Layover in Seoul

(written: 6/14/11)

I am sooo tired but we gots to get to the next gate which is so far away in the gigantic airport. Seoul, Korea we are here. We have to go through the “out” door and then back to the “in” door.  We get up to security and here is the big difference! Those guards are not happy! For reals… someone did something to their Cheerios that morning. Oh wait. No. They are GUARDS. They are serious and doing their job unlike Americans who are laughing at the guy with the crazy hair in line or talking about when their next break is. You want another example why Korean guards are real GUARDS? Okay…here I go…laptop is out and in it’s own tub, sweater is off and in its own tub, my bag, snack bag, Ethan’s back-pack which by the way weighs more than Abby and Ethan put together,  and my camera are all on the conveyor belt. Flip Flops are in there somewhere too.  Guard: I need to open your bag ma’am. Me: No problem.  (Keeping me safe from all the bad people out there, I’m all for it.) Guard: You have scissors? Me: No. (I say with the utmost certainty. I fly all the time. I know this, man!) Guard is silent and pulls out a nice sharp pair of blue CM scissors. Me: Oh my Gosh! (In my head… What the H-E-double hockey sticks?!?!) Guard: I need to throw them away. Me: Sure, toss ‘um, throw ‘um, no problem! They were freakin' wrapped up in my ribbons I was bringing to sew. I pre-cut them so I wouldn't need scissors! (shaking my head)

I can’t freakin’ believe they were keeping me safe from ME! Is that all you ask? No, of course not. Before I continue, where is my family? Kids, husband, in-laws? No idea…gone! Thanks for the support. I could have been locked in a Korean prison by now and they would have never known. So…I started loading my bags on my back and then… Guard: I need to look through this bag. (Ethan’s backpack which I did not supervise the packing of this trip. I handed off to Erwin—big mistake) Me: Ok, no problem. Guard: Do you have a gun? Me: NO WAY! There is no gun! There aren’t even toy guns! We don’t even let our son have toy guns! (nerves always make me talk and talk and talk) No guns!  (we do have nerf blasters and a toy one from a bday party but Mr. Korean Guard Man doesn’t need to know this and they wouldn’t even fit in his bag.) Guard points to the screen and sure as heck there is a small shape of a gun maybe as big as my hand. Holy cow! What did Ethan bring!?! And WHERE IS MY FAMILY?! I grabbed the bag and started rifling through it (bad choice of words). He has Hot Wheels, paperclips, mini-airplanes, rubber bands, pencils, erasers, McDonald’s happy meal toys, highlighters, you get the idea. But no stinkin’ guns. They couldn’t figure it out either. I grabbed the last of my bags and met my supportive family around the corner. Ugh! Needless to say I do not have real faith anymore in US Airport Security. I got through with super sharp scissors, 2 pairs of nail clippers and something shaped as a small handgun. No questions asked.

As I said in the beginning, Korea has a huge airport.  And in the wee hours of the morning, the airport was fairly empty.  It was beautiful inside. Very clean, with people still cleaning it. Very high ceilings and lots of neat gadgets and gidgets. We passed a really cool WiFi area. Closed. So we didn’t get to see it in full running order. Everything was covered in a white plastic as it was put to sleep the night before.  We were kind of hungry, very tired & glad to be in a large space! We had no eatery’s open, no beds and a very large space.  I opened the snack bag for the kids. I grabbed two of the travel pillows (YOU HAVE TO HAVE ONE WHEN YOU ARE ON AN AIRPLANE!! They really made a huge difference in our whole trip.), picked a bench of 4 chairs and went to sleep. Oops, right before that I went to the ladies room.  One of the coolest finds so far! Maybe in the whole trip! I walked into a super clean bathroom which had a family/disabled room with a sign and a square panel about waist high that said wave hand in front for door to open. (something like that) It had a sliding door. So freakin’ cool. Now wheelchair bound people didn’t have to maneuver their chairs in and around the doors. Love it! Then I entered my stall. (yes it was labeled “Amy”. DUH!) And there were instructions on the wall behind a toilet with plastic covering the toilet seat. Just the part that your bum rests on. Not covered as a prank type of plastic. The sign said “Please put your hand on the sensor before use.” It was labeled “Toilet Seat Industry". No way, I thought. I put my hand in front of the sensor and WA-LA the toilet seat cover changed all by itself! Oh yes it did! I did it again just cuz I couldn’t believe as you can’t.  It was. It was real. The only thing I had to touch was the door handle to the stall. The soap, the paper towels, the water even was all automatic. It was so cool in fact that I had to take pictures. My seesta loved bathrooms as a kid and I think she still has a fascination. (sorry, I outted you!)  I had to show her!! Before my nap, I had to go back in with the camera and snap a few. Hee hee! It was the coolest!

Now to nap before the final leg of our air travel. When I awoke right before we boarded, Er told me a few of our gang had stood at Burger King waiting for it to OPEN OPEN OPEN. I had a little ham & egg samwich with some OJ waiting for me. Yumm…  

12 1/2 hours to Korea

(written: 6/9/11)

We felt like we are in the movie Speed with Keanu Reeves. When we were called to board, we actually boarded a transit bus that had us packed like sardines with our carryons. This bus drove pretty much on the tarmac (that’s the runway right?) It was crazy. There were even stop signs out there. It was all pretty surreal. It drove us to this other terminal where we eventually boarded the plane. I should just chalk it up to being LA.  Some official lady told Cynthia and me that we didn’t need our passports or tix so I handed mine to Er. Somehow Er and the kids got to the front of the line and I fell close to the back. When I stepped onto the plane they asked for both things I didn’t have. Where’s E? Probably in his seat already. I ended up standing there by myself while Cynthia and the guys showed the other flight attendant where Erwin was so she could chk my passport. 

The plane was huge and the flight staff was bee-utiful! Super straight 3 piece suits with scarves and matching hair accessories. Each one had their hair up in the same tight bun.  Their presence along with their service was pristine.  On our seats were a pillow, a purple blanket wrapped in plastic, a blue plastic pouch and a little bottle of water. The pouch was so cute. Opening it we found a toothbrush and toothpaste and folded paper slippers. Slippers came in handy when it was mid-flight, super dark, with tons of stuff on the floor by your seat and you have to go to the bathroom but can’t find your black flip-flops.

The kids were now so excited … we were finally on our way. On our way to a 12 ½ hr flight mind you.  They didn’t quite get that part. As a mom, I was not excited. As soon as we were up in the air the staff promptly gave the kids little pouches with a toy and a coloring book and a crayon.  Cute! Then we were given peanuts to confirm we were on an airplane I presume. What seemed like a few seconds later were the drinks.  After that, a few minutes later we were served dinner.  (maybe an hour or more) Chicken, Beef or BimBap-bibbityBobbity Boo.  No, really I don’t know since the thing is not in front of me.  The third was a Korean Noodle Dish with it's own instructions sheet.   So, Erwin got the Korean food. When he was packing his plate up for the flight attendant to clear he got the nice little sheet stuck in the folding tray. lol...i was dying! It ripped. lmao! He just looked at me. I told him to fold it quickly and keep it for my album. haha!!  I asked for the chicken dish but my brother-in-law took the last one leaving me with not that great beef and noodles.  Abby was already asleep. The food wasn't great but not that bad either. The roll was fabulous with the butter. Yum!

The one thing I loved besides the impeccable service was the in flight entertainment. The TV screens on the back of each seat had numerous movies, new and old. I got to watch “No Strings Attached” with Ashton Kutcher. He cracks me up! But unlike some big Filipino guy that I am married too, I didn’t laugh out loud. Er decided to watch an episode of Friends and would randomly belt out a huge HAHAHA!

Sleep, which is all I wanted. Just some sleep. How hard could it be? I brought ear plugs so Er or any other snoring neighbor wouldn’t ruin my slumber. The lights in the cabin were all turned off.  Ethan is entrenched in his video games with Uncle Ritche or Dad. Abby is OUT like a light. Oh no! Mama who was up till 430 the same morning packing cannot sleep on this flight cuz Abby wants to lay down and sit up and lay down and sit up and stretch. But she is by the window and there is a stranger in the seat in front of her and it’s like 1 in the morning or something insane like that.  She is sound asleep and nothing wakes this chick up. So what does she do when there is an obstacle in the way of her stretching, sitting, lying?? She kicks! Uh huh! So now, I’m whisper-screaming empty threats while trying to contain her…”If you don’t stop it right this instant I’m going to spank you” “You are going to make that man very very mad” “The pilot is going to get very very mad at you” She can’t hear a word I’m saying! Not cuz I’m too quiet, cuz she is ASLEEEEP! Kills me. So with 2 hours of sleep on this fabulous 12 ½ hr flight I enjoyed a movie and a half, a steaming hot wet rag, dinner and breakfast, a few random glasses of fresh fruit juice and the refreshing stretching and quiet peacefulness of being in the bathroom BY MYSELF! I swear. It was a highlight.

San Diego Airport to LAX

(written on 6/7/11)

We flew from San Diego to LA on a small commuter jet. Two seats on one side of the aisle and one single seat on the other side. Smallest plane I have ever been on. I was a tad nervous but mostly because this was the beginning of the trip. We boarded the plane by walking outside and up the stairs to the plane door. None of us could remember the last time we had been outside to board a plane. We usually walk through the tube. I was sure that there was going to be a fair amount of shaking and bouncing in the sky but were greatly pleased with almost none. The flight felt like 45 minutes. When we arrived we decided to eat first which was a great idea even though I voted to see where we board first. SO glad no one listened.  Food was very good once we sat down. TONS of people everywhere at LAX. Not surprised but enjoying the fact that we had time to breathe and be patient. Kids ate McDonalds, Erwin had Chinese food with Ritche and I can’t remember what Ed & Cynthia had.  I waited at the table while everyone got their food watching the numerous carry-on bags the 7 of us were toting along. Kids got back with their food and after Er and I told the kids to be careful, I knocked over Ethan’s lemonade all over the table we had found. Luckily, Cynthia moved quick enough to avoid getting soaked.  I was so tired from being up to 430 in the morning that I was beginning to lose my motor skills. Aye, not what I wanted.  I got a chance to walk on my own to get some food which gave me some “quiet” time if that really exists in LAX.  I ate some fabulous Mexican food of all things. Tasty enchiladas and spanish rice. Super yum! Time to go and we entered the gate area below this gigantic board of Int’l flights heading out. That was just half of them too. There was still another set of gates on the other side of the airport.  Crazy! We had a good walk to our next gate where we would then board Korean Airlines. Left here, right here, keep walking, keep walking. Quite a walk. We did have at least a 3 hour layover.  We arrived in our warehouse terminal with hundreds of others. On the top level where we only had to walk down the stairs to board we truly gave current day definition of technology a picture to match. The far wall had plugs for us to charge up our necessities. Phones, IPods, laptops, DS’s.  We stocked up on water, had a granola bar or two, and played some video games. I even paid mortgage, phew! Then we were called to check-in at the gate with security. Erwin has decided with my complete backing to carry all the passports and all the money. I want nothing to do with it. STA-RESS!

And so it begins

(written on 6/6/11)

Trip of a lifetime.  A trip that will 99% for sure not happen again.  A gift from Dad.  Seven of us flying to another country.  Another universe. Camera has been bought and I’m ready to make the most of this opportunity we have been given. A blessing and something Erwin and I would never have thought we would be a part of.  From the beginning I have been hoping and praying for this trip to be a lesson of many things cultural.  My kids and my husband were going to be given a hands-on lesson of their culture. They will know more about their grandparents’ upbringing to the point of leaving the place they called home for 20 years for a piece of the “American Dream”. The “American Dream” that Ethan and Abby have come to know as “anything goes” at Grama & Papa’s house. Desserts and favorite home cooked meals and especially unconditional love. Alongside their Dad, Ethan and Abby will see how hard Grama and Papa worked to get where they are today. The difference of the two worlds. My kids have the chance to see what it is they really have back at 1545 Applegate Street.  I have relayed my wishes for this trip to many friends who have taken their kids at one point or another. I was told that this will definitely happen. We will be here for 14 days plus or minus 24 hours. (Time change has truly warped my sense of time.)