Numbers Don't Lie

Our local agency has this little area on the side of their Korea News Page that tracks the basics: number of families home, number waiting to travel, number waiting for referrals. It's not always up to date, but I noticed today that they had a September 30th date on there.

You may recall from this time last year that adoptions came to a grinding halt, with families no longer traveling to bring home their children, and the rest of the families being left to wait and wonder. So as you consider the below information, keep this in mind: all but maybe one or two families who took placement in 2012 did so before mid-October of 2012. 

As of September 30, 2013 (numbers are for families working with Children's Home only; not Korea-wide):
Placements in 2013: 6 children in 6 families
Placements in 2012: 82 children in 82 families
Placements in 2011: 94 children in 94 families

In addition, there are currently 73 families that have accepted a referral and are waiting to travel. Luckily Tony and I are pretty far along in the process, but we still don't know when we'll be heading over there. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we'd be childless in October 2013 -- and now we are facing a possible childless Thanksgiving 2013. Ouch.

This information is not "new" to me, but it hit me in a new way today. All of those children still waiting. All of those foster families that didn't anticipate parenting this long. All of the time passing by. There is certainly no shortage of things to pray about.

Got an Email Today....

....and it made me want to throw my computer out of my office window (instead I loudly muttered in frustration -- my coworker is probably a bit scared of me right now): 

This is a communication to share with you recent proceedings in the Korea Program before they are posted on the Weekly Update on the online Korea Newspage. We did receive Court dates for a few families this morning, but we did not receive dates for you or three others of the families whose Court Submission date was August 30, 2013.  I cannot give any more identifying information about the families/children for whom the Court Dates were issued today other than to share that their Court Submission dates were also on August 30, 2013. I would expect that the rest of this August 30 group (you and three other families) will be received any time now.  Again, we do not have any indication that there is any issue with your case and there have been no supplemental requests from the judge regarding you.)

This is actually the second such email we have gotten since our case was submitted to the Family Court (over 4 weeks ago...but who's counting!). 

In truth, I prefer getting the above message over just twisting in the wind. I'm part of a couple of facebook groups for folks adopting (one is for families through our local agency, the other is for families with our Korean agency (meaning they are from around the world)). When I see that court dates are being issued I begin to check my email constantly, on edge and full of anxiety. So at least I can stop hoping for good news today.

Sorry I don't have better things to share...maybe next time!

Conference Time, Painting, Moves and Waiting

I'm officially in the midst of the busiest stretch of the year work-wise as we gear up for our Annual Conference. This is my 10th conference (and my 3rd as the sole conference manager), and as usual it's down right crazy -- compounded this year by the departure of one of my coworkers (her last day will be the conference). Two more weeks and I will be home free -- the event is October 10th. I can't wait!

On the home front I've been spending much of my spare time painting -- lots and lots of painting. I'm nearly done, just one more session! Then we will be ready to carpet. Pretty soon we will be able to get Oliver's bedroom all set up. Yeah!

While we are still waiting to learn our court date from the Family Court, we are feeling rather grateful right now to have our case completely through the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Just this week our local agency informed us of some changes taking place with the Ministry. Changes that will no doubt cause a pretty big slowdown for families that are waiting to receive their Emigration Permission. 

Here are the details (copied from the Agency's update, word for word):

Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare Move 

It has been confirmed that the Ministry is moving its offices from Seoul to the new city of Sejong about 2 hours outside of Seoul.  The latest report is that this move will take place in the month of November and possibly as early as October.  It is estimated that the move will have a delaying effect on the emigration permission issuance process, but that has not been addressed officially by either the Ministry or the Korean agencies with whom Children's Home works.  We will continue to monitor the situation and inform you accordingly. 

Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare Staffing Rotation 

Although not confirmed by the Ministry directly, it is being reported by  the Korean agencies that there will also be a rotation of staff in the Ministry at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.  Again, the specific timing around this is unknown. We will continue to monitor the situation and inform you accordingly.

Sejong is a planned city established to contain various government agencies. I'm not sure if the agency staff will live there or commute there -- I hear it is a 90 minute train ride. Either way, it's a big change for a large number of individuals and families. 

We are so glad to be through the Ministry, but my heart goes out to the families still waiting. Hopefully we will have good news about our case soon --- stay tuned!

Chuseok

Somehow we are already more than half way through September. It's been a busy few weeks since my last post, both at work (our big annual conference is just over 3 weeks away) and at home (spending lots of time in the lower level cleaning, prepping and painting). We are frantically trying to complete the work on our lower level as we need to install carpeting -- downstairs (new) and upstairs (replace current) before we travel to Korea. We are actually getting close, though it still feels far away!

We have not yet received a court date, though we have been assured that the court has not requested any additional information nor have they expressed any questions or concerns. I think Tony and I are both doing okay with this particular wait and just hope to learn more in the next two or three weeks.

What we do know: no additional court dates will be assigned this week as Korea celebrates Chuseok, meaning all offices are close from September 18-20 (and remember they are 14 hours ahead of us, so it's already the 18th there). 

Chuseok is basically the Korean Harvest Festival, a time to celebrate good harvest, visit ancestral hometowns and share in large feasts and parties. I think it is, in many ways, similar to our Thanksgiving. Lots of food. Lots of family. Often a bit of travel.

This year Chuseok is on September 19, meaning that the holiday begins on the 18th and ends on the 20th. Ancestors are an important part of the Korean culture, so many families travel to pay their respects, visit tombs and even preform ancestral worship rituals. There are also traditional foods and games that apparently play a big role in the celebration, though I don't know if that's just the internet talking or if families really do keep to tradition during this time.

With any luck the courts will be feeling festive and full of family love next week and we'll hear about a court date! Maybe not. We are trying to be patient and know you are too. 

I'll keep you posted!