Dongducheon, South Korea, Asia

I got up at 5am and was ready to go at 6am. The hotel had a shuttle that brought me and two other guests to the airport for about $1.50, you can’t beat that! Of course he dropped me off at the right terminal, but at the completely wrong end of the building, so I had to lug my stuff all around Pudong Airport looking for the China Southern check-in desk, but I managed to find it.

The flight went smoothly and I got into Seoul right on time at 11:10am. I went through immigration, and used my American passport for the first time in almost a year. I’ve been using my UK passport for Australia and all the Asian countries because the visas are so much cheaper and easier to get than with the US passport. South Korea chose to be different though and I would have needed a pre-arranged visa for my UK passport, or no visa at all as an American. Thank you very much USA! I showed them my US passport, got my stamp and marched on through to baggage claim. They must have realized I got a good deal with the visa situation, so they chose to send my bag out after everyone else’s. Ah well.

I walked out into the meet ‘n’ greet area, and spotted Crystal straight away. It’s really strange that we have only met once or twice in my life and we don’t really know each other at all, but it was totally comfortable meeting up. Family is cool that way. She had taken the bus to Incheon Airport with her baby Jax, so I got to meet that little guy. Everyone knows I’m not a fan of babies or kids, but this kid is awesome! I haven’t heard him cry once, and he just sleeps and smiles all the time. We had lunch at Bennigan’s at the airport and waited to catch the bus home. He passed out on my lap on the bus ride to her house, and he was out for almost the whole two hour ride. That’s one easy six month old to deal with.

We got to Crystal’s house around 5pm and I met her husband Andrew. He’s a funny guy, it looks like it’ll be a good few days I spend here. We all went out for dinner for Korean BBQ to get me right into the thick of it here. It was awesome! They weren’t serving dog meat, so I guess that’s not as traditional as I thought. We had pork and beef, and you cook it yourself on a little grill in the middle of the table. It’s pretty cool. After dinner we walked around this place called The Ville just down the road from their house. It’s amazing how much it feels like I’m in America, because we are right next to Camp Casey, the Army base. This place is swarming with American soldiers and spouses, the only difference is that you can buy cheaper stuff here.

We got some chicken-on-a-stick, since we weren’t stuffed from dinner, and then bought five DVDs for $10. Not a bad deal, considering they’re not even released on DVD yet. We came back to their apartment, which is really nice, and it’s just off-base. They have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, so I actually get my own bedroom with a huge window looking out onto the little city of Dongducheon. We don’t have much planned for this week, but that’s perfect! It’ll be great to just relax for a bit, and not be stuck in China!