Great Start to Trip

Not such a tough trip after all. We left Logan Airport in Boston pretty much on time at about 8:30 a.m. Full flight, lots of babies, all headed for San Francisco.

Landed in San Francisco on time after a six hour plus flight.

Headed over to the international departures building. A good walk and me with both pull suitcases checked in and now I'm carrying two bags loaded down with folders, mags, cameras, a computer, etc. What was I thinking?

Just a quick thought: I've been travelling for a good number of years now. Awhile back, while waiting for a flight, a guy came walking in front of me with a suitcase on wheels. What is this? I'd never be caught using one of those things. My how times change and now these suitcases on wheels are indispensable.

We left San Francisco right on time at about 1:30 p.m. pacific coast time, 4:30 p.m. east coast time. It was a 12 hour flight. Twelve hours in a plane with no stops to break the trip up. Luckily, we had a very smooth flight with comfortable seats and a few other amenities that made the trip tolerable. We arrived early at about 6:30 p.m. Seoul time, 4:30 a.m. east cost time. Let's not even talk about what day it is.

I had downloaded a couple of movies on to my ITouch. Not bad watching a movie on such a small screen.

Customs at Incheon International Airport was very pleasant as was retrieving our bags. They were actually waiting for us at baggage claims. We each grabbed one of those luggage wheelers (they were free, unlike in the U.S.) you see in our pictures taken outside the terminal and made our way out to the lobby where we were met by one of our students' cousins, Sungwoo Chung, who spoke perfect English, having studied in the U.S. at Cal Berkeley for a year.

It was just over an hour's ride into Seoul. I must say, Incheon International Airport was spotless, modern, and a pleasurable experience. Even the roads into Seoul were very clean, well lighted, and marked. It was only when you got into Seoul proper that it started to resemble other big cities with lots of people, cars, scooters, and trash. They seem to have a habit of parking their cars on the sidewalks. Yes, McDonalds, and Starbucks are here.

We are staying at the Grand Ambassador Hotel in Seoul on the south side of the Hangang River. We arrived about 7:30 p.m. Seoul time. The rooms are very nice and much like you would find in the U.S.

So we are poised for tomorrow.

I had trouble sleeping, so I got up and put this blog together.

As I said before I left when asked if I was nervous, it's like standing at the top of the road you must travel that you never travelled before. You won't know what's down that road unless you travel it. That said, the road was pretty clear up to this point.

Some thoughts: It cost $2 per minute to call home on your cell phone. So email it will be and by tomorrow I should have a Skype # set up.

There is no Internet in the air. So you have no access to gmail, google docs, or Blackbaud. So it is a good idea to turn any docs you need into Word docs so you can access them during a trip. There's no access to electric power on the plane. It is just like a car. You need to have a cigarette lighter plug to power up. They wanted $115 for one on the plane. So it wasn't too long before we were running our batteries down.

We flew a United Airlines, Boeing 777, across to Seoul from San Francisco. The whole interior of the plane is set up differently then those used domestically. There are four sections: First Class, Business Class, Economy Plus, and Economy. Those flying economy should get combat pay for doing so. Now it is not as bad as what some of our ancestors suffered during their trips across the Atlantic back in the 1800s, but 12 hours of sitting and trying to sleep in those tiny seats. At least our ancestors could stretch all the way out in their crowed bunks.

It was about 18 hours of flying. We chased the daylight all away across reaching sunset at about 3:00 a.m. NY time.

Nice couple next to me. Somewhat older than even me that were flying to Hanoi to join up for a tour of southeast Asia. He had an oxygen tank with him. The question, is he adventuresome or stupid?

Finally, we back home do not realize the influence we have had on the rest of the world. Seoul, altough Korean, is also very western. Whether it is a Filipino rock group singing Beatles songs in Seoul or us being able to drink a glass of wine that was bottled in Argentina, this big world is growing smaller with so many people mostly all wanting the same thing: a better life for themselves and their families.

Gamsa-hamnida (Thank you).

Good night to you and good morning to me.

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