It's life Jim... But no longer as we know it!

The most enjoyable part of the day was in the morning when we visited the Babies home at Eatern. The ladies care for the children so well, but that does not prevent them from thrusting a little tyke into your arms as you enter. They're so cute as they stay here till about 2 months when they are allocated to Foster Mothers. Now Yoo Rim is 8.5 months old, it is easy to understand how Mrs Lim and family have grown so attached.

We received the preflight report for Yoo Rim and all seems well. She is eating some solids as well as formula, so we have stocked a few bananas for the flight. That being said, we are expecting tomorrow to be a highly emotional affair when we depart as a family.

The rest of the day has been spent fitting in final sighseeing, catching the train to Yeouido Park followed by a river cruise to Jamsil past the 1988 Olympic Stadium. It seemed like a thousand school kids boarded the boat with us and , yes, school ids are the same wherever you go.

From here we headed back to the National Folk Museum to purchase two kids books about "When you visited Korea/Seoul". The book at Eastern is out of print and they could not say when it is available again, so we wanted these as replacements. They have both Korean and English texts for the story on the page and include all the tourist locations one is likely to visit. A good pair of books for returning to Korea.

Memory fails for what the area between Gyeonbokung and Chandeokung Palaces is called, but this is a great place to wander. The streets meander all about, but the houses are what is there to see. These were residences for the "ruling" elite and government officials, kinda like the Toorak of the middle ages. The Korean government has offered incentives for people to refurbish and restore these buildings. If it wasnt for the cars and bikes, one could easily imagine life back when.....

A short visit to Deoksnkung Palace completed our Palace hoping so we headed to Sinchon for a final look. Wow what a change. We walked around there Tuesday morning to see a pretty but sleepy shopping precinct. Move forwrd to Friday night and what a difference. People everywhere, lights, music and the place was jumping. We had dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant, our last supper in Seoul so we splashed out. All we could eat for two people with Soju (rice wine) for around $45.00. We have really enjoyed food in Korea and with meals for two around $10 -15 have not bothered to cater at home... better that way, no dishes.

This is it... Our last sleep alone as a couple. Tomorrow it all changes. We are looking forward to our departure with both fear and excited anticipation. We take on a child nearly 9 months well attached to her foster mother. The final meetiing will be sorrowful for her and our excitement is tempered by this knowledge.

We expect the first few weeks, if not months will involve many tears from Yo Rim as she adjusts to new parents, language, relations and friends. We so look forward to meeting friends and family at the airport, but Yoo Rim may need quiet time afterwards to settle in. So please allow us a while to settle back in. Please phine before coming around and don;t be offended should we ask you to leave it another day.

For thise at the airport Sunday, we will exit the arrivals gates and head to the right (your left). Those who saw the triumphant return of the Dennis's will know what I mean. Please herd all our families in that direction. For the Record, Bill's Folks are Dorothy and Barry. You can't miss him, he looks like a garden gnome. Liz's Folks are Ray and Shirley. Both sets of parents will welcome your introductions.

Look forward to returning and saying hell to you all.

Thank you for all your great comments although I'm not impressed with Glen reminding Liz of the boat..... I thought I got away with that one.