Up at dark o’clock; I’ve given up wondering why planes leave at that particular time of day. The flight from Vancouver to Seoul was full and seemed to have an unusual number of small children – unusually not babies, but 5 and 6 year olds. They were also unusually whiny, and after the first little while, their parents seemed to have given up. I wasn’t looking forward to 11 hours of whining, but, somehow, the worst two offenders found each other. One seemed to only speak Korean, and the other seemed to only speak English, but shortly after contact they were engaged and a loud and lively game. They ran in the aisles, pointing their fingers at each other and making loud gun noises. Each time one was shot, he would flail about making gagging noises and dramatically fall to the ground. The two young men sitting next to me seemed to only speak Chinese, but they eventually were dragged into the game as well…all of this without any common language except for gun noises and gagging. I enjoyed being a spectator – it was better than a movie, and a lot better than whining. Even the cabin staff were tolerant – I think they also found it better than whining.
Air Canada managed a gastronomic feat – two completely different but identical meals. On this flight you seem to get two dinners and a sandwich – I’m not sure what happened to the “noodle service” that they serve on Asian flights. (Actually, the lack of noodle service should not be interpreted as a loss). Anyway, first meal: beef. Second meal: pork. Unable to tell the difference except one came with chocolate cake and one came with fruit salad. The alternative both times was chicken. I declined the sandwich for fear it was the same meal served with bread.
Arrived in Incheon and with the blessing of the travel gods, made it through customs and immigration in time to walk out of the airport and catch the bus with ten minutes to spare. The bus stops about two hours away from Seoul so passengers can deal with biological needs: smoking, food, smoking, bathroom, smoking. I was too tired to interpret the food choices (imagine a food court but all in a foreign language) so I just bought some lemonade and got back on the bus. The lady across the aisle decided to share her supper with me. She had a little bowl of boiled baby potatoes served with toothpicks, which were delicious. Then she shared some little cakes with walnuts and red bean inside. I’m not really a fan of these…the red bean is sweet and had a texture like hummus, but I didn’t t to offend her when she was so kind, so I ate them. They might grow on me.
Arrived in Gwangju and Youngik was at the bus station to meet me. I am staying at the same hotel where I have stayed for the past 10 years. The price has gone up from $30 per night to $40, which is a great deal. It’s super clean and very convenient, and has a red light over the bed in case I’m feeling romantic.
You would think after all of the travel that I do that I would know how things work in hotels, but somehow last night I got the TV to turn on and couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. There is a console by the bed that controls all of the lights and the TV, but no matter how many buttons I pushed, all I could do was make the lights go on and off. That’s how I discovered the red light over the bed. Finally I gave up and removed the key from the electrical thingie near the door, and turned off all of the electricity to the room.