Thankful for Korean Quarantine!

   It sounds weird to be thankful for the inability to leave a room for 14 days, but as strange as it sounds, we are.  We are thankful that the Korean government has made this possible, that although we need to go to through quarantine, that it has been such a great experience, and that we allowed to enter the country in the first place.  Covid has delayed so much in our process, but it did not halt it completely, and we couldn't be more grateful!  

After we arrived into Seoul, we had a 4.5 hour process of going through various stations, all doing seemingly similar things.  Taking our passport, making sure we healthy.  Noting on the purpose of our stay (the letter translated to Korean from our adoption agency was very helpful!).  Double, triple, quadruple checking that we were, indeed, up for the quarantine process.   We had to download various apps on our phones to be able to report our health status each day.  Everyone was very kind, and very helpful in this process, and most were wearing hazmat-like suits.

Once we made it through 5 stations (one of which had a line that took 1.5 hours!), we were able to get our bags.  Ross noted that the man who did our immigration never stamped our passports.  Which was kind of a bummer!  But we made it, or so we thought!

Once we got our bags, we ended up at another station, where a kind man called our Korean contact (someone at our agency in Korea), and then we were taken to wait in another area, for the bus that would take us to our quarantine facility.  While waiting in that area (for about 30 minutes or so),  I was able to get permission to get a Korean sim card for my phone, and before too much longer, we were led out to a tour bus.  There was another couple traveling for their adoption, and it was nice to see a familiar face!  We all loaded the bus, and one of the younger Americans, who I believe was in Korea for school, said she heard we were headed to Gimpo.   Getting on this bus, you have no clue where you are headed.  It could be to a TINY facility with no ability to open a window.  Or it could be a nice facility with a larger room, and a balcony.  I had to wrap my head around getting a small room, because if I hoped for a nice facility, I didn't want to be let down.   So the words "Gimpo" were very exciting!  There were two known hotels in that location, and both were nice!  When we pulled up to the Marina Bay Hotel, we were all giddy with excitement!    

Once we got into the hotel, we were asked to fill out even more paperwork (very similar to all the paperwork at the airport), and they scanned our passports... again.  We had heard that some couples were having a hard time staying together, and that some hotels were splitting up couples.  But when we got up to the desk, the kind woman immediately said "one room?"   YES MA'AM!!

We got into our room, and we were ecstatic!  It was large, and there was a balcony!!!  We truly got the best case scenario being in this location, and if we have to be stuck somewhere, this is a great place to do it! And one step closer to Rowan!


This view!!



The living room! 



The bathroom/aka my Classroom!



Bathroom with a view!



Looking into the “living room!”



The sitting room (aka the chair we moved by the window!)






The kitchen!



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