I can't remember now (sitting in the Atlanta airport) what all I did this morning (in the Korean time zone) to get ready. And it would be really helpful to know for next time, like packing and throwing out now empty containers.
Myra stopped by to give me money for what she borrowed in the market yesterday. Then Dynee stopped by to say goodbye. I gave her some empty containers to give to the Wendts. I used her little vacuum to seal clothes, towels , pillows and a quilt in space bags. I packed my suitcases with the clothes that came out of the dryer. I put several small things in my favorite jar (that the packers didn't pack). Then I packed it in my suitcase. Chris had already thrown some things in the extra suitcase that John brought. So I had to put bubble wrap and puff-its in two suitcases so the contents would not move around.
At one point Chris announced that we had to leave in 15 minutes because someone else going to the airport had a 2pm flight. I started to rush, but then he got word that Damien went separately. John came over with a military van. We packed all the suitcases and carry-ons inside. Chris took out the trash and changed the door lock code to Housing's standard one.
We pulled out around 12:30. John drove us to the Gimhae airport and dropped us off. We got two carts and loaded them with luggage. We each pushed a cart to the check-in counter. Chris checked in 5 suitcases, using his Delta Gold card so we didn't have to pay extra. Then we stood in line for security. We had to take our laptops from their cases, and my tablet. It all went in tubs through the conveyor belt and scanner. We reassembled on the other side.
Our gate was right outside Security. But there was a Delta premier lounge above it. We went up there. There was seating with outlets, though not American ones. There was also free food and drinks, so I got some water. My magnesium was packed, so I went to the duty-free shops to look for some. All they had was a combination of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D. Not exactly what I had in mind. And they were shrink-wrapped in pairs. So I had to buy two or none. I checked my Korean cash and I had enough:56,000. Expensive stuff. The clerk wanted to see my passport but I did not have it with me. But she worked it out. Then I went back to the lounge and took two capsules. I discovered Chris had brought the three remaining carrots. Big ones. Dirty ones. I went to the washroom and scrubbed all three with my fingernails. I put them in the bag inside out. I ate a few seed crackers.
Chris made the cancellation call from my phone. But the lady on the other end said we needed to send a reply e-mail. So we had to wait for the e-mail to come 'through. Then we shut down my phone.
We went to the gate and stood in line to board. Then we sat together on the plane. I should have taken our picture then. It was less than an hour flight to Incheon airport. We had to take the airport shuttle to the next concourse. Since we had priority boarding, we boarded almost right away. It was a big plane and Chris had requested an upgrade. Business class was full. So we were put in middle seats in the section with a few extra inches of foot space. He sat in the row in front of me. Since we previously had aisle seats, it did not seem like much of an upgrade. The lady next to me said she'd had a window seat until they upgraded her to an aisle in the middle. She told me she was totally blind and we had an interesting conversation from there. Then she turned to her recorded books for entertainment during the 15 hour flight.
I ate two carrots and watched a movie, starting out with the complimentary headphones, but changing to my own, which were clearer. We were fed a snack first, which I passed to Chris, then a meal. After that, they turned down the lights. It was time to use the restroom, but the captain kept announcing that due to turbulence everyone should stay in their seat. Well, we did have real turbulence for 10 minutes, but after that, hardly any. But the announcements continued. Finally, after an hour or so, they said we could use the restrooms, but not wait in line. Well, I could not see if the restrooms (behind me) were in use or not. It was some time until a stewardess came by and I asked her. She said to go. So I troubled the blind lady to let me out and asked her if she had to go. She put her hand on my shoulder and followed me back. I left her standing by the last seats when I used the one open restroom. When I came out, the stewardess had guided her to the other now-vacant restroom. I did stretches as I waited for her. Had she not been there, the stewardess would have made me sit down right away. So when we got back to our seats, I thanked her.
The second movie, which I thought I had paused, was on 2x forward. So it took some time to rewind it back to where I had left off. It was about female advertising executive who wanted a young lady from the newspaper to write her obituary before she died.
Then I closed my eyes, and listened to music. I also did some tapping to relax, and because I was not happy about being in Economy class when our deal was first class both ways. I stopped the airplane music and plugged in to the tablet, to listen to the sleep tracks I had downloaded. I think I did sleep some, but could not find a really comfortable position. I had brought a neck pillow in my carry-on, but it was overhead and Chris would have to bother his seatmate to get out and get it for me. So I did without.
At some point, they turned the lights up a little and served a snack. I got a cup of tomato juice, but gave the food part to Chris. Then the lights went back down. Hours later, the lights were turned up again, and we were served breakfast. There wasn't a lot I could eat, so I had some dried fruit. Then I used the restroom. She did not have to go, so I went and came right back. In the process, I misplaced my head phones and had to use the complimentary ones. I think I was watching a third movie at that point because it was hard to hear the conversation. Table 19, or something like that.
When that movie was finished, an announcement was made that we would be landing in 1:20 minutes. So I did not bother starting another one. I conversed with my seatmate again. After the plane landed and taxied to the terminal, I thanked her for making the flight more enjoyable. People were standing in the aisles. A couple guys let me ahead of them so I could be behind Chris getting off the plane. We hurried up the runway and through the corridors to Immigration. We had to stand in line. Then we used an automated passport machine to check our passports. From there, we went to baggage claim. Chris went to the restroom while I watched for our baggage. He was back before our bags. Then I went to the restroom. When I got back, he had one. Eventually two more came by. Someone had been pulling bags off of the carousel, presumably to make more room. What we didn't realize at first was that there was more pulled luggage behind the carousel. I went over there and found the last two bags. Chris put them on the carts and we went to Customs. All they did was take our bags and send them off to Huntsville. We had to stand in line for another security check. This time we had to take off our shoes as well.
After security, we boarded a shuttle from concourse F to concourse B. We found our gate, but saw that the plane was delayed for over an hour, until after midnight. Having quite the layover, I brought out my laptop to write up my blog post. Chris suggested I plug my laptop into the outlet, even though I had a full battery charge. But when he got his laptop out, it had no charge, so he moved the power cord from my laptop to his. After I typed up my post, I could not find the phone cord to download pics. I found two cords that fit, but only transferred power, not information. Then I tried the cord that came with the mp3 headphones, and that one worked. I was finally able to post, but it was after midnight EST.
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