We visited 2 Holt centers- Ilsan and Seoul... the Illsan center is a facility for disabled children and adults. It was pioneered in 1961 to help families that could not care for their children due to their disabilities such as cerebral palsy, down syndrome and emotional and mental difficulties. The Holt's gave these children a chance for a normal life with the care and love of a family.
After visiting the Illsan center we went to the main Holt building in Seoul for orientation. It was here that the ground rules for camp were laid out for us. For lunch we ate westernized Korean food a sort of fusion. For dinner we ate at Bulgogi brothers... a very nice place where they served rice last. Then we had free time... Some of us went bowling this night and unfortunately for me I lost track of the time. Before I knew it I was tired and had no way back to the hotel. Everyone else had already left for the night after sightseeing or they wanted to stay out later. To make a long story short, the house mother YuJin had to help me get a cab at midnight or slightly before midnight which was a nightmare... It's quite difficult to get a cab until after midnight because their rates go up.
Luckily, she was able to call a cab for me but I was unaware that I would be taking the cab back to the hotel by myself. This was an interesting start to the trip... I felt horrible afterwards though because she was missing out on all the fun that others were participating in, they all went to a bar in hongdae.
I came here to learn Korean and the culture and become more familiar with words, but I was also here to seek out my birth parents.After visiting the Illsan center we went to the main Holt building in Seoul for orientation. It was here that the ground rules for camp were laid out for us. For lunch we ate westernized Korean food a sort of fusion. For dinner we ate at Bulgogi brothers... a very nice place where they served rice last. Then we had free time... Some of us went bowling this night and unfortunately for me I lost track of the time. Before I knew it I was tired and had no way back to the hotel. Everyone else had already left for the night after sightseeing or they wanted to stay out later. To make a long story short, the house mother YuJin had to help me get a cab at midnight or slightly before midnight which was a nightmare... It's quite difficult to get a cab until after midnight because their rates go up.
Luckily, she was able to call a cab for me but I was unaware that I would be taking the cab back to the hotel by myself. This was an interesting start to the trip... I felt horrible afterwards though because she was missing out on all the fun that others were participating in, they all went to a bar in hongdae.
I had to remind myself why I had come on this trip in the first place...the whole reason for being here is happy trail camp... I have to become more independent and understanding of the other participants and not be afraid to go back to the hotel if I am tired.
Pondering and reflecting...
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