Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
178 Days of Waiting
One word I think sums up how I am feeling about the wait right now. "Ugh..." But often have to remind myself that their are people who have been waiting longer at our agency. So, I guess it could be worse. The weather has been unbelievable here in Vermont for the last two weeks. The spring type flowers don't know what to do because we went from being cold to hot in like a blink of an eye. And we haven't had much rain, but that will change next week. It is suppose to get colder and rain for several days, which won't help the already above flood stage lake. The bunnies are out in the backyard munching on the clover, which depending on Abbie's mood is okay that they are in her kingdom or not okay. We have this owl living in the area that has a 6 foot wing spand, which on occassion has scared us in the backyard at night. Abbie sees the owl, and looks at me like "No Way! I am not going out there. I will hold it all night if I have too.". The owl woke Dave and Abbie up the other night, which I somehow slept through it. And the next morning there was bunny fur in the backyard. So, Dave thought the owl got the bunny, which we were very angry about. Our poor bunny. That owl must have been really hungry because these bunnies are big and fat right now. Well, I think that the bunny got in a fight with the cat next door in our yard because Dave didn't hear the bunny make any noises when the owl supposedly took it. But turns out Dave saw two bunnies in the yard yesterday, so I think our bunnies are both safe. Thank god! Abbie was upset when she say the bunny fur in the backyard, but now she knows that both are okay and she can continue her love/hate relationship with them.
I will write more this weekend about our Korean Class No. 2 last week. Because of spring break with the school we did not have class this week. I hope everyone is doing well, and continues to enjoy this great weather.
I will write more this weekend about our Korean Class No. 2 last week. Because of spring break with the school we did not have class this week. I hope everyone is doing well, and continues to enjoy this great weather.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Korean Culture Class - Week One
Before I begin the discussion about our class, I would like to remind everyone that I am putting together a 100 good wish quilt for our baby. I have a blog started, however I haven't recieved one piece to date. Here is the site: http://100goodwishes4baby.blogspot.com/ Please read!!! It is not a virtual quilt. It is one that I will put together with my own two hands, and with the help of anyone else. So, please check it out. Thanks.
Dave and I signed up for a 5 week Korean Culture Class with the Green Mountain Korean Culture School for the month of April into May. The first class was great with a mix of Koreans, Korean adoptees and Adoptive Parents. We first introduced ourselves to everyone, and explained why we were taking the class. It was interesting to hear about everyones reason for taking the class, which ranged from adoptive parents saying they would like their children to learn more about the culture to one korean adoptee teenager saying that she wanted to not only learn about her culture, but meet more people that look like her. I thought that was such an honest answer, and very mature for a teenager to realize those feelings outloud. Tonight was the introduction to Korea and its culture, which was presented by a young korean college student from UVM. She did an excellent job giving the overview, and included her own person pictures from Korea. I knew some of the information she presented because I have been doing a lot of research and book reading. (Side Note: Currently reading the Discovery Channel Insight Guide for South Korea, and it is excellent. Probably helps that it has a ton of great pictures as well). I took some additional notes about things I thought I wanted to remember down the road (Side Note: If what I have written is not accurate, please let me know).
1. People in Korea eat seaweed soup on their birthdays.
2. Instead of focusing heavily on birthdays, everyone in Korea is considered a year older on the Korean New Year when they eat their soup. They joke about people eating the soup twice, and being two years older.
(If you haven't noticed, Korean's love soup and it is pretty much served at every meal along with rice and kimchi.)
3. April 5th is a holiday in Korea like our Arbor Day. After the Korean War, the landscape once filled with trees (much like the Green Mountain State), was completely bare. So, on April 5th everyone would go to the mountains to plant trees. It is no longer a holiday that the country gets off from work. The older Korean woman explained the holiday, and you could see the excitement in her face when she talked about going to plant these trees in the mountains every year.
4. May 5th is Kid's Day. It is a day off for elementary school children, and a gift is given.
5. May 8th is Parent's Day. Instead of a mother's and a father's day, the korean's celebrate the parent's as a whole. They children make paper carnations for the parents, who wear them that day. The children have a song that is sung to the parents.
6. May 15th is Teacher's Day. The children celebrate the teachers, who in their culture get much respect from the students. They also have a song for the teachers.
7. Chu-suk, which is like Thanksgiving here, is the fall harvest celebration.
8. The school year starts in March instead of September. The students go to school from March to mid-July. The get one month off, and go back to school from Mid-August to January. Graduation is in Febraury. The children use to have to go to school 5.5 days a week, however the rules were changed to 5 days a week. The children are very busy with afterschool programs until late in the evening (much like sports, piano lessons, etc.), however the parents are not driving the students. The students take buses or walk because everything is very close by.
9. Students begin to wear uniforms in middle school, and the dress code is very very very strict.
Next week, the class focuses on celebrations. They will focus on the Dol (1st birthday), which is a very important celebration.
Class three and four will focus on basic language I and II, and Class five is Bi Bim Bop. Yummy!!!
Dave and I signed up for a 5 week Korean Culture Class with the Green Mountain Korean Culture School for the month of April into May. The first class was great with a mix of Koreans, Korean adoptees and Adoptive Parents. We first introduced ourselves to everyone, and explained why we were taking the class. It was interesting to hear about everyones reason for taking the class, which ranged from adoptive parents saying they would like their children to learn more about the culture to one korean adoptee teenager saying that she wanted to not only learn about her culture, but meet more people that look like her. I thought that was such an honest answer, and very mature for a teenager to realize those feelings outloud. Tonight was the introduction to Korea and its culture, which was presented by a young korean college student from UVM. She did an excellent job giving the overview, and included her own person pictures from Korea. I knew some of the information she presented because I have been doing a lot of research and book reading. (Side Note: Currently reading the Discovery Channel Insight Guide for South Korea, and it is excellent. Probably helps that it has a ton of great pictures as well). I took some additional notes about things I thought I wanted to remember down the road (Side Note: If what I have written is not accurate, please let me know).
1. People in Korea eat seaweed soup on their birthdays.
2. Instead of focusing heavily on birthdays, everyone in Korea is considered a year older on the Korean New Year when they eat their soup. They joke about people eating the soup twice, and being two years older.
(If you haven't noticed, Korean's love soup and it is pretty much served at every meal along with rice and kimchi.)
3. April 5th is a holiday in Korea like our Arbor Day. After the Korean War, the landscape once filled with trees (much like the Green Mountain State), was completely bare. So, on April 5th everyone would go to the mountains to plant trees. It is no longer a holiday that the country gets off from work. The older Korean woman explained the holiday, and you could see the excitement in her face when she talked about going to plant these trees in the mountains every year.
4. May 5th is Kid's Day. It is a day off for elementary school children, and a gift is given.
5. May 8th is Parent's Day. Instead of a mother's and a father's day, the korean's celebrate the parent's as a whole. They children make paper carnations for the parents, who wear them that day. The children have a song that is sung to the parents.
6. May 15th is Teacher's Day. The children celebrate the teachers, who in their culture get much respect from the students. They also have a song for the teachers.
7. Chu-suk, which is like Thanksgiving here, is the fall harvest celebration.
8. The school year starts in March instead of September. The students go to school from March to mid-July. The get one month off, and go back to school from Mid-August to January. Graduation is in Febraury. The children use to have to go to school 5.5 days a week, however the rules were changed to 5 days a week. The children are very busy with afterschool programs until late in the evening (much like sports, piano lessons, etc.), however the parents are not driving the students. The students take buses or walk because everything is very close by.
9. Students begin to wear uniforms in middle school, and the dress code is very very very strict.
Next week, the class focuses on celebrations. They will focus on the Dol (1st birthday), which is a very important celebration.
Class three and four will focus on basic language I and II, and Class five is Bi Bim Bop. Yummy!!!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Tick Tock Tick Tock
Have you ever had to wait for something or someone that you were so excited to see and you look at the clock every two seconds? It often feels like time is turning backwards instead of forwards. Or like in the movies or last day of school before summer vacation, you watch the clock and hear the tick tock tick tock in anticipation. This pretty much sums up how things are going right now. You never know what it means to wait until you have to wait with no end in site. There currently is no light at the end of the tunnel for us. Yes, the agency does their best to estimate the wait time until a referral. Currently, WHFC is estimating 6 - 10 months, however they have only seen 4 or 5 referrals in the last three months. There have been referrals of waiting children, which is awesome for those families matched!! We currently have been waiting over 5 months, and three of those we didn't move. Have you ever had to stand in one place for three months? I am not sure about you, but man my legs are getting tired of standing in place.
I know people want to be supportive, but it is a thing that is hard to make someone feel better about. So, I really appreciate everyones support this past month.
Korean Lesson for Today:
The white background means light and purity and reflects the Korean's people traditional affinity for peace. The four black trigrams are for Geon (upper left corner with three solid bars denotes heaven), Gon (lower right corner with three evenly divided bars denotes earth), Gam (upper right corner with one solid between evenly divided bars denotes water), and Li (lower left corner with one evenly divided bars between solid bars denotes fire). The yin-yang represents the dual cosmic foces of yin (blue) and yang (red). It symbolizes universal harmony, in which the passive and the active, the feminine and the masculine, form the whole. The four trigrams of Geon, Gon, Gam, and Li, which surround the yin-yang circle, denote the process of yin and yang going through a series of changes and growth. There is actual a whole protocol about flying the flag, which is very similar to the US.
I know people want to be supportive, but it is a thing that is hard to make someone feel better about. So, I really appreciate everyones support this past month.
Korean Lesson for Today:
The white background means light and purity and reflects the Korean's people traditional affinity for peace. The four black trigrams are for Geon (upper left corner with three solid bars denotes heaven), Gon (lower right corner with three evenly divided bars denotes earth), Gam (upper right corner with one solid between evenly divided bars denotes water), and Li (lower left corner with one evenly divided bars between solid bars denotes fire). The yin-yang represents the dual cosmic foces of yin (blue) and yang (red). It symbolizes universal harmony, in which the passive and the active, the feminine and the masculine, form the whole. The four trigrams of Geon, Gon, Gam, and Li, which surround the yin-yang circle, denote the process of yin and yang going through a series of changes and growth. There is actual a whole protocol about flying the flag, which is very similar to the US.
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