Seoul Day 2

So, on day two we decided to brave the subway and make our way to the town of Bucheon where we believe Eliza Grace was born.  Our goal was to find the hospital where she was delivered and see this "little" town where she began her life.

Question:  How many Koreans does it take to get Phil & Maggie going in the right direction on the subway?
Answer: Apparently there aren't enough in Seoul!!

The man pictured above with Phil is Lim.  He is a 76 year evangelist who spends his days on the subway spreading the good news and inviting people to his church.  Today his mission was to get us to our destination.  He ran all over the subway asking what lines we should take to get to Bucheon.  In the picture on the top right everyone you see is arguing over the best way for us to get there.  Not two seconds before they were all huddled around the map pointing in different directions- kind of like Sunday at home...

Lim was not convinced that we understood him so he got on the subway with us and made sure we got to the train station and onto the right train.  He then decided "what the heck" and got on the train with us!  He said he goes wherever people are.  He taught us how to buy our tickets and that when you get where you're going you deposit the card back into a machine and "catch the money" (you get a refund if you don't use the entire fair).  He repeated no less than 15 times "you understand me, card in, and catch the money!"  always cupping his hands so that we'd understand to get our money back.

Thank you, Lim.  You'd be so proud to know that we made it back in one piece and got on the right subway back to Seoul! (It was going the wrong direction, but I digress)

So we exit the train station in Bucheon to see this-

Our Baby Girl's quaint little town.  It was a little overwhelming at first, but we got going towards the hospital and soon things began to look a little more small town (think any major US metropolis smaller than NYC).

As we walked toward the hospital a poster caught my eye.  I did a double take and it was a Holt office.  We had no idea that there was an office in Bucheon, but this is likely where Eliza Grace's birth mom came for counceling.  We went in and went up to the sixth floor where the office is located.  I took a picture of the door of the office.  I didn't want to appear intrusive or like we were trying to find her birth mom, so we didn't go in.  What a neat surprise- I love that we're getting these little puzzle pieces for EG.  The first picture above is the hospital sign and the bottom right is the hospital.  After I took that one a security guard came and told me "no pictures" so I put the camera up.  We walked into the hospital.  It's waiting room looked about as organized as any University Hospital and we decided to leave before we were admitted.

Above are a few more shots of the town.  Phil geocaching in a park near the hospital and one of the streets.  Once you got away from the train station, the streets really were beautiful.  Tree lined with flower baskets hanging from swan shaped lamp posts.  We saw school children playing on their playgrounds and walking home from school.

We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant.  Absolutely no English spoke here.  LOL.  We finally recognized "japje" (I know it's misspelled, but we'll let it slide this time).  This was a traditional Korean place where you sit on the floor and food is cooked on your table.  I think it's supposed to be self cooked, but I think they were pretty sure we'd mess it up, so they did it for us.  It was fabulous (except that soup with the whole egg in it- that was cold and strange and even Phil didn't eat it).  But everything else was the best. Phil spilled his and they brought him a bib. That still makes me laugh!  Maybe I should keep one in my purse!

We navigated our way home and decided to take a look at Namdaemun Market.  It was absolutely insane.  We were so tired that we bought one souvenir, took one picture, and headed back to the hotel.

The picture very much does not do it justice.  We aren't even really in the market yet.  Imagine the French Market in New Orleans (but 50x bigger) during Mardis Gras and add rickshaws and motor cycles buzzing in and out.

We got to our room and freshened up a little.  I sat down and read a little while Phil showered.  I must have fallen asleep and he left me sleeping.  I woke up at about 11:00pm and now my days and nights are all goofy! He woke up 2:00am and we watched a Netflix.  Now Phil's back to sleep and I'm blogging.

At least we don't have anything important to do to day, right?  In nine hours we'll meet Eliza Grace and all our lives will be changed forever.  Stay tuned...