Feet on the Ground in Korea!

I have been on the road for 3 days...and I don't mind admitting, I am EXHAUSTED!

Anyway, I have made it safe and sound to Korea and gotten checked into the hotel.  It's a pretty swanky hotel for a one night stay, but the main thing is, it's comfortable...and quiet...and still.  Just getting to be still so so unbelievably wonderful!  :)

My flight from San Francisco was, well, what it was.  There was an electrical "issue" with something that shut down all inflight entertainment...I'm still not sure what happened...and then when it was time to deplane, everyone was told to stay put because of a "medical emergency."  Sheesh!  But I finally got out of my seat and off the plane.

Korean Customs.  Customs is always a pain...a necessary pain, but come on, let's call a spade a spade. However, Korea has is down to as painless as possible.  Step up, hand the officer your papers (which they scan) while you have your fingerprints and picture taken.  Never mind that after being on the road for 3 days I looked somewhat homeless and that picture will be on file somewhere and probably used for an ID photo somewhere.

I broke down and took a taxi from the airport to the hotel.  I managed to avoid the "taxi pimp", but when I got to the street to look for the cab stand a middle-aged Korean man jumped out of his van/taxi and started loading my luggage into the back.  It ended up being "roughly" a $20 dollar cab ride.  So, he dropped me at the wrong hotel (pay attention, he has now loaded my 100-ish pounds of luggage twice) but stayed to make sure I was in the right place.  When he found out I was not at the right hotel he reloaded my luggage (this is load on/off number 3), got directions to the correct hotel, drove me there, and reunloaded my luggage.  He confirmed with the hotel staff that I was in the right place before finally heading off.  Twenty dollars well spent to me.  Plus he got really upset when I did things like open the door for myself and try to handle ANY of the luggage.  I mean, I come from the land of Southern Hospitality, but Korean Hospitality is something else.

Well, my dears, that is my adventure so far.  Plus I have a surprise for you.  I am starting a 356 photo journal for you.  For details, see my next post.  :)