Pictures of Lily

2011-11-12T17:18:00.001-06:00

Halloween, 2011

My new room

2011-09-15T21:03:00.000-05:00

Mom and Dad painted and redecorated my room. It's pink! Mommy did a nice tree decal on one wall, and Daddy put two new doors on, one for my closet even. And, I have a new bed frame, blinds, curtains and rug.

I like my room now.

First Position

2011-02-19T13:53:00.002-06:00

Lily takes ballet once a week...

New Dress

2011-01-15T14:46:00.000-06:00

going' to a Bday party today!

Wonder Lily and SuperMax!

2010-11-24T18:36:00.000-06:00

to the rescue!!

Lovely Lily

2010-11-11T23:08:00.001-06:00

Lily is almost 3

2010-10-16T19:44:00.000-05:00

Chusok, 2010

Lil' Butterfly

2010-08-01T20:22:00.000-05:00

Lily's got a new tattoo -- a butterfly motif native to the Alaskan territory. Thanks NaNa and Bubbie.

Hang on, I have to take this

2010-04-16T20:10:00.004-05:00

Already with the cellphone.

Party Dress

2009-05-05T21:28:00.005-05:00

Lily's favorite dress at the moment, a Zutano given by Liane Kosaki for Lily's first birthday. Thanks Liane!

Springtime at the Capitol

2009-05-03T21:25:00.000-05:00

Lily and Max dressed up and went down to the Capitol building for some sightseeing and photos. It was a beautiful day.

Sleeping Beauty

2009-04-29T21:57:00.001-05:00

Lily at rest by the pool at the Desert Inn Resort in Phoenix.

Bath Fun

2009-04-19T22:00:00.001-05:00

Lily loves bath time.

mmmm

2009-03-15T20:33:00.003-05:00

Nothing special about this photo. Dad just liked her hair

Seol-nal

2009-03-08T20:25:00.002-05:00

Lily and her brother Max attended the Korean Lunar New Year. Families Through Korean Adoption held the event at the Korean Presbyterian church in Madison, with much help from new Pastor Lee and the congregation. Food was delicious and there were games and songs. Lily made lots of new friends.

And danced. She loves to dance. And eat. And eat and dance...

2009-02-07T21:26:00.003-06:00

Just your basic glamor shot, soft focus and all.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T21:12:00.002-06:00

We had our friends and neighbors Norbert and Joan Lovata over for Christmas dinner. Here's Norb and Lily enjoying a smile together.

In red...

2008-12-20T21:05:00.004-06:00

... for the holidays, lunch at the Old Fashioned and to the State Capitol to view the state Christmas tree.

Going Mobile

2008-11-27T21:03:00.001-06:00

Lily's walkin' and talkin' these days. It's a busy time of year... gotta multi-task.

Lily's Tol

2008-11-05T21:32:00.005-06:00

We had a wonderful turnout for Lily's first birthday Tol party. The food was excellent, the space nicely decorated, and the people generous and happy. Thanks

In case you're wondering, Lily picked the measuring tape first, which symbolizes long life. Then, a handful of cash predicting wealth. We hope she can have both.

Thank you to all who came, to Jung Sook and Young Mi for cooking, to St. Paul's Lutheran church for the space, Jeff Miller for the photos, and to Lily for being a star.

Trick or Treat!

2008-10-31T21:30:00.000-05:00

Max and Lily went Trick or Treating for the first time on Halloween. Lily is a flower... makes sense, right? Max is Max from Where the Wild Things Are -- costume by NaNa Camille... it was awesome.

Buzz Buzz

2008-10-26T21:24:00.000-05:00

Lily went to the Zoo trick and treat as a bumble bee. She enjoyed herself riding the cougar at the Carousel.

You're invited!

2008-10-23T12:14:00.009-05:00

My first birthday party:

4-7PM, Nov 2
St Paul Lutheran Church
2126 North Sherman Ave
Madison, WI 53704

RSVP  by Oct 27.

There are will be kids and Korean food.  Drop in, drop out at your convenience.

Hope you can make it!

All together now

2008-09-11T22:17:00.001-05:00

Mom... check

Dad... check

Boy... check

Girl... check

Dog... check

Camera with a timer... check

First picture of the entire family...
priceless.

Home Sweet Home

2008-09-10T16:42:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it back to Madison. Our flight was on time, comfortable, and the kids managed to get some sleep. Customs and Immigration were no big deal, and we made it to Madison by 3 PM. We'll spend the next few days snoozing, unpacking, and opening mail while Lily explores here new digs.

It was an awesome trip, but we're glad to be home.

Insadong

2008-09-08T09:20:00.000-05:00

We did a lot of shopping today in Insadong district. This is an artsy kind of area. We shopped and shopped and the kids were just as patient as can be. The highlight of today was our dinner with Mr. Choi, at Sanchon restaurant which specializes in "temple food" -- the owner and chef was a Buddhist monk for eighteen years. The food was excellent, and there was entertainment! Traditional dancing and drumming. Max had a ball dancing along, and Lily was entrhalled by the whole thing, including the seasonal porridge.

The movie clips are of the final drumming performance.

Part 1

Part 2

216 Bows

2008-09-07T01:50:00.002-05:00

Mike and Mr. Choi spent September 6-7 at the Baekryunsa Buddhist temple outside of Seoul where Mike did the 108 bows of anguish... twice. Many of the Buddhist temples here are opening themselves for overnight stays, providing city dwellers a respite from the hectic pace of contemporary Korean life. There are four monks practicing at Baekryunsa, and they were gracious in teaching the etiquette and meanings of their rituals to us. It was an enlightening experience in more ways than one.

The dragonfly in the first photo is the Buddha. We saw Buddha many times in our hike in the mountains. The second photo we are assisting another Buddha in guarding the souls of the dead. The third is in the main temple where we participated in the ceremonies.

Gyeonbokgung

2008-09-05T07:49:00.000-05:00

Our main trip today was to Gyeongbokgung, the main palace of the Loseon Dyasty. It was built in 1395 by King Taejo, destroyed by the Japanese in 1592, then rebuilt in 1868 by King Gojong. It was really cool. Every hour they change the guard...

Getting to Know You

2008-09-04T22:45:00.000-05:00

We spent most of today hanging around and eating crackers... a good way of getting to know each other. That and tummy rides.

Lily Time

2008-09-03T02:49:00.004-05:00

In addition to meeting Max's foster parents, Miya reviewing her own file, we also took Lily into our care. Pretty jam-packed day when that's the third thing on the list of things to do, but the timing made sense and all went well... she's back in Professor Choi's apartment and we're napping and munching and learning how to be a foursome. Indeed, she's already been mourning her own loss, and our best will be to ease the transition. It will be a challenge, but Lily seems a pretty calm person, so hopefully she'll help us through it.

Here's a picture of Lily with her foster mother (left) and case worker.

Miya's return

2008-09-03T02:34:00.003-05:00

Miya got a chance today to review her file at SWS. It's an amazing coincidence that it was this very agency that handled her case. They were gracious to accommodate all questions and requests, yet there was no really new information. Yet, she was able to get the original photo of her at the reception home in 1968.

Max's return

2008-09-03T02:14:00.003-05:00

SWS arranged a meeting with Max's second foster family, with whom he stayed from age two to six months. We have become quite familiar with Mrs. Lee's face, as one of the referral pictures of her and Max graces the front of our refrigerator back home. Mr. and Mrs. Lee are wonderful people to whom we are grateful for caring for and lovig him during that critical time in his life. Mr. Lee took the day off work to meet him again, and they picked up where they left off, laughing and playing naturally together.

Rays of Light

2008-09-01T17:44:00.000-05:00

Woke up to this double rainbow this morning... we're flying back to Seoul today.

Jungman city

2008-09-01T17:40:00.001-05:00

We started today with rain. But we had a delicious breakfast at the Hyatt in Jungman, where we are staying until Tuesday. There are many tourists here from all over the world, including U.S. military stationed in Korea who are on furlough. We met a group from Chicago, one of whom plays in the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. We met some oceanographers from Penn State University who helped us learn about the shuttle schedules to the airport. So there is much help speaking English right now.

After a walk over the Cheonjeyeon Popko foot bridge and to the waterfalls, we had a delicious lunch of kal-bi (barbecued ribs). Max took a long nap, and Mike went to the beach, after the weather cleared. We are pampering ourselves now to regain our strength for next week.

Pictures are of Cheonjeyeon area. It is beautiful here.

Jeju Wandering

2008-08-31T06:38:00.000-05:00

Spent the day wandering Jeju in the escort of our driver, arranged by Professor Choi. We visited Jeju Village, a recreation of traditional Jeju Korean life. We bought some cool stuff there, too.

Then, after some cabbing around the island we settled in Jungmun, where we decided to check in to the Hyatt for some relaxing beach time. We're right on the southern most coast of Korea now, and there are guests from all over. It's just beautiful, and very reasonable too. So much so that we're extending our stay here one night... a much needed rest before we take Lily into our care.

to Jeju

2008-08-30T01:51:00.001-05:00

After a traditional Korean breakfast prepared by our hosts, we did a little shopping at a nearby department store. Stores have everything here, including a really cool play set for kids, so Max had fun diving in the balls and rolling down the slide. Miya bought some Hanbok and other cool things.

We then flew to Jeju island where we were escorted to the university guest house to stay. Professor Lim took us for sushi and we enjoyed a good night sleep for the second time.

This picture of from the Lee residence in Busan.

Go Giants!

2008-08-29T01:00:00.000-05:00

Our new favorite sport... Korean baseball

A Great Surprise

2008-08-28T14:06:00.000-05:00

We went to the local Social Welfare Society that originally handled Max's case. To our surprise, they had arranged for Max's original foster mother to meet us there. She cared for him for eight days in November 2005 before he was moved to Seoul. She was happy to see him doing so well, and we were grateful for her presence there. We made a cash donation and they gave us a bag of tourist information and other goodies.

Gone fishing

2008-08-28T12:00:00.001-05:00

Some pics of the things peddled at the Busan market.

Chiba

2008-08-28T11:15:00.001-05:00

We're in the company now of Mi-Jung, Mr. Lee and family as we enjoy this sprawling port city. Everything here smells like fish, which was expected since Busan is one of the busiest seaports in Asia. The markets are crowded with fresh catch and wares and we caught a few bargains there.

This mess of wires of all kinds is symbolic in many ways. Juxtaposed to the gleaming glass buildings and posh services so prevalent, the old street markets still thrive on narrow winding streets. The population density in the major cities forces everyone on top of each other -- no space is wasted, and you're likely to find a mechanic or a butcher shopped in a 30 square meter alcove at the end of an alley. The development here has been accelerated -- there is no time for fancy packaging. Only for pure pragmatism and a tenacious rush toward post-modernity. The ensuing culture clashes are interesting to witness.

Faster than a speeding bullet

2008-08-28T11:09:00.000-05:00

The train from Seoul to Busan reaches speeds of 300 km/h in its journey. Max being a train buff, was very excited, but fell asleep anyway.

Myeoung-Dong

2008-08-28T01:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight we went to one of the older neighborhood markets to look around. A million neon signs, plasma displays, imitation designer bags, upscale boutiques, Korean soup kitchens, and sushi bars crammed into a four block area. And about two million people. Lots for every sense to enjoy.

Contact

2008-08-28T00:27:00.001-05:00

We went to see Somang today at the Foster parents' home. They've taken very good care of her.

We also dropped off donations and letters to the Social Welfare Society, both for the children's hospital and the receiving center. If you were counting on us to carry a letter or package, know that it is delivered.

Tomorrow to Busan for a visit to Max's birthplace and a Korean pro baseball game. I will let you know how the stadium brats are.

Rise and Shine

2008-08-27T08:42:00.001-05:00

Max and I have been taking walks in the morning. We're still a bit lagged and not on Seoul time. Here are a couple of pics in front of Sogang University, where Professor Choi is faculty. I thought perhaps being the first to see the sun of a new day, the Koreans would be early risers. Actually, most things are closed until at least 9 AM, including coffee shops! Luckily, this morning we found a Starbucks open... ahhhhhh, globalization.

shop, shop, shop... eat, eat, eat

2008-08-27T01:58:00.001-05:00

We spent our first full day in Seoul shopping Markets here, malls there... capitalism is thriving here. Mrs. Lee,Young Sook showed us how to do it. There is some negotiating on prices, and no gratuity. Overall, things are fairly priced and though some things are expensive, they are not unreasonably so.

After a long hot day of spending, we were taken by Mr. Choi and Mrs. Lee to a traditional Korean barbecue. Our friend Dave from Madison came with. A friend of Mr. Choi owns a lodge in the mountains of Seoul. They had caught and killed a wild pig... I'm not sure if they hunted for it or if it was just unlucky enough to come on their property, but either way, we feasted on its flesh and drank Soju until late in the evening.

We were in the mountains, so there were lots of interesting flying things. This moth or butterfly was as big as my hand... we didn't eat it.

Morning Calm

2008-08-26T19:18:00.002-05:00

We arrived in Seoul yesterday here, today there. Figure that one out.
We're 14 hours ahead of CDT, so we are quite literally in the future. It feels like the future, too. Seoul is very big, very modern, and very densely inhabited. They call Korea the land of the morning calm. It's anything but; Neon signs blink throughout the night and a chorus of trucks engines and car horns began their work just before sunrise. Still, after some delicious food, we slept great.

We're staying in Professor Choi's apartment. It's a well-appointed and efficient flat on the 17th floor in downtown Seoul, within sight of Sogang University. We're humbled and immensely grateful for his putting us up.

The picture is the view from our bedroom.

Travel Day

2008-08-25T13:02:00.000-05:00

While offline we managed to make tracks from Madison to Chicago with little difficulty on Sunday. Had Mexican food at Maria's near the Rosemont... stay away.

Here's a quick pic of Max during the check-in at O'Hare. We're on our way.

We're Off!

2008-08-21T12:05:00.000-05:00

We got our travel call this morning and will be going to Korea soon!

Flight info:
Aug 25, 1PM CDT: Flying out of Chicago O'Hare on Korean Air #KE 038 to Seoul, Korea.
Aug 26, 4:50PM Korea Time: Arriving in Seoul
Sept 10, Noon (Korea time): Departing to Chicago on Korean Air #KE 037
Sept 10, 10:35 AM CDT: Arrive Chicago O'Hare

Lodging:
Aug 24, Sofitel Chicago O'Hare: 1-847-678-4488

Bruno (our dog):
Ruffin' It Resort: http://ruffinitresort.com/
1-608-310-4298

While in Korea: all over the place. How to contact us:

- Cell Phone: 010-2898-8639
- Skype: username "Pfliegaphonic"
- email: pfliegaphonic@gmail.com
- THIS HERE BLOG

More later... gotta pack!
-Mike

Movement

2008-08-08T17:41:00.002-05:00

Finally.

We recently received our I-600 approval which means Lily's Visa application is on its way to D.C. to the National Visa Center. In turn, the NVC cabled Korea (we can't agree whether that's the U.S. Embassy in Korea or the Korean embassy in the U.S.). Whatever the case, we should be traveling soon!

Lily

2008-05-19T21:39:00.002-05:00

Dear friends and family. This is Lily Anodyne Pflieger's new site. We waited until we settled on the name, and now it's official... sort of.

Lily because she's a beautiful flower.
Anodyne because she rocks.
Pflieger because she has no choice.

Here's where we will begin documenting this amazing process. For now, enjoy the photos, and come back often.

Love Mike and Miya