My trip to Seoul began at 8 AM on Friday, when I left my house to drive to Pittsburgh. After arriving, the whole group went to a nice Korean restaurant for dinner, where many of us got our first experience with Korean food. After dinner, and a night full of little sleep and lots of anticipation, I left for the airport with the group around 4:30 AM. We first had to take a connecting flight to Dallas, which was a quick 3 hours compared to the flight to Seoul we had ahead of us. While waiting in Dallas I got my final american meal for two weeks, some Texas barbecue, and by 11 AM local time our plane to Seoul left the gate.
The next 14 hours in the air felt as long as it sounds. I did my best to pass the time with movies and sleep, but I had a very hard time sleeping on the plane. Multiple meals were provided for us on the flight, but none of them were anything special. I also was stuck in a middle seat the whole time, which did not make the flight any more enjoyable. But, the excitement for Korea helped me push through, and after finally landing and getting through customs, I was in Korea.
After finally getting out of the airport on 4 PM Sunday, the group boarded a coach bus to take us into downtown Seoul. The bus ride was about an hour, and the whole time provided very cool sights of the Korea landscape and the massive city of Seoul.
We eventually arrived at the hotel, put our bags in our room, and then immediately left again to get an authentic Korean meal in a restaurant made to look like an old house in Korea. After the great meal, we returned to the hotel, where I immediately fell asleep thanks to the lack of sleep I had over the last 30 hours. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store for me!