Hello from Korea!!

What an amazing place...we are in awe and in extreme culture shock all at the same time. I didn't know it was possible to feel so at home and so out of place all in one breath!! Having tried to learn some Korean before we came, I find myself being able to read street signs, food labels, store windows, and instructions...at least to some degree. If I can sound it out and then look it up in my dictionary, I can usually figure it out, so my vocabulary has grown exponentially because of the immersion. Life is so different here from the United States. It is more than I can explain in one blog and more than I can understand with just one visit! We both hope this is the first of many visits, and we are happy and proud to be in the birth country of our child. A few things that are different here that may interest you, there are no napkins, no drinks with meals, and no salt! Women give up their subway seat for men, especially an older man. Children are everywhere at all hours of the night, and babies are strapped to the backs of mothers with a blanket system that I am sure I could never recreate. Everyone is nice and the streets are the cleanest I have ever seen anywhere. It is safe to go out alone in the middle of the night. Most younger Koreans know at least a little English, but most older Koreans know very little but appreciate our attempts at Korean. The floor is heated in homes, apartments, hotels, and traditional restaurants. Shoes come off at the door within the first few feet of entering, in the area we would call the foyer. Most hotels and homes have slippers for you to put on, since it is also unacceptable to have bare feet. I could go on and on but its just too much information to convey!

In other news-we have moved up on the waiting list!!!  There were two referrals in November, so we have moved up two spots to approximately number 9!! So exciting to be in the single digits (we think). Thank you for the prayers-lots of you have been praying hard for us, especially lately as the wait has seemed harder with no referrals coming for several months. We can never fully express our gratitude for your support. Thank you!!!!  Please keep following our trip...we come home December 10!!