................Taking Flight...............: (Mentoring) Family Day

Yesterday morning Jacob, Kasey and I got a text message from our family's Mom, asking if we were free on Sunday. We all said we would be able to meet, so we had a full day with them.

Jacob and I met in my area and grabbed some bread for breakfast before meeting up with Kasey at Anguk Station. Shortly after we arrived, the Dad showed up and ushered us into a taxi. We took a taxi to the adoption agency that Yoon Kyeong, Yoon Ju, and Yoon Geom were all adopted from. It is a special agency that only does domestic adoptions and it is Catholic. We got a tour of the facilities~we saw some of the babies and toddlers that are waiting to be adopted. As always, I got choked up looking at all of the babies. The things that swirl in my head vary from being angry that is no real system of support for unwed mothers that they are unable to provide for, take care of and keep their babies, being angry that there is such a stigma upon single mothers, the stigma on adoption, being sad for the babies and wondering about their futures, being sad that I was one of those babies crying for attention, and being thankful that I was adopted.

When we finished the tour we went help set up for the lunch. We were blowing up balloons and playing with the (adopted) children. Turns out 2 of the kids/families from our mentoring program were also there! After decorating the room, we went up to the 'church' room for mass. While we were sitting on the floor watching people come in, we noticed 2 more kids/families from our mentoring program join as well. They sang "I am the Bread of Life" (in Korean) at communion which was very moving to me. After mass, we went for lunch. They had a big buffet set up. We ate and chatted with our family. Then the kids had a 'talent show'. Our family is quite musical~Yoon Ju plays the viola, Yoon Kyeong plays the violin an Yoon Geom plays the cello. It's quite cute because he's so little the cello is as big as he is, maybe even bigger. Anyway some of the other kids danced or sang. We had to duck out a little early because Kasey needed to tutor and we all left together. One other person from the event drove us in their minivan down from the adoption agency and then we took taxis to the subway station. Kasey took off and Jacob and I stayed with the family. Yoon Kyeong took off to hang out with one of her friends and the little ones stayed with us.

We walked around their neighborhood/area and saw the school that Yoon Ju and Yoon Geom go to. Then we also saw the middle school/high school that Yoon Kyeong attends. The school backs up to one of the palaces, so we were able to look down into the palace grounds, so that was cool. We went to their house and looked at their photo albums and showed pictures of our families on our phones. They live in a traditional Korean style house-very old. They have a Korean dog, a Jindo, that lives outside and barked like crazy at us. Inside, they are dogsitting for a friend. A little 4 month old ball of fur that acted more like a cat than a dog. Jacob and I mentioned that we played violin when we were younger so they took out Yoon Kyeong's violin and asked us to play. I couldn't remember anything....

Our family suggested another walk around a different part of their neighborhood and then dinner. So we headed out again and played as we walked. Yoon Ju and Yoon Geom liked throwing the snow from the ground at us and each other. We made it to the restaurant and met up with Yoon Kyeong. We went to an Italian place for dinner; I ordered spaghetti, but it was quite spicy. Jacob got a lasagna and it was probably one of the best lasagnas I've ever had--not just in Korea, but anywhere. After dinner, they walked us to the subway and we said goodbye.

Jacob and I went to Sogang to go to church. We arrived early (finally) which was nice. Turns out today is Father Bernard's birthday. He is 61 years old. After mass, Jacob and I went to get a snack and drink.