Destination Korea!

On Tuesday morning we all woke up really early, 3am, uggh! And drove to the airport. It was actually a nice ride, both Mom and Dad came since we could all fit in Dad's truck. We took the truck since all our luggage wouldn't fit in Mom's Nitro. We watched the sun rise in the Massachusetts Mountains and had conversation over coffee and tiramisu from Mike's Pastry. Upon arriving at the airport we gathered and filled two luggage carts. We had 8 suitcases, one Kelty Kids Backpack, two car seats with Go Go Babyz wheelers, 7 carry on bags and two stuffed animals! We had no major problems with our first flight, which was to San Fransisco, except for a communication error over Giulianna's car seat.

We had about a two hour lay over in San Fran which was just barely enough. The airport is set up so only some of the international flights are where you don't have to go through security again. But of course ours was not one of those! So we not only had to jog across the airport to the other side but we had to go through security AGAIN!!!! When we were arriving at our gate they were calling our names, thankfully it was just to confirm a seat assignment. The airline we took was Asiana which is a United affiliate. The people were so nice!!! They actually came out before hand and asked us what we wanted to do with the car seats. I told them I wanted to use them on the flight which they acted like was a very strange request. They were ok with it though and then took the seats and placed them in our spots before anyone even boarded the flight.  Then once on board they not only provide you with a really nice blanket and a pillow, but slippers and a hot towel. We also got headphones for watching movies and two meals, and so many drink servings I could hardly count. There were also tooth brushes, lotion and mouth wash available in the bathroom.

Now I need to mention how much Asian people love white babies, especially those with blue eyes and light hair, aka our kids. So we had a flight attendant who was in love with Rhyon from the get go. Every single time she went up the isle she would stop and oogle at him and talk to him. She knew his name, and even held him at one point. If he got fussy at all she was right there talking to him. Then at one point I got up to take him in the bathroom to change him and there was a line. So I was waiting and the lady in the last row (who spoke little English) was holding out her hands to hold the baby. So I have him to her (I know what your thinking!) and she too oogled at him. Well she also knew the lady in front of her who joined in and they played pass the baby. We were then joined by about 4 flight attendants. Turns out that the lady was one of the flight attendants mother. And then when we got off the plane there were more flight attendants around, while I was waiting for Mike to get the car seat carts, all oogleing over Rhyon. The one girl kept putting her hands out to Rhyon to try and hold him and every time he would turn away from her and cling to me. I actually felt really bad. LOL

So the airport was an interesting place. Everything is written in Korean and English. There is a Dunkin' Doughnuts in the main lobby. And everyone there is helpful. We had a cab driver help us push one of our carts of luggage clear across the airport even though he wasn't getting our business. We then had to wait for a bus to Yongsan. Thankfully we didn't have to wait to long and there was room on the bus for all of our stuff. 

Waiting for the bus

Rhyon was happy to be mobile and not in the car seat.

That's our luggage in all its glory!

Here are some pitures of the country side as we drove along on the bus.

And yes it was that grey color. As Mike keeps telling me its monsoon season here. It was raining when we arrived and has been pretty grey since. Today the sky was so thick it was like you could cut through it. It is the strangest thing I have ever seen.

Once we arrived on post we had the challenge of getting our luggage in the car. Well the luggage won out and we had two big suitcases that didn't fit. Thankfully we had a backup plan! Our dear friends Mike and Angie Crane and their daughter Abby have also become new residents of Korea. They are staying in the Dragon Hill Lodge on post which happens to be where the bus drops you off. So I called up to their room and asked them to store our luggage overnight. It was so nice to see a familiar face at the end of a journey like that!