14 Hours Later

I left Harrisburg at 11 am Friday morning and took the 25 minute plane ride to Dulles. My flight from Dulles left around 2 pm after a short delay while we waited for the thunderstorms to move out of our way. 14 hours later I landed at Incheon International Airport - it was one day later and 5:00 in the evening. The time change, at least when I convert, is to subtract an hour then switch the am to pm or vice-versa, almost a half day off. I was met at the airport by my beautiful girlfriend and we waited an hour before catching a bus which took us close to her apartment. After the hour and a half bus ride and a twenty minute walk, we were finally 'home'.

No problems at immigration - the woman looked at my passport, looked at my visa stamp, looked at me, stamped my arrival date and away I went. After picking up my bags, I handed the gentleman my customs declaration which was no declaration and moved right along with the scores of other people going through the same line. No random checks, no questions, just handed him a piece of paper.

As for the flight, if you somehow find yourself flying over this way, be sure to book with Korean Air. By far the most pleasant flying experience I have ever enjoyed. I don't know about you, but usually I feel uncomfortable asking the stewardess for anything, a drink, a snack, whatever. Not the case. The flight attendants constantly moved up and down the aisles to see if there was anything they could get for the passengers. Unfortunately, since I did not book my own flight, I was stuck in a middle seat. It wasn't too bad since I was able to walkabout at least every three hours and get a good stretch in.


The sweetest part of the entire flight, the technology. Each seat had their own screen with accompanying remote. If you look closely, you can see the remote beneath the screen to the left. Not only was I able to watch movies, 5 in all - Shutter Island, The Book of Eli, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and Invictus - but I was also able to play games on the screen. On the backside of the remote their was a joystick and buttons. The games weren't anything spectacular but they were still nice! Also, I could pause the movies if I wanted to get up and go to the bathroom or if dinner came. I was not at the mercy of anyone else. Needless to say, I got an hour of sleep which has helped me adjust to the time difference.

On the flight, I also got two meals and a snack. For lunch I had beef, mashed potatoes, bread, potato salad, and fruit. Snack was a banana and doughnut which was stuffed with beef BBQ - quite tasty. Finally, I had chicken and rice for dinner with a salmon salad and cheesecake. With each meal complimentary wine was served and there must have been three or four additional drink services. As I mentioned, my most pleasant flying experience to date. I cannot even fathom first class...