The International Flight Story--Chicago to Seoul

Click "play" to hear me read the post.

6:45: I really shouldn't be awake so early (got up at 5-ish), but I my sleep schedule is still off. You'd think after that flight, I'd just be ready to sleep for 40 hours straight, but I keep waking up early, even so.

The flight was like nothing I've ever done before. The Huntsville to Chicago flight was 2 hours in a verrrry small plane, but my Dad went with me, so I had company. Then after a 3-hour wait, I got on the flight from Chicago to Seoul, which lasted 13 hours.

It was not wonderful.

But parts of it were quite nice. I flew with Asiana Airlines, who I believe are the top-ranked airline in Korea and the second-highest for all of Asia. I can see why--they really knew how to take care of passengers. The flight was painful because of the duration, but the accommodations were grand. The plane was huge, there was lots of legroom, each seat had a pillow and a blanket and a tv with 35 channels playing in-flight movies, one movie on each channel in an endless loop, like pay-per-view cable. I've only flown once before, Huntsville to New Orleans by way of Atlanta, so this was all very different for me.

About 1 hour in, we were served a meal that was very good. I chose bibimbap (비빔밥), which is rice with a lot of veggies mixed in. After the 4th hour, they asked us to close our windows, then they turned down the lights to simulate nighttime. At this point, most people tried to sleep. I tried to watch Les Miserables, but was bothered by the way they sang every single line instead of talking, then sliding into short musical numbers.

Soon, I began to really wish I had carried on a bottle of water, or four or five. I had read that long flights "dry you out," but I hadn't really understood what that meant. In practice, it meant accepting every glass of water, coffee, tea, or orange juice the stewardess offered, then rationing the cup until she came by again with more. I was in this dark Thirst Dimension where the plane was my own little Hunger Games arena and I was trying to survive on limited resources, not knowing if more would ever come.

Why no, I'm not inclined toward dramatics at all.

Actually, the stewardesses offered drinks very frequently, about every hour, but never again will I fly without my own vast supply of water. I will become a flight-camel.

Time passed slowly. At hour 6, my legs began to cramp up, then my arms.

Around about hour 8, I began to see visions.

Hour 9, I slept fitfully, curled over my dinner tray with a blanket pulled over my head and my headphones still on, connected to the 3rd showing of G.I. Two: Revenge of the Car Explosion.

At hour 10, I began to wonder if the process of labor--of actually giving birth to a genuine human baby--could possibly hurt as bad as flying across an ocean.

Hour 11, I cheered up, went for a walk to the back of the plane and brushed out my hair, feeling 100% better now that the windows were open again, the sun was shining in, and we were flying over Japan. We had another very filling in-flight meal and there was coffee to follow.

By the time the wheels actually touched the ground in Korea, I was energized and excited, ready to tackle customs and immigration and the baggage claim and the currency exchange and everything else.

At the Incheon airport, I handed my passport to about 5 different people for various confirmations. There were helpful signs in English everywhere, but I could read most of the signs in hangul, too.

At the baggage claim, I was super grateful that I had a black and white polka-dotted piece of luggage covered in stickers that my sisters had used to decorate, because it stood out and I was able to find it quickly among the 100 bags going around the carousel. Nobody else had a polka-dot suitcase covered in butterfly and turtle stickers!

I had almost brought another big suitcase with me, but as I was hauling my checked bag, carry-on bag, and personal bag around the airport, I was endlessly grateful that I hadn't brought it. Some other teachers were at the airport with 5+ pieces of luggage, wheeling them around on carts, but I could navigate faster without one.

Went to the currency exchange and got my dollars changed into won. I like won. They are not confusing to use. My first won-based purchase was a heart-shaped donut and a bottle of water from the airport's Dunkin Donuts. Not very exotic, I know, but it was still a special experience.

Next, I found the EPIK teaching booth and the Arrival Store station. The Arrival Store is a shop that handles purchases for foreigners coming to Korea, and I recommend them highly. American cellphones (and possibly all out-of-country cellphones?) don't work in Korea, something about the networks, so it's really hard to talk to your loved ones right away when you land. Some teachers have to wait a month or two to get a Korean cellphone plan, which I believe requires that you have a Korean friend co-sign with you. Too much hassle and too long of a wait.

The Arrival Store lets you buy used phones that will work immediately in Korea, and I had a nice little smartphone waiting for me when I got to the booth. Also, I picked up a big power transformer for my electronics, plus a new hairdryer, since Korean voltage is different and even if you use plug adapters for American hairdryers, they still won't work, so they say. When I get to my new apartment in Sejong, the Arrival Store will send the rest of the things I bought--pillows, blankets, coffeemaker, cleaning supplies, etc, so I don't have to go out and buy them myself, then cart them back to the apartment.

After getting my phone, I got on a bus to Daejin University, accompanied by 30 other EPIK teachers. It was a 2-hour drive, but it didn't seem too bad, because I had an aisle seat and there were plenty of sights to watch outside the bus windows. I could read all the signs; I just didn't know what all of them meant, because my reading ability is high, but my vocabulary is still very low.

At Daejin, 7:20 PM, we got to the female dorm. The cafeteria where we all eat is on the first floor, and my room is on the sixth. Dinner was supposed to be over at 7:40, so instead of getting cafeteria food, I ate some stuff I had packed, a power bar from my Dad, and a bagel from the welcome bag the EPIK staff gave me. I met my nice roommate, who showed me how to use my phone and how to hook my laptop up to the ethernet. I called my house, my Mom's phone, my Dad's phone (all unsuccessful), then my Grandma's house (successful!) to let my family know I was alive, then got to sleep early.

And thus went my flying-day.