The Eagle Has Landed

Wow, what a trip it's been today. Had a fabulous morning with Greg, drinking coffee and eating breakfast together. Got my last minute things together and off to the airport. The flight wasn't as bad as anticipated... I got to sit in a window seat that only had one other seat next to me. I took a couple of good drugs with a cocktail, and the rest is history. Turns out the flight only took 11 hours as opposed to the 13 I had originally thought. I sat next to a young Korean guy who is a student at UW. He was very informative of a couple of cultural differences as well as told me that not many people speak english.

As I got off the plane, there were few signs in english, and was handed a face mask right away. Apparently S. Korea has had 4 deaths from that damn pig flu going around. They are pretty freaked out about it, I even had to fill out a medical intake form on the plane to ensure I hadn't been sick recently. Strange, I guess I didn't think that the Pig Flu was so serious.

I managed to find the bus ticket booth where the woman spoke little to no english. Luckily I had printed out my hotel and map info, so I just handed it to her and she in turn handed me a ticket and pointed to the numbered bus stop for me to wait. The good thing about Korea is that they use the same number system like a lot of places - so if all else fails, you at least know where to stand to catch a bus and how much it costs.

The bus ride was really nice, it is the KAL limousine bus that goes directly to the popular destinations in Seoul with fewer stops. There was a t.v. on the bus and the seats were very comfortable. It took a little over an hour to get to my destination and cost about $7 US. The announcement for the bus stops were really quiet, and in my research I was told to get off at a specific stop and then walk to my hotel. This was really stressing me out, but right when I was about to jump ship and hail a cab - there was my hotel on one of the tallest buildings! I was relieved since I was super hungry and tired.

I ended up being super lame and getting food in my hotel, which turned out to be really good. Lots of Korean food, but some American options as well. I ate a lot of raw salmon, sushi rolls, meat and kimchi. Then headed to the jasmine spa that the hotel provides. Let me tell you, it was the most relaxing communal hot tub I have ever been in! First off, I was the only one in there. They have this cute area where you leave your clothes in a locker area fully equipped with hair and body products. Then they have these amazing full body showers (where they spray at every angle) and a beautiful jasmine hot tub that I melted away in.

Tomorrow I will get adventurous and seek out some of what this crazy city has to offer. So far, it reminds me of New York, and my hotel is in one of the busiest parts of the city. I am currently looking out to 8 lanes of busy traffic and neon lights everywhere.