Well, there went the longest flight I've taken since I was a small kid. My plan to sleep during the flight didn't exactly pan out but the plane got upgraded to one with laptop plugs, so I kept myself entertained, at least. Plus, the guy sitting next to me was a Chinese student who was visiting Vancouver for an engineers' symposium at UBC, so we had quite a lot to discuss (including why Wreck Beach is so famous).
The Shanghai airport's customs system is kind of wacky. It was actually posible to leave the airport during the flight connection. It was 33 degrees Celsius plus humidity. As soon as I stepped out, I either started sweating or everything attached me started to become wet -- one of the two. In any case, I decided that 30 seconds was enough.
Above: Shanghai's Budong Airport's terminal is large and spacious, but doesn't seem to have air conditioning, which made for a stuffy wait. That didn't stop me from conquering the place in the name of the Anaheim Ducks.Another weird part about that is between being let out and going back in (I needed to clear customs twice -- once for entering the arrivals terminal and once again for getting back into the secured area as a passenger for the second leg of the journey) -- they had me under medical quarantine for a while. Apparently all the people on board our plane with connecting flights had to get our temperatures taken. They kept me longer than the others, but apparently it was due to a thermometer malfunction; it gave me a temperature reading that was so low that I should be dead by now. But it got resolved easily.
The second leg of the journey from Shanghai to Seoul was less interesting. The guy next to me was a Korean who didn't speak much English at all but his son is learning it in school and practiced some phrases with me. In return, the Korean dad helped me with nailing down the pronunciations of certain key Korean phrases like "kamsa hamnida" ("thank you") and "annyeong haseo" ("hello"). Apparently I wasn't that far off, despite learning only through text; the only problems I had involved stressing the correct syllables.
However, the most interesting part of that flight came during the landing process. You know the NASA world map of the earth's lights at night? Notice how North Korea is all dark and South Korea is all bright. Well, since Incheon and Seoul are about an hour's drive away from the border with North Korea, I got to see the difference with my own two eyes that night -- that NASA pic shows the truth. Yikes.
The customs in South Korea is, as someone I know put it so elegantly, a complete joke for a country that's still technically at war (with North Korea, obviously). There were no questions asked, and apparently that is close to the norm. The only difference is that my passport visa explains my purpose in South Korea, while other people need to be asked about that.
I spent an overnighter at Incheon International Airport (which serves Seoul). It wasn't comfortable but not uncomfortable either. It was eerily quiet. And over here, airport security must march down the hallways back and forth, in pairs always next to each other. And their dress is similar to a soldier's (there might be a reason for that), so it felt like a neverending army march while you try to sleep.
Above: Late night at Incheon International Airport. They actually turn off a lot of lights as midnight approaches, and then like this around 3:30am. And then the lights start coming back on again.
Finally checked into the hotel this morning. It was freaking sweltering today... I knew this ahead of time, but I arrived in the middle of a little heat wave. I tried to nap but anything more than one hour proved futile, so I took the subway ride out to Seoul. Coincidentally, when my card made a weird hiccup and I asked the only white person around if they knew what the error meant (since nobody else spoke English), he happened to ask me where I'm from -- and he's from Richmond too! Small world.
Seoul traffic is insane. I thought Richmond was bad, but Richmond drivers are now angelic by comparison. Here, it doesn't matter whether the traffic light is red or green -- if the drivers don't see anyone crossing, they'll just shoot ahead. And this doesn't happen with only one driver, but almost always several at a time. In other words, multiple red light dashers in a row.
There were also more close calls in today's journey than I've seen all year in Richmond. It's amazing that so many of them don't result in accidents, but I happened to see two incidents that DID turn into accidents -- and both were hit-and-run. One of them took off while the other is left staring at the damage and trying to get witnesses (and none of the other drivers were willing to be one). It makes me feel really self-conscious about even going out on the streets. I got off at Yongsan Station (where I met the fellow Richmonder) and made it to Samgakji Station somehow, someway.
It was during that short stretch that I saw all the craziness. That was enough for me... I decided to get the heck out of dodge and get back to the hotel in Incheon, where I showered off all the sweat that came from the humidity (or maybe I was washing off the humidity itself, I don't know) and relaxed in some air conditioning for a bit while sorting photos.
(If you feel like making an offensive "Asians can't drive" joke at this point, I don't blame you. I would.)
It's been pretty humid and hot today... I landed right in a heat wave and lingering summer storm (typical Asian weather pattern in summer). Temps are in the 30s Celsius right now and it's almost 9pm. It's supposed to drop to the low 20s Celsius by the end of the week.
And tonight for dinner, I forgot how much the South Korea won is and how much you can get for it. I did something stupid and ordered 32,000 won of food, which turned out to be enough to feed a whole family. I guess that's a lesson learned -- if it's slightly less than 10,000 won, then it's more than enough. I'm so used to the small servings at home, while here they give you HUGE servings! Lesson learned... next time, spend as little as possible on food because there's a chance that they'll give you more than enough.
The bad thing about everything in terms of keeping touch with the outside world is that my cellphone doesn't work here because it's a GSM phone on prepaid, and the hotel doesn't have wifi (they only offer internet on a shared computer in the lobby). I'm writing this post at the arrivals level of the Incheon airport, where I spent the night about 24 hours ago, because they have free wifi with a very strong signal and also a power outlet nearby. The hotel's only two subway stations away from the airport (one if you don't count the airport's cargo terminal).
I'll be off to the teacher orientation tomorrow. There were some coming in today (for the non-Seoul EPIK teachers) and I had a nice chat with someone who came in from Los Angeles before I left for the hotel. Seems that for their group, they were overloaded to the point where people can't bring more than one suitcase into the dorm rooms; all other luggage was to be locked up. I didn't hear anything about this for my EPIK-Seoul orientation, but we're guaranteed to have a smaller group (since there are only 100 of us, as opposed to the huge biker gang-like group for today's group).
The second leg of the journey from Shanghai to Seoul was less interesting. The guy next to me was a Korean who didn't speak much English at all but his son is learning it in school and practiced some phrases with me. In return, the Korean dad helped me with nailing down the pronunciations of certain key Korean phrases like "kamsa hamnida" ("thank you") and "annyeong haseo" ("hello"). Apparently I wasn't that far off, despite learning only through text; the only problems I had involved stressing the correct syllables.
However, the most interesting part of that flight came during the landing process. You know the NASA world map of the earth's lights at night? Notice how North Korea is all dark and South Korea is all bright. Well, since Incheon and Seoul are about an hour's drive away from the border with North Korea, I got to see the difference with my own two eyes that night -- that NASA pic shows the truth. Yikes.
The customs in South Korea is, as someone I know put it so elegantly, a complete joke for a country that's still technically at war (with North Korea, obviously). There were no questions asked, and apparently that is close to the norm. The only difference is that my passport visa explains my purpose in South Korea, while other people need to be asked about that.
I spent an overnighter at Incheon International Airport (which serves Seoul). It wasn't comfortable but not uncomfortable either. It was eerily quiet. And over here, airport security must march down the hallways back and forth, in pairs always next to each other. And their dress is similar to a soldier's (there might be a reason for that), so it felt like a neverending army march while you try to sleep.
Above: Late night at Incheon International Airport. They actually turn off a lot of lights as midnight approaches, and then like this around 3:30am. And then the lights start coming back on again.Finally checked into the hotel this morning. It was freaking sweltering today... I knew this ahead of time, but I arrived in the middle of a little heat wave. I tried to nap but anything more than one hour proved futile, so I took the subway ride out to Seoul. Coincidentally, when my card made a weird hiccup and I asked the only white person around if they knew what the error meant (since nobody else spoke English), he happened to ask me where I'm from -- and he's from Richmond too! Small world.
Seoul traffic is insane. I thought Richmond was bad, but Richmond drivers are now angelic by comparison. Here, it doesn't matter whether the traffic light is red or green -- if the drivers don't see anyone crossing, they'll just shoot ahead. And this doesn't happen with only one driver, but almost always several at a time. In other words, multiple red light dashers in a row.
There were also more close calls in today's journey than I've seen all year in Richmond. It's amazing that so many of them don't result in accidents, but I happened to see two incidents that DID turn into accidents -- and both were hit-and-run. One of them took off while the other is left staring at the damage and trying to get witnesses (and none of the other drivers were willing to be one). It makes me feel really self-conscious about even going out on the streets. I got off at Yongsan Station (where I met the fellow Richmonder) and made it to Samgakji Station somehow, someway.
It was during that short stretch that I saw all the craziness. That was enough for me... I decided to get the heck out of dodge and get back to the hotel in Incheon, where I showered off all the sweat that came from the humidity (or maybe I was washing off the humidity itself, I don't know) and relaxed in some air conditioning for a bit while sorting photos.
(If you feel like making an offensive "Asians can't drive" joke at this point, I don't blame you. I would.)
It's been pretty humid and hot today... I landed right in a heat wave and lingering summer storm (typical Asian weather pattern in summer). Temps are in the 30s Celsius right now and it's almost 9pm. It's supposed to drop to the low 20s Celsius by the end of the week.
And tonight for dinner, I forgot how much the South Korea won is and how much you can get for it. I did something stupid and ordered 32,000 won of food, which turned out to be enough to feed a whole family. I guess that's a lesson learned -- if it's slightly less than 10,000 won, then it's more than enough. I'm so used to the small servings at home, while here they give you HUGE servings! Lesson learned... next time, spend as little as possible on food because there's a chance that they'll give you more than enough.
The bad thing about everything in terms of keeping touch with the outside world is that my cellphone doesn't work here because it's a GSM phone on prepaid, and the hotel doesn't have wifi (they only offer internet on a shared computer in the lobby). I'm writing this post at the arrivals level of the Incheon airport, where I spent the night about 24 hours ago, because they have free wifi with a very strong signal and also a power outlet nearby. The hotel's only two subway stations away from the airport (one if you don't count the airport's cargo terminal).
I'll be off to the teacher orientation tomorrow. There were some coming in today (for the non-Seoul EPIK teachers) and I had a nice chat with someone who came in from Los Angeles before I left for the hotel. Seems that for their group, they were overloaded to the point where people can't bring more than one suitcase into the dorm rooms; all other luggage was to be locked up. I didn't hear anything about this for my EPIK-Seoul orientation, but we're guaranteed to have a smaller group (since there are only 100 of us, as opposed to the huge biker gang-like group for today's group).
Cool! Can't wait to read more :)
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