2010 Vietnam Aid Expedition: Farwell Vietnam... Hello Korea Krazy

It is always sad to leave Vietnam... a place so very close to our hearts. But we know we will be back. So it is with this knowledge we bid farewell and head off to the airport.

Oh how I will miss random men sitting in little blue plastic chairs...

Traveling is always an adventure and I try to embrace the journey as much as the destination... however, that is a bit hard as I am always struck by "Korea Krazy".

Before I offend anyone, please know that “Korea Krazy” is a term used in my house that has nothing to do with Koreans or really the country of Korea itself other than logistically, that is the portal through which we travel home from Vietnam.

To give you some background on the term, let me set the scenario. For many of our trips to VN, adoption has been involved. The process of adoption is stressful enough (paperwork, social workers, US government bureaucracy, VN government requirements, Congressmen, etc.). Then add onto the fact that when you finally get approval to travel, you typically do not receive much notice before you head off on a plane for such a life changing event. So, the packing/preparation scurry begins and continues up unto departure.

Then, once arriving in country, it is a world wind of events including receiving your child, meeting with people at various government offices, filing of paperwork, obtaining of your child's passport, police reports and on and on. All the while, with a child that is not used to you, that doesn't sleep more than 45 minutes at a time and that you haven’t learned how to comfort yet. It goes without saying that you get little to no sleep while in country. Then, it is time to come home...

International flights leaving VN often are scheduled around MIDNIGHT. So, having endured all of the above, you begin your journey home at midnight…after a day of havoc trying to wrap everything up and obtain the coveted visa so that you can go home.

So, the plane lands in Korea the NEXT morning (after flying through the night) with a several hour layover in Korea before boarding the next plane that will take you home. It is during this layover… after already not sleeping for 24+ hours (who are we kidding... after not sleeping for the past 4 WEEKS)… is when you enter Korea Krazy…

Here is what Korea Krazy looks like (And we didn't even have a newborn screaming bloody murder the whole trip with us... so there was no excuse for our exhaustion):

And this...

Somewhere in the haze... a vision of beauty appears...

And it is homeward bound...

In our case... we had to fly through Korea AND Japan to get home... but our Korea Krazy had worn off by then and we were the life of the party by the time we made it to Japan... besides "Japan Krazy" just isn't as catchy of a phrase...