South Korea Trip, August 2

I'm gazing out of a giant window in a high rise over the beautiful district of Gangnam -- you know the place, Psy wrote his famous song "Gangnam Style" about it!  I am finally at my apartment here, a very comfortable studio apartment, and this moment seems like a wonderful reward for all of my efforts to get here.  Let me tell you, it was not easy!

Sunday started in a way typical for an upcoming trip.  I finished packing my bags, dropped my car off with a friend, and got a ride to the airport.  The first flight was pretty ordinary.  I went from Memphis to Detroit.  My second flight, from Detroit to Incheon, was over fourteen hours long, and that was not so easy.

Fourteen Hour Flight

Of course, on a fourteen hour flight, I'm not going to put myself into coach class!  I couldn't justify the cost of getting first class, but I got the closest to it that I could.  They put me in a recliner with a blanket and pillow, complimentary noise canceling headphones, and a huge selection of music and movies to play on my personal television!  Some of the food was even good too!

Even so, sitting on the plane became very difficult at around the four hour mark.  My body did not like sitting down for so long even with the nice seat.  My body yearned for a bed or even a place to walk around!  At this point of feeling the pain, I still had ten more hours to endure.  It was hard.

Landing in Incheon

Landing in Incheon was more intriguing than I expected.  I expected the landscape to look the same way it does at home when looking down from a plane.  I expected to descend into clouds that disappeared as we approached.  I expected to see the runway from a thousand feet in the air.  Nothing was like I expected.

The landscape -- the little of it that I could see through the dense clouds -- reminded me of the jagged ridges on aluminum foil that has been crumpled then laid flat.  The civilization infrastructure did look similar to home with the bridges, highways, and buildings; but the random scatterings of mountain ridges that tore like a knife through the planned infrastructure made the landscape look alien.  And beautiful!  All of these ridges are covered in vibrant green flora!

The clouds were different too, and I'm not sure if clouds are just different here or if it had something to do with the typhoon.  The texture was perfect cotton.  The colors were the usual white with blue shadows, but there was a tint of pink underneath.  The layers were numerous, and I imagined us peeling an onion as we descended.  The thickness of the lower clouds lowered the visibility to nothing.  The runway didn't appear until seconds before we touched down.

Entry Tasks

As much as I planned everything out, it was a huge struggle for me to get from the airplane to this apartment!  And I had the most fun with those challenges!

At the airport, most of the signs have an English translation, but not all of them do.  Scheduling a COVID test took me over an hour to figure out because I thought that I needed to find a tent in a parking lot to schedule the test.  No, I needed to go to the terminal next to the west parking lot exit hallway, not the actual parking lot.  The other tasks were not any easier!

Transit Card Angel!

I gave up on getting a transit card.  I understood that I needed to go to a convenience store outside of the airport, but there was not a convenience store outside of the airport.  After over an hour of searching, I just gave up and paid cash for transit.

But then on my last subway stop, as I'm walking outside, I notice a kiosk that has the word for "transit card".  Feeling like I have succeeded after all, I go up to it and attempt to purchase a transit card.  The machine tells me that I'm an idiot, and I stand there staring at it like I'm an idiot.

Soon afterwards, a young lady walked by me, continued for a while, suddenly stopped, turned around, and stood looking quizzically at me as I stared dumbly at the machine.  Passersby go around us but otherwise ignore us.  It's just the two of us and the machine.

After a few seconds, the lady walks up to me and asks in perfect English, "what are you trying to do?"  I respond that I want a transit card.  To that, she explains that the machine is only for refilling transit cards.  Convenience stores are where they are sold.  She points out that the one next to us sells transit cards.

I thank the lady for her direction.  Then she walks me into the convenience store and proceeds to order me a transit card.  She stands there patiently as they process the request.  Then I have my transit card!

I thank the lady for her help.  She asks me what I need to do next.  I take out my todo list and show her the last thing is for me to get home, but I assure her that I know it's just a short walk away.  She brings up a map on her phone and shows me that it is better for me to take the bus for one stop to get there.

I thank the angel for her help, and she dissolves back into the crowd having completed her good deeds.

I ignore her advice to take the bus and instead walk.  I arrive at my appartment dripping wet.

And now I finally go to sleep.