oh hello there

so here's the scoop: we finally made it to dearborn! like most places i move to, it was flooding when we arrived so i took that as a good sign. we huddled up in a motel for a few days and made craigslist our super best friend. which is how we found the dearest, teensiest, central-air-conditioned 2 bedroom house in town. we triumphed after much heartache, such as the nasty house where a family of birds dive bombed me and covered me in poop. awesome. so we're pretty pumped for our new place, one that is not home to territorial nesting birds. and for all of you who were crossing your fingers for me--drumroll please--target is just a five minute drive away. [enter angelic heralding now]

here's the rub: we can't move in until june first, which means that we remain homeless nomads for a few days longer. so instead of staying in flooding dearborn we decided to leave the country. what better way to celebrate memorial day, right?

which is how we found ourselves here:

and here:


with these lovely people (warren's sister catherine, her husband jared, and their awesome kids, emma and jonas):

wearing super sweet elf gear for our maid of the mist voyage:


so here's to impromptu trips to toronto/niagara falls! on a side note, toronto is filled with treasures. like... creepy black-and-ginger-tailed squirrels
statues where you can become a 'pillar of justice'
whales!

and street performers like this dude...
life is good. happy memorial day!

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Last Day :(

We had a rip roarin' last day in Seoul and I can't wait to show you the rest of our adventures. But since we have a plane to catch, I'll just leave you with a little teaser. More to come!

1) Yes, those are little fish lurking in the background of this swanky cafe...
2) No, these are not weird looking stilts...
3) Proof that Suwon is AMAZING--Kyeong Dong Children's Home:

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DC Reunion...Seoul-Style!

Even though this is our first time in Korea, we've seen a lot of familiar faces. For instance, we walked into church last week and saw three folks from an old DC ward. Today we had lunch with one of them, Corinna, and she treated us to a fabulous pork BBQ (see how happy this pig is carrying a pumpkin??)

We then went on a self-guided walking tour of Seoul--we wandered through Gyeongbuk Palace. Seoul's mascot is a haechi (a guardian of sorts) and you can see very adorable cartoon-y ones all over construction signs. But here's a more noble looking haechi right outside the palace.
We made some policemen nervous around the Blue House (Korea's White House) with our illegal picture-taking ways (apparently you can only take pictures directly in front of the Blue House).
Down the road, we found ourselves in the uber ritzy but lovely Samcheong-dong. Home of the illustrious owl museum and, apparently, Little Paris, complete with its own Le Petit Prince Cafe and delicious macaroons.


Finally, we hiked past embassy row to the top of Gahoe-dong, a neighborhood filled with hanok (traditional Korean houses).

It was gorgeous and peaceful with stellar views of Seoul.

And super cool wall art made from terra cotta roof tiles:

And a dragon!

Last but not least, we saw some creepy/cool subway station art. Like this faceless profile that looks like its shooting laser mosaics from its eyes...

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Babies!

One of the major reasons why I wanted to come to Korea was so I could see my adoption file (which you can only view in person). Our lovely social worker at Holt Post Adoption Services went through everything with us, including the photos my parents sent to win Holt over. If you are considering adoption, you may want to buy outfits like the following. They just scream "RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN!"
After we went through my file, we visited the the Reception Center (where children who are about to be adopted live). It was cuteness overload.

I mean, ridiculously adorable, right?
And today, thanks to our friend Seon, we were able to visit an actual orphanage in his hometown, Cheonan. At first the kids were not too sure about us. But it turns out that a lot can be fixed with a bribe of donuts, stickers, and plastic dinosaurs...
The following is what the kids looked like at the end of our visit...sticker mania:
This kid was having the time of his life with Warren (I'm pretty sure Warren wanted to bring him home...maybe next time :)
Seon not only arranged the orphanage visit, but also took us out to a divine lunch, AND figured out how to get us to the orphanage where I lived as a baby (in Suwon). We will be visiting on Wednesday--details to come! So a massive thank you to Seon, who was an amazing host and a dedicated Hawkeyes fan!

Back in Seoul, we decided to eat as the locals do in Namdaemun Market.


Bottoms up!
We're still not sure what this is...decor? Food? Aliens?
Warren, despite his seafood aversion, even braved mussel soup AND pajeon (seafood pancake). It was glorious!

And, of course, we had to have fruit-on-a-stick for dessert. Perfection.

All in a day's work...

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The World Comes to Jeju...And Jeju Goes to the World

So we just got back from the glorious Jeju Island, famed for its "stone, women, and wind." And it did not disappoint. Jeju is basically Warren's and my dream come true--it's like RoadsideAmerica, Korean style. Our most heroic move was renting a car, which Warren drove like a champ.

One of the first things that caught our eye after we left the Loveland (yes, seriously) parking lot was a feisty little statue park starring imps like him:

We visited an ancient nutmeg forest and took the obligatory heart shaped rock photo to add to our growing collection:

And of course we had to pull over to check out the roe deer wonderland. Warren was definitely a deer whisperer:

One of our goals was to eat some of the famed black pig, which we did with gusto:

Though afterwards we saw one of the little guys alive and kickin' and felt some remorse...though not too much (that pig is as tasty as it is ADORABLE):

Not to worry, we also visited some of the normal things, like the gorgeous Cheonjiyeon waterfall, home of the mottled eel:

We climbed Sunrise Peak--TWICE (the first time was too misty to see much):

And, as if to prove Jeju's magical powers, we were finally able to see the end of a rainbow:

Last but not least, we devoured some sea cucumber freshly picked (and slaughtered) by the island's amazing haenyo, or women divers:

When I grow up, I want to be just like her:

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