Day 1 and 2 of 293

Day 1 and 2 of 293

In bed on the day we leave at 1:30 am
Slept for 4 hours
Woke at 5:30

Let me just say... That was a huge mistake!  4 hours sleep before a 15 hour flight in economy seats= No Good

Mom took me to the airport and took photos, but may need someone to help her upload to facebook, I suggest Kerri or Rauni!!!!

Arrived at airport at 7:30, Checked luggage.  Sidenote:  All of my suitcases of which I had three, were about 10 lbs lighter than I had thought!  I probably could have edited enough to get it down to 2 suitcases, if I had known!  Anyway, thanks Mom for paying for third suitcase and for not crying when I left.

Security check - no problem, they didn't find any of the prohibited items, JK!

Then we waited for nearly two hours!  Got to know Christine Ford and Daniel McDonald a little better!

Boarding the plane, piece of cake.  Korean Air personnel are very nice!

Now begins the 15 hour flight, 2 movies and 1 bad airplane meal later, I am ready to jump off the plane.  I check the progress of the flight and we only have 8+ hours to go!  Then begins my process of pretending to go to the bathroom every 45 minutes to and hour, just to do something.  A movie and a half and another bad airplane meal and snack later and I just want to sleep!  So I got about an hour of sleep, just enough to make you really want to sleep some more.  Check the progress of the flight, 4 hours.....Increase the number of times I get out of seat to go to bathroom.  Sorry rest of the plane, this toilet is mine!  JK  Try to learn Korean, nope too hard, check the progress of the flight, 3.5 hours... Listen to some music, not helping, check the progress of the flight, 3 hours...Start another movie, stop the movie, check the progress of the flight, 2.75 hours... Stare at the progress of the flight...2.74 hours...2.73 hours...2.72 hours...................................................................................................................................................................2 hours.  Start another movie, stop the movie, 1.5 hours left.  Watch the progress of the flight........................................................................go to the bathroom, hear a ding, Yay! they are telling us to put our seatbelts on and put our seats in an upright position.  Never heard a more beautiful sound.  Watch the progress of the plane.  Ears popping. YAY!  1 minute left, thank you Lord for planes that land, no matter how rough.  And were down, and we taxi forEVER.  Ding!  You can now retrieve your bags and exit the plane!

Now we follow the signs to Immigration or did we just follow the crowd, either way we got to immigration.  Thank you Daniel for noticing the foreign passport line.  Way shorter, oh no, I didn't fill out my arrival card.  No worries, they have them there.  Passport and arrival card checked, and we all made it through.

How many Texans does it take to find the right baggage claim in South Korea?
Answer-two Daniel and Christine

Claim baggage, go to customs, didn't fill out my declaration card, No worries, they have them there.  Customs done! we all made it through.

Hey look, there is currency exchange!  Daniel's took forever! I think he exchanged more money that us.

Exit the nearest doors, see people that will soon become old friends!  Hug people that I currently do not know.  Someone told me "Welcome" I said "Welcome" right back.  Oh, well, what are you gonna do!

Walk outside, Thank the Lord for fresh air!  Enjoy the chill!  Realize that everything is going to be just fine!  Kathrine liked my shoes, me too!!!

Load luggage on the FWCI bus, talk a little bit, Starts to feel like I am on the plane again.  Try to hide the sick feeling on my face.  An hour and a half later, eating at McDonalds.  So grateful it wasn't Korean food.  Ate two chicken nuggets, drank some Coca Cola, feeling better.

Fifteen minutes later....arrive at apartments, walk-in, start to look around.  Here "No, No, No, No!"  Forgot to take of my shoes, take off my shoes, Continue to look around.  Love the apartment.  Try to find wi-fi...find some spotty wi-fi.  Post my arrival, Take a wonderful bath, find pajamas, make bed, turn on the audio Bible, sleep for 10 hours!  Wake up feeling great!

Sorry no pictures, wifi, still not great, will post pics soon!

This is your Seoul Survivor signing off,

Meredith