3. Getting to Seoul

When I came out to the greeting gate, there were staff asking me I was going by bus or a personal vehicle. When I said I was going by bus, they gave me a leaflet that outlined my journey and asked me to sit down in an area that was taped around so that someone could guide all of the group sitting down to the airport buses.

I originally bought a bus ticket to Gangnam-gu district because I thought the drop off point was the closest to my residence. But I was made aware that we each had to go to take the bus to the district of our residence so I changed my bus ticket to be dropped off at Seocho-gu. I knew this because they asked me to fill out my address and my district and if someone was going to collect me in a private vehicle. I later learned that this information was given to the local district before I arrived there.

The buses weren’t frequent so I waited around 2 hours for my bus to arrive compared to the typical 5–20 minute waiting time.

4. The local public health centre

Once I arrived at the local public health centre in Seocho-gu I was greeted with people (who I assumed to be volunteers). Again, they were all wearing protective gear of masks, gloves and plastic overalls. It made me feel so grateful that there were people who were working after typical work hours. They helped me with my luggage and directed me where to go — to fill out more forms, and then asked me to wait to get tested for COVID-19.

The test took minutes, where the doctors and nurses in hazmat suits shoved a cotton swab down my throat, and another up my nose. I was really surprised that it was so quick and that they would send me the results within 48 hours.

Whilst I was waiting, there was free wifi available for people like me so that I could contact my family.

5. Going home

I was worried that I would have to take a bus or taxi and how that would affect my ability to social distance myself as I remembered listening to an interview on the BBC radio with a woman who was coming back home from abroad and the worry she felt because she had no other way than take the public transport to get back home in the UK.

My anxiety about this was soothed when one of the staff members told me that I would be driven home because I had indicated that no one could collect me. They guided me towards an ambulance and drove me home in it! I’d never been in an ambulance before so it was quite exciting but I also felt thankful that they took every measure to help me reduce my social contact as much as possible.

I got a small package from before I went home. When I got home, I opened it up and saw that it had hand sanitizers and masks.