Farewell Korea

We loved being here! I love the people, the food, the cleanliness of the city, all the things to do! We have had a fantastic experience! I would recommend adopting or visiting Korea to anyone!

Emma slept great last night. She went to bed at 10pm and woke at 9:30am! She is cutting her front teeth so I gave her some Tylenol before bed. Hmmm, I might try that for the plane also since it knocked her out!

I have no pictures today. Our bags are packed and so is the camera! We leave in 2 hours for the bus to the airport. Our flight departs at 5:15 and we arrive in Raleigh around 11:30pm on Sunday!

Here are some cost saving tips for those who have yet to travel:

1. Stay at the SWS guest house. If you don't mind not having room service, the guest house is perfectly adequate and clean. We stayed at the $70 family room but if we did it again we would probably stay in the $40 room until the day we got Emma and then upgrade to the family room with the separate bedroom.

2. We were told to we needed to stay 5 business days. We have seen so many other couples come for 5 days total. Next time I would not stay as long! I would have flown in Sunday night and left Thursday.

3. Bring coffee! The coffee is expensive here. Starbucks is $4 a cup. We have been going to ToPresso which is $3. But times 2, we have spent $42 on coffee alone! We do have a coffeemaker in the room so if you bring coffee and filters it would save money.

4. Bring Breakfast food. We brought nutrigrain bars and it saved us a ton! Bring peanut butter! The jar I bought for my peanut butter and banana sandwiches was $7! Anything else food wise that you eat I would bring. Food from the grocery store was pricey.

5. Eat where the locals eat. A typical Korean soup meal was $8 for 2 people! The other restaurants like Mexican, Indian, etc are an easy $40! By SWS Food2900 is very cheap!

6. Shop at the markets! They are the cheapest place for Korean items. Forget about the Coex mall! It's outrageous!

7. Don't bring bottles, formula or diapers! They provide plenty!

8. Our foster mom gave us a 1 yr Hanbok so there is no need to buy one. They also gave us a children's CD, Korean flag, and decorative box.

9. I found a fantastic children's book that has English on one side and Korean on the other. It's all about visiting Seoul, customs and traditions for kids! I actually found it at the Korean War Museum. It was $10 but really gives great detail about Seoul.

10. We didn't feel the need to dress up for the foster home visit. In fact, I felt over dressed. I also didn't feel out of place in regular shoes and jeans. Most people are dressed up, but unless you are in high heels you won't fit in anyway! We did a TON of walking so wear comfortable shoes.

11. Domino's Pizza actually taste like regular pizza!

12. Don't take cabs unless you have to. The subway isn't hard.