Long Plane Rides & First Impressions

So Thursday morning wasn't so bad for me, I barely cried and I got to say goodbye again to my family brothers...and my big brother called me to say goodbye (I was mad because he didn't show up for dinner on Weds)! Anyway, I called Delta Airlines and they told me that I needed to check in 3 hours prior...which means I had to leave home at 10am for my 2pm flight! Mom and Angela (my little sis) took me to the airport and it was sad to see them ago, but by then I was fine and was actually looking forward to the trip! So how did I spend my three hours wait? I watched some TVB drama starring Steven Ma of course :)

The flight to Tokyo was a long thirteen hours flight but the cool part was that the plane I was on had two stories!! That was so cool but I didn't get to go check out the top deck because I think it was for first class only. Oh and gosh darnit, I was looking forward to having my own television screen behind the chair in front of me but noooooooo! Luckily I was quite close to the big screen that we all had to share. Unfortunately though, the earplugs only worked for one ear...I tried several of them, so it wasn't the best entertainment experience for me. I did manage to watch 3 movies: Date Night (which was HORRIBLE! I expected more from Steve Carroll and Tina Fey), Bounty Hunter (ohhh what can be better than Jennifer Aniston and Gerald Butler?), and Alice in Wonderland (I LOVE IT!).

Food wasn't bad and I ate most of everything. Here are the pics:

Dinner - Beef w/ Thai Coconut Sauce!

Breakfast - Omelet and Sausage

Oh and I was a good girl and I shared the dumplings that grandma made for me with my two neighbors. Oh and I realized that an aisle seat is way better than a window seat for long flights - I was complaining that I didn't get a window seat but not anymore!

Tokyo airport is so nice! The first thing I did once I got through security check was to check out the bathroom of course! I didn't have to go but I had to check it out so I made myself...TMI? Anyways, so I used all the functions: the wetting your butt, the bidet? and they had a function for playing flushing sound and I have no idea why I pressed it but OMG it was so loud and it was going on for at least a minute...I was so embarrassed. But overall, it was very cool!

Fascinating but I found that Amy's bathroom is a lot cooler - I will show pics later

I really wanted to get sushi at the airport but I couldn't find any sushi stalls! So guess what was the only purchase I made? Yep, a meal at McDonals...but I got the Happy Meal so I get a Mickey Ds Japanese toy.

I know I know - who eats Mickey Ds in a foreign place?  But seriously, I couldn't find sushi and I only had 1600 yen!

So the plane ride from Tokyo to Seoul is only 1hr and 45mins long so it wasn't too bad. When we got off the plane, I immediately felt Seoul's humidity! My plane landed at around 9pm and so I was surprised to see a lot of people at the airport. I was finally free from the airport after going through immigration, getting my suitcases, and going through customs. Amy Min (from DePauw) picked me up - she's the best!

We took the bus to her home which is in Anyang. During the bus ride, Amy taught me how to say Hello (formally) and "Nice to meet you" so I can greet her family properly. It is: "An-nyong hseyo! Man-na-so pan-gap-sum-ni-da!" Amy's dad picked us up at the bus station and then drove us home. When speaking to the elders, it's imperative to bow when greeting them!

Amy lives in an apartment building with her parents and older sister. She said that it's small and messy but it was quite the opposite! I love her apartment! It's very spacey and clean! I'll upload pics later if I can get permission. I'm going to sleep on the floor tonight - I'm very excited about that. I've watched a lot of Korean dramas and I've always wanted to sleep on the floor.

Goodnight!