Time Travel

I flew on Korean Air from SFO (San Francisco International) to ICN (Seoul Incheon International) on March 25th, 2009. I left at 1:05 PM on March 25th and landed at 5:40 PM on March 26. Woah. My first impression of Incheon Airport was that the pedestrian walkway thing that was extended to the plane was see-through. I am used to those things being long and mysterious and secretive, not knowing exactly what the plane that you are about to get on looks like, or where it is located, which kind of sums up the American perspective on life. I couldn't believe how blue the plane was. I mean jeez, how much did all of that paint weigh??

That was just the beginning of the differences. I found the nearest toilet that I could, because I had a window seat on the 13 hour flight, so it was kind of a hassle to move around, and I minimized my trips out of my seat to the bathroom on the plane. The bathroom in the airport was clean and everything was automatic. The hand dryer was not your typical "shoot air downward while moving your hands around" kind of dryer, this one was called an "air blade". It kind of looks like a feeding trough. Thankfully, there were pictures to demonstrate. You put your hands in it and it blows air on them, and then you take your hands out and they are dry. It is awesome, your hands get much drier in much less time.

Going through customs took about 2 seconds, I went where the sign said "foreigners" and there was no line, and the guy told me that I have 90 days until I need to get an ARC (Alien Registration Card). I remember saying "that's it?" And he smiled and nodded his head. I went downstairs and waited for my bag and dealt with three people coming up to me and asking me if I was U.S. Military, but it was a painless procedure. I got my bags and made it to booth 43 (it was very clearly labeled), where there was a big EPIK sign and there were 3 smiling people to greet me. One of them was Sunny Cho, she said "Paul Isham!..." (pronouncing my name properly!!!!!) "...I'm Sunny, the one who interviewed you over the phone!" I smiled and tried to show enthusiasm, but I was a little knackered (haaaaaa...) at that point, and I didn't have a good conception of reality right then anyways... That moment is a moment that I would regret every time I saw Sunny over the next few days, as I'm a little shy in situations where there are lots of people around, and the EPIK orientation turned out to be a little like cattle herding most of the time. Shuffling us to our dorm rooms, or to the lecture halls, or to the busses... And I will always regret that moment, as her enthusiasm (and her pronunciation of my name) gave me an immediate crush on her, but we are very different people, in very different places, and I feel more comfortable listening to my headphones in large groups and I don't like dance clubs so I don't know how to approach women.

I went to the proper bus parking area and had to turn down many attempts from eager taxi drivers along the way. They didn't seem to understand that I had a ride, and that I was walking to where they were picking me up, and they seemed a little offended that I didn't get a ride from them. I'm afraid that that time will definitely not be the last time that a Korean person acts offended by me.