Custody Trip - Day 7 - Good-bye Korea, Hello US
Our departure from Korea was so bittersweet. On one hand, we were ready for our entire family to be together as a family of 5, yet we were brokenhearted for our son because he was losing everything he has ever known. My mind cannot fully comprehend what he was thinking during this time, so we did what we could to show him that we, his parents, were there for him, loving him every step of the way. Our day began with catching a shuttle from the base we were staying at to the airport. The only shuttle we could catch (and not be late for our flight) was 6 hours before our flight departed. It was either take this (free) shuttle, battle the subway with ourselves and all of our luggage, or take a taxi (taxis are cheap in Korea, but the airport is rather far away from central Seoul, so we didn't even want to go this route). After an hour ride to the airport, we went to go check into our flight. Inchon is such a big airport, and their counters change all of the time. We went to check into the Delta counter, and we were told it wasn't set up yet. In its' place was a different airline checking in their passengers. It was set to open 3 hours before our flight, so we 'lolly-gagged' around the airport for a few hours. This time definitely seemed to drag on, but Richard (as always) did amazing. He was so patient throughout this process. Once the counter finally opened, we checked in and proceeded through security. Last time we were leaving Korea, we stumbled across this amazing burger place in the international terminal, and we were eager to get back there to get another one. Richard really likes hamburgers (and hot dogs and pizza and well, any other type of typical American food as well as most Korean dishes as well), so he was thrilled to chow down a delicious burger.
After eating, we went down to where we were boarding and chatted about our upcoming plane trip with him. We cannot fully know how well he understood us or how well our broken Korean may have sounded, but he seemed excited to get on the plane. His foster family had taken him to the airport the day before custody and explained the entire process, so that was a huge help. Once on board, he gladly watched a few movies, ate dinner, and then went to sleep. We arrived in Seattle without a single tear! Now this was the tricky part - getting through immigration in order to make our next flight. We only had about 1.5 hours layover, which is quite tight when going through immigration. Because Richard is new to the US, we had to go to the non-US citizen line, which was quite a slow line. After going through the line, we then were directed to go sit and wait for our immigration paperwork to be evaluated. After what seemed like forever, we were finally released, and it was the time scheduled for our next plane to board, but we still had to get our luggage, recheck it, go through security again, and find our gate. We were running, and when we made it to our gate, they hadn't even started to board yet! Phew! The flight was uneventful, and we arrived in LAX soon after.
While eating dinner, things went south! Richard was tired, in a new country, and not a happy boy. He just cried and cried, and nothing could calm him. Fortunately our next plane was departing soon, so we jumped aboard and he quickly fell asleep. Chris and I were terrified of how his mood would be when he woke up, and I prayed that he would wake up our happy little boy again. This was the first time we had seen him truly sad. We were thankful Richard was able to sleep the entire plan ride to New Orleans and woke up happy as we were getting off of the plane. Then, the Lord answered our prayers. After a quick bathroom break, we were able to see his happy, playful personality again. After gathering our luggage and getting our van, we drove the hour home (it was midnight, so we did not want anyone to bother coming greet us at the airport). He handled the car ride home very well, which was a surprise because they do not use car seats in Korea but he took to it very well.
Once home, my mom, grandmother, Elie, and Levi were quickly awakened and excited to play with Richard. It was so nice to see, but it was 2 in the morning!!! After an hour or so, we were able to get settled in and head to bed.
The First Few Days
I'm not going to lie - the first few days were hard at times. He refused food for a day and a half (even when being offered his favorites), but we just made sure to always be there for him. He was quiet and reserved, not speaking much or wanting to do much of anything. My mom and grandmother left not long after we woke up, and it was very kind of them to be respectful of our time bonding with Richard. On Friday, we stayed around the house, played, and tried to engage him as much as we could while respecting that he was grieving everything he lost. On Saturday afternoon, we went to a corn maze with friends from our Sunday School class, and it really helped everyone out! Fortunately we had prepared our friends on our plans for bonding with Richard, and they were respectful to always direct him to us for anything he needed. He seemed to have a lot of fun, and when we came home, he finally ate!
Over the next week, he opened up and seemed to be back to the same cheerful boy he was during our time in Korea. When Chris went back to work a week and a half later, he transitioned really well to the new schedule.
He really enjoys being read to and learning new things. While Elie is doing school work, he loves to join us at the table and do his 'school' too. He has learned to count from 1-10 (and up to 20 mixing some of the teens), most colors, a few letters, lots of songs, and a large variety of animal sounds. He still speaks a lot of Korean, but English has now become mixed in quite a bit. Because he hears Elie and Levi say it so much, he now calls us Mommy and Daddy as opposed to the Korean words 'omma' and 'appa'. He is interested in lots of 'typical boy things - trains, cars, dinosaurs, Legos, transformers, and construction equipment.
First the first few weeks, Richard was all about his big sister, Elie, and he followed her everywhere. He was very uninterested in Levi, and he would often leave a toy, or even the room, if Levi came within a few feet of him. We tried a handful of tricks to get them engaging with one another but didn't push it much. Then one day the kids started pretending to be cats! Well, that did the trick. If they were pretending to be cats together, he would actually be near Levi. Elie had a unique opportunity to go to California for a week with grandparents, so with her away, Richard and Levi grew closer and closer. Don't get me wrong, they are 2 and 3 - so there is often jealousy and toy snatching, but their relationship seems to be growing stronger and stronger every day.
We are so happy to finally have Richard in our home! The Lord had perfect timing in this entire process, and although it took much longer than we originally anticipated, we are to thankful for everything we have learned along the way. Thank you to everyone who helped us get this far. Your prayers, financial support, and sweet words of encouragement were such a blessing to our family.
