Flying High

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Countdown one hour till departure to Seoul :

Well the time has come I am sitting in LAX, a shithole of an airport if you ask me, and I am remembering my family and friends that I have so readily left behind. It’s weird I thought I would become more anxious about leaving but all I have felt is a precious energy to leave.

My first flight from Denver to L.A. was boring and crowded I sat next to a guy my age that seemed to want little to nothing to do with me. Despite him and in celebration of my departure I ordered a cocktail. I must have synced on some weird level with the flight attendant because when I looked at my receipt I realized they charged me for two mini liquor bottles. Although the attendant was very apologetic I calmed her worries by letting her know it was no problem and I was more than happy to accept the additional bottle of booze, only because I didn’t want to cause a ruckus mid air ;)

When I de-boarded the plane I felt like one of those rats in scientific maze I had no idea which way was up. After multiple explanations that I needed to find the Tom Bradley terminal I found myself actually leaving the LAX airport to walk several minutes to find the Tom Bradley terminal down the way. Lets just say there were a lot of Asians standing in line. Naturally I thought this must be where I am suppose to stand, with the Asians who don’t speak very good English, right? Luckily, I met a little man from China. Who told me about some ice sculpture he was going to see. After a few minutes of standing in line, which I was sure was due to the “incident” this morning; he talked to a friend on the phone and quickly realized we were in the wrong line. Thank God he intervened because there was no way I was willing to risk losing my place in that godforsaken line to find out where I was actually suppose to be.

Once I got to the correct terminal I looked for a place to eat. With lady luck on my side there happened to be a little “restaurant” right next to my gate. I say restaurant so hesitantly because it was an establishment about the size of my parent’s kitchen that had a bar and microwave. Every food item that came through this place was either wrapped in plastic wrap in the cooler or it was nuked in the microwave to give it that warm home cooked feel.

I met two guys that were headed to Melbourne and we talked about each of our intended travels. We related to each other because we all had at least a thirteen-hour flight ahead of us. Now this is were I think I made my fatal mistake. With the food looking oh so appetizing, coming from a microwave I passed and instead had another cocktail. Now the last time I ate something was about five o’clock. I headed to the gate boarded the plane and waited unknowing of the pain and misery that was about to ensue.

In-Flight Mayhem:

Korean Air is a no joke airlines. This is by far the nicest airline I have ever flown. They gave me a first row seat with extra leg space, a personal monitor to watch all the free movies, music, and television I could desire, and the food oh the food. I choose to go with the traditional Korean dinner called Bibimbop (I think that is how it is spelled), which is a rice dish with beef, mushrooms, and an assortment of legumes. All of this is tossed with chili pepper sauce and sesame seed oil and then served with seaweed soup and fruit, delicious. I took my medicine that I had planned to use to help me sleep. Now it is about 1:30 am and I am just now getting my first substantial meal of the evening. Korean Air being the awesome airlines that they are offers complimentary wine with your meal. After I finished my meal I noticed I was starting to feel tired almost dizzy. I ignored it thinking it was either the medicine or actual exhaustion setting in. With my eyes closed trying to focus on the relaxing flight to Korea I started to notice that the dizziness was worsening and all of a sudden the nausea set in. Again trying to remain calm and remind myself that I am just really tired I tried to mentally push past it. Once it dawned on me that no amount of mental strength was going to subside the nausea and dizziness I went to the restroom. Now the last thing I remember was seeing spots and losing my hearing followed by me lying on the floor of the tiny bathroom with the flight attendants pounding on the door in fear of having a dead passenger on board. Lets just say that this was not the start to the thirteen-hour flight I had hoped for. For the rest of the flight I was diligently checked up on and I was even offered the care of a doctor who was on board. Regardless, the duration of my flight was miserable, plagued with nausea and the overly attendant stewardesses waking me every half hour, I was overwhelmed with happiness when we finally landed in Seoul. Lesson learned never think that by some miracle of your experience at previous college parties that you can travel over half a days time and survive on liquid meals, not smart kids not smart at all.

After a quick flight from Seoul to Busan, my recruiter greeted me at the airport. He drove me north to Geochang and was gracious enough to let me sleep during the car ride back. Then came the greetings. I was exhausted at this point and ready to go to my home. But as custom in Korean I needed to meet my teachers and tour the school first. Everyone was so happy to meet me and kept telling me that I was “so beautiful”. So I have to say it was worth it to go to the school for a little confidence booster after what seemed to be one the worst traveling experiences of my life.

I was please to see my apartment although seemingly small it was more than enough space for me. I had a relatively large bed, a full size brand new fridge, rice cooker, microwave, two burners and a brand new front-loading washing machine. Over all I thought to myself this will be a good year. Kind co-workers, a great (free) apartment, plenty of amenities and awesome friends who were soon to be discovered, what more could you really ask for?