Thursday

Today is very humid; I awoke again at 5:30, got up and drank coffee, check email and did some laundry (you know how Asians can be). It is so humid the air is foggy. Everything smells damp here except for our room because of the air conditioner in our room. The residents have touched my heart in a way that I cannot explain; their needs are so simple and just a hug or holding their hand makes them so happy. The group of young men that we took out yesterday were rather low functioning. It was pouring rain so that we could only take them into physical therapy room (very crude and simple). We had crayons and markers, paper and coloring books, but they really did not seem to enjoy it. We tried playing catch (I throw like a girl) and tossing balloons but that did not work either. One of the residents we had was an albino. Can you imagine a Korean with white hair and very pale skin? His eyebrows were very bushy and white. I got pictures that I have posted. Mr. Bang - computer genious is supposed to get my computer set up today but we are going to Seoul with Molly to the Holt office so I am uncertain if that will happen.Mindy, Anita, Chandler and I are going to take a resident or two with us to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) hopefully this weekend. They love to get out and have very little opportunity to do so as they only get to go out when there are volunteers and they take turns as there are over 200 of them. Yesterday we got to see and play with some of the younger children most of who are in wheel chairs and very crippled. There are several who are just lying in beds drooling almost unaware of their surroundings, but they are clean and their hair is always fixed up. The house mothers are extrodinary with these guys.One of the residents that we had yesterday afternoon is autistic, but does not have a space issue (he does not freak out if touched or someone sits close). He sings in their international choir and travels around the world performing. He is tall, dark and very handsome. Oh it breaks my heart to know that if he had been adopted at an early age that his life would be so different. He was very into our activity and very precise in cutting out pictures and gluing them onto a paper. Another resident (I have a difficult time remembering their names) we had was an amazing artist. We alway provide a small snack and coke or some other soda for them during their activity which is a real treat for them. This guy ate a little and drank his cola but was so into his artwork that we did not want to eat much. He almost appeared as Down Syndrome but wow what an artist. He drew several flags from other countries and was very accurate. He wrote their country names below the flags but when he colored them in he was completely off. He also got very close to his work almost with his nose touching the paper so that I believed he needed glasses and is probably color blind. I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday with these residents. Another of the residents we had in the afternoon was much lower functioning. He came to us with a sore on his thumb and caused it to bleed. The closest place to take him was a girls dormitory where boys and men are not permitted. I had to take him to show the house mother his thumb and make motions of wanting it bandaged. It was so cute when we stopped at their doorway and all the girls giggled to see a boy (about 18 yrs) in their dorm. He was quite the character; he like to burp for attention. I finally told him to stop or that I would tickle him (of course he did not understand me). As he continued to burp, it would tickle his side and he laughed, but would push me away. After about three times he knew that I would tickle him and would flinch after burping. We all laughed about it including him (but he never did stop). They crave attention so much. A boy with Down syndrome that we had in the afternoon did not want to participate in our arts or playing ball. He just wanted to be hugged so I hugged him, there was nothing inappropriate on his part; Anita said that she was uncomfortable with how physical he was, but I felt like a mother for him. It was very emotional for me that just a hug could comfort another human being so much. I am getting nervous that I have been writing for quite awhile and not sent this, like the idleness of the computer will shut it down so I am going to send this and continue over in the office (we have computers in Memorial Hall where we stay but they are very old and slow. Any pictures that Itake must be uploaded on Molly's computer or Miss Ma's.