Our latest update

Today I received a call from the director of adoption at agency #2. It was a pre-planned call to go over the travel information packet they sent me in the mail. She confirmed we will likely travel within the next 3-5 weeks (usually it is 4-6 weeks from approval, and our approval was 8/7). The next steps are a whirlwind of occurrences: we will get “the call” that Jaden is ready to travel. We will travel the same week (on the nearest Friday or Saturday). We are to immediately call the travel agent (who we don’t have yet) and put a 24 hour hold on our flights. After that we contact the agency and let them know what our tentative itinerary is. They will contact Korea, get the confirmation that the itinerary we gave them is peachy, and call us back so we can purchase the tickets (or make other plans if the itinerary doesn’t work). 

They prefer if we travel out of NY either on a Friday or Saturday and then return to NY from Korea on the following Friday. While we are in Korea we will visit the foster home on Monday to meet the foster family and Jaden. We go to the foster home with the social worker who will hopefully speak English well enough to help us communicate. Then we leave (without Jaden – boohoo) and tour the city on Monday evening and Tuesday. On Wednesday morning we go to the Korean agency and the foster mom meets us there with Jaden. We get to bring him back to the hotel with us, then spend Wednesday evening and Thursday getting adjusted and finally fly home on Friday.

The way they do things is very specific – they like everything just so — which is why we won’t be able to take Jaden until Wednesday. Their rule is that we cannot take him with us until 2 evenings before our departure. Once we have him in our care we are not allowed to leave the city limits of Seoul except to board our flights. This is to avoid having health complications before traveling. 

Jaden’s passport will have his Korean name on it. We won’t get to change his name officially until after the social worker visits us at least three times at our house once we return to the U.S. and provides a report back to Korea. After those three visits, we will have all the documentation necessary to complete the final paperwork — at least, that’s the way I understand it right now. As these things go, there are so many intricate details it is very difficult (especially for right-brained people; teehee) to absorb all at once, so you learn as you go. 

The agency representative warned us that Wednesday, when we meet the foster mother to take Jaden home with us, will be a very emotion-filled day. She said it is not uncommon for the foster mother to cry a lot, and Jaden may become very emotional too. I have been having nightmares about this…. for a couple of weeks now… maybe it is my mind trying to prepare me for the emotional exhaustion of it all. Our brains are amazing. 

We should bring gifts for the staff at the agency in Seoul, as well as the social worker. I read some suggestions on the message boards about Korean adoption as to what types of gifts to bring…. they suggest things made in the USA (hahahaha – is anything anymore?) or related to our local area. I also saw a hint on one of the  boards suggesting we bring flowers to the foster mother the day she brings Jaden to the agency to go home with us. I thought that was a great idea. 

The agency rep also told me a few interesting tidbits about Korean culture: proper dress usually means no jeans, sneakers, or open toe shoes. Slacks, dresses, and button down shirts are the norm for restaurants. It is proper etiquette to wear socks or nylons when entering someone’s house — no bare feet. How different from here! I’m always barefoot in the summer (but obviously not pregnant- LOL).

So this is totally off-topic, but a number of you have asked me for websites or other resources on green housecleaning – so tomorrow I’ll post some of the things we’ve been doing around here to be more ‘organic.’

Until then, nighty-night!