Korea Court Trip - Day 3

Our adoption agency has volunteers, who want to practice their English, tour families around this beautiful city and today was our tour! We met our tour guide in the lobby of our hotel at 9:30am and she took us to a palace that is close to our hotel. We watched the changing of the guards and walked around the palace grounds taking in the history of these huge, beautiful grounds.

Then we explored the folk village and this was probably my favorite part. There was a historical house on the grounds and it was so fun to see what life was like throughout history in Korea.

Then we walked all over Bukchon Hanok Village, which as a ton of tradition Korean homes. They are so beautiful, but the neighborhood is very hilly and Todd's foot was definitely sore after it.

Our tour guide took us to a traditional Korean restaurant for lunch and we had to take our shoes off when we walked in the door, and sat on the ground while we ate.

Then we headed back to the hotel to ice Todd's foot and take a nap. We woke up around 5:30pm and met some friends (through Facebook) for dinner. We went to a little restaurant right by our hotel and I had the best dinner so far. I ordered hot pot bibimbap and it came our sizzling. It was so delicious!!! We had a great time talking over our adoption journeys with these new friends and exchange pictures of our new babies. God has been so faithful to provide community for us when we needed it the most.
After dinner we walked around the neighborhood that our hotel is in, while we continued to get to know our new friends. We got dessert from some street vendors and walked in a few shops. We ended up buying some wedding ducks for Lyla. (Fun Fact: Wedding ducks are a pair of duck carvings (traditionally Mandarin ducks) that are used in Korean wedding ceremonies, and often given as marriage gifts. Mandarin ducks are chosen because it is believed that, unlike other types of ducks, they mate for life, and that if one of the pair dies, the other will mourn. For Koreans, Mandarin ducks represent peace, fidelity, and plentiful offspring.)

Tomorrow is our second meeting with Lyla and we are so excited to see her again! We are happy that we are a little more prepared going into this meeting and are hoping this time provides comfort and a sense of belonging for our girl.