Not Bad for a First Timer

Yesterday was a great day!  We took Kinley to the Oklahoma State Fair for her first fair experience.  The fair is always fun.  Good food, good fun, and lots of crazy things to see.  Including some of the people.  That's a whole other subject.  Anyway, Kinley had a blast!  She rode a pony for the first and second time and she thought that was great.  Lots of big smiles.  There was also a petting zoo that was a lot of fun.  Kinley enjoyed it, although anything new like that she takes very seriously.  She was staring at the animals so intently it looked like she was trying to communicate with each of them via her mind.  Or maybe she just thought they stunk really bad, which they did.  Anyway, the fair was great and we laughed a lot and really, that's all that matters.

So I said earlier in the week that for Chuseok I was going to make bulgogi for dinner Wednesday night. And I did! And it was great! Super easy and yummy. Here is the recipe that I used and some of my very amateur photos I took as I went along.

The ingredients (minus the beef).

 

2 lbs of thinly sliced (across the grain) rib-eye steak

3/4 cup of soy sauce (I use low sodium)

3 tbs of white sugar

1 tbs of sesame oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 of a small onion, sliced into moon shaped slivers

2 green onions, finely chopped

2 tbs of toasted sesame seeds

1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes

2 pinches of black pepper

Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl except for beef. 

 

When most of the sugar has dissolved, add beef and massage the marinade into the beef with your hands.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

To pan fry (some people put it on the grill), place a few slices of beef in single layers in a hot, greased pan and fry each side to your liking.  Some people prefer to cook the bulgogi until some of the edges have turned dark brown and crispy (I think I'll try it this way next time).

Serve over a bed of hot rice.

Now, this is where it gets exciting because I bought a rice cooker!  Yay!  I love brown rice but sadly I suck at preparing it.  It always turned out too tough and chewy.  It's probably because I always bought the lazy person's minute rice but I have no doubt that some of the problem is me.  Anyway, I love my rice cooker and the brown rice turned out PERFECT!

Thank you Target!  You always come through for me.

And the finished product.

The bulgogi really was delicious and I can't wait to make it again.  It even got the hubby's stamp of approval.

I'm pretty sure he would have smiled no matter what.  Love that man!

Teach Me Something Tuesday - Chuseok

Chuseok is major harvest festival and three day holiday in Korea.  It was originally called Hangawi and is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar.  Chuseok is a celebration of the good harvest.  Koreans will visit their ancestral hometowns and have a feast of traditional food.  Very much like our Thanksgiving, minus the Mayflower and pilgrims.  Koreans travel to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of their ancestors.  People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning and then visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to tidy up around the tombs.

What does Chuseok mean to me (and many other families waiting to adopt from Korea)?  It basically means that nothing will be happening this week.  Since Chuseok is a three day holiday celebrated in the middle of the week, many Koreans will also take off work Monday and Friday.  So there is not much "movement" on the adoption home front during this week of celebration.  That's fine.  Just as long as they get busy when they get back!  =)

Since I plan on incorporating as many Korean traditions into our lives as possible when our new addition arrives I thought I would start practicing now.  So, tomorrow we are going to have bulgogi for dinner to celebrate Chuseok.  Bulgogi is a very popular Korean dish that is basically Korean barbecue.  Americans love it and the recipe is super easy so I thought I might as well see if I can screw it up.  I plan on taking some pictures as I go along and hopefully I can give a good report tomorrow.  We shall see.

Hyperventilating

I received a very interesting and exciting phone call yesterday.  Blake and I had just dropped Kinley off at a friend's house because we were going to the Zac Brown Band concert.  The concert was AMAZING, by the way.  So we're headed to the concert and my phone rings and it's Holt, our placing agency.  I immediately thought it was strange because right now we're just waiting for our social worker to put together our home study.  We haven't had much communication between us and Holt because it's just not time for that yet.  I answer the phone and it's the director of the Korea program.  She asks me where we are with our home study, and I tell her we just had our visit on Saturday and it would probably be 2-3 weeks before our social worker could complete it.  She goes on to tell me that they basically have an overflow of healthy baby boys that need a family and that if we could get her our home study in the next couple of weeks we could have a referral by the end of the year.  Pause.  Heart racing.  Shallow, fast breathing.  Blood pressure rising.  I actually said to her, "You're joking right now, right?"  Which, in hindsight, I'm a little embarrassed about.  I kind of acted like a school girl who was just asked to her first dance by the cutest guy at school.  But really, I don't think I'm the first crazy parent she's had to deal with.  Anyway, she gave me a few more details and told me to call my social worker to see if we could expedite our home study.  I left a slightly calmer message on my social worker's voice mail and she left a message basically saying she will do what she can but she can't promise anything.

So what does this all mean?  First of all, if we get our home study to Korea in time we could go through the standard program instead of the Waiting Child program which means our baby would be totally healthy.  Bonus!  Second, this cuts our wait time in half, at least.  Bonus!  Now, I would like to say that these things don't happen for Blake and I.  Good luck is not a frequent visitor to our family.  That's ok.  We do things our way.  I say all that to say...I'm CAUTIOUSLY optimistic.  I really feel like the situation in Korea is in one way or another going to speed up our wait time.

Ok.  I'll admit it.  I'm kind of on cloud nine, but I also know that this excitement could vanish in a heartbeat.  So I'm going to pray, because that's really all I can do.  Will you please pray for us?  I believe in God's timing.  I've lived it.  So, if this doesn't work out I'll be disappointed, but I know that it's happening for a reason.  But, in the meantime, let's all say a little prayer that our social worker gets our home study to Holt next week.

On Our Way

So we had our first (and only) home study visit today.  Our social worker had a cancellation so it was a little last minute but we were prepared paperwork-wise.  BUT since I'm super anal about my house being uber clean when we have guests (except for my mom, sorry mom) Blake and I went into Merry Maids mode.  We had all week to get the house perfect but with a sick kiddo it was tough.  Anyway, the house looked great and the visit went even better.  Super easy actually.  I was prepared for some intense questions about how I would deal with racism or a grieving baby, but nope.  Nothing more intense than questions about whether or not I've ever had problems with drugs or alcohol.  Our social worker has been doing this for 34 years so she got us through the questions pretty quickly.  And even though Kinley was up part of the night with a 103 degree fever and felt like poo, she was sweet and did great playing by herself while we visited with our social worker. 

Anyway, that's over!  Whew!  I'm so glad to have that part done and have us on our way.  Now our social worker will put together our home study, we will review it, and it will be sent to Holt for them to approve.  Then it will be sent to Korea!  Yay!  The only homework we have is to complete 10 hours of adoption parenting classes.  This can be done online through our placement agency, Holt.  I'm actually kind of excited about this part because adopting a 10 month old IS NOT EASY.  It's not like you miss all the sleepless nights and crying newborn and all is perfect.  You get a sweet child who sees you only as a complete stranger, who can not understand a word you say, and who grieves and cries out for their foster mother.  Attachment can take months.  Long story short, it ain't easy.  Anyway, back to the 10 hours of parenting classes.  I looked at some of the curriculum on Holt's website, and I found this.  I think most of it applies to all parents.

JOB DESCRIPTION



WANTED: Unique people with a variety of talents and interests for highly rewarding, low


paying work, with great long-term benefits!


Study or experience in the following fields required:


1. Yoga, Gymnastics or related field. This position requires extensive flexibility, and the


need to occasionally bend over backwards.


2. Code Breaking for deciphering odd behavior and languages. Some experience in sign


language helpful.


3. Nursing. Job demands the healing of many wounds. Knowledge of Band-Aid and


hugging use a must.


4. Cheerleading, in order to better root for your children.


5. Shepherding for guiding them in the right direction.


6. Housekeeping skills, for mopping up tears.


7. Gardening to help children blossom into their full potential after experiencing transplant


shock.


8. Mediation to promote conflict resolution.


9. Drill Sergeant, or other supervisory skills, to keep the troops in proper formation.


10. Choir leadership to sing praises and promote harmony.


11. Architecture in order to build bridges and firm foundations.


12. Mechanic, to assure things are all running smoothly under the hood.


13. Tour Guide, in order to show your child whole new worlds.


14. Pilot to help them soar.


15. Detective to track down important information, support groups and other necessary


services to best assist your child.


16. Comedy. This job is impossible to do without a good sense of humor and ability to laugh


at one’s self. Experience as member of comedy troupe will be beneficial.


17. Related talents recommended:


a. Ability to go without sleep for long stretches of time.


b. Ability to go without seeing immediate benefits of job.


c. Ability to try new foods, activities, groups of friends with an open mind.


d. Ability to run around during the day—Olympic decathlon candidates welcome.


e. Patience, patience, patience.
 
I also wanted to share something else.  I have joined a Korea family forum on Holt's website and it is full of amazing women (and a few dads) who share all their ups and downs and information that they gather pre and post adoption.  Here is a recent post by one of the moms who will be traveling to Korea in about a month to pick up her son.
 
So stay with me on this one... but there's this Sushi restaurant that we go to and the owner's Son is in college and he is transferring to a college in Southern California. (his name is Kris) Anyway, DD LOVES him (yes, she's 3 and he's like.. 20) and she's known as his 'number one fan' at the Sushi restaurant. Anyway, he invited us to come to his 'going away party' - which consisted of a bunch of college age kids going to this trampoline place where you just jump around. While I was there, I was able to meet Kris's friend Alex - who is Korean.


I'm thinking Alex is probably around the same age as they're all school friends. Anyway, he came from Korea 5 years ago. So I started asking him questions about gifts for the foster family, and I also asked him if I could hire him to teach me some Korea and write some stuff in hangul for me (for the name chops). I explained that I was a Korean adoptee, but that I can't speak Korean, and that I'll probably be going there in about a month. We only spoke for about 20 minutes, but I learned some pretty interesting stuff (at least it was to me).

For instance - when asking about our FM gifts (ours is 68) the first thing out of his mouth was 'old people LOVE vitamins. You know the large container of vitamins from Costco? They go CRAZY over that stuff!' (so to all those sending care packages - vitamins are still a top notch gift! ) and the best thing for me is that he gave me a suggestion for the two boys in our FF. (one is 18, the other is 21). He suggested T-shirts from Abercrombie that SAY Abercrombie on them. I told him that I considered doing that before, but looked it up at there was an Abercrombie in Korea. He said that anything Abercrombie out there is probably fake and made in China. So I'm excited about that option for a gift (I'm assuming I can find something on clearance at our mall).


The other thing that I thought was pretty interesting, is that when he found out that I was adopting, he said he would like to help me 'for free' because of what I was doing. He said that no one adopts in Korea, and if there's a kid who is adopted, they are made fun of in middle school and have a hard time. He said, 'it would be really hard for them... there would be a sadness in them they would carry forever.' That makes me really sad.


I told him about Charlie and how he would be considered 'special needs' and he said, 'Anyone with a disability.... they would... it would be really hard for them.' (this was in reference to growing up in Korea) Which again makes me sad.


Anyway, it was a really interesting and brief conversation, but I'm really looking forward to setting up my first 'Korean Lesson'.

Very interesting and sad, huh?  I can't believe the stigma that is attached to adoption in Korea.  I know we're going to have our own issues with our adopted child but he or she will never feel less than in our family.  I can't wait to have him or her home!

Soul Mates

Girl's Night!!!

'Nough said.

Wordless Wednesday

It's actually Thursday since it's 12:29 AM but who really cares when your daughter is this cute!

Fun Fact Friday

Facts about South Korean Culture

~The eldest in the house is considered the most wise, and therefore makes most of the important decisions.
~When you enter a South Korean home, the first thing you do is remove your shoes.
~When the first night of the new year comes everybody hides their shoes.  This is because there is a belief that a ghost will come down and try on everyone's shoes.  If the ghost finds a pair it likes it will take it.  It is thought that the owner of the shoes will then have bad luck for the whole year.
~Korean architecture is influenced by China.
~The martial art 'Tae kwon do' originated in Korea.

This is the South Korean flag

I received our Korea monthly update from our adoption agency, Holt, and they are now quoting the total wait time for boys at 6 months.  We chose not to request the gender of our baby so more than likely we will get a son.  Six months isn't bad...I just hope it holds up.