I realized I should mention where exactly it is that I am going.  I found out I was stationed in Suwon, one of the 10 largest cities in South Korea and located 1 hour south of THE largest city. It has almost 1 million people, 3 universities, many-many factories and thousands of years of history, including a 2.5 mile long wall called 'Hwaseong Fortress'. It's nearest attractions include: a national art and cultural museum, Samsung Electronics factory, a World Soccer Cup Stadium, a historic Korean Folk Village, and lastly (my personal favorite because of it's name and purpose) an adventure theme park named Everland. Yes, Everland, not to be confused with Neverland undoubtedly a creepier and much more 'seductive' counterpart. (I hope you know I'm kidding when I say 'personal favorite'- as sarcasm cannot be detected over the internet...nor television evidently as CNN, MSNBC and every other news broadcasting network has attacked Obama for loose sarcasm on Leno. Leno! My God, who hasn't lost face on Leno? Honestly, America is just silly.) So, Everland. It sounds great but has a 150$ admission fee plus the cost of everything else, i.e. it's for rich people, not me. I'll run circles around it and that will be entertaining enough. Cheaper too!  Other near cities (attractions in themselves) are Osan-directly south by a half hour and, according to my sweet and thoughtful uncle, is crawling with American military men. Thank you for that very, very interesting bit of information! ;)  Ansan, Gunpo, Yongin and Pyeongtaek are also in the vicinity. What they have to see? I don't know, but I do know that I like to say their names, especially that last one. Pyeongtaek. Say 'pyeong' over and over again and you'll see what I mean. Seoul is pretty much the major attraction holder in my vicinity- which would be the same fact anywhere on the peninsula of Korea- but I'm just lucky enough to have it a hop, skip and a jump to the north of me. My greatest friend, Amy, will hopefully be meeting me there often to enjoy the sites as well as share stories. 

Well, I admit it, I'm hungry- so for now, this is all I have for you. I realize I'm blogging quite a bit now. My excuse: I don't have a cell phone or a friend, this is my outlet- bear with me! Until the sun rises again,

-A Weary Traveller

Another day. Another dollar. Another hotel.

   Well here I sit on another hotel bed at 90$ a night.  I haven't changed my clothes since yesterday morning when I dressed comfortably for a long haul. I must have foreseen this much extended trip... maybe I have ESP? No, I think the fates decided to give me a break... possibly... and made me think to wear flamboyantly colorful and comfortable clothes. However, with every stare at my crazy patterned skirt, clunky boots, messed hair and excessive baggage, I feel more and more like digging a pit for me to jump into. Normally I wouldn't mind stares, but today I just want to get on my dang plane and get my biznass done! For shiz yo- I do. Yes, that's Chicago speaking through me- scary how quick it happens eh? Anyways, I'd like to change clothes, that's my point. I'd also like to have a stiff drink too, but I'll wait on that... somehow drinking before 5 and drinking alone seem to add up to me drunk-dialing people long distance or crying in the bathtub, or both simultaneously. I better wait till after 5, at least then I'll be able to hit the sack by 9 and save my hotel bill and deaf-eared friends from a sorry mess. 

    As far as the real news goes, i.e. not my poor me banter, I obviously did not get a seat today on the only flight to S. Korea that Korean Air has today. Wait, let me modify that, 'everyday'. Korean Air only has one flippin' flight to Korea (um, it's one and only destination it connects to) everyday at 12:20 PM.  The purpose of them having a whole six window counter area at the international airport-terminal 5, and having 20 plus people working at the counter for only one flight a day is well beyond me. Dare I say even Einstein might think 'wtf?'  So, conclusively I didn't get a seat and am staying at a different hotel closer to O'Hare.  I should mention that the people working were awesome! They tried every which way to connect me through other airlines to different cities to other Korean Air flights, and have now labeled me 'top priority' for tomorrow's flight.  So they really did the best they could, it is not them I am angered at. What angered me was the fact that I missed my flight yesterday via my own flippancy, that there's only one flight a day from Korean Airlines, and that I'm stuck waiting again in another hotel for another day with more money I don't have. Amazing how karma works. I don't know who I killed in my past life, but they must have been good people. Can I just say that I'm sorry? I'm not sure how karma works, but it'd be real nice if it was forgiving. Well, I've rambled enough for now, hopefully the next time I blog it will be out of this country! 

Peace, love and the best of karma-

Weary Traveller

The positive irony:

The positive irony of my limbo biz (I can now see it... five hours later!) rests in the reason I missed my flight. At the beginning of my travels this morning I picked up a new, simple but interesting novel by Kurt Vonnegut, fittingly called "A Man Without A Country".  I thought it was fitting before my limbo interruption, but now I find it all too ironic. I got so into the book that I finished it while waiting for the plane to take off. If I hadn't have picked it up, if I hadn't had to read the author's note, if I hadn't dilly dallied while on the connecting flight and finished it before we even landed in Chicago, I just may have made my flight. Obviously, I did do all those things and am now a girl without a home. Well, maybe a hotel room, but certainly detained in a place I had no intention on being detained. Moral of the story: Don't read? No, that's palpably incorrect. Don't dilly-dally? That was honestly the point of the novel I read... great quote: "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."  (This makes me feel much less like an idiot and more like I'm on a big ship that happened to stop for martinis... I may be the only one who got off, but I certainly got my fill of the martinis!)  Lastly, a moral: Don't read the extra tidbits that I won't remember later anyways?  Maybe, that just may be true. But, I'd like to argue that those extra tidbits are the little extras that truly detail a novel or article. They help a person understand where the author was coming from, why he chose to pursue the subject he did, and sometimes- just what hell he was talking about. I like the extras, and that is ironic too, as I now have an extra segment to my journey. Hopefully I'll get a seat tomorrow, if not, I'll just get more martinis and catch the next ship. Thank God for credit cards, kind people (aka my parents) and the extras! Life would just not be the same without them.

In limbo for eternity?

Hello again,

I cannot believe my own stupidity, arrogance and failure as a pretty seasoned traveller. I missed my flight to South Korea by assuming O'Hare was not as big as it really is. Now, as I sit outside the International terminal and wait for my (really ANY) Holiday Inn shuttle to whisk me away to bed, I feel my face slapped over and over again by the tall, proud standing Republic of Korea flag ironically (perhaps pointedly) positioned 100 ft in front me. There are others that flap, but that one, smack in front of me, hurts the most.  I'm sure people will tell me that: "I've waited this long, what's another day?"  Well kids, another day is just another I suppose, but right now, in my short-term, tired, narrow perspective I am viewing that day as that extra step that becomes the pain in my arse. I swear I am trying to be positive, but so far life is winning. So I guess I am left with the solace of the prospect of the abusive flag and lo-and-behold the fact that I am (though in limbo) alive. 

-(Very) Weary Traveller

Getting Ready...

I am currently in the process of getting ready to travel the 6,220 miles to Seoul, the capital of the Republic of South Korea. That milage is for the most part accurate, however flight duration is a matter of lay-overs. A non-stop flight, a rare novelty from Minneapolis, is roughly 15 hrs and 50 minutes, give or take wind current. As I will no doubt have succumb to one-stop, possibly two, my travel time will be anywhere from 16 to 20 hours, also dependent on wind speed. Personally, I will enjoy having some time to stretch my legs with a nice walk in the airport rather than in between the cramped carriages of economy class seating. (To also prepare myself for this long haul, I have been exercising and stretching more to scare away any possible leg cramps. Naturally, I very much don't wish to suffer from a blood clot!) 

         Other preparations and precautions include learning the Korean alphabet and some useful phrases such as 'Hello', 'Goodbye', and most obviously 'Where is the bathroom?'.  I have also been reading a helpful guide book called "Culture Shock: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette". It has so far told me I shall have no friends if I do not eat the food (for those who know me very well, you realize my wariness), I will be expected to bow to all co-workers and acquaintances while attempting to read their 'gibun', or their mood, current feeling and state of mind, and I will be assessed (and most naturally) by others on my ability to 'fit in', that is my individuality will be criticized after awhile as hurting the all the people of Korea, their culture and their history. I hope I am wrong about the last factoid, but I have also learned a similar blip from my friend who is currently teaching in Yangdong, South Korea. She explained to me that because the Koreans are so proud of their heritage, they 'feel' hurt when a foreigner speaks ill of their country (all too natural) and when a foreigner does not assimilate when long-exposed to the culture. Similar hair-cuts, styles of dress and even thoughts and actions are expected to be taken on in some form by an 'expatriate', as my culture shock book obsessively calls the foreigner.  Assimilating to their way of life will be somewhat of a goal of mine, as I wish to experience their culture in total. However, I am merely leery of losing a bit of my individualism that I love, and really all Americans love. Thus I am also preparing myself to embark on a mentally and physically (as I will need to find some food I like!) trying journey by providing myself with some familiar thoughts, pictures and knickknacks; as well as recipes I can use with Korean staples :) (I am desperately worried about the food situation though I'm sure I'll be fine.)  

      As a soon to be weary traveller, my thoughts are simply those of every nervous git who decides to fly across the world: irrational and fantastic. Once my journey finally begins I am sure I will have much better things to discuss, but for now my story is one of preparation, of getting ready...