Got in 20 minutes early into Incheon, South Korea, the first leg of this race around Southeast Asia.
Going to a foreign country, especially where English is not the primary language, heightens awareness in the same way that perhaps blindness or deafness forces one to depend on the rest of their senses.
Korean TV: They had broadcasts from the two major news outlets on screan, KBS and SBS. The KBS reporters all have email addresses where you can write to them at the end of the segment. However, they could have come up with better usernames than “ace” and “bird6777”.
The news spent a lot of time about the John Hamm/Korean gymnist gold metal controversy. The news fully put the blame on the federation and actually put Hamm in a good light. The other news was the ping pong gold that they won over the Chinese, which they spent more than 20 minutes doing play by plays of the last volley. This was in context with the current diplomatic tension between Korea and China over historical boundaries of the ancient Korean empire, where China is now in the diplomatic doghouse as compared to America.
The movie was “My Mother the Diver”, which was kind of wierd Korean soap opera having something to do with wild gingsing, and then the second half of the movie
There was this Korean chick which was somewhat nationality confused — she was wearing a Roots Canada cap with a Roots United Kingdom pink track suit. Cute.
Supper: miso soup, cured salmon bi bim bap, korean pickles, 210g of steamed white rice, Dole fruit gel cup, red wine, water, green tea.
Dinner/Breakfast: cod fish stewed with corn and potato, smoked salmon and potato salad, coffee cake cupcake, roll with butter, water, green tea.
This had to be the best meals I’ve ever had on a airline. Korean Air puts most of the money into the food, and not much into the drinks. I think that makes for a better compromise.
The only thing that really is bad (or good depending on how you see it) is the connection times are so bad. The nonogenerian Philipine couple that was sitting next to me have to wait until 10 AM for their connection.
OK, I have 5 minutes left on this kiosk, so here’s the route marker: go to Myong-dong, Seoul in downtown and find the oldest Western building.
