We had a 10:30 appointment at SWS to see Mrs. Kim, Jaemin's foster mother. We got there about 15 minutes early and went to the adoption floor instead of post-adoption floor. But, Mrs. Kim was on the adoption floor too and as soon as we got off the elevator she spotted Jaemin and scooped him up. I forgot to ask if we were the first to come back to visit. She hasn't fostered in over 3 years. She had two more little ones after Jaemin and then it just got too hard to keep them so long and say goodbye (after the laws changed in Korea, babies are staying in foster care longer). The social worker said it's now harder to find people willing to be foster parents. I can imagine.
She said she still gets on the blog with her daughter sometimes and her daughter translates. She was happy to see Jaemin growing up. And I told her he is as happy as he seems. He was a little standoffish, but Chelsi was the same way when we came back the last time. It's just hard for them to understand all of this at such a young age. Jaemin keeps reminding us that the hotel is not our home and reaffirm to him we are going back to our home. He does enjoy it though. He's very happy just to be in Korea. The agency gave Jaemin some Pororo training chopsticks and Pororo colors. Mrs. Kim said she felt bad she didn't have time to get Jaemin a gift, but she gave him Won to have a big meal in Korea. The agency also gave us a set of 4 nice chopsticks to bring home. Jaemin took us out to eat with his money tonight. We had pajeon and galbi. The pajeon had octopus in it and Cole really, really like that one. The galbi was good, but I think I prefer the bulgogi we had the other night. Jaemin was less than enthused. But, he was tired. We let Jaemin pay the bill. And then they gave him the change. He really loves having the money his foster mother gave him. He thinks he is really big with money. And he tells people kamsahamnida when they give him his change back. I think we will take the rest of the money she gave him and let him find something in Namdaemun. Mrs. Kim is so sweet and you could tell she loved and missed Jaemin. She said his face hasn't changed since he was a baby. I totally agree. Mrs. Kim has not changed either. She hugged all of us so firmly. :)
After meeting with Mrs. Kim, we went to see the reception center. This is where babies stay until they go to a foster home at about 5 or 6 months old. There were probably 20 babies in there. Jaemin had been in a reception center until he went to Mrs. Kim at about 5 months old. His reception center was in Gwangju where he was born, but I still wanted to see an SWS reception center. There was one little baby in the older baby room that had hair that stood straight up about 2 inches or more and he was just as happy as can be bouncing away. He was adorable! The nannies brought tiny little babies to the glass for us to see. Some were barely 2 weeks old and SO tiny. My babies were never that small.....even Cole and Chase at birth. Jaemin's social worker kindly offered to take a picture of us in front of the baby's window and with Jaemin's foster mother. You never know if it's the last time, so you want those memories. Then, of course, I wanted a picture of Jaemin in front of the SWS sign. That's HIS agency and I want him to be proud and know it.
After SWS, we hopped back on the subway for a quick ride to Coex Mall where Coex Aquarium is. We were in Gangnam (yes as in the song Gangnam Style), and when you cross the river, it's just easier to do everything there. We did the same yesterday when we went to the zoo. We walked through the mall to the aquarium and went in. It's pretty neat and pretty big considering it's inside the mall. The kids thought it was really neat. The boys, all 3, thoroughly enjoyed it. Chase and Cole took pictures constantly. Jaemin would just stop by the rays and sharks and watch for hours if he could. They had interesting recycling use for aquariums. It was fun and a good break from the rain. We did run into a guy and his family (his wife was Korean) who talked about the Cardinals after seeing Jaemin's shirt. I guess at one time he lived in St. Louis. We took the long train ride back to our subway stop and Brian took the kids swimming for a bit before we went to eat. The girls and I are enjoying buying snacks at 7-11, just to try things. Note: the Angry Birds snacks aren't too bad. Cheetos are meat flavored, not cheese....kinda okay, but weird. Kaelin loves her onion rings, but I'm not a fan. Mountain Dew tastes the same,thank goodness.
Still need to get some shopping in this week. I haven't been to Insadong or Namdaemun yet and need to find sunglasses and other gifts. I found a pair of socks for Shawn and something special for Dash.
Tomorrow we're supposed to go to Suwon. I'm a little worried how that's going to go since it's supposed to rain and it's all outside.
Chase took most of the pictures at the agency and did a pretty good job!
Lisa
