Yes it's true, the holiday is over. It is now late Saturday and the mind remains in a morass brought on through as lack of sleep during the last couple of days. It was truly a great holiday and one we hope to repeat before too long. Friday was our last morning in Seoul and there were two choices. Hang around all morning packing suitcases, checkout at midday then waste 2 hours till the bus arrives to take us to the airport, or checkout early and go shopping.
It should come as no surprise to see a mass evacuation from the hotel to reconvene at Namdemun Market. We had set a pretty difficult task in the form of last minute shopping for souvenirs, gifts and items for Barb who is now so skilled at shopping that it can be performed in absentia.
Actually 'the list' helped us to explore a few sections of the market not seen before and soon even Amelie was getting in the act of shopping. In fact it almost caused us to miss the train back to the hotel in time looking in vain for a Mario top in her size. Luckily she wasn't at all upset when this search had to be cut short.
The bus trip to the airport went amazingly smoothly thanks to a total lack of traffic on free-ways and toll-ways. One would have thought any tourism and sightseeing had finished after check-in, but there were a few surprises behind passport control/gate lounges.
Korean Tourism were clearly in full swing to promote their country as a holiday destination. It is not a stupid as it sounds. Nowadays many more flights are using Incheon as a transit point, leaving people to wander duty free stores for hours, or to use the opportunity to promote the country many only see behind closed doors.
Preparing paper for wood block printing at Insadong Airport
Jin beginning inking his woodblock
KTO organised activities such as wood block printing, straw weaving, Han-bok dress-ups and photographs and our very own royal Wedding held in the airport departure lounge. The grand parade wandered the full length up and back complete with music before pausing to perform the ceremony itself metres from our gate.
What a shame the call to board came before final vows could be witnessed.
This time the flight ran through the night and all three of us failed to gain any real significant sleep. Amelie managed about 4 hours, Liz struggled to match this and I barely slept at all. Due to travel induced insomnia we were looking forward to the battle through Australian immigrations and customs as our return with Amelie three years ago took over three hours.
The money from commercial television (on shows suxh as border patrol) may have helped highlight Australia as one of the slowest border crossings in the world as it has been greatly improved. Enough inspection points are open to process customs declarations and searches and staff are on hand to help filter people through to appropriate lines where various searches are required.
I missed out on a damned good grump when we found ourselves out in the sunshine within 35 minutes of disembarkation. Soon we had collected the car from long term parking and were brewing the first decent coffee in a month on our own espresso machine within 2 hours.
Thankfully this long overdue improvement in travel and one we were truly grateful for.
The return home now moves our holiday into the abstraction of memory. Fond memories for sure and leaving a desire to plan a return sooner rather than later.
I find myself strangely restless, when exhaustion should be taking hold. Liz and Amelie collapsed into bed and slept 5 to 7 hours respectively. I found strange energy to mow the lawns and still haven't worked out where this urge came from. Perhaps the overflowing front yard due to falling leaves from Autumnal inundation.
The real reason for such restlessness could be due to the fact this is the longest period I have had without a fly fishing rod in hand and the knowledge a few minutes down the road is a little reservoir stocked................
Addendum:
Back again Sunday and I manage 5 fish with 2 well over a kilogram. Hepburn Lagoon is living up to it's reputation as being one of the top 3 fish fattening waters in the world. The fish stocked there in November (the lake was bone dry last March) were yearling about 20 to 25cms long. They've nearly tripled weight in 6 months. Still I look forward to New Zealand in three weeks.
Me again Tuesday 3rd May. The drums purchased near Insadong (blog entry Apr 28) arrived today. All three families received drums the same day. They were sent air-freight and arrived within 3 working days. Amelie and I enjoyed a great jam session and now all we need do is look for lessons online.
The final note is a sincere thank-you to INKAS and staff for helping to organise our tour. INKAS perform many valuable services to Koreans Adopted internationally. I urge any one Adopted internationally of Adoptive Families to make use of the support and other services from INKAS.
To Sunny, Rachel and other INKAS staff as well as volunteer students who helped support, such as Jane and Nancy and to Shalom, our Home-Stay Host our sincere thanks for a memorable trip. You have only served to create the desire to return before too long.
To Eastern Social Welfare and Amelie's Foster Mother,Mrs Lim. Thank-you for making time to meet and welcome Amelie. She has not stopped talking of the experience. It was so interesting hearing her compare notes with Lily a fellow 3 year old Adoptee. “My Foster mother has black hair.” “So does mine!” The return and meeting has proven most rewarding for all in our family.
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