It\u2019s a travel day!\u00a0 Judy gets off to work and I start organizing the items I\u2019m going to need.\u00a0 We are heading to Seoul, South Korea for a few days.\u00a0 After packing, catching up on my blog writing, and preparing my class materials for the Sunday make-up day, I get bored and decide to pick up some items at Metro.\u00a0 Our diet coke supply is dwindling.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a one mile walk, and the weather is gorgeous.\u00a0 I get my groceries, load them in my \u201cCanton\u201d cart, and debate walking or riding back to the apartment.\u00a0 I choose the taxi, and as I\u2019m loading my cart into the trunk of the taxi, I break off one of the wheels.\u00a0 It was cheap, and I had already been eyeing some upgrade versions.\u00a0 I drag it into the apartment, unload everything, and make final preparations for our departure.<\/p>\n
Lillie has called and said the repairman won\u2019t be coming today after all, and he\u2019ll reschedule next week.\u00a0 Darn!\u00a0 I was hoping to get that problem solved quickly.\u00a0 Judy gets home around 4:15, hurriedly changes clothes, finalizes her luggage, and we\u2019re out the door by 4:40.\u00a0 We catch a taxi and dive into the heavy \u201choliday\u201d traffic.<\/p>\n
The \u201cMid-Autumn Moon Festival\u201d is very important.\u00a0 It\u2019s considered the 2nd<\/sup> most important holiday after the New Year.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been hearing talk about \u201cmoon cakes\u201d for weeks.\u00a0 Judy described the festive atmosphere at school with the students and the Chinese teachers.\u00a0 Almost every class came in with their own moon cakes for her to sample.\u00a0 BISS had a \u00bd day with students, followed by a really special meal, \u201cmoon cakes making\u201d demonstrations, and some less-than-exciting staff development.<\/p>\n We get to the airport fairly quickly (45 minutes), and start trying to figure out how to check in.\u00a0 It\u2019s set-up much different than the US airports I\u2019ve been in.\u00a0 The International ticketing area is almost empty.\u00a0 We are quick to check in and then head over to security.\u00a0 This is also slightly different than the US version.\u00a0 The \u201cwanding\u201d is very thorough.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t miss a spot.\u00a0 At least we don\u2019t have to take off our shoes, belts, etc.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be needing a massage anytime soon, either.<\/p>\n The gate area has many upscale shops, but not many people.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember being in an airport this empty in a long time.\u00a0 Maybe the domestic flight area is crowded.\u00a0 There was a lot of traffic coming in.\u00a0 Everything here is quiet and subdued.<\/p>\n I exchange some Chinese RMB for Korean Won (we\u2019re arriving late in Seoul).\u00a0 We load with no problem, and the flight takes off after a brief time holding on the runway.\u00a0 Actual airtime is about 1 \u00bd hours.\u00a0 During that time the attendants make a \u201cdrink run\u201d through the cabin, serve a full meal (yes, a meal), pick up the trash, make a drink \u201ctop-off\u201d run, and then buckle us in for landing.\u00a0 We touched down at 10:00 pm, (Seoul time), one hour ahead of Beijing.<\/p>\n Incheon Airport is huge and modern.\u00a0 We make our way to Customs, where the line isn\u2019t long, but time-consuming.\u00a0 We clear with no problems, find our suitcase, and are out the front door.\u00a0 We\u2019re approached by several unofficial taxi drivers (we\u2019ve been warned about them), and keep walking.\u00a0 We\u2019re on the Express Bus that departs 10 minutes later.\u00a0 We arrive at a bus stop on a street in Gangnam, a Seoul suburb, and hour later.\u00a0 The driver points us in the direction of our hotel.\u00a0 It\u2019s close, but not an easy walk at midnight.\u00a0 Not many people available that time of night to ask questions (assuming they could speak English).<\/p>\n We eventually find our way in.\u00a0 We\u2019re staying at the JW Marriott Seoul.\u00a0 It\u2019s really<\/span> nice!\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be hard to convince Judy to leave the hotel tomorrow.\u00a0 If there are enough pillows in the room (which there are), she might never wake up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s a travel day!\u00a0 Judy gets off to work and I start organizing the items I\u2019m going to need.\u00a0 We are heading to Seoul, South Korea for a few days.\u00a0 After packing, catching up on my blog writing, and preparing … Continue reading