So on this adventure, Young Bum and I had thought we were all set for our big trip to america. Plane tickets, passports, bags, cash....... everything was ready. Our itinery was going to be a long and crazy one though. Seoul-Japan-LA-Vegas. Also, we had to leave early so we decided to stay up ALL NIGHT the night before departing in order to be able to sleep on our long flights.
As we headed to ICN airport we were having a great time navigating the subway in our delirious state of mind. I was cracking up when Young Bum was pushing past the old lady ajumas with my giant suitcase and korean girls were giving him death stares when he shoved them over. But we were soooo tired that we didn't care who we shoved over... we just wanted to get to the plane. Thats where are problems got started. We got on the express subway line heading AWAY from the airport! This lead us to be about 30 minutes later than expected, but whatever.
We finally made it into the airport, and checked in for the flight. The girl at the Delta counter asked Young Bum for his visa to america. Ummmm slight problem.... Young Bum had no idea he needed a visa to go to america, and so he didn't have one. The attendant told YB that it was available online for koreans to get within one week of their flight and that if he hurried he could go down to one of the internet kiosks in ICN and get it taken care of. That made me worried. Yes, I am sure I could go get it taken care of, but my boyfriend is "special" and things like this are definitely not his cup of tea. Anyway, I kept waiting anxiously for YB to come back to the counter, but he never came. The attendant was assuring me that even a child could figure out how to do it, and I assured I believed her a child could do it, but I was worried YB could do it.
Summarizing the story, I nearly left for Vegas by myself and had YB come and meet me in Vegas, but then I realized he would never make it on his own. So we missed our flight. Yes, this is the 3rd flight I have missed in my life, but this one wasn't my fault. I didn't wake up in Itaewon after a night of drinking, or happen to be at Burger King like in times before.
Luckily, we got a FABULOUS deal! The nice people at Delta took us to their office and got Young Bum a visa (one Delta girl actually put it on her credit card and we paid her cash since we didn't have credit cards on us.) Once, YB got his visa taken care of we did our best to charm the delta staff, and it paid off! They booked us on flights that would only put us in Vegas 2 hours later than our original flights had been scheduled for. WOOO HOO! More benefits- we would be flying to LA then Vegas, so it cut out one of the connections, and we were flying Korean Air*One of my favorites! (I am secretly obsessed with their hairpins).
Anyway, after the drama of the morning YB and I took advantage of our time at the airport and headed straight to duty free shopping. South Korea's ICN airport is AWESOME! I have been to many airports, and I rate it among the best. First of all, duty free shopping is much more fun because you can sample the booze. We spent about 2 hours walking around to all the different shops and pretending like we were going to buy expensive whiskey and new vodkas and got to sample everything. It was great! Then I stumbled across this cultural center in the airport where you can do free arts and crafts as long as you have time before your flight. I felt bad because YB couldn't participate, because it was only for foreigners, so I let him help me paint.
After our fun morning of drinking, painting, and getting YB a visa we eventually boarded the plane and headed to USA! I actually LOVE long flights over the pacific now. I have probably made at least 10 or 15 of them across the Pacific, and with the personal video/gaming consoles combined w/ free wine, I am a happy traveler.
We made it to LA, and it was YB's first time in America. He was hilarious to watch. He was amazed at how different everyone looked. Tall, short, fat, thin, light skinned, dark skinned, you name it. Soooo different from Korea where practically everyone looks like they were cut from the same cookie cutter for the most part.
After, our beer and pizza in LA, we boarded the connection and made it to VEGAS!!! The reason we were going to Vegas was to see my friend Colleen for her bachlorette and nearly 20 girls from my sorority. So, we knew the minute we got to the MGM Grand we needed to change into our swimwear and get our butts down to the pool.
We made it down to the pool just before everyone was heading back to get ready to go get ready for the night of partying ahead. It was great to see everyone, but we were fully jet-lagged and there was no possible way for us to rally. We managed to shove our faces with Mexican food and then passed out in the most comfortable bed in our suite room overlooking the Vegas strip.
No comments:
Post a Comment