We didn’t put the preparation time into this trip like we did the first time around. We never did find our tour books on Korea – probably in some box somewhere. Part of not planning as much lies in the fact that we are relying on our memory of the first trip. Thankfully that has served us well so far.

Last night at the airport we breezed through customs, baggage claim, currency exchange, and buying a bus ticket and hopping on the bus. Upon arriving at our destination point, we did not wander looking for the SWS Guest House, last time ending up at the police station asking for assistance. This time we got off the bus, stopped at a convenience store that we remembered (right beside the Starbucks) and straight to the guest house.

Washcloths anyone? I almost packed a couple. When we arrived last time it was during the Lunar New Year so the housekeeping staff wasn’t around. We had to ask the night guard for towels. He got us a nice stack and … no washcloths. I wrote if off to no housekeeping. But this time around, still no washcloths. Should have listened to my gut.

Last night as we neared our bus stop it was fun looking around to see what we remembered. I’m anxious to the same on foot this morning. The sun is shining bright, and my stomach is ready to seek out a breakfast spot. As you enjoy your dinner and wind down for the night, our day begins. And we await the 1:30 appointment with our baby girl!

In preparation for Ethan’s adoption, we were Sleepless in Pennsylvania. That wasn’t as much the case this time, but after arriving in Seoul last night, and going to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m., we both got awake around 1:00 a.m. — and found ourselves sleepless in Korea.

After a while (around 3:00 a.m.), I got up to try an idea to upload our photos to the PC in our room (it didn’t work, but I’m still trying!), and I made a couple roster moves on my team in the Centre Grove Fantasy Football League. Then, I went back to bed, and eventually went back to sleep … till 7:00 this morning.

Also last time, Joleen wrote a post in Korea about The Wait. Back then, we had four full days in Korea before we met Ethan (we arrived during the Lunar New Year holiday when the offices were closed, so we took in as much of the culture as we could on those days).

This time, we’re going to meet our girl on our first full day here — a few hours from now, in fact!

We landed in Korea around 4:30 p.m. a few hours ago (Tuesday), which was 3:30 a.m. Eastern Time. We took an hour-and-45-minute bus ride into Seoul and just got settled into our room about a half hour ago (7:30 p.m.), 24 hours after leaving the house.

As we stepped off the plane, I said, “In a sense, it feels like we just got on the plane, but, on the other hand, it was a very long flight (14 hours)!

As long as the trip was, though, it wasn’t as long as the last trip, which took 30 hours, mainly because this time we drove 3.5 hours to Washington Dulles to take a non-stop flight to Korea, rather than making a couple stops (with layovers) last time.

Flying Korean Air was a very positive experience. When we checked in, Joleen and I were given a row of 3 seats, because the flight wasn’t full. That was nice, but it’ll much nicer if they do that on the way home when we have the baby!

We had individual “entertainment centers” on the backs of the seats in front of us, which included news, music, games, movies, etc. We watched three movies during the flight, which helped pass some of the time. Beyond that, service was very good.

Also, just before we left home, we learned that we have an appointment tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. (12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Eastern Time) at the SWS offices where the caseworker will take us to meet our baby girl in her foster home.

I’m hoping to find a way to post photos while we’re here. The PC in our room isn’t cooperating.

Thanks to some very helpful people at the MacNN forum (a *Mac* users forum), I was able to get the PC in our room to cooperate just in time to post our first photo with the baby. I would have brought my laptop (and for a while there I regretting my decision), but we wanted our carry-on items to be as light as possible for the return trip! Anyway, see the added photos from our trip below.

Thanks for all the prayers and comments. It’s bedtime here in Seoul!