departures and arrivals

One J-term class

Two professors and eight students

Three flights: Chicago --> San Fransisco --> Incheon, Korea

Snuggled under a blanket, resting my head on the softest pillow and reading my British Lit. book made it difficult to stay awake on my first flight. However, this was definitely not the case for my second flight to Incheon. When the plane took off, I was in the same position: comfortable, relaxed and almost asleep. The passenger next to me sat in her seat the same way. She was a friendly, recent college graduate returning to her home in Japan. In our conversation, she told me about her love for Korean barbecue, kimshi (a main Korean dish) and other spicy food. She even taught me how to hold chopsticks. I was thankful for her help, but I knew that even a 14-hour plane ride would not be enough time for me to master the skill of using chopsticks. It was a struggle. Having difficulty controlling my chopsticks, she laughed at me as I frequently dropped one of my chopsticks and the occasional piece of food that I luckily picked up for a second or two. She made it looks so easy and I quickly learned that it wasn't. She eventually offered me a spoon and I politely said no.

I was determined (and yes, I still am determined) to eat with chopsticks.

In the middle of our lunch, my new friend stopped talking in mid-conversation. We felt a sudden and very-much-unwanted movement in the plane. I'm pretty sure our plane was bouncing through clouds.  I had never experienced turbulence this bad before, which, unfortunately, lasted for a long time. (This also did not help my chopstick skills improve). The pilot said he was sorry that this was one of those flights that we would just have to wait and ride out the turbulence. Then, he tried to lighten the mood.

"The good news: it doesn't get any worse than this," he said.

Thankfully, we arrived safely in Incheon Wednesday night. Professor Kim picked us up and took us to our first authentic Korean restaurant. The dinner was smelled and looked good. I only wished that I could control my chopsticks.

Outside our first Korean restaurant.

*Please note that my noodle is about to fall off my chopstick.

 

fifteen minutes into this meal, the waitresses brought us forks.
We didn't use them, though. We wanted to use chopsticks!