Left New York City at 0800 Friday and touched down at Incheon at 1600 on Saturday. It was actually worse than that. I left my hotel at 0500 (after the 0400 wake-up call) which got me to JFK airport way earlier than I needed to be. Flight left the gate on time but we got in the back of the take-off queue so actually were running late by the time we were off the ground.

I figured there would be plenty of time for my connection in San Francisco but we didn’t land until 1230 local time and my flight to Korea left at 1300. As we pulled up to the gate the flight attendent announced that Incheon was departing from gate 92 in the International terminal. And that’s all she said. So I hoofed it through the airport and discovered to my dismay that I had to go through security to enter the International terminal. Fortunately the line was not very long, but doing the “taking of belt, shoes, watch, laptop out of the case and on the belt seperately” routine (and its reverse on the other side) took some time. When I finally made it to gate 92 the sign said “last call” and they were calling my name on the PA system.

The gate agent takes my ticket and asks “where have you been?”. I wasn’t a real happy camper at this point and I shared my opinion about the United’s short connection window and how screwed up it was to have to go through security again. He said we have a shuttle that brings passengers to the International terminal bypassing security. I said am I supposed to know that through osmosis? He responded we have “signage”. Well, I didn’t see any signs but it seems that would have been a good piece of information for the flight attendent to share when she announced the gate. Anyway I made the flight but didn’t get to do the duty free store or buy some comfort foods for the long trip across the Pacific.

The flight was uneventful (which is a good thing). I was seated next to a young Korean woman who was returning with a group of 50 Korean kids who had been visiting the USA. I was relieved that they were so well behaved because I was smack dab in the middle of them. The woman was exhausted and slept most of the flight. I couldn’t catch more than a couple of naps, maybe two hours total. I saw two movies “It must be love” with that Ashton Kutchner guy and “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”. Neither was great, but they helped pass the time which I guess is the point. I also made it halfway through a book called “Skinny Dip” which I am enjoying.

I had a $70 AFFES cab ride home from the airport. Took a long hot shower and went into Itaewon to burn some energy. Ran into my buds Robert, Vance and Kelly at Sweet Caroline’s and we had some drinks before they headed off to Shooters for some live music. I wasn’t up for that so I went across the street to Dolce Vita and had a reunion with my pool league teammates. Seems they have been doing quite well in absence, winning all 3 of the matches I missed. I hope that was just a coincidence. Then I headed over to Bar Metro to play some pool and did alright considering I hadn’t played and was buzzed and tired. On the way back home I stopped off at Bar Episode for some darts. Got my clock cleaned by Jin Hee, one of the bar girls I chat with there. So it was midnight, I had been up about 30 hours and I got home and crashed hard.

Now its Sunday morning and I’m hoping I hear from Corine who I let use my car while I was gone. No food in the house so I need to hit the commissary today. Corine moved into her new apartment during my absence and I don’t have a phone number. So I’m kinda stuck unless she calls.

I had a great time in New York which I will post on later with some photos. I also want to post photos of Kevin and Lynn’s wedding, which was very nicely done. I don’t have any good photos from the wedding though, so I am waiting till they email me the professional pics.

So that pretty much catches you up on my journey home. I have a positive outlook as I begin my second six months in Korea. I am committed to making the most of my time here and I think the bumps and bruises I experienced during my first six months were the lessons learned as I adjusted to this new life. I’m going to try and get down to Busan over Labor Day weekend so I can get a taste of the second city. At least it is something to look forward to.