A day in the life of us...: Seoul Survivor

Georgia

Atlanta airport

Korean Air

A couple of bumps but no show-stoppers.

What's a little travel without a little bumps and bruises along the way?

Seoul

Korean Air was wonderful! The airline attendants were very kind, they exceeded my expectations. Four of us were seated in bulk head seating and the fifth (Haley) was seated in a row next to us. All seats were equipped with a personal Television-PC that showed up to 30 movies; country informational videos, video games, flight information and tax free shopping. We were occupied the entire flight. Haley managed to watch 6 movies, Isabelle kept the airline hostess busy and Sophia was in every program the touch screen had to offer. We had 2 meals. First, a traditional Korean dish named Bim Bap and the second was an American dish of chicken. The airline earned an A+.

We rushed off the plane and made our first tourist stop, Inchon Airport bathroom.

I'm standing there admiring the porcelain perfection when my backpack hits something on the wall and the most peculiar sound begins... fake flushing!

At first I thought a bathroom hostess would knock on my stall door asking if I needed any help or reprimand me for taking pictures in the airport. Taking a closer look, I realized this was the legendary sound over machine for the discreet user. I stood there totally excited and kept pushing the button. I wanted to open the stall door and drag in the first bystander to share this excitement. Here is the link for anyone who would like to see it

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3554650040148085330

This is where it starts to get a little bumpy. Once we were through all the checkpoints to leave the airport, we had to line up for the military checkpoints. Our first line was to put our name on a list to get in the second line, that's to get on the bus to the Hotel.

As we are sitting on the bus, we get a mini briefing from the bus drivers son, who couldn't have been more than 14. He tells us we will be on the bus for another 2 hours before we get to the hotel. I have the dog carrier on my lap and the solider next to me it already wiping his brow from the sweat. This is after the 4 hr Atlanta layover, 15 hr plane ride and 2hours to get through immigration.

...we arrive

We are standing at the hotel check-in when Bella decides to bark. The reaction from the employees was as if a crocodile was spotted in the lobby. We are then informed that the dog is not allowed to be in the room with us. Chris has a mild temper flare up. He was told, through reservations, that having the dog would not be a problem. It's 9 at night, everything is closed and Chris is rushing so he can get back to the welcome center to go through another briefing. The only solution is to check the dog in with security and leave her there for the night. My stomach tightens. Chris gets us to the room and goes to his briefing (1hr). This leaves me with 3 hungry kids and a dog behind the check-in desk. I run through the hotel to find anything that is kid friendly and everything has closed within the last 10 min. There is one solution, the shoppette. I cant count the times that the shoppette has saved us from near disaster. I pick up a couple of delicious microwave meals, feed the kids, stick them in the shower, put them in bed and run to take care of Bella. By this time Chris has returned. We go to check Bella out of security and find out that they are storing her in the basement of the hotel near the loading dock. My heart sinks. By this time Chris and I at complete exhaustion. We go back to the room, crawl in bed and pass out without the much needed shower. We wake up at 3 am sick to our stomachs at the condition our dog is in. We get up, get ready and sneak her into the room. We keep her in the room until Chris goes to work, he's taking her with him.

This is when the girls and I explore Dragon Lodge...

We have been all over the lodge and post. They have an excellent public transportation system here.

Dragon Lodge is an American Hotel with Asian themes.....in Korea (ugh).

Later this afternoon we are planning to catch a train to Taegu.

The hardest part about all this is that I'm in the heart of Korea and I am having to remind myself that I'm not in the US.

Chris comes back from lunch to inform me that...
1. We will be here another week.
2.The post vet has made room so Bella can board there the entire time.
3. He cannot leave post.
I am thrilled that we get to stay in Seoul for a week, but feel horrible that Chris can't go. At the same time I think I am going to loose my mind if I have to eat another American meal. A little bit of heaven is just a 15 minute walk out the gate. Chris notices my anxiety, as I am snatching up anything travel related, and tells me to go for it.

Our first trip will be tomorrow...out the gate, hang a right and walk until we can't smell Burger King. Friday we are going on a day tour to see the" Korean Folk Village".