http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Semi daily fourhman.com newspost. en-us joe@fourhman.com 2005-07-05T01:25:27-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2005/07/finally-the-pictures.html OK, this is in the gift shop of the ANA Narita Hotel in Tokyo. This is precisely how I've always imagined Japan. 816@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Our Trip to Korea 2005-07-05T01:25:27-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2005/07/so-now-what.html At the hotel, we winged it. We had a pretty good idea of his feeding and eating schedule, thanks to the info from his foster mom. So we fed him for the first time, played with him for the first time, walked around the room bouncing him for the first time. Changed his diaper for the first time, during which he peed on the hotel bed. Even though we have been working for this for years, it still felt an awful lot like we were a couple of first-time babysitters. After a couple hours, we appraised him worthy of a quick trip to the Seoul Pizza Hut. Hold your complaints, it's only two storefronts down from the hotel, in the same block. He was fine during the entire jaunt, sitting open-eyed in the carrier watching his countrymen zip about. The manager at the Pizza Hut did some cutesy baby stuff with him while we waited for the take out. Had the same clerk girl who was so nice to us on our first visit. I don't know if this is Korean standard service orientation or just how they treat the illiterate Americans, but the clerks at both Pizza Hut and Outback reviewed our order with us after we placed it. To get through the language barrier, the pacing was not unlike how you'd talk to a two year old. "Large? Pan? Cheese? No drink. Take out." It was a fun little interaction. 815@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Our Trip to Korea 2005-07-04T01:09:58-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2005/07/the-last-day-and-the-first-day.html 3:30am local time. I've been up since about 2:30, which is not bad, considering. We want to be at the bus stop around 7, and the hotel room is a disaster area, so this will give me plenty of time to pack up while Rhon and Clark sleep some more. After this weblog update, anyway. Rewind. Being up so early yesterday morning, we figured we might as well hit the shops early. Rhonda had picked out a grocery store and a department store that she wanted to see. Planned to hit a coffee shop first, then stop by the gamestore for those Wario toys. On the streets by 7am. Problem: nothing was open. Not even the Dunkin Donuts. 814@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Our Trip to Korea 2005-07-01T15:37:08-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2005/06/the-touring-day.html It's 5:30am Friday local time... we've been up for hours already, thanks to another weird sleep pattern day. After the last weblog entry, we met up with another couple and took a shuttle northward to Ilsan, where Holt Children's Services operates a live-in community for the disabled. Our tour guide was a Korean-American adoptee from Michigan who is volunteering at Ilsan Holt Town for six weeks. She took us around the property and told us about the work they do there to care for the 300 residents, all with varying degrees of mental illness and physical disability. This is also where the Holts themselves are buried, so we got to visit the gravesite of the American couple whose post-Korean War efforts to help the Ameriasian war orphans blossomed into the wonderful public service organization that has allowed Rhonda and I to form a family. When you're standing there, you can't help but imagine the ripple effects their lives have had. Amazing. 813@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Our Trip to Korea 2005-06-30T17:05:45-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2005/06/where-was-i.html So. Our son. The agency's office is right along a busy main Seoul street, and it was teeming with people when we arrived. Before we arrived, I was envisioning a white hospital-like building, but it felt more like a reconditioned high school. Lots of little side rooms and warm colors. It is super humid in Seoul right now - Monsoon season! - and the lobby was insanely hot. There were other families also meeting/picking up their children, from all over the world... some right there in the lobby. Plus nurses bustling about, a reunion tour group hugging and laughing. And then us just sort of standing and not knowing who to talk to. One of the nurses said "baby meeting?" and ushered us up the staircase to meet the social worker, Mrs. Lee, our son, and our son's foster mother. 812@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Our Trip to Korea 2005-06-29T18:09:22-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2005/06/live-from-seoul.html Total long distance weblog coming at you from a hotel PC in Seoul. Today is day three of our trip, or day two depending on your time zone, I suppose. We're already acclimated to Korea time, which was neatly accomplished by not sleeping much on the flight, then getting a massive energy boost when the third plane flight for the night was cancelled. Back on EDT, I'd guess we were up for a day and a half total. 811@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Our Trip to Korea 2005-06-29T07:30:35-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2005/06/a-different-origin.html Today's unbelievable news: we got Clark's travel call today, meaning he is ready to come home! Now, this is about a month ahead of when we expected to get the call. Which is about a month ahead of when parents are told to expect the call. So the whole system must have accelerated like crazy lately for us to get Clark before he turns four months old. So we're a little unprepared. The nursery is more or less fine; we finished his room last weekend. The work world is another story. Both of us figured we'd have another month to set up contingencies and training for our subs... and now we're both bailing out on FMLA with nary a meeting. As happy as we'll be bonding with our new baby, I don't imagine our offices will be as contented. 808@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Our Trip to Korea 2005-06-24T22:51:38-05:00