Seoul in Korea.

That interminable selfie pole again

I knew there was some kind of ukulele festival held in korea at this time of year as I had found references on the Internet. however it seemed up that 2014 may not go ahead. luckily calling on the resources of Maria Camaretto at KIA Consulting and INKAS here in Seoul, especially Ahyoung Kim, we managed to locate this festival during our stay in Korea.

With my new Toy. the festival shirts have some kind of theme... Don't know what though

We took our ukes along, although the opportunities to play were limited mainly 'cos we could. It register into workshops online. There were a couple of brief stints group playing,.

 

most of the festival involved watching a great variety of acts both amateur and professional. Many simply blew us away at the quality of the music. On the smaller stage, acts were largely amateur from kids/ schools groups through to some very talented youths... I hate them ... Yes jealous.

The main stage had a great line up of local and international performers. Some of the international performers really impressed such as Apirak Sirinanthakul from Thailand, Kyas Ryo from Japan and Bruce Shimabukoro from Hawaii. Yes I believe he is a brother to Jake, but it pretty damned good on Uke too.

Of course there would be no festival without stalls and great Uke Porn. We took the opportunity to avail ourselves of various accessories quite rare in Australia. this included Festival T-shirts, leather key fobs, straps, a small battery amplifier that plugs straight into the plug on any uke with a pick-up, a very cute 'bunny' uke tuner for Liz......and oh did I mention my new uke?

amelie was very patient to indulge us today, but I think she had a good day too. She came away with her own trinkets and there were a few craft actives she keenly participated in.

We finally made our way home and following practically every Train trip so far requiring me to stand. It was good finally to have a seat from boarding. I thought finally the rail Gods were smiling upon me.... Yep too soon. Seven stops later the train was pulled out of service and we were booted to the platform. don't know what happened to my seat as the next train was packed to the rafters before arrival at our station. It was a nice seat too, padded and everything. sigh.

We took the opportunity to duck over to Gyeonbokung Palace cos till Sunday evening there is a laser light show projected on the main gate and surrounding walls. Anything like this at night due to the contrast of light and night darkness. this proved to be no exception. the on.y frustration was the number of busses that just happened to catch the lights and block our view. homer usually says Doh... I think after the 10th time Liz said it too!

Finally to dinner. we went to that little pancake place that you may remember mother. It looked a dingy little place, almost unkempt in every way. seats were mere pedestals and tables long trestles. I you remember our guide on the day one tour said often the dingiest places have the best food and this place lived up or is that downto expectations.

On arrival it was packed with locals. good Sign. the owners clearly did not speak English and had no Englidpsh menu, good sigh two, luckily two .ocal helped us order. We were not disappointed. Lovely fresh meat and seafood pancakes cooked on very hot hot plates making the outside very crispy.

It was loud and noisy inside, the food delicious and perfect under the circumstances, and the soju topped off the meal perfectly. We ate our fill for two adults and one child for under $25 including drinks. We will definately be back before we leave. this form of fast food beats anything at Maccas, Amy pie and any fish and chips.

 

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A Big Day Out

look Mum finally conquered that mountAin

What an adventure today turned out to be. Liz finally achieved a bucket list item and led us out to Suwon Fortress. Although it is still on the Seoul Metropolitan Railway network, suwon is technically a separate city. It took over an hour and a half to get there and not simply because we were on the stopping all stations train.

on Guard at Sowon Fortress

Liz originally thought we'd have a couple of hours exploring the fortress, surrounds have lunch and return home. Well we spent every bit of the two hours and then tripled that.

Our three wishes for the Family

Our initial arrival included a visit to the tourist information office outside the railway station. The gentleman there could not have been more helpful. He gave us a map the. Proceeded to write all sorts of suggestions of what to see, how much it cost, where to have lunch and what activities are worth doing.

We too,a taxi down to the first gate. Fro ther hung a left to scale the fortress battlement. At this point gazing up an endless flight of stairs to the top of the hill, we really missed Mother; I'm sure she was glad to be back in Australia. The whole fortress wall is just under 5 klms so compares favourably with Lake Wendouree back home except that is flat.

Up top we paid to ring the bell of filial piety. Once for your parents, twice for family health and thrice for you own wishes and goals. I've kept mine secret, but am sure you can guess the general content.

Now where was that darned Apple?

Next cama long walk to have a go at Archery. What good fun that turned out to be, although we told a White lie to allow amelie to have a turn. the minimum age is 8. technically in Western terms, she is 7 as we start birt as zero. but in Korea, the tradition is to count age from 1 so at birth a child is one. sing the Korean method we to.d the truth, Ame.ke is 8.

Next we boarded the Trolley for a ride around Bout half of the fortress.it is nothing much more than the proverbiL train at an amusement park with a internal combustion engine up front pulling several carriages. however what made the trip was the setting. weaving its way around the sights and inside and outside the fortress wall all to a mixed commentary in both Korean and English made it quite enjoyable.

the Fortress and Palace within date from the joseon dynasty, most work seems to have been completed somewhere towards the end of the 1700's. by the. Fortifications I Europe had changed dramatically due to the proliferation of Gunpowder and this fortress reflects many such considerations.

the Royal Palace area is nowhere near as grand as the palaces in Seoul as it never served as a permanent Royal Home, but I have the i pression that King Joseon showed quite a liking for this location.

Outside the palace area ther was a great little festival underway. I couldn't read the signage, but the activities and vibe came through that this was some form of Family Festival. I think it was due to the fact that ther were lots of family groups participating in the. Artois activities that gave it a way.

Amelie quickly spied another fan painting station and Kelly chose a wonderful Blossom Branch as the subject. Between the master calligrapher, Liz and Amelie taking turns to paint parts of the scene, the resulting work looks quite spectacular. the caligrapher took great delight that we asked for Amelie's korean name be written in Hangul and Liz write it for him whe he could not quite understand her Aussie Korean accent. After completion, they had the nerve to ask us to pay 1000won. Yep about a buck for this impressive souvenir. I guess Ghanaian was for inclusive activities, not profit. How well they succeeded.

We very nearly made a break for hom, but I spotted a screen painting activity. They had a series of stencils to,choose from, but the one of Amelie, the Audrey Tatou head shot csoght our eye. Amelie joyously chose to make an Amelie T-Shirt and Liz case to make an Amelie carry bag. Having completed the screen printing and drying the paint we thought that we all. No way! We were then shunted towards the artist herself that created the stencils and other items on display. she proceeded to,add free hand embellishment s to both works,turning watch into an individual one off creation. So,how much for an original piece of fashion art, yep you guessed it 5000won or a fiver. the smiles on A elites and Lizs face proved the festival had achieved its goal....Family Fun.

All the fun meant we were late heading for home and the train which proved to be the most crowded suburban train ride ever experienced. the fact that it seemed to empty only to completely reload every station added to my stressed fascination. It seemed one had to time each breath with arrival at a new station platform. As the crowd alighted came a brief moment for a couple breaths before the commuter constriction crushed the ribs unbearably once more.

We knew we were late to try to catch dinner, but I couldn't find any meeting details from any of the fellow "Han Ho" travellers in Seoul. We tried a coup,e of,numbers we had all to no,avail. Leaving it to Sod's law, we gave up,hope of making dinner and were well on our way home when Charlie called us just moments from our door. turning tail, it took a few calls and the despatch of a search party before were reunited with .ost friends for a most enjoyable dinner despite being quite late. Thankfully the restaraunt were very obliging too. Plans were hatched for a future trip to Everland, Koreas version of Disneyland, so keep any eye out for news to come.

 

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Caught up yet?

Thought last night that I'd actually catch up but after doing the previous day I kinda ran out of steam, so to catch up this will cover two days, Wednesday and Thursday.

The Dowager and the Princess

With Wednesday being Muvvas last ful, day,it was all about her. We headed over to Bukcheon to investigate the craft activities. In a part of the traditional village, there are a series of houses that allow you to try some of the traditional crafts that would have been there to support the industry that was royal government.

The masters Apprntice

First we visited the embroidery. To Mums dissappointment there was not some embroidery to try. The museum and displays were quite spectacular. Imagine a 9panel screen entirely made of embroidered panels. However they did offer dressing in hanbok. The kids jumped at the chNce and how splendid the girls looked. the dress mother wore had quite exquisite embroidery. They allowed us pretty well to,take unlimited photos, I'm sure at least one worked!

not the Sistine, but pretty nifty just the same

We left mum and amelie to go to fan painting, while Liz went to the knot workshop. Curiously it cost more to make your own knotted trinket than to purchase it already done....go figure. it took only a few minutes instead of the half an hour suggested. Liz simply can't last the distance. at least Amelie and Grandma took quite a while with the fan painting. Judging by the results, they did pretty well too.

Lunch was Mandu dumplings on a mixed platter at locals restaurant. Some were beef, some kimchi, some fried and some boiled, even some were naked, actually more like meatballs. All very nice.

The afternoon included a last trip to Namdaemun market to allow Muma last chance to buy souvenirs and gifts for the family. The market was packed, busier tha I have experienced in the past. this ti e we got Mum inside some of the buildings where some of the best naff is. She managed to spend the last of her allowance before three of us, headed back to the apartment for a rest and to pack. Liz remained to do a little of her own shopping. Actually a little for her and more for amelie and her friends at school and .ballarat.

We realised one of the dish Mum hadn't experienced was the bbq pork. For her last meal we set out to find a restaurant specialising in this withn the local area. Low and behold on the ground floor of our very own apartment exists an establishment that specialises in Pork. How coincidental was that!

A nice meal this close to the flat as perfect for Mum still awaiting news about the result of Dads operation. Thanks to Amanda staying bedside all day we got the news that after 5 hours, he was finally in recovery and doctors are optimistic with the results. It seems his existing artificial knee joint had to be replaced as the bone had shattered where the previous joint joined to bone. Apparently dads main grip is they did not take the opportunity to raise him a couple of inches to give him a little extra ground clearance.

The Last Supper. I'm the angelic one

It was good to be able to Skype and see him. still a little groggy form the previous day, but under the circumstances quit chirpy considering he has been I. Pain all week waiting for the swelling to reduce enough to allow the operation. He still has considerable rehabilitation to go through and do what I can understand there is a stand off between bean counters and medical staff. One realises he has a home in victoria and this is the best place for recovery, whilst the other twit wants to return him to Whayalla where the accident occurred cos it would be marginally cheaper. We will find out who wins later beauty or the beast.

I reckon he'll be in hospital still when we return Oct 4th, so I'll be able to help,out then. Hopefully Dr McCoy will win over Spock,on this one.

mums last official sightseeing of the trip was a quick dash to Gyeonbokung Palace to see the Changing of the Guard one final time. why not it is so close, only 5 mins walk by the new super fit granny scale. I think it proved to be a nice colourful way to end her visit to Korea.

The big event of Thursday was to see Mum to the airport. I left Amelie and Liz to their devices and escorted Muvva to the airport. Incheon is about an hour drive from Seoul Central and costs somewhere around 90 bucks Australian by limousine and taxi. there are several standards of Bus that run, but there is also a wonderful train right to the terminal door.

Beating The Drum, Gyeongbokgung Palace

we took the private limo on the way in To Seoul with .mum in tow as with tired daughter and Grandmother it required little stress and thought, but in future honestly the train System is so good. There are two services, the regular train which stops all stations between Seoul and the Terminal. All or pat of thenjourneyncould be standing, but it is cheap, about 6 bucks. For a little more there is an express service that runs to Seoul station. It used to cost 14,000 Won (about 14 bucks) but they have reduced this to 8000 won. Yep 8 bucks for an express of around 45 minutes and a guaranteed seat.

It really highlights the madness of Melbourne where very little investment in public transport to the airport continues to be such an embarrassment. instead we have car parks so huge that they warrant their own postcode and all the resulting accidents of tired fatigued drivers at the end of a ridiculous long haul flight. I lay the challenge to our state government, build a bloody railway already!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amelie and Liz went to buy tickets for Bibap this evening. Unbeknown to us the promotional giveaways continued. Because by now we are on first name basis with the Half Tix Staff, they were keen for Amelie to receive one particular 'prize'. they told her they had a hello kitty gift if Mum could get a picture on Face book. it was harder said than done. Liz's iPad is a bit temperamental so it does not talk to wireless in Seoul and the Internet at the nearby KNTO office was in Korean so Liz gave up and went back to our apartment. appear entry this was the fsstest Amelie has walked all trip. after all there was a prize involved.

Liz thought it would be some small trinket, but look at the soft toy they received. We are so pleased the staff there were keen for Amelie to win one. We had been there so often this trip and seen far more show than we would have if this promotion dis. To coincide with our trip. Well done KNTO and Korean performing artists. I hope this promotion proved to be successful and encourages you to run it again.

Promo gift at Seoul Half Tix

Our evening minus Mum involved another show. this time to a show called Bibap. it is loosely a battle of two chefs, red and green vying for top honours. the show is a. Is of hip hop dance,singing and vocal beat box. It is perfectly aimed at the seven year old with plenty,of fart jokes and humour at that level. Of course Amelie loved it! she fell right into the de ographic. It suited our. Olds perfectly, light entertainment. Good fun without challenging too many brain cells.

Proof she did buy the t-shirt. With the cast of Bibap.So Far Amelie's favourite

yes we bought the T-Shirt.

so there you have it, if I am not mistaken, officially up to date.

Muvvas pre flight workout. From the rooftop of our apartment block

HoPe all is ok with your trip mum. Dad we hope the recovery goes well and they help get you to Bendigo. don't fret though we'll manage of they don't. Give Dad our love when you finally arrive too.

 

 

 

 

 

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Still trying to catch up

Anyone for a little Soju, Andong, Korea

Ever since we received news of Dads accident, I've lost some incentive and/or run out of time to get up to date. I'm still a day behind.

How about soju on tap? Andong, Korea

Firstly news on Dad, we las headed about an hour ago he had been in surgery for four hours. Since the injury is above the artificial knee joint, there is probably some extensive rebuilding to be done around the join from metal to bone. Our thoughts are with him as he will likely be quite sore after surgery.

Now Tuesday proved to be quite emotional for those that went to pyeontaek, especially if you read Monday's blog where those seeking to view files were disappointed not to learn anything new.

Some of the donation made to Pyeontaek. We also made donations to ESWS Seoul. thanks to Karina at work for your contribution. It was gratefully accepted.

One thing learned from our observation of today is that ESWS file in head office may not necessarily be the complete file. After some gentle insistence that two families wanted to see the files held at Pyeontaek where their boys were born. They found some extra information at Pyeontaek that was not held or recorded in head office ESWS. In one case it was a letter from the birth mother. The other family found out that there was. I letter, but the birth mother had made contact with ESWS on a couple of occasions to enquire how her child was. There was some extra information the families found that in respect to their privacy I will not disclose, suffice it to say the information is very significant to the two boys concerned and the families are respecting the privacy of what was learned.

Fish at the Aquarium still nibble your fingers

What we learned is that like Australia, the paper trail does not end at the head office. The advice at ESWS. for adoptive families and children, is respectfully dig further. As you may find there are several locations where records are kept and the data within is not always duplicated faithfully. Seek the location where the child was born, there may be some part of the record there not kept in Seoul. If the child had some relationship,with another department, or health provider, go there and ask if it is possible to access records as long as you respect the laws, and rules of Korea and ESWS.

For me the hardest spa spect of the trip was to see the turmoil that the facility is experiencing. In part it is much like Australia. Funding and laws regarding how social services are controlled and delivered seem to be undergoing major restrutual changes. Often these changes are driven by ideals and it is left to the institutions to somehow adapt. Often. New laws and procedures cause conflict, demand facility closures, demand major reform with little guidance to achieve the ideals set out by legislation.

dinner anyone?

As I state, this is not unique to Korea. We in Australia have many dilemmas brought about by recent budget changes and legislative controls that greatly affect our delivery of social welfare services. Sometimes I with the Inuit approach of considering 7 generations ahead and 7 generations behind, may help negate the brashness of ideal driven decisions, especially those based on religious fundamentalism of any persuasion. Here ends my rant.

I feel for those at Pyeontaek. The single mothers home faces eminent closure as it is deemed a conflict of interest to offer support and counselling whilst being an adoption agency. The home for special needs children is now deemed over crowded. Sheltered workshops face cost pressures as those working are now meant to be getting above minimum wages. The facilities them selves are becom,I g dated and in need of expensive rebuilding and maintenance.

the staff at Pyeontaek are recognised as highly skilled, dedicated and well respected. I am sure ESWS wil exist well into the future, but like much of ?Korea will undergo huge transformation in the process. Some may feel a little sad to hear we have learned of the problems they face, but fro my perspective it only increases my respect for the work they have done and continue to do.

The day ended on a celebratory note as two families rejoiced in new knowledge about their children and their origin. A toast was raised to the good news and plans made for upcoming days when more families arrive from Melbourne and events coordinated whilst all together in Seoul.

Meanwhile for Liz i unwittingly sabotaged her plans for a day with Amelie. she was a little tired fro. The previous late evening, so Liz thought to take her to try some of the craft activities around the Bukcheon district. I reminded Amelie of the previous trip to Coex and the Aquarium. There were little fish that nibbled at her fingers and all sorts of naff places to put fish like toilet bowls, telephone booths and refrigerators.as I headed off with Mother to catch the bus to Pyeontaek, I'm sure I heard Liz mutter "thanks" through gritted teeth.

Turns out the best bit, according to Amelie was the Penguins. She could have watched them for hours.... And almost did. She is now officially taller than a penguin having finally surpassed even the lagers of the species, The Emporor Penguin.

Unfortunately for Liz, much of Coes is undergoing major, major renovation. This means she could not even console herself with a ,title self indulgent shopping. Two-thirds of the complex is currently off limits to consumerism. I think I'm not quite yet forgiven.

 

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The emotional roller Coaster Monday

Family portrait with President Kim, formal ESWS visit

Yesterday was the time for our formai visit to ESWS. Three other families from Victoria ( Bradbury, Triscari-Hunt & Merakis) were there on separately organised trips. However as we know each other well from Han-ho back home, it has been great to share the experience with them.

Amelie making gift to President Kim, ESWS. Note the respectful bow. We were so proud of her.

As their kids are thirteen, there was an opportunity for them to view their files. Unfortunately for the boys and their families there was nothing really new to learn. What was shared from the files at ESWS contained noting more than what families already new. They came away a little despondent.

Amelie is only 7 and we already knew her Foster mother could not meet due to ill health, for us this was not a fact finding visit, merely a chance to show Amelie's grandmother her home country. The girls were so happy to spend all the time possible looking in the nursery at the babies in ESWS. We are having such a great time in Korea, so no opportunity to meet foster family is disappointing, but our wishes are with her to get well.

After lunch we went home for a Nana in preparation for an attack on Lottee World. We don't have the likes in Australia a shopping complex so big that it sports department store, water park, amusement park and hotel all under one roof. It's kinda like Disney under lights... Oh did I mention there's a full size skating rink too?

I thought I was cheeky asking for a seniors discount, but we got one! Well when I say discount, ?Muvvas ticket actually said CHILD..... Who are they trying to kid? That ship has sailed, returned and been sold off for scrap long before the Vikings.

Once inside we realised why. On many rides there is both a height restriction and an age restriction. The upper limit is 65yo and they would not budge, no matter how much I tried to suggest her driving is far more dangerous than any ride. That argument probably would have worked to get dad on as he is mainly a passenger nowadays,

Even amelie had more trouble than expected all the outside rides had a 130cm height limit. Unfortunately she is not quite there yet. Still she loved the roller coaster with a loop, got drenched on the flume ride and had nightmares after the Sinbad ride, ok for kids but much too graphic for many. It should have a M rating at best.

It was at Lotte World that we had one of the weirdest meals possible. amongst the dishes ordered was chips that looked more like it was presented like wedges with sour cream, guacamole and tomatoe nachos sauce. Instead it was chips with bolognaise sauce and a sprinkle of dry Parmesan dusted on top. And the answer is yep about as good as it sounds.

We ended staying till stumps, about 10pm weekdays. Right up till then Amelie had plenty of energy, but as soon as she lost the glass slipper, quickly became sleeping beauty. We very nearly had to drag her home on the train asleep.

What surprised Muvva was the crowd. No matter how much we tried to convince her otherwise 10pm is the real rush hour in Seoul. It is when many office workers finally go home and students finally finish homework club, or second school too. It makes me wonder just how productive 14+ hours at work could possibly be. Still the look on her face at crowded trains at that hour brought more than a wry smile.... Told you so.

On return home we found messages on Skype, email etc that dad has some form of broken leg. He didn't want Muvva returning home prematurely, but as communication is brief to date, one is still greatly concerned. We are grateful, Amanda & Jon could get to Adelaide where he was flown by RFDS. Brother Peter has been involved too, so Mum is respecting Dads wish to stay till Thursday as originally planned. Hopefully more news will filter through and Skype will be possible. Our thought are with Dad for his operation tomorrow to pin the fracture.

 

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