Flight

I arrived early at the airport on the 5th to start my journey. There were emotional goodbyes all around. I took one last look at my childhood home then hit the road, never to see it again for another year...

Then a few hours later I was driving back.

When I had gone to check-in counter at the airport, I was turned away because my COVID test did not meet their requirements. The document that the urgent care center gave me didn't have certain information that the airport employees were expecting such as how the PCR test was conducted, so they told me to come back again tomorrow. This was a huge blow for me. At that moment it felt like everything was falling apart. What if my position with EPIK was postponed because I was late? There had been cases of people who didn't get to participate in the program because of issues with their local law, or not getting all their documents in time, or catching COVID. Since I was now unemployed and stuck at home all day, spending another 6 months waiting to take my trip, especially when I was right about to leave, sounded like the worst thing imaginable.

Well, it turns out that LAX does COVID testing on-site (pro-tip for anyone traveling soon), and it's super easy. I got the test done the next morning and had my results back in a few hours. Negative again, luckily. This time I showed up early so I could be damn sure that the test was right this time. I held my breath as I went up for the second time. The man behind the counter glanced at my paper and didn't say anything. Was it okay? It wasn't until a minute later when he printed out my boarding pass and handed it to me that I let out a huge sigh of relief. I got through. I almost broke down right there in the middle of the airport. It was finally happening.

Even thought this is my 7th time flying to Korea, I always dread the flight. Thirteen and a half long hours on a crowded plan, seats too uncomfortable to sleep in, crying babies, the hours drag on. The last flight I took was an especially bad one because I was sick and I had a nose bleed through most of it. Truly an awful experience sitting like that for so long.

In contrast, this flight was the easiest I've ever had going to Korea. There were only around 50 passengers on the plane so I had a whole row to myself. I laid down on three seats and slept through most of the flight. It was still super uncomfortable, but the trip flew by (hehe). I didn't even mind wearing a mask the whole time. We also had a beautiful view of Seoul during landing. I love city lights. I wish I could post a photo, but it doesn't do it justice. You'll just have to come here and see it for yourself!

After the flight was the gauntlet of immigration, now with an added bonus of COVID stations to get your temperature checked, install the special quarantine app, and a few others. I won't bore you with the details (I was half-asleep at the time and don't remember it, anyways). From there, I took a taxi through Seoul in the middle of rush hour traffic and got to my quarantine location, a university dorm in Seoul north of the Han River.

This room is where I will spend the next two weeks of my life.