Several people have asked me to write about 30 hour trip over here. About half way through, I knew I had too. It was just too funny not share. This is probably going to be pretty long so I am breaking it up for ease of reading. Nobody wants a novel/blog.
Flash back to two weeks ago when I received my itinerary. 3 flights. ugh. St Louis to Denver, Denver to L.A., L.A. to Seoul. Leave St Louis at 6am October 14, arrive in Seoul 6pm on October 15 and then a 3 hour bus trip to Daejeon. Not awesome. I am flying to the other side of the globe and someone else is buying my ticket so of course I say “It’s perfect!” Now that I knew the airlines I was finally able to start researching how in the world I was going to get my animal here with me. Long story short, airline websites are great! Tons of information about traveling with your pet. Just for clarification you should call the airline because they are going to tell you that everything you just read online was WRONG. They will give you much more really helpful information. Fun part is, when you arrive at the airport at 4am they will tell you that both sources were shockingly, very wrong. Thankfully I had done so much research on my own and I have a wonderful vet that helped with Charlie’s paperwork so I had everything perfectly in order. Originally L.A.X. was supposed to be a food/potty/sedative break. The airlines had a different plan at check-in. Poor kid. He just went from plane to plane with my luggage. I left him 4am (Oct 14) in St Louis and didn’t see him again until 7:15 pm (October 15) in Seoul. In real time, that’s about 25 hours in a kennel with only one 8-hour sedative. He made it though, safe and sound. :)
Both United flights were pretty uneventful. Thankfully right after landing in L.A. I overhear a Korean woman asking how to find Asiana & Korean Air. I quickly welcomed myself into her conversation and she seemed as grateful to see me as I was her. She grabbed my arm and we walked arm in arm all the way through L.A.X. to the shuttle that takes us to the other terminal. Keep in mind this woman was probably in her 50’s, incredibly well dressed, and with Hello Kitty rolling luggage. That made me giggle a bit on the inside. By the time we made it to the shuttle we had grown into a little group of 5 trying to figure out this airport. An army boy going to Korea as well, a lady going to Chile, a man on his way to China, and of course, my Hello Kitty friend. L.A.X. is quite possibly the largest most dysfunctional airport I have ever seen. I was really sad that all three hours there I didn’t see a single TMZ photographer either. I feel cheated. I did meet a really nice girl from the Chicago area flying over to teach as well. Her name is Anna and she’s teaching in a suburb of Seoul. You’ll hear about her later.
The Asiana flight was fantastically fun. That’s part 2.
I want a novel
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