Off I go!

I almost couldn't sleep Saturday night due to anticipation. And what was I thinking booking this flight on a Sunday when I could have traveled on a Saturday, giving myself one more day of travel? Oh, and not to mention the Chinese New Year holiday that could have added a week to my stay. Oh well. Called the parents, took a shower, and got in bed.

I jumped out of bed when my alarm went off at 4:30am. Got ready, suited up for the icy, bitter cold of South Korea, grabbed my back pack, and headed out the door to embark on my first solo journey. I could have taken a bus to the airport that would habe only taken one hour, but unfortunately, it didn't begin running until 7am. So, off I went to the subway station to catch the 5:40am train. I rode from Jeongwang to Geumjeong, Geongwang to Guro, Guro to Bupyeong, Bupyeong to Gyeyang, and Gyeyang to Incheon International Airport, an approximately three hour trip.

Standing in the line for Thai Airlines took forever. In fact, once halfway through, I was told that I was standing in the wrong one. With nothing but a backpack, my check-in took seconds. Security has drastically increased in South Korea since I left for Japan to get my E2 visa. Now, shoes must be removed, liquids are rationed, and you are scanned after walking through the medal detector. Previous this was more relaxed. However, they were super-nice about it; not cold and unfriendly like TSA in the states. In fact, my facewash was 126ml, 26ml over the limit, so the security personnel allowed me to leave my belongings at their station while I went to the pharmacy to buy a 100ml container. When I returned, I was shocked to see the airport security personnel personally squeezing my tube of facewash into this bottle himself!! I thought that was really nice of him. Alright; take a train to my gate, get some coffee, and wait for my flight to be called.

Thai Airlines is fabulous, so I definitely recommend them. Nice uniforms, great service, and friendly attitudes. One aspect was quite unique. See, on Asiana Airlines, the flight attendents are Korean, and many of the passengers are Korean, so they only speak English to foreigners. However, on Thai Air, the attendants are Thai. I know; duh, right? This meant that the Koreans and other Asians had to speak English to them. In fact, one man spoke Chinese to one of the flight attendants, and he replied "I'm sorry sir, I only speak English." We had hot meals: one sweet and sour pork with rice and the other fried fish with vegetables and rice. The two snacks were almonds and peanuts.

I sat next to this nice Korean man who spoke incredible English. His name is Lee Young Joo and he is Chinese history professor at Gwangju Institute, South of Seoul. His wife and daughter live in Sincheon, so he travels to Seoul quite often to see his family. He lived in Europe for three years, other parts of Asia for four, and is often a visiting scolar at a university in Chicago. Next to him sat a Catholic priest, and around us sat ten of his students, all traveling to Bangkok for some sort of educational trip. According to him, Chiang Mai is a great place to travel and downtown Bangkok is about one hour from the airport. I can get there by bus. Good to know God truly is watching over and looking out for me.

Turns out the flight to Bangkok was making a pit-stop in Hong Kong. So, ok; I can say that I've been to China for 30min. That's even worse then saying that I've been to Japan for less than 24hrs! Everyone got off the plane, went through security (?), waiting a bit, and got back on the plane. For some, Hong Kong was their final destination. For others, Hong Kong was their departure city. And for those like me; well, we just sat in the same seats we arrived in. Same ticket and all. Never done that before.

Bangkok airport; not impressive. Very small and boring. It's so confusing seeing all those languages on one sign. Usually Thai, Japanese, Chinese, and English. I arrived at 5pm, and my flight to Chiang Mai that was supposed to leave by 8:30pm, was delyed by 1 1/2 hour. I'm just glad that I gave Nong, my homestay host, my flight number. I tried to figure how to make sitting and waiting for a plane for five hours enjoyable. There wasn't even a coffee shop I could sit in to study Korean. I mean, I could study from my seat, but it's nice to have a table.

While waiting I got the opportunity to chat with a nice Korean lady who married an American in the 70's and has been living in San Fransico ever since. She had on a black sun-dress with strappy sandals, floppy hat, and cream-colored shaw with tassles. Nice and whimsical, right? Turns out she is a sculptor. Her husband sat across from us in cargo shorts, tennis shoes, short-sleeve shirt, and a pair of dangly earrings with three gold hoops each. Californians...

Soon after I met a Brit who lives in DC and was traveling to Chiang Mai to visit a friend. While we were talking, six guys sat in front of us...all wearing shorts, tank tops, and flip flops! It's as if I stepped off of the airplane onto another planet. How on earth could it be so freezing, bitter cold that your skin hurts in South Korea, and be sunny beach weather in Thailand? Crazy.

There she was. Nong was standing there holding up a sign for me at the Chiang Mai airport, which also is not impressive. She was a lot smaller than I expected, and she continued to tell me how beautiful I look. About 45 minutes down winding country roads, passing rice fields and animal pastures along the way, was the cottage that Nong had prepared for me. We sad goodnight, and I proceeded to take a really cold shower after fiddling with bottons and switches in hopes that I wouldn't electricute myself, before going to bed.