Korean Family Court

COURT DAY!!!!

August 11th, 2017 --- a long anticipated experience that filled our stomachs with butterflies and our hearts with relief! 

at ESWS

   On Friday, Jacob and I took a taxi to ESWS a little early so we could meet Dr. Kim, the director. She was very kind and spoke great English. We made our donation and were discussing the state of South Korea, when we were interrupted by the staff to load the bus. We boarded a huge tour bus, along with the 7 other adopting families, translator and ESWS staff. It was a bumpy 45min ride SE across the city and over the river. We arrived about 15min before the court cases in our group were scheduled to start  {We were up first!!!} and headed up to the 5th floor of the Court Building. 

on the bus

silly faces!

     Once we all got settled in the hallway seating areas, the translator informed us that there were still 7 families ahead of our group so it might be awhile. Everyone was a little nervous so we made small talk and got to know the other couples. It wasn't too long until they moved us to a different set of chairs. Things were moving faster now and suddenly we were being escorted into the courtroom! 

   We bowed to the Judge and greeted him "Annyeong haseyo". He was young, relaxed and had a kind smile on his face. He began asking us questions through our translator like: "Where was Lily?" {we had left her to nap at the hotel with her grandparents}, "How was the domestic adoption process different?", "Why did you decide to adopt from Korea this time?", "How was your first meetings with your son?" and so on.  

    He nodded and smiled so it seemed like he was pleased with our answers. He definitely understood a fair amount of English as there were times when we answered and he proceeded onto the next questions without waiting for our translator. At the end we bowed again, said "kahamsamnida" {thank you} on our way out, and breathed a huge sigh of relief! All the other families looked to us expectantly, curious what questions the Judge asked and how it went. One by one, each of them took their turns and we were done ~5pm. 

post-court photo outside

    Since Lily was well cared for at the hotel, we decided to go out and celebrate! I'm thankful that my parents were able to travel with us and for all their help. We caught another taxi to the cable car at the bottom of Namsan Mountain {like the Sandia Tram}. At the top were several restaurants and a ticket booth to go up Seoul Tower. 

         It was pretty crowded being a Friday night, but the lines moved steadily and we made it up to the Observatory Deck. The views were amazing!!!! In every direction, the massive city just goes on and on.... huge skyscrapers and lines of tail lights stretch across the landscape. Seoul is definitely the biggest city I've ever been to, but it's downright beautiful.... This was a great perspective to get your bearings here and a better feel for the whole city. 

     After walking around, we hit up one of the restaurants for a BURGER & fries haha!!!!! I don't know if it was the "Best Burger in Seoul" as they advertised, but after a week of eating new Korean food they tasted pretty darn good!!!! It was the perfect end to a life-changing week in Seoul.