Going back to Korea

Tuesday

I heard the tablet shut itself down during the night. It must have run out of battery power. I got up and plugged it in, then went back to bed. I didn't sleep much after that. I got up a few times to use the bathroom. I noticed the toilet must have a motion sensor, which turns on the light. It is so automated that you wouldn't need to wash your hands afterward.
Hot flashes kept me awake. And eventually daylight came in around the curtains. I ignored it for some time, but then got up at 8. Soon Chris was up, too. We got ready for the day. I did a little packing and then we went down to breakfast. The Damours had left hours ago. We said goodbye to some of the couples who were still here. We got plates of food from the buffet. I slipped a hard boiled egg into my purse for lunch.
When we were done, we went back to the room to brush teeth and do some more packing. Chris checked his e-mail and I checked mine. Then we went for a walk. We started on the ground floor and wandered through the associated mall. We went out the back and around the side. The street was busy, so we went back into the building, up to the second floor, and across the pedestrian bridge to a building called China World Mall. It was very open and spacious. The shops were high end, and there was little product to be seen. After walking around, we went outside again. I was hoping for a street with a row of little shops, but everywhere were big office or mall buildings. We walked around the block, taking pictures. Eventually we found our way back to the hotel. I don't think the block was actually square. We saw a lot of bicycles, mostly owned by the city. The person scans the plate, rides it to their destination, then scans it again and leaves the bike there. I don't know how maintenance is handled, or redistribution.
In the hotel we walked up to the second floor to see the Viking desk, for which there was a sign, but no desk that we could see. So we went back to our room, to check e-mail and make sure everything was packed.
At 10 till 1, we took our luggage down to the lobby to meet Tingting. Chris checked out and turned in the room keys. Then we followed her out to the van and put the luggage in the back. The driver drove us to the airport. He unloaded the luggage and Chris tipped him. Then we followed Tingting inside. She showed us which counter to check the suitcases and get boarding passes. Chris was informed that the flight would be an hour and 45 minutes late. So departure time went from 5pm to 6:45pm. She told us how to get to our gate, then she went on her way. We walked through a set of machines that scanned our passes. Then we got on a train to another concourse. There, we went through immigration and then security. No patdown this time. We sat at Gate 28, not knowing which gate we needed. Chris tried to get on the internet but needed a code. So he went somewhere to get one. While he was up, he saw a board listing the gates for the flights. So we moved to gate 27. There was a charging station there. We plugged in his computer and my tablet. I played 2048. He sent a message to someone to call the taxi driver and tell him we would be late. I ate the rest of the seed crackers and some fruit. I looked through some of the stores. I gave Chris some fruit and we shared an orange. Then I worked on Sudoku to let my tablet charge. When it was almost time to board, I put the last apple in my purse and folded up the bag.
We got in line to board the plane. We sat in row 8. I kept the tablet and Sudoku book with me and the rest went in the overhead. Though we boarded on time, we sat on the tarmac for 40 minutes, waiting take off. There was time to fill out the arrival cards and other forms. Then Chris played 2048 on the tablet and I did Sudoku. Once we were in the air, they served supper - very like the last plane meal we had. I gave most of it to Chris. I ate the remaining apple. I looked out the window to see when we flew over water. But the darkness fell too quickly. I did Sudoku until we landed. My ears did not pop completely, but it wasn't too painful. We went through Immigration, picked up our luggage (first on, last off so we really waited), then walked through Customs. Then we entered the airport lobby. The taxi driver was waiting for us. He looked pretty tired. He had not gotten the message so he had been waiting for hours. Chris and I both used the restroom, and then we followed him to his car. He and Chris loaded the luggage in the taxi and the drove took us back to Chinhae. We had to stop just outside the gate for Chris to get his ID out of the luggage. Then we showed our ID's and the trunk was searched. The driver dropped us off at our place. Chris paid the driver more than he was expecting. I apologized for not having any cookies.
We came in the house, and went straight to our computers to check our google accounts. I had trouble accessing Yahoo on my laptop and had to reboot. I had trouble getting to my blog as well. But eventually it worked out and I typed up everything that happened since the last time I posted. And now it is after midnight and we are going to bed.