Day 18

 Today is the final day of our Asia journey. All travel, pretty much.

The day began by getting up early and finishing our packing. It just occurred to me that we didn't even turn on the TV once during our brief stay here. We went down to their breakfast buffet, which was actually quite nice: whole red apples, hash browns, scrambled eggs, sausages, noodles, and chocolate croissants. Servers stood on the side, just as they do in Chinese restaurants. With the help of Pleco, I was able to ask one server where the fruit was. (I had forgotten the word for fruit....it was 8 am and wasn't completely lucid.) 

We then took a shuttle to the airport, and we got in the line at Korean Air. I love that one of the lines stated "MORNING CALM BAG DROP." I still don't know what this means. I wandered over to the "Sky Priority" line, and encouraged Kerry to do the same, since we are Silver Medallion members through Delta, and we got checked in there. We had to watch our bags go through a security x-ray before they would let us leave. I should note that by this time I was having a LOT of pain above my knee, so we found a topical cream that I could put on it. Kerry purchased a lot of beverages, too. And before we knew it, it was time to go on the plane to Seoul. The in-flight "fasten your seatbelts" presentation was done by BTS.

We were given a meal on the three-hour plane ride: a roll, a salad, some fruit, and some chicken with noodles. Not especially memorable, but filling. On this flight, I watched the movie Boyhood, which I've been wanting to see for a long time. It's about the life of this young man played by several different actors--Partricia Arquette played his mom. It was very long but a good antidote for a long flight. Eventually, we landed in Seoul, South Korea.

In South Korea, we had a three-hour layover. I was really struggling with walking at this point, but Kerry was patient with me. Eventually, we decided to go to a fast-food burger place called The Lotteria. It reminded me of Burger King. In the crowded restaurant--there weren't many places to sit--a young man began to speak to us in perfect English (which surprised me, in South Korea). In turns out that he was going on our flight to Minneapolis, and that he had just been to Laos. It's amazing how a brief conversation with someone overseas can make you feel connected to home!

We also did a little souvenir shopping: pens, flags, fans, and assorted little trinkets for ourselves and others. So that was fun. But before we knew it, it was time to board. Delta had things very organized into Zones, much different from Cathay Airlines in other parts of Asia. And it was nice to be sitting in Delta Comfort.

Once the flight got going, we knew we were in for a long haul of 12 hours. The first couple of hours, we weren't even given any water because there was a tropical storm going on, and things were pretty rocky outside. What did I do on the flight? I played two rounds of a trivia game, and I watched a couple movies. One was Kramer vs. Kramer, which was much better than I anticipated. Another was Beaches, which I've seen before. I dozed off from time to time. I also read some of Lynette Reini-Grendell's memoir Wild Things, which I quite enjoyed.

As far as food goes, they gave us three meals: a bulgagi Korean beef meal with Haagen-Dazs for dessert (Kerry opted for pasta); a cheese pizza with artichoke, and a breakfast sandwich with fruit and yogurt. During this flight, Kerry and I tried to get up as infrequently as possible since the guy in the aisle was a sound sleeper. We didn't want to disturb him, so we didn't make many bathroom trips. 

Eventually, we arrived in Minneapolis. The walk to immigration was not long, but I was given the third degree by the customs agent. When I told him I bought some basic souvenirs, he replied, "What do you mean by 'basic souvenirs?''" I assured him that I was not brining in any meat or fruit, but he continued to interrogate me, asked me the worth of what I was bringing in, what specifically I was bringing (flags, hats). "Jesus Christ," I murmured (not-so-under-my-breath) once he finally let me go. When then claimed our bags and busted out! Jeff eventually picked us up.....and we headed for Houlihan's.

I was surprisingly hungry for some "Shrooms," and Kerry wanted chicken fingers as well. It was nice to chat with Jeff, and we found out how things were going with the kitties. He took us home, we admired the cats a bit....and then went to bed "early," which was about 8:30 pm USA time. 

And that was it! As I write this, I am still recovering, especially with my knee issue, which turned out to be meralgia paresthetica (according to my Urgent Care PA). My neurologist wants me to have more tests. We will see what happens. 

Thanks for reading this.