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As we mentioned earlier (see Chapter 6), it was our understanding that Joe's foster parents were going to contact us Sunday morning to set up a meeting. When we hadn't heard from them by 9:00 AM we decided to strike out into the neighborhood around our hotel to find some breakfast. We ended up at Starbucks, where we enjoyed some real coffee (in contrast to the instant coffee that most Korean restaurants serve), bagels, and pastries. As we returned to our hotel, we found Mrs. Lee and her husband Mr. Chang waiting for us in the lobby! Not only was there apparently a misunderstanding about the plans for the day, but their daughter, the one who speaks English, was nowhere to be found. They beckoned us into their car, and without having the slightest idea what they had planned, we drove off into the city.
We merged on the highway and drove in the same northwest direction we had driven with Ryan's foster parents. Before too long, we found ourselves in Paju City [LINK] at the Paju National Training Center [LINK], the world-class soccer training facility run by the Korean Football Association [LINK]. (Interestingly, we were incredibly close to the area we had visited with Ryan's foster parents...you can even see Mt. Odu and the Unification Observatory behind the practice fields in the view from the roof [Image 111].) It turns out that Mr. Chang is the Manager of the General Affairs Department of the KFA, which places him right in the center of the Korean sports universe. Koreans love soccer, as do many people around the world, but with their hosting of the World Cup last year and the impressive performance of the Korean national team there, their love for soccer sometimes seems to approach obsession. Getting our own private guided tour of the training center was an honor and a real treat for us, and getting to spend some quality time with Joe was a real treat for his foster parents. If you look at the pictures, you can see how much they loved him even after three years of separation.
Accompanied by Mr. Chang and Mrs. Lee, we got to see the entire facility including the exhibits in the lobby [Image 109], the workout room [Image 110], the roof overlooking the six practice fields [Image 112, Image 113], and the cafeteria [Image 114, Image 115], and we even got to kick around a regulation soccer ball on the fields themselves [Image 116, Image 117]. When we were done Mr. Chang presented the ball to Joe as a gift, and it remains one of his most treasured possessions. What a magic time we had!
Oh, but that was only the beginning. After leaving the training center, we drove to a nearby town where Mr. Chang and Mrs. Lee treated us to yet another delicious Korean lunch. The restaurant was off the beaten path and obviously not meant for tourists, but rather a place where the locals eat in traditional style: shoes off and sitting cross-legged on the floor [Image 118]. Once again, we found the meal to be a treat for the eyes as well as for the tastebuds. The theme of the meal was soybeans, and the dishes included bean sprout salad, crunchy toasted soybeans, tofu with spicy beef, soybean soup, and a big steaming pan of bean curd [Image 119, Image 120], along with the ubiquitous white rice, seaweed salad, and of course, kimchi. It was delicious!
After lunch we climbed back into the car and wondered where we were going next...
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