My flight from Salt Lake to LA departed at 6am on Wednesday morning.
This meant that I had to wake up at 4am that morning to be able to make it to
SLC. Luckily, my friend Lauren Laws loves me enough to wake up at such an hour
and drive me from Provo to Salt Lake. The flight from SLC to LA was only two
hours. But, it was quite uncomfortable as it was in a relatively small plane,
and I was sitting next to a woman who insisted on sitting in such a way that
she kept kicking my knees.
Then came the fun part… I had a7 hour layover in LAX as my flight to
South Korea didn’t leave until 2pm. I used about an hour of that time wandering
around the airport trying to figure out where to go. For some strange reason,
there are no maps of the airport posted anywhere at LAX. I even went up to one
of the security guards and asked if he knew where I could get a map, and he
said no. I eventually found my way to the baggage claim area where I found an
employee willing to point me in the right direction. While waiting in line for
assistance I met a girl who was in tears. She had just flown in from Hawaii and
she had taken two pineapples as carryon luggage. Apparently, one of the flight
attendants did not approve of pineapples in the overhead bins so they were
taken from the girl. Once they landed, she could not find the flight attendant
who had taken her fruit, so she was sent to the baggage claim area. She was
sobbing so much that it was difficult for the airport employee to fully
understand the problem. I hope she eventually found her pineapples…
I went outside, found my way to the bus that took me all around the
airport until I found the correct building, went inside, and waited.
And waited. And waited.
I didn’t really have anything to do.
I made a few phone calls, grabbed some breakfast at the only decent
looking restaurant there, and then waited some more. I had to wait until 10am
which is when the Asiana Airlines desk opened. I had to get my tickets from LA
and Korea changed from United to Asiana, otherwise I wouldn’t be allowed past
security. As I waited for the woman who was helping me to print my tickets, she
asked me to place my bag on the scale. I told her it was one of my carryons,
and that I had already checked my two bags. However, she said that there was a
weight limit of 20lbs for carryon bags on international flights. My bag ended
up weighting 47lbs. This meant that I had to check the bag, and pay $100. Not
fun.
I eventually was able to go through security and found my gate. It was
only once I sat down that I noticed I was finally in the minority. I was one of
three white people at the gate. Everyone else was Chinese or Korean. I saw some
interesting things at the airport, but I’ll write about that later.
The plane was huge. I’m sure that the size of the plane I was in is
quite common, but I have never been in one that big before. On the level I was
on, there were three seats, then an aisle, three more seats, and another aisle,
and then three more seats. I sat near the front, next to the window. Luckily,
the seat in front of me was far enough away that I could stretch my legs out a
bit.
Every hour or so, the flight attendants came by with water and orange
juice. After a little over an hour, we were served lunch. We had the choice
between steak or chicken. I chose steak. I made a very good choice. It was
surprisingly delicious.
A few hours later, we were brought some sort of flaky pastry that was
filled with some sort of peppered meat. Perhaps it was just because I was
starving, but it tasted delicious. Then, after a few more hours, we were served
a second full meal. I chose the pasta dish. It was not nearly as good as the
first, and I did not even finish, but it still seems quite good for airplane
food.
I was always given two choices for my meals, but the Korean couple I
was sitting next to got some sort of mystery third option that was not offered
to me.
I tried to sleep, but couldn’t. It might have been the screaming baby
three rows behind me. Or the girl directly behind me who kept propping her legs
up on the back of my seat. Or the kids to my right who insisted on opening
their window cover every 20 minutes to look outside and let the bright sun in.
But, in the end, it is okay that I didn’t get much sleep because I was able to
entertain myself with the movie selection. I must admit that I enjoyed my own
personal touch screen video monitor on the seat in front of me. Options for
entertainment included numerous movies, recorded concerts, music, and
television shows. The Avengers,
seasons 1 and 2 of Sherlock, In Time, Moneyball, The Debt, Real Steal, Captain America, Salmon Fishing in the
Yemen, Hunger Games, Lockout, and even an episode of Top Gear were all
available. I ended up watching The Best
Exotic Marigold Hotel, Haywire, Crazy Stupid Love, Man on a Ledge, and half of The Lucky One. By the
time I got off the plane I was very sick of movies.
It was a relief to finally get off the plan and be able to stretch my
legs. And go to the restroom.
Sitting in the Seoul airport, I was surrounded by groups of Chinese men
playing cards. I had six different games going on around me. What game they
were playing, I do not know, but they looked like they were having fun.
This airport was huge. Of course, I only have six other airports to
compare it to, but it is still massive. Very spacious, with high ceilings, as
well as very clean. I recognized every store there, unless it was a restaurant.
Good thing they fed us well on the flight from LA, because I really don’t know
where I’d have gone for food.
It was pouring down rain in Korea. I wish I could have seen more from
where I was sitting, but it was very dark, and I saw was grass and wet
pavement.
The plane was late. It hadn’t even arrived at the gate yet when it was
time for the plane to depart.
By the time I got into my seat I was exhausted. I ended up sitting by
the window, again. In my row were two other Americans. John, a Texan going to
Chengdu to visit his wife’s family, and Tristan, a young guy who I later found out
is teaching at the same schools as me. Everyone else on the plane was Chinese
or Korean. I then realized that all of the flight attendants must be
trilingual, at least, as they were all fluent in Korean, Chinese, and English.
We were fed another meal on this flight, but I was too tired to eat.
When we finally landed, I followed Tristan out because he knew where to
go. We walked through these gates that (I think) checked to see if anyone
arriving was sick or had a fever. Then, we had to walk through the gate to get
our passports and visas checked. Finally, we were able to get our bags
(thankfully, all three of mine made it in one piece) and walked through
customs. Right outside the gate, Tristan pointed out our employer, Dr. James
Wong. He told us that he had to wait there for a third teacher, but that he had
a taxi waiting for us outside.
Unlucky for us, the taxi was not “right outside,” but kind of far away.
Outside. And, it was raining. A lot.
By the time we found the taxi and managed to get all of our stuff in,
we were soaked. I sat up front with my backpack, and Tristan sat in the back,
being crushed by the luggage.
We eventually made it to Wenjin, where our apartment is. Wenjin is a
suburb of Chengdu, but it all looks the same to me. Betty, Dr. Wong’s wife,
greeted us once we arrived, and showed us to our rooms. By the time I got to my
bed it was 1:30 am local time. And, I had to be up at 7:00am for meetings that
same day.
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