



About twelve hours before our plane was scheduled to leave China, I received an urgent email and phone call from my travel agent. He told me that the airline had just informed him that our flight would departing about six hours earlier than originally scheduled and wanted to make sure we were aware. That meant instead of leaving later in the afternoon the next day, we would be leaving early in the morning. This was irksome because we had planned to say some additional goodbyes to friends that never ended up happening thanks to this last minute change. Bothered, I asked our travel agent if he’d get the airline to give us a hotel room because our layover would now be well over 30 hours. I didn’t hear anything back for about an hour, then a string of emails came in all at once. The first said “no,” The second said “maybe,” and the third said “yes.” I was a bit confused and wasn’t sure whether I was lucky enough to secure a hotel room or not. Finally, the travel agent said I would receive an email from Korean Airlines prior to departure confirming my hotel booking.

The next day came far too quickly, which was surprising, because typically when you’re excited for an event to happen the next day, time seems to slow way down. I found myself feeling like time was moving too quickly. Mix this with all the emotions racing through my mind, and last second preparations for departure, and time was really ticking away. We had arranged for a van to take us to the Changsha airport and it was to leave at 10am. So by 9:30 we had everything packed, and double-checked everything to make sure we weren’t leaving something important behind. I texted my friends Dove and Wouldbe to ask them if they’d be able to say goodbye one last time, and fortunately they were willing to skip class to visit (thanks guys!) After a few minutes of pictures and goodbyes we sent off on our one-hour long journey to the airport.

The drive was a bitter-sweet moment for me. I sat in the front seat of a van while Katie, Eva, and Woulbe sat in the back. Oh, I guess I should mention our friend wouldbe showed us one last act of kindness by coming with us to the airport to help with any translation we might need. I had originally thought wouldbe could sit in the front with the driver, but I somehow ended up there instead. Sitting in the front seat, I would look out and view the surrounding areas, seeing parts of the city I had spent the last four months in, and seeing areas I never got the chance to visit. Driving through the entire city, I realized just how little of Changsha I had actually seen. I was sad; maybe even melancholy, as I saw the city passed before me. So many memories were made in such a short amount of time, and in a way, I felt like I was leaving a part of myself in China. I think, perhaps, we all feel this way when we do something hard in our lives. Whether that’s a study abroad trip, military service, or an internship, etc., I think when we do something difficult in life that changes us, we leave a little bit of ourselves in that place. Change and growth should be something we seek out. Testing our limits, trying new things, these are all part of discovering who we are and what we’re capable of. For me, China will always be a reminder of the great adventures and trials we had as a family. China is a revealing place in its own way. It reveals the good and bad in everyone, and shows you where you’re strong and weak–Maybe that’s the nature of hard things in general though.

Once we arrived at the airport, we went up to the Korean air desk to check in and get our luggage. Immediately, I was reminded of the “rock star” status white foreigners are given in China when I was ushered to the front of the line despite only having an average economy ticket. In fact, through almost the entire process we were constantly taken to the front of the line for no other reason other than that we were white. Anyways, while I was at the kiosk checking in, I was told I did not have a hotel reservation despite the reassurances from my travel agent. I checked my emails, and sure enough, no confirmation email…grrr. Using my 老外laowai(foreigner) powers, I asked the Korean air lady if she could fix my problem. After two supervisors, several phone calls, and twenty minutes later, I managed to accomplish my goal. We were given a hotel for the night in Seoul! We didn’t know where, but we knew we had one. The people at the desk were very polite to us, and even apologized for making us wait. It was a kind goodbye from China. Katie and I gave Wouldbe one last hug, and some money to catch a ride back home, and we were off.



Seoul

After going through security, and baggage checks, and more security–oh and customs–we finally made it to the Seoul airport. Now if any of you have done long travel before, you know that airports can bring out the nasty in you. Katie and I were no exception. Not to others, but to each other. After landing we were moody, tired, and sick of Eva’s seemingly unending energy. So after a bit of bickering, we finally made it down through the airport and to another Korean service desk. To our great surprise, our hotel ended up being far more than just a “free room.” We were put in the Hyatt Hotel just off of the airport, but we were also given three full meal vouchers for our 32 hour lay over. Now, maybe China messed with my standards of what a good hotel room is, but man, our room was awesome (This picture above was the view of the airport from our window)! I thought Katie was going to cry when we got inside because it was so pleasant. Everything was modern, we had free wi-fi, very clean sheets, complimentary waters, and….a bath tub. After four months of only a rickety old shower head, a full size bath tub was the height of luxury.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised at the accommodations, but you have to understand, being stressed out from the flight, and expecting Chinese-style accommodations, we thought we might stay in the equivalent of a low-tier Motel 6. So for Korean Air to shuttle us to and from the airport to the hotel, provide us meals, and even carry our bags when we got there, it was like a dream come true!

Our Meals



After spending a solid hour and a half just drinking in our room and lounging as lazily and comfortably as possible, we finally decided to go have dinner. We went downstairs and past the casino on the main floor (seriously, a casino? It was marketed by Robert Deniro too) to eat our dinner. I handed the server our vouchers and hoped for the best. As she directed us to our seats, my stomach grew larger and larger! First, we passed a beautiful arrangement of wine bottles, and a giant christmas tree, then to our great delight, we passed the buffet table. “Joy of joys,” I thought to myself. It was like a movie where delicious food on a grand table keeps on extending, whetting the appetite of all around it. Teriyaki salmon, fresh cuts of salami, lightly seared tuna, shrimp pasta, mozzarella and tomato slices covered in balsamic vinegar…I was in heaven. As is this weren’t good enough, they asked if we’d like a child’s seat for Eva (we had been just sitting her on a chair next to us throughout our stay in China, so to have her locked down to where we could enjoy our meal was heavenly).

We ate our fill, went back upstairs, and crawled into bed with our high speed internet, but not before we each drew our own steamy hot bath. We could have shared, but neither Katie, nor I, wanted to share. It was our own moment of “serenity now.”Even now I can still feel the hot water on my skin, as I closed my eyes and sank beneath the water, holding my breath as long as possible and trying my best to soak in every second of bliss. After our baths, we perused the internet with high speed wi-fi, and fell slowly fell asleep.

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at 9am. Again, I was well-pleased with the selection. I about screamed like a little girl seeing a pony when I read a food card that read “bacon.” As I came back to the table where Katie and Eva were sitting, I was beaming with a grin from ear to ear. I had loaded my plate with sausage, bacon, fresh pan-fried mushrooms, an over-easy egg, and a fresh raisin-filled roll. Although I knew I could eat as much as I wanted, I took in every bite as slow as possible to savor every taste of modern, Western-style deliciousness that was that breakfast….then I got a second plate of bacon.

The Tour





At this point we had some time to kill. Our plane wouldn’t be heading out for Las Vegas until 9pm, so we had a solid 11 hours to do as we pleased. Fortunately, the hotel offered a free 5-hour tour of Seoul. Naturally, we jumped on that offer. The tour would begin at 1pm, so that gave us plenty of time to see some sights.

Our bus was about 20 minutes late, but we were just excited to go see a new country. Prior to getting on the bus, we had lunch and checked out of our hotel. We boarded a bus filled with about eight other people: two Germans, five Israelis, and a man from the Dominican Republic. Our tour guide spoke broken English, but it was good enough to understand almost everything she said to us. The drive into Seoul took about an hour, but viewing the surroundings while the tour guide talked about Korean history, made the time pass by quickly. One interesting tid-bit the tour guide told us is that Korea (she referred to her country as Korea because only recently has it been divided) has been invaded by its neighbors over 700 times throughout history. Wow, talk about a rough neighborhood. She finished by saying, “but as you can see, we’re still here.” I guess you’d have to develop a sense of humor after a history like that.

The tour took us to several famous temples and shrines in the area, but the most notable one was the Gyeongbokgung Palace. This palace is where the Korean king and queen used to live. walking around seeing this ancient history, that has interacted and paralleled both Chinese and Japanese history, was fascinating. She showed us all the various rooms and what they were used for. At one point she showed us the king’s quarters and stated that the king and queen lived separately, and only slept together once a month. Sheepishly I asked “so…..where did his lover’s live?” The Germans had a good hearty laugh at my question, while the tour guide hesitantly said that there was another room that no longer exists that used to house the king’s concubines.

As we continued on, the group spread out a bit more and Katie and I had an opportunity to talk one on one with the tour guide. She asked where we’d been, and where we’d be going, and when she found out we had come from China she jumped into a story.

“Yesterday,” she said, “I tried to give a tour, but the winds were blowing the wrong direction and we got all of China’s pollution. It was so dark and murky that we couldn’t see any of the monuments we’re seeing now. After an hour we gave up, and I told them they were getting a tour of China’s smog instead.” I started laughing, and was really grateful for the beautiful clear skies we had that day. She continued saying, “We (Korea) live in a bad neighborhood. We either get China’s awful smog when the wind blows one way, or we get Japan’s radiation from their ruined nuclear plants when the wind blows the opposite direction.”

“Maybe you can move to America,” I said to her. She laughed and said, “Yes, that’d be great. Koreans want to move Korea next to Hawaii. I think that’d be better.” It was funny, but sad at the same time. While Korea may not have any foreign wars going on with China or Japan right now, they’re certainly still being invaded by both in other ways. Poor Korea.



We went to several other places and saw many cool things–even if our time was short. We even visited a Buddhist temple and watched a ceremony that was going on inside, it was a great cultural experience. In the picture above you can see an old woman praying to some Korean statue. There were several that she prayed to before entering and leaving the temple. Our tour guide told us that it is respectful to bow before entering and leaving the temple to show respect to their ancestors, so before Katie and I entered we each bowed out of respect. There were monks praying inside, but they asked us not to take their picture so we didn’t. As the tour drew to a close, we had some traditional Korean food, and walked an obvious “tourist street.” I bought Katie some buddhist beans to wear as a bracelet before finally boarding the bus one last time.

From there we went straight back to the airport, back through customs, and security, and finally made it to our gate with two hours to spare. As I sat waiting for the plane, I even had the chance to test out my weak Chinese skills as I chatted up a China man. I didn’t know about half of what he was saying, but when I did, I felt like the man. I know he asked me if I was coming or going, and then asked what I was doing in China, apart from that I didn’t grasp much. Learning another language is cool, actually using it in real life is amazing! I hope I can continue to improve!

All in all South Korea was a fascinating blend of western and asian influence. It embodies both, but belongs to neither. I highly recommend anyone go and see it for themselves!