Korea pt. 2...the meeting

So, needless to say I found the Hanboks for the kids and we even easily found our way back to our hotel.  We were pretty exhausted so the rest of the day was not that exciting.  Wednesday morning we decided to get up early and head to another market within walking distance of the hotel to check it out.  We got there early, like 6:30 and there were still people at the booths.  We found a couple more things to purchase and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for our trip to Eastern.  We had met another sweet mom and granddad there also heading to Eastern at the same time, so we planned to meet them and make the trek together.  We were early, VERY early.  We originally thought about taking the subway, but again the humidity made us decide otherwise.  We were told to get there a little before 1pm, we arrived at about 11:30!  There is a cafe setup there which benefits single mothers, so we had a seat and S ordered a smoothie and muffin.  Soon another family came in that was also meeting their little one that day.  We sat around and talked about our wait, the weather, colleges...pretty much anything to pass the time.  I started to notice foster moms passing the window and wondered if any one's child had arrived.  Then there HE was.  Smooshed up against the glass door of the cafe.  I was frozen, I just said "S, it's him."  But I didn't want to want to do anything I wasn't suppose to, so we smiled and waved.  His foster mom looked in and recognized us and smiled pointing to us and saying something to M.  We eventually got called out of the cafe and well I think this is the funniest part of the story.  Here we are in the cafe with another American family and no one else....and we get locked in!  The people outside are pulling on the door and it is caught on something.  We are tugging and still stuck.  I can't believe I am merely feet from our little guy and we are locked in, just looking out this glass door.  Finally, someone comes from the back and shows us the other way out, through the playroom. 

M's foster mom quickly comes over to us and tells us that she has M and of course we knew that.  She tries to hand him to S, saying "appa, Appa" to M (that is daddy in Korean).  He isn't really that impressed, nor is he interested in being held but strangers, or anyone really.  We sat down at a table with them and he proceeded to be goofy and climb all over the table and throw the toys.  Boy has some energy!!  So for the first time on my blog....here he is (yes a blur)!!

Eventually, we left him to meet with the Director of the agency, where she talked about the history of Eastern and about the culture changes in Korea.  The meeting went a long time, and finally she said, "Oh right, your children! You want to meet them!"  (We were the only lucky ones to get to see our boy before this meeting!)  We headed into the playroom to learn more about M and his routine.

More watching him play and be silly, he is a ham!  The meeting was fast...and I couldn't think of what all to ask, how can you.  It is pretty crazy, in 1 hour I am expected to ask and learn everything they have known about him for over a year.  Plus, he is quite distracting, dancing and laughing.  I did a pretty poor job of getting much info!  But he is a cutie so here are more pictures:

I got a couple great pictures of his sweet foster family, but I didn't get their permission to plaster their face all over the blog world so I will refrain.  We were lucky enough to remember to ask about signing a release in order to exchange info with his foster family, so hopefully they will check out our blog and see where M has come.

The foster dad is a cab driver and during our playroom time, the social worker told us that he would be driving us back to the hotel.  How kind!  Normally, you take a van with the other families, but I found it very special that we would have this time and they could see him off.  So we stepped out of the meeting for a quick prayer by the director, all the while M was wiggling around and running away from us and foster mom.  When we finished, the social worker whisked us outside and into the cab.  We got a glimpse of the other families loading into the van.  I could see some sad foster moms and thought about the huge sacrifices they have made and how difficult this must be.  I did note though, that M's foster family were all smiles.  My perception was this was not the 1st time they have done this and they knew the best thing for M was to be excited and happy for all of us.  It worked.  When we got to the hotel, foster mom smiled, kissed M and handed him over.  I was so grateful!  Foster dad got the bag they had packed for M full of snacks, clothes, even gifts for our other kids!

and there we were, just us and him....finally.