More pictures

an outdoor market we shopped at- look at all of the people

Our group at the Korea House with some of the dancers

Our group in the Hotel lobby- myspace pic

Our group on our tour- look at the cool house behind us

Me, Aunt Kim and Nikki doing the jump thing...

The trip home....

Where is Lynlee? This is a picture of the of three of the dancers from the Korea house. We went there for our last meal in Korea...I ate rice :-)


Me giving Paul (Elder Kim) a gift from the team..

Uncle Jeffy, Me and Nikki in the Seoul airport, doesn't he look like the guy from Fargo?

Amy, Uncle Jeffy and me sleeping- we were so tired

Me sleeping in SF- 2 hour delay

I'm leaving!!

Today we are leaving, catching our flight and coming home! Yesterday we went to a Royal Palace.. it was pretty cool. Paul Kim gave us a tour, he did a spended job!! But today we come home, i dont want to leave, but i want to see everyone and eat american food!! This trip has changed my life, it was amazing! Thanks to everyone that helped me make this possible! Well have a good Friday, cause its saturday here! i am going to go do my "Last minute shopping" so yay! =]


Puppet show at the palace


Nikki and Skip by the replica of the sundial


Nikki and me in a Nikki sized door


Unlce Skip hitting his head on a Nikki sized door


Paul talking during the tour


Nikki and I were born in the year of the MONKEY- see our monkey?

Friday in Korea

Wow.. it is already our last full day! It is weird how this trip has gone by so fast! I am excited to get home, but i dont want to leave the kids.

Hola Erin class.. i am answering your questions now! Very glad to hear from you... So far i have met hundreds of kids, and the weather is cold, mostly dry but yesturday we had rain, and i have been mostly eating rice, or food from the American Resturants. There is a McDonalds RIGHT by my hotel, as well as a Burger King, Outback, KFC Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, that are less than a block away. Keep Thinking of questions, i am very glad to hear from you!! IT is 2:45pm there on Thursday, and it is 7:40am here, on Friday morning! I thought that was kinda cool.

well have a great time, i will talk to you later!

And more

As you can tell we have a fun group of people on our gift team; I have a lot of new friends, and we 'garsh we like to have fun'.... our tours name is 'Oh my garsh, Christmas Tour 2007'- thanks Debbie for the name-

pics from today

today was amazing...

Today was all about the kids.. it was a blast.. We first rode the "bullet train" to JengJue. We went to lunch at an authentic Korean restraunt it was ok.. i dont quite like the food there so all i ate was rice. But we also went to a "Mart" kinda like 7 eleven and got all the kids candies and misc. stuff like that, when we first got to the Baby home I was in shock of how many kids there where and what ages they ranged from. It was amazing, just getting to hold all the kids, and interact with them. The youngest there was there was 5&6 DAY old infants, to the oldest kid who was 5 years old. It was amzing to see how that the kids care for eachother and how that the older kids will pick up the younger when they were sad. Just knowing that they care about their youngs that much to try to comfort them.. Just seeing how that these kids live with hardly anything compaired to us, and whenever they get something, they feel spoiled and when we get something we take it for granted and dont relize what these kids would to do get half of what we do..

I cant believe that tomorrow is our last day here, and we are going on tours and going shopping... I will miss it here, but i will be even more excited to get home and see everyone!!

Off to play with the babies.....

Today we are going to the Jeongju baby home.. It is the primary care facility for the children in the central part of Korea. There are appx. 60 children there, ranging from infants to six years old. We are going to to bring differnt types of things for the children. Blanket, baby clothes, gummy worms and toys are just some of the items. I am tre exctited because the whole time we are there we are playing with Babies. Nikki (the other 14 yr old here) and I can not wait!!

Like I said on yesterday's post, it was amazing, it seriously changed my life. Going to The Holt Ilsan Center. That is the home for the disabled people. There were anywhere from infants to mid 70's. Just seeing there faces light up with joy when you gave them a chirtsmas present was amazing. We may say in the states that we have nothing, but you have the world compaired to these people. They have been at Ilsan there whole life, and they will proablly never be adopted. So yeah...
Well i have to go get ready!! Have a good day!!

And more pics

here are more pic, I'll add more later- I am loving it..
We are going to a baby home in the morning- you'll see lots of pics after that.. miss you all!

Pictures

Ok here are more pictures- the other pictures were of my friends I met here and Nikki and Rob, that are on the team with me. It's great...

OK- Paul helped us out with a plug thing

So how I can post some pics of our great trip. Today we went to Ilsan, it is a place for people from 0-50+ live that have a lot of disabilities. It was great we had a party for them, gave them gifts and had a good time. I have some pictures of today, that I am posting.
I am still not really liking the foos- but I did try Kimche for breakfast on the first day- did not love it!
The first day we were here we went to the Holt Korea office, learned about what they do here and held babies... we also rode the bullet train- it was fast- like 170 mph. Super cool, there was a mall right in teh train station. We also went to an unwed mothers home ran by Holt, it is cool that they help girls when they have noone else. There were ladies there from 16 to 35. We got a tour of where they live and also some of the things they make- they gave us a key chain they made.
Today we went shopping too, I got a few presents, and it was fun, Kim & Skip took us for dinner out Outback- YES theer is an Outback in Korea, though it was spicy compared to at home.
Leave me a post, and here are some pictures...

I am here... and my computer wont work =[

so.. we made it here, and it's pretty fun! There's alot of differnt things here, but it is alot like New York on steriods... yeah! Well i miss everyone!! HEHEHE... Well we are learning alot about how that HOLT got here i guess you could say... Well i am going to go eat now, so think about questions, and leave me one!! I will talk to you all later!

As we all think about sitting down to eat a big meal with our friends and family this Thanksgiving, I think about my trip coming up in 9 days.
I know I am going to see things that I cant even imagine right now, children waiting for mommies and daddies, some might be hungry, all will be scared I am sure. Here is a picture of a place we might visit. This is different than what my room looked like when I was a baby and growing up.

It is getting closer

It is getting closer and closer to the day we all get on the airplane- I am tre tre excited for the trip. I am getting closer to getting all my money collected- I think my mom said I have about $700 left. So if you still want to help out, email my mom, and she'll give you the information.
If you would like to support the children we are going to see- here are some of the itmes they still need; my mom and I can pick them up from you, if you'd like to donate them. Call us.
Here is the list:
Suggested gifts that you take with you to give the children and foster mothers caring for the children include:
Chewable children’s vitamins
fluoride tablets
new children’s clothing (size infant to 5T)
small bottles of hand lotions
small bottles of waterless hand cleaner
Gummie worms
So let me know if you'd like to help... maybe your church would like to, or a group you belong to? Just let me or my mom know.

I am traveling with Holt International- for the trip of my life (so far)

Here is a picture from last years trip at the Jeonju Baby home....

Here is a bit more about my trip; I am tre excited!

When it comes time to celebrate Christmas at Holt-Korea’s Ilsan Center, the residents are ready to party. All year long children of all ages make gifts and practice songs, and skits as they prepare to entertain their special guests—you. Most of all they enjoy the moments of personal attention you bring them—a special hug, the prayer just for them. At Ilsan, you can tour the grounds and cottages and learn more about the history of Holt’s work there. You’ll also host a party at the Jeonju Baby Home, visit the Salvation Army’s shelter for unwed mothers, and host a lunch for foster mothers—all while experiencing the culture, cuisine and special beauty of the Korean people.

Please post comments for me...

Thanks..

These are children in need in Korea Photo's courtesy of Holt International Children's Services
I wanted you to see some of the faces I will be seeing on my visit. Because of you we will help these children and put smiles on their faces.
Thanks to everyone that is making this trip possible for me!
Without you... I wouldn't be able to go. If you have any questions... Leave me a comment!

Thanks to these people for helping:
Aaron & Lisa Bayer & kids
Lynvel Burnett
Eric & Ellen Ornberg
Caroline & Marc Toy
Lyssa & Greg Burton & the boys
Steve & Dana Pauls
Alberto, Rosalee & Vern Saraz
Jay, Tamara & Zoe Skordahl
Dave & Debby Murdough
Charlie & Betty Doerr
Janis Ross
Phil & Bev McCully
Dustin & Patricia White & boys
Don & Donna Crist
Grandma Young
Kathy Lucier
Erin Gardner
Jim, Susie & Jeanette Freeman
Wayne & Diane Patton
Larry Haneke
Chad Fuller
Mom, Dad & Jon
Don & Judy Hampton
Glen & Linda Grell
Rustie & Dave Ackland
Bob & Debbie Francis
Mike & Monica Wilton
Craig Loper
Greg & Ladette Armstrong
John, Sheryl, Ben & Elizabeth Maklary
Sam & Marie Carpenter
Pren Bodie
Craig Nelson & Sally McAleer