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Seoul in Two Days
The Trip that Changes Your Life By Julie Laatsch-Kitchen
When my husband and I first decided to adopt our baby from Korea, we knew we would travel to Seoul to pick him up. We felt it was important to meet the foster mother firsthand to get a better understanding of the life our son had before we became his parents. We also wanted to tour the city of his birth so we could learn more about Korean culture and his heritage.
We received the call to travel to Korea on Thursday, August 24. I anticipated receiving the call around that date, so I had booked a flight out that weekend with the hopes I would be right. Thankfully, I was and we left Saturday morning at 9:30 from Providence, R.I. This obviously was short notice, but we prepared weeks before. We packed the diaper bag, readied the room and stocked up on formula and bottles. We even created an area in the kitchen for all of these items. (Preparing is an essential step; as we are now finding out, once the baby is home, there is not much time to do these things.)
We stayed at the Sejong Hotel in the heart of the shopping district of downtown Seoul. The hotel is "Americanized," but mainly Japanese and Korean business people stayed at this hotel. The staff was friendly and helpful and would not accept tips, because it was all included in the price of the hotel. Our room was $170 a night and was a standard room with a fridge, good working air-conditioning and a nice view of the Seoul Tower. We ate a few meals in the restaurant of the hotel, and they were all very good. They had both Korean and American food items to choose from, and their desserts and baked goods where fabulous. We felt very comfortable at this hotel. In the city itself, we never felt afraid and found it very easy to get around, especially if you like to walk.