Trip 1 Day 2 - Meeting Hyeon

Wow, what a big, amazing day for us.

Dear Heavenly Father - I pray that with each word I share on this blog that it would be transparent to others that You are the giver of all good things.  You have given us abundant grace and blessings, and we give you all the honor.  Amen

I have had the privilege of traveling overseas a few times prior to this, so I was prepared for a difficult night's sleep even though we were exhausted.  Reese wasn't quite as prepared.  At midnight, came so gently to the side of my bed and started singing a song in my ear that I often sing to him when it was time to wake up.

"What are you doing, buddy?"

"It's time to get up, Mommy."

"It's only midnight."

"But it's light outside and people are walking around everywhere."

Being in a big city, and changing the time by 14 hours can really play tricks on a little guy's body :).  Thankfully he eventually was able to fall back to sleep.

Morning finally came... it was time to meet our boy.  First we had to meet with the social worker and fill out all the appropriate paperwork for the visa and the US social security card.  Long story short, during this time we were provided the opportunity to change his name if we wanted - we decided to change the spelling of his first name to Hyun.  From what they explained to us, the spelling "Hyeon" was a phonetic spelling change that came along with the Romanization of the Korean language, so "Hyun" is apparently more consistent with the old language.  In the end, it seems to us that people will be able to more easily pronounce his name with it spelled "Hyun".  So he will officially be "Hyun Chae Oliver Wood".  Whew... hard decisions.

As we were wrapping up, Hyun and his foster mom unexpectedly walked into the room (we were suppose to meet them in a different room).  We of course immediately recognized them, and she also recognized us.  She got down at eye level and started singing a song that we sang to Hyun on a video almost as to indicate "Hey, that's the people that were singing the song to you!". Hyun took one look at me, and spit at me.  Yep, that's right... he spit at me.  Not once but probably 5 times.  This response honestly had no effect on any of us - I think we were expecting the unexpected. 

They escorted all of us to our meeting room only to find out it was occupied.  So the social worker asked if we would like to visit the "Children's hospital" while we waited - which is the orphanage for the babies.  Thankfully Ron and I had already discussed that if we had the opportunity we would like to go - I knew it would be a tough thing to absorb - and it was.  Dozens of babies, lying wrapped in little blankets, bottles propped up in their mouths.  This is where Hyun first lived after birth.  There were several women cycling through taking the babies out to hold them and play with them, but each of these children were missing the most basic of necessities - parents.  We know there are many orphans in this world, but seeing so many of them together in one room really highlights how big the issue really is. 

Then we were finally taken to the room to spend time with Hyun and his foster mom.  By this time, he was starting to lighten up with us.  Every time he would say "hello" in Hangul instead of bowing, he would put his hands all the way to the floor and kick his feet in the air like he was a bucking bull.  He was cracking himself up.  There was a small slide in the room, which I think he went down a million times, and he launched a ball down it an equal number of times.  One time, he rolled the ball down, and Ron was at the bottom to catch it and acted as if the ball knocked him over.  This created such a contagious laughter from Hyun, so of course he had to do it over and over.  Thankfully Reese was willing to fall over also.

Our time together was absolutely perfect, more than I could have hoped for.  Ron and I both feel so much more confident of his relationship with his foster mom now that we have spent time together.  He and Reese were being silly together, and Hyun of course was already doing everything Reese was doing.  He even allowed us to hold, hug and kiss him.

We were so proud of Reese; he was a champ during everything today before, during and after our time with Hyun.  We really adventured out today walking A LOT, discovered how to use public transportation, and ate unique foods (though I have to admit we ate McDonald's for lunch... hey, sometimes you have to throw the kid a bone, ya know?).  He has told me he loves Korea multiple times, which is such a different story than when we left Tulsa.  I am praising God for his hand in all these things.

We leave for Suwon in the morning in order to meet up with EunJoo's parents.  So thankful for their willingness to host us for a few days!  Monday we will meet with the president of the Korean adoption agency and spend some time with other adoptive families; Wednesday we will see Hyun again, and next Friday will be our court hearing - so we have a few down days next week.