Kamsahamnida! -- part one
On the second of March, I struck out on a grand adventure to Korea whose primary purpose was to go see Cory.
Since Korea is on another continent, heading out was quite a lengthy process. From Seattle it was an eleven and a half hour journey, made considerably more comfortable by the fact that it was on Korean Air instead of an American carrier. That is a nice airline -- they give you socks, an eyemask, and a toothbrush in addition to two very good meals. There is also free in-seat entertainment like on-demand music and movies. The only thing that really irked me about the flight is the fact that I had to fly to Seattle to get on the plane, which then proceeded to fly up the remaining west coast of North America, over Alaska and Anchorage, and along the Aleutians. Seriously, if I could have just flown out of Anchorage I would have spent eight fewer hours in the air that day (or rather, that would have been the case if I hadn't started traveling from Dallas that day due to emergency re-scheduling).
Towards the end of the journey we fly over Seoul. My first impression of the Korea peninsula is that is it flat, very very flat, with very perfectly rectangular buildings poking up in clusters, like some sort of three-dimensional bar graph. Then I realize it looks so eternally flat because there is so much smog that the ground is totally obscured more than a few miles away. Well, we land, and after taxiing for about six miles, deboarding, going through immigration and customs, I am spewed out into a lobby where I see CORY! There ensued much rejoicing and hugging and my luggage falling over and me not caring because I was so happy to be in his arms again.
We catch a cab for the hour-long drive to the Dragon Hill Lodge on the Yongson Garrison. I'm rather engaged in talking to Cory and taking in some of the sights around me, so I don't notice too often that the driver is terrible -- which is good, because I would have feared for my life I had been paying attention to the traffic around me. Apparently this is typical of Korean drivers. I make a mental note to walk everywhere we can.
We check into the Dragon Hill, and let me tell you, that place is nice. It's prettymuch a luxury hotel on an Army post, which seems incongruous but is awesome nonetheless. We had intended to get some food at one of the eight or so restaurants in the hotel, but I had been traveling for about 24 hours by this point and, despite my best intentions, I passed out and never made it to food.
After waking way before a decent hour and falling back asleep again -- sleeping in admirably in the process -- Cory and I take it easy for the first chunk of the day. Hey, we hadn't seen each other in a ridiculously long time, so we were entitled to laze about and simply enjoy each other's company. The second half of the day we ventured out to Itaewon where we were bombarded by people selling stuff. I resisted mightily, but we did encounter an exquisite double mink blanket that Cory snapped up for himself.
We ended up wandering into what is known as Restaurant Alley, which included -- I kid you not! -- a JACKIE CHAN Chinese place. We also encountered my favorite instance of Engrish:
Lounge, Bar, and... Poisoning?
Oh, if only I knew what they were trying to translate from. Priceless.
If you ever find yourself looking at this sign, TURN AROUND because right behind you is the best Indian/Pakistani restaurant in existence. It's called Moghul and my tastebuds danced with utter merriment during my dinner there. Oh, samosa, mutton curry, and palik, how I love thee so! Cory and I did an admirable job of stuffing ourselves there, then wandered back to the main road and did a bit more shopping before heading back to the hotel. Once there I really truly tried to watch one of Cory and I's favorite movies but jet lag plus food coma did me in and I fell asleep with my head on Cory's stomach even before Wallace could brainwash the bunnies ("Their tiny bunny brains are being saturated in my veg-free mind waves!").
Thus ends the first day.
Since Korea is on another continent, heading out was quite a lengthy process. From Seattle it was an eleven and a half hour journey, made considerably more comfortable by the fact that it was on Korean Air instead of an American carrier. That is a nice airline -- they give you socks, an eyemask, and a toothbrush in addition to two very good meals. There is also free in-seat entertainment like on-demand music and movies. The only thing that really irked me about the flight is the fact that I had to fly to Seattle to get on the plane, which then proceeded to fly up the remaining west coast of North America, over Alaska and Anchorage, and along the Aleutians. Seriously, if I could have just flown out of Anchorage I would have spent eight fewer hours in the air that day (or rather, that would have been the case if I hadn't started traveling from Dallas that day due to emergency re-scheduling).
Towards the end of the journey we fly over Seoul. My first impression of the Korea peninsula is that is it flat, very very flat, with very perfectly rectangular buildings poking up in clusters, like some sort of three-dimensional bar graph. Then I realize it looks so eternally flat because there is so much smog that the ground is totally obscured more than a few miles away. Well, we land, and after taxiing for about six miles, deboarding, going through immigration and customs, I am spewed out into a lobby where I see CORY! There ensued much rejoicing and hugging and my luggage falling over and me not caring because I was so happy to be in his arms again.
We catch a cab for the hour-long drive to the Dragon Hill Lodge on the Yongson Garrison. I'm rather engaged in talking to Cory and taking in some of the sights around me, so I don't notice too often that the driver is terrible -- which is good, because I would have feared for my life I had been paying attention to the traffic around me. Apparently this is typical of Korean drivers. I make a mental note to walk everywhere we can.
We check into the Dragon Hill, and let me tell you, that place is nice. It's prettymuch a luxury hotel on an Army post, which seems incongruous but is awesome nonetheless. We had intended to get some food at one of the eight or so restaurants in the hotel, but I had been traveling for about 24 hours by this point and, despite my best intentions, I passed out and never made it to food.
After waking way before a decent hour and falling back asleep again -- sleeping in admirably in the process -- Cory and I take it easy for the first chunk of the day. Hey, we hadn't seen each other in a ridiculously long time, so we were entitled to laze about and simply enjoy each other's company. The second half of the day we ventured out to Itaewon where we were bombarded by people selling stuff. I resisted mightily, but we did encounter an exquisite double mink blanket that Cory snapped up for himself.
We ended up wandering into what is known as Restaurant Alley, which included -- I kid you not! -- a JACKIE CHAN Chinese place. We also encountered my favorite instance of Engrish:
Lounge, Bar, and... Poisoning?
Oh, if only I knew what they were trying to translate from. Priceless.
If you ever find yourself looking at this sign, TURN AROUND because right behind you is the best Indian/Pakistani restaurant in existence. It's called Moghul and my tastebuds danced with utter merriment during my dinner there. Oh, samosa, mutton curry, and palik, how I love thee so! Cory and I did an admirable job of stuffing ourselves there, then wandered back to the main road and did a bit more shopping before heading back to the hotel. Once there I really truly tried to watch one of Cory and I's favorite movies but jet lag plus food coma did me in and I fell asleep with my head on Cory's stomach even before Wallace could brainwash the bunnies ("Their tiny bunny brains are being saturated in my veg-free mind waves!").
Thus ends the first day.