Gearing up, headin' out....

2 days, 8 hours, 11 minutes, 34 seconds.....

Yep, I'm leaving for Korea.  Alone.  For 11 days.  Minus travel time; although I do get back to Eugene 3 minutes before I leave Seoul.  Does that make it 10 days, 11 days, or 12 days?  Does it really matter?  NO!

This time I was able to set my own schedule, arrange my itinerary with Holt Korea myself so that everything applies to my position and duties.  Last time I was tagging along with the new adoptions folks from the office.  I still learned a lot, and had the opportunity to visit a foster family, a home for unwed mothers, and view a well-baby clinic with some awesomely cute babies waiting for families.  But this time the trip will be geared towards the adult adoptees and their families I serve.

I also made a point to plan a couple of tours through Holt Korea and on my own, and map out several locations that I want to visit.  I was so overwhelmed last time that when left on my own I was nearly paralyzed.  Friday I leave with an iPad loaded with subway maps, directions to each tour start location, general maps of Seoul, and an itinerary. 

I'm armed with the knowledge that if I get lost in Seoul I can always hail a taxi and have them take me back to my hotel.  I know that the locals will humor the short, fat, white American woman butchering their wonderful language, and will point me in the right direction.  I'm also armed with a collapsible cane which I fully intend to use to my benefit in airports or malls, as needed.

Lookout world, here I come... in 2 days, 7 hours, 53 minutes, 45 seconds....  not that I'm counting.