homeward bound

Our trip home by the clock:
8:30 a.m.: Left Sokcho on a bus to Gangneung
10:00: Left Gangneung on a bus to Incheon Airport (Seoul)
2:00ish: Arrived at Incheon Airport
3:30ish: Said goodbye to Matthew & went through security
6:20 p.m.: Flight from Seoul to Vancouver, B.C.
noonish (PST); about 10 hours later: arrived in Vancouver, B.C.
7:00 p.m.: Flight from Vancouver to Portland, OR
8:00ish: Arrived in Portland

Highlights of the trip:

*After staying up until 1 a.m. getting my three large bags to weigh in at EXACTLY 23 kg, with a fourth lighter bag full to the point of exploding with toys, books, and goodies to share...Matthew checked the Korean Air website again just before we left. The baggage limit was 20 kg per bag for Liam and I, with Rowan allowed one 10 kg bag. We brought another smaller empty bag and did some rearranging at the airport. We just scraped by with no exorbitant extra baggage fees.

*Rowan fell asleep before the plane too off. Perfect. We were seated behind the bulkhead with a bassinet so I didn't have to hold him all night. Great. We hit turbulence right before dinner time, so I had to pick Rowan up, which woke him up, and he thought he'd had a great nap. He wanted to play during dinner time. Lame.

*Despite taking a Benadryl before boarding, Liam stayed awake through "Finding Nemo" and half of "Ice Age 3," then woke up about two hours before our 10-hour flight landed. Rowan went back to sleep after dinner and woke up just before...breakifast! I'm not complaining too much though. Both of them did well, with very little crying...unlike the 8-month-old baby beside us...

*Wandering around the Vancouver airport trying to find an elevator that would take me (wearing Rowan in the Ergo), Liam and the stroller loaded with carry-ons down to Canadian customs, but only finding ones that took me to dead-end boarding gates. Finally giving up and taking the escalator down.

*Standing in line for at least 30 minutes with a tired antsy toddler (and a fortunately sleeping baby), then getting snippy with the young female customs officer when she wanted to know
(a) was I traveling alone with my children today
(b) did I have sole custody of them
(c) if not, did I have a note from their father giving his permission for me to fly with the boys today
(d) if not, why? (Um...because I didn't even think about that.)
The snippiness came in when I wanted her to just tell me if she was going to keep the boys and I in custody somewhere until Matthew could be reached. She was not. She just had to question me about it. I realize it's just her job, but I was not in the mood for beating around the bush, especially since said tired antsy toddler was running around in circles by this point.

*Having to pay a porter $20 CAD because there was no way I could haul all five bags from the International Terminal to the U.S. Terminal by myself, let alone with all the above-mentioned gear/kid. He was a really nice guy, though, and I was able to just follow him in a daze rather than having to navigate through more confusion.

*Switching to a single flight from Vancouver to Portland (instead of two separate flights going through Seattle) which was supposed to get me into Portland five minutes earlier. This worked well for the most part, as it's easier to stay in one place with two little boys, instead of boarding and deboarding an extra time. However, when I went to board the plane, it was delayed 30 minutes.

*Having to call my mom collect...internationally (even though it's only like a 5 hour drive)...because the pay phone wouldn't accept either my credit or debit cards, and I only had $2 coins which the phone didn't accept and the coffee shop wouldn't ("there aren't any $1 coins in the till") exchange for me.

*Feeling grateful to the nice ticket agent who had earlier played Thomas trains with Liam (while I switched flights), then carried sleeping Liam and his Thomas backpack onto the airplane for me, since I was wearing a sleeping (again) Rowan and carrying two diaper bags and Liam's stuffed dog. Both boys slept through the entire flight, even though we were right next to the propeller. I enjoyed a complimentary NW microbrew from Octoberfest and dozed during the flight, then managed to wake Liam up enough for him to walk off the plane to the (still collapsed, thanks Horizon) stroller.

I think it would be difficult to have an uneventful flight when traveling alone with two small children. Overall, everything went quite well. The staff was friendly and helpful. Even that darn customs' agent was well-meaning.

Tips:
*when traveling on Korean Air (or any other non-western airline), order the Korean (or other local) dinner option. The bibimbap was pretty good for instant airline food. The western-style beef dish did not look appetizing.
*you cannot overplan. I had a schedule planned out in my head before leaving, including when they were going to eat dinner, get into their pajamas, etc., etc. Mock me for my anal-retentiveness if you want, but I think everything went smoother because of that.
*make sure you have smaller bills in all types of currency. I had to visit the currency exchange counter with the porter because he didn't have any change available and I only had a $50.
*bring plenty of new exciting toys for kiddos. Liam got three new Thomas trains and a carrying case of small dinosaurs, which helped immensely. He also had new crayons and stickers from his friend Alex (Thanks, Brian!).

That's all (HA!) that I can think of at the moment. We've been back almost three days and, after several really busy days, the jetlag is catching up with me again. I feel like I'm on cold medication, even though I'm not. Hopefully, I can get a good night's sleep tonight and get back into the swing of things.

standard conversation; strange question

Sometimes when I try to speak Korean, I am embarrassed by my pathetic language skills. Other times, like today, I feel like I'm not too bad.

I was at the playground with the boys, actually waiting for my friend to come down with her children. A woman sat down beside me on the bench after removing the baby boy strapped to her back with a podaegi.* She also had a little girl a bit older than Liam. She looked at Rowan in the stroller beside me and pronounced the usual expressions of cuteness. She was soon joined by two men (husband and brother-in-law would be my guess) with another little girl around the same age. The two little girls ran off to play and the men began conversing with the woman. The man I assumed to be her husband asked her if Rowan was a boy. I replied that he is, at which point she decided to start a conversation with me, since I obviously understand and speak a minimal level of Korean.

The following conversation took place almost completely in Korean, except she did say "teacher" and "January" in English, although I know those words in Korean.

KW: How old is he?
Me: 6 months. Your son?
KW: 7 months, born in December. Your son was born in January?
Me: No, December. December 30. Your son?
KW: December 13. Do you live in Buyoung? (That's the name of our apartment complex.)
Me: Yes. (gesturing vaguely at my building)
KW: You speak Korean very well.
Me: No, just a little. I don't speak well yet.
KW: Are you a teacher?
Me: Me? No. My husband is a teacher.
KW: Korean? American?
Me: My husband?
KW: Yes.
Me: American. (Amazingly, I said this without laughing.)

Now, maybe she hasn't seen many babies with mixed Korean and Caucasian parentage. I have. They're almost all absolutely gorgeous, and they have very definite Asian features. She had looked closely at Rowan before this. I'm pretty sure it would be genetically impossible for a child with a Korean parent to look like Rowan.

The conversation basically petered out after that. I was, however, proud of the fact that I did not once have to say, "I don't understand" or "I don't know," phrases which I find myself uttering all too often in Korean.

I'm still scratching my head over the question of whether my boys are half-Korean, though.


*The podaegi (also spelled podegi and pronounced po DEG ee with a long "o", a hard "g" similar to the "g" in "golf" or "go" and a long "e") is a Korean carrier with a medium to large rectangle of fabric hanging from a very long strap. Traditionally the rectangle is quilted for warmth and wraps around the mother's torso, while the straps are wrapped snug under the baby's bottom and tied around to the front to support and secure the baby on the mother's back. Western interest in the podaegi style has led to new wrapping methods which do go over the shoulders, and to narrower "blankets". (Definition courtesy of Wikipedia article: Baby sling.)

new expat parents forum

Expat Parents in Korea Board

Sarah of Quest for Cuteness has started a forum just for expat parents here in Korea. There's already a "Matching & Hatching" forum on www.expatkorea.com, but it's not very active. About six months ago, she started an Expat Moms Club Korea in a different format, but the group has outgrown that format and there have been a number of dads interested in joining.

The new coed group is just starting, but I think it has the potential to be an excellent resource and outlet for those of us raising kids in South Korea.

two thumbs up: incheon airport and air canada

After we escaped from purgatory, everything went much better.

In the international terminal, we found an awesome play area with a nice little nursing nook. There's even a bathroom with everything (toilets, urinals and sinks) in miniature. The urinals have little flies painted in the middle, presumably to aid little misters in aiming correctly.









The play area kept Liam entertained until it was time to find our gate and prepare to board. Padded floor, plenty of sunlight, and a jungle-themed structure for kids to run and climb on like crazy monkeys. Perfect! (There was a larger, independent nursing area by the bag check area with two cribs, two changing tables, and two couches. I would guess there are other play/nursing areas throughout the airport.)











Our flight went remarkably well. Matthew felt that Air Canada was more kid-friendly than United, which we flew last May. I thought it was a bit of a toss up. In my limited experience, most flight attendants are genuinely nice people who like kids and it's the personnel who make (or break) the trip. Since our flight from Seoul to Vancouver wasn't full, one of the flight attendants shuffled people around so that I had an empty seat next to me. I didn't have to worry about bumping anyone while nursing or holding a sleeping baby. I was even able to spread out a bit.

The food was definitely better than United, although the Air Canada food was markedly better on the flight from Seoul to Vancouver than it was on the return trip. Weird. The free wine included in beverage service was an excellent bonus.

Warning: Even if the flight attendant gives you extra bottles of wine, you should not drink it all before the meal service. On our return flight, since I hadn't eaten much and don't drink much these days, the three mini bottles hit me pretty hard. I thought I was going to hurl while changing Rowan's diaper.

The evening (5:30 departure) flight from Seoul to Vancouver worked great for the boys. They both slept most of the 10 hour flight. (Liam had a little help from Children's Benadryl, which has in the past year added the disclaimer NOT to use it to make children sleepy. Why not? It works!) By the second day in the U.S., they were adjusted to the new time zone. Coming back on a day flight was a little rougher and the adjustment back to Seoul time took several days. Actually, a week later, their sleep patterns are still a little irregular.

100 Days...about a month later

Turning 100 days old is a pretty big deal in Korea. The original reason was the high infant mortality rate; however, like most "developed" nations, infant mortality rates are now quite low. Koreans like traditions, though. It's a great reason to throw a party, serve lots of food the infant can't eat, and collect gifts of money and jewelry from the extended family.

We didn't throw a party, but since it's pretty rare for an American infant to turn 100 days in Korea, we decided to rent a hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) and take Rowan in for professional portraits. Of course, we found out mid-photo session that Korean babies don't get their pictures taken in hanbok until they're one year old. Even though we did it wrong, I think Rowan looks darn cute in hanbok. The ladies at the photo studio did a fabulous job.

Here are four of my favorites:









It took me so long to post these because the studio didn't give me the digital negatives, like they normally do here. I think that's because we were too cheap to purchase a big package. We just got some individual prints for ourselves and family, plus a mini album that my friend MinJeong got them to throw in free. She totally rocks. Even though she was sick, she dragged herself and both her kids in to translate for us, because the studio staff knew we're friends (long story).

Anyway, I had to wait until I was visiting my parents to scan in the photos. Hence the weird border issues, too. I haven't bothered to clean those up yet.