Fly By the Seat of Your Pants

I'm back 

I remember when I first came to Korea back in 2013, this was the motto of the orientation EPIK (English Program in Korea). It still feels true. 

When I first came here, I thought that an 11hr layover in JFK airport was bad. 

When I booked this particular flight, I had second, third, and fourth thoughts about the route. I bought it because it was a really good deal, and only 1 layover. But this nagging voice said "That layover is too short." (it was a delay in my departing airport that made me miss my flight back in 2013 and sent me to JFK to wait 11 hrs) 

This time around, we boarded the CRJ2000, and I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not too long after, we were deplaned, told that there was a hydraulic fluid leak in the right landing gear (or something). It was unsafe to fly. And it was going to take 30 minutes for the mechanics to even arrive. Not good. The time between this plane and the next was only an hour or so. Even better - the pilot himself came out to explain what happened. He said this kind of repair requires the jet being put on a lift. It takes all day. The flight was cancelled. He was apologetic (and Canadian).

Before we deplaned, I had asked the stewardess about making my connecting flight to Seoul. And this one dude on the plane was also going to Seoul.

The agents at the counter were not actually Air Canada agents, they worked for United, but I guess in some places/situations they share or borrow employees. (I had caught on the news that Air Canada had only just reopened flights between this airport and Canada (due to covid)). They worked hard for us to get everyone rerouted, and they started trying to ticket me and this dude first since it would be hardest. The route they wanted was sold out. We were given the Air Canada customer service number to call for ourselves to get a new itinerary. I knew from trying to call Air Canada a week ago that their customer service number is so busy that you can't even be put on a waiting list. I got thru to the menu only by calling at midnight, and then waited 20 minutes, giving up and googling for the answer to my question/problem. (it was a non-problem, thankfully)

So. I don't have a real cell phone. I haven't for 6 years. It's just a smartphone I use for wifi. I was told to go claim my baggage and use the payphone down there. 

But I had this thought to try Skype first (i can make calls with wifi, like a calling card. i put money into the account. i don't have a ton of money in it, but it's useful). The number was so busy, it didn't work the first few times I dialed it. It wasn't just me, the Korean guy who was also going to Seoul had the same problem. It was not possible. I had this feeling like I needed to stay there, not leave. 
I called my dad. He confirmed I had the right number, and got me the numbers for Priceline and the Aeroplan (air canada rewards). I tried them, but no use.
After some time passed, and another agent came to help, etc., I found out from the Korean guy he'd gotten an email from Air Canada. They emailed him a new itinerary. 

I guess technology these days. They can electronically do these things and within 30-45 minutes. He told me the flight was at 6am the next day, and that the airline was going to put him up in a hotel room overnight. So I checked my email, and there it was. My itinerary. Only, mine was different from his. I was to leave at 6pm for O'Hare, then to SF, then Seoul. (each with a layover of less than an hour between flights) These flights were with United. 

So, we had to go back to ticketing (outside the tsa secure area) to get rechecked in. I had to pick up my bags, and re-check them. (i had 2 bags, a total of 87lbs; then a carry-on and a laptop bag)

Seeing me struggling with my bags, a nice dude tried to help me get a cart. (the airport charges $6 to rent one. highway robbery!) So I get rechecked in, and the Korean dude wanted to know my itinerary because he wanted to get home sooner. He was going to visit his parents, and wanted to spend as much time as possible in his visit time. So I helped him, and someone got his tickets changed over. (oh yeah, we spent like 40 minutes standing in line talking to this man from New Foundland who worked "at the new cracker plant". Pretty interesting)

So the Korean guy and I got some lunch and waited for our flight. 

While waiting, I could tell this flight would be delayed. The jet wasn't at the gate yet. It should have been fueling and loading and stuff. But it wasn't there. I heard "Bad weather in Chicago." This plane was coming from Chicago and was delayed by at least 30 minutes because of storms. It would arrive too late for us to get on the connecting flight. Huge frustration. The United agent got us booked on an 11am to Atlanta, 2:25 to Seoul. It was with Delta. "You'll have to pick up your bags" "At carousel P." I finished for her. "You've done this before."
 The Korean guy pulled out his original email from Air Canada, and mentioned that they were going to pay for our hotel in the first place, and she agreed and got us confirmation emails for bookings (it's nice that all this can be done electronically, and thru email). She also gave us 2 vouchers each for food at the airport. (she asked if we were together. "No, we just met today. We even had lunch together. My name's Audrey, by the way." "Oh, I'm Kevin." The agent looked surprised. It was amusing.)
So we got some food, I picked up my bags again (and had to pay for another cart), and we waited for the shuttle bus. (after picking up my bags, i discovered i lost my totoro keychain :( )

When we went to check-in, the lady at the counter said they didn't receive any calls from United about us. I had pre-loaded my confirmation email so I could pull it up there without wifi. 
Even this was not whatever they needed. But the lady understood, and she goes, "Are you distressed passengers?"  "Yes. We are distressed." Kevin replied. 
She said she'd bill United. They still needed a card, something about like a $20 deposit type thing that would be refunded. (when i finally arrived, i got the time to look at my email receipt. i was charged $73. and the girl put down my name as Lauren. Apparently she can't read passports. I wonder if my bank will refuse to pay it since I'm not Lauren. LOL. I will begin the process of asking for refunds in a day or too. I'm still too tired.) ((the carts are free at the hotel btw))
Kevin and I scheduled the airport shuttle to arrive at 8:30am, thinking 2 hrs should be early enough to arrive. 

The room I got was nice. (receipt says it was a king room. like whut? i dunno) It was good to be able to shower and lay down. I tried to pre-check in online, but Delta (the 3rd airline) wouldn't let me. It said they had to verify I had the documents I would need to enter Korea (since it was a 1 way ticket). And to show up 3 hrs early to check the documents.
The current papers needed for entry to Korea are a negative result on a PCR covid test, performed and issued within 72hrs of departure. (in the case of a delay, they will honor the test, says the consulate online)
I had one, and the 72hrs were "up" at 3pm Friday. But they were still going to let me fly at 6. So. 

Oh, that was a sign. We got to the airport only for the Delta guy to be like "Yeah, I can't let you go thru without a new PCR test. Your old one is expired." He didn't care about the delays that caused this. Nope. He told me how to get to the testing place. So I had to run with my bags on the 3rd cart I had rented in this process. I paid for the expensive fast-read PCR test. It took 45 minutes to receive this email of my test results (was supposed to in 30 min). That wait was a fury of anxious prayers. 
(which, i should say. the nurse lady at the testing site was super nice and helpful. she said i wasn't the first person to run all the way there. she let me use her phone, since my old iphone doesn't autoscan QR codes. (which, it feels weird how we're all in a QR world now) i had left the phone I got from Victoria in a bag in the cart at the front desk of Hyatt (the test site is there). which by the way, Victoria, your phone has saved my entire trip!)

The Delta guy was like "Did you sign a ___?" I forget what he called it. He printed me off a "consent to quarantine" form. I'm like, I already have one of those (i signed it and mailed it in to get the visa). I had 30-40 minutes to get thru the TSA checkpoint and get to the gate. 

Miraculously, there was almost no one in line for the screening! I walked right to the front of the line with only 1 or 2 people in front of me. And the person pointed me to a row for x-raying bags/shoes/etc with no one in it. no one. it was empty just for me. the tsa stopped my bag and opened it in front of me, asking if i brought any weapons or dangerous objects. i think they were just doing this as a show. like they have to pull a random bag every hour. because she so half-heartedly looked at the items in my carry-on. it was just one more thing to hold me up.)

So from there, I kind of ran to the gate. I am SO glad the airport isn't huge. (and i like our moving sidewalks. those were nice when running to the Hyatt)

I made it. Kevin and I boarded for Atlanta. In Atlanta, we got Popeyes chicken. And took it to terminal F. 

Then I got the news that they would not accept a digital form of this PCR test. And all I had was pdf. No print out. The girl in the line acted like it was no big deal, that it could be printed and pointed me to the counter. But the woman at the counter was like "We don't have a printer. You have to go to Minute Suites, in terminal B. You better hurry. You have 40 minutes til boarding." 

F is semi far away from B. I moved rapidly, only to find Minute Suites' printer was down. She directed me to the Delta help counter. I was so stressed, I even asked the couple in line ahead of me if they were in a hurry, because I needed this printed asap. They were nice and let me in front of them. I wasted 6 minutes in this line only to find out "We don't have a printer. Go to the Minute Suites in terminal T." 

In Atlanta, the concourses are T>A>B>C>D>E>F. This was 2 terminals away in the wrong/further direction. I pulled out my phone on the shuttle train to look up the location of this Minute Suites in that terminal. The website said it was temporarily closed. WHAT. I get there and ask an employee if it was open. He said he thought it was and pointed me on. I asked another employee, and she was like "I never heard of that ever." So I'm walking down the concourse straining to read the far away signs. Nothing. I can't find it. No info touch screen either. I was panicking at this point. I had come so far, and for a paper to keep me back. I turned around to head back, when I saw a Delta counter and no one waiting in line there. Something told me (presbyterians aren't comfortable saying the Holy Ghost spoke to them) to go ask these people. So I spilled the whole thing to them super fast and they were like. Whoa. 
The one guy gets on his phone and the lady is trying to figure out what to do, telling me I better get back to my gate. That's when the guy says something and the lady says "The manager is coming."

Some Delta manager lady came and she was a bit surprised by the whole thing, but she agreed to print this document for me. I emailed her the pdf (victoria's phone) and she went to print it. The lady at the counter was telling me I'd have enough time to get back to F. I had like 20 minutes. As far as I knew, this plane was going to depart at 3:05 and it was 2:43. So I ran. Riding the train shuttle thing back to F felt like an eternity. I texted my mom and asked her to pray that the flight would be delayed. (the people back at the desk that helped me were like "we can't hold the plane for you.") I prayed furiously.

I am not a great runner. But I ran. I ran and hit the escalator so hard, someone gasped behind me. I didn't stop. Nothing fell out of my carry-on, so I kept going. 

I have exercise induced asthma. I was wearing a mask. This was not easy. In F, I had to cheat and slide my mask to the side to breathe. I was sweaty and breathless. I think my heart rate was 160. I could see down the way to my gate - that people were still there, lined up. They were still boarding. So I slowed down and caught my breath. The plane had been delayed by 45 minutes. So they had only started boarding a few minutes before I got there. I told Kevin that that was crazy. It was a religious experience.

Oh, and when I got on the plane, Kevin and I shared the middle row. Me, empty seat, him. Interesting. 

14 hrs and 34mins later and we landed in Seoul. (i might have slept 1 hr)

Going through quarantine and stuff is weird. I'll write about it later. It wasn't hard, just weird and too much info at once. 

So I get thru and go to claim my bags. The last one was the biggest. It was face down. And as I lifted it up off the conveyor belt, my stuff poured out of it. 
The zipper on the main compartment was broken. Like it is split open, and doesn't zip anymore. 

I dropped my purse and ran, scooping things up off the conveyor belt. I was worried it would suck my clothes in and damage them. This made an L shaped wake of items rounding the carousel. I was picking up my things and ferrying them back to the bag, and explaining to people about the mess. I had to try to scoop up my underwear from the airport floor before they were seen. And wouldn't you know, it was all these men there? LOL. 

After getting things mostly put back in, and trying to remember what might have been in there, I realized I only had 1 flipflop, the right shoe. I asked this baggage employee (he was reading bag tags, someone else's bags did not arrive. they ended up in LAX) for help. He didn't speak English. Somewhere between my Korean and some miming (i have no idea how to say "things went everywhere"), he understood and kept an eye out for items. 

I didn't find any. But the man whose bag ended up in LAX helped me lift my broken bag onto a (free) cart and he sent me to baggage claims. They also did not speak much English at all. I gathered from them that they did not find any loose items on the plane. And that there was nothing they could do. No claim to file. I would just have to accept it. I was so tired I didn't care. 

Leaving the airport is different now because of covid. You have to get a quarantine approved taxi or vehicle. It's basically a vehicle with a plastic shield between you and the driver.

I asked this young guy working for the KTX (train) booth thing if he knew when the money exchange closed. I could see it just a ways out from this quarantine area. He said he would check. He came right back saying they were closing, and he would escort me over there to change my money! What a nice dude. 

That was a blessing. (it saves me from using my card which incurs fees) 

God bless that manager in Atlanta, and that guy who escorted me to change my money! 

The taxi driver was super nice. He asked what kind of music I liked, and I told him kpop or anything. I like music. So he played some kpop, and then an old singer. He went on to play trot music and he was teaching me trot stuff (it's a genre of music in Korea). He was cool. Very chatty. 

He helped me carefully load my bags in and out of the taxi and got a cart (free) for me in the hotel. 
At the hotel, the taxi driver was like "This is a good place to stay. When you get out, you can go directly buy a new carrier." He's right. 

I've been in this tiny room since. I'm jet lagged, and I really need to sleep now. (oh yes, i totally 100% needed a newer phone for the quarantine. my old phone won't even connect to the wifi here. i thought it might happen, since it is so old. no big deal.)

But God is good.