This is a small log of my travel from the US to Korea…
Friday, January 13, 2006, it’s 8:15 a.m. (Jan 14) in Seoul. I’ve been in the air for about 3-1/2 hours of a 12-1/2 hour trip (Until the stop in Tokyo, then it’s off to Incheon and a 3-hour bus ride to Kunsan.
34,000 ft/1788 miles/ground speed is 515 mph/Great Slave Lake north of Edmonton, Canada/
I checked my bags this morning and learned that you’re no longer allowed 75 lbs on international flights (at least with United). Anything between 50 and 70 lbs costs $25, but over 70 lbs is a whopping $300! Both of my bags were over 50 lbs and one was over 70 (74.something). I had to move a couple items from the heaver bag to the other. But what do I care, really? the Air Force pays for overweight luggage!
I left Albuquerque at 7:30 a.m. MST and flew to Chicago. It was snowing in ORD at the time of my arrival and I half expected my flight to Korea to be delayed. Fortunately, it wasn’t and we boarded on time. The plane is practically empty. Although the business class section looks full, the economy plus is sparsely populated. I’m in an aisle seat in the middle section of the plane and the only other occupied seat is the aisle seat opposite mine. The extra legroom in the economy plus seats are nice (especially since the government fair wouldn’t allow me to use my miles to upgrade to business class), but the emptiness of the cabin is certainly a bonus.
I’m listening to Rachmoninoff as I type this note to post later on my blog. Dinner was chicken curry–not bad–and a cabernet sauvignon from Santiago, Chile. It wasn’t bad–fruity, but not too sweet and a bit earthy. I had two glasses, then finished up with a cup of coffee (United Airlines serves Starbucks coffee.
I spoke to Cindy before I boarded the plane in Chicago. I miss her very much and am feeling a little down. She says she’s just gonna lay around the house today and I don’t blame her–I’d be doing the same thing.
Approaching Fairbanks, AK/551 mph/36,000 ft/3539 miles to go (2776 miles traveled)/Soon we’ll be over the Pacific.
I just walked back to the flight attendants station to get a cup of coffee–through the economy section. Man! Talk about crowded…the seats are so close together I don’t know how anyone could get comfortable. There are quite a few people standing around in the aisle and near the lavatories. I would be, too, if forced to sit in those cramped seats.
The Japanese man seated in front of me is very restless. His movements are sharp and harsh, thrusting his head into the back of the seat to get it to recline.
2392 miles to go/Over the Bearing Sea and just crossing the international date line/I’ve been in the air for 7-1/2 hours…just 5 hours to go.
I watched “The Brothers Grimm” (one of the flight’s movies) and wasn’t impressed. About the only thing it did for me was take up a couple of hours. The flight attendants served a hot noodle bowl which was pretty good. Another cup of coffee and some orange juice. I’m feeling a bit dehydrated despite all the water I’ve been drinking, and my head is starting to hurt a bit.
Just over 1,000 miles to go. Over the Pacific Ocean now and approaching Japan. My head hurts and I can’t relax. I’m drinking more water to try to hydrate, but these little airline cups just aren’t getting it–I need about a liter. I wonder if they’d give me one of those big bottles they keep totting around?
Just 200 miles to go and we’re in a holding pattern just off the coast of Japan. Evidently, it’s raining pretty hard at Norita Airport. We should be heading in shortly as soon as we finish this loop). Another meal was served about an hour ago and I had some pasta stuffed shells. I wasn’t really too hungry, but wasn’t sure when I’d eat again. My head still hurts.
Back in the air again and heading for Incheon Airport in Seoul, Korea. We sat on the plane for 2 hours waiting for clearance to take-off–it was raining pretty hard, but didn’t seem bad enough to back us up like it did. Oh well, it doesn’t matter now, we’re in the air. The flight-time is about 1 hour, 45 minutes. My headache has subsided a bit. I bought a couple bottles of water at Norita and took a couple of Alieve.
Norita was an interesting experience. My layover was about 2 hours, so naturally everyone had to grab their stuff and depart the plane. You’d think we’d just hang around the gate, right? Nope! To get to the gate, we had to go through security which took about 40 minutes. My head’s going ka-pound, ka-pound, ka-pound and I’m standing in a line of people in the security line. Doesn’t anyone consider how ridiculous this is? I just got off the fucking plane!
I arrived at Kunsan at 3:30 a.m. The bus, the “Wolfpack Wheels,” left Incheon just after midnight. I thought I was going to miss the bus–the last bus–because we arrived so late, but they held it for us.
Anyway, I’m here now and just got off the phone with my wife. I miss her so much! It was great to hear her voice. I must have sounded like hell warmed over.
My head still hurts a little bit, but it’s much better than it was a few hours ago. I need to get to bed.
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