Arrived in Atlanta around 8:30 in the a.m. Immediately headed for my departure gate, even though I had 5 hours to kill before heading for Seoul, in order to get some prime napping bench. Fell asleep to heated talks of the looming financial bailout on CNN, as the news was just breaking. Couldn't sleep too much, as I kept thinking of my oncoming 15 hour flight, mistakenly thinking I would get much of my sleep on the plane. Got restless, so I headed to the bar (TGI Friday's, the best ATL INT had to offer) for a couple of Bloody Mary's with some friendly Pakistani's. Made sure not to make the mistake of leaving my bags unattended, as I did in the very same airport in 2006. We are on Orange Alert, of course. Y'all wouldn't believe the swarm of airport personnel surrounding my backpack after returning from the bathroom two years ago. On the way back from the bar I passed a display of items not allowed through customs, coming from some of the very countries I was on my way to visit. Items included Burmese Bear tear ducts (considered to have high medicinal value, these tear ducts are obtained from the wholesale harvesting of Burmese Bears, much like American pigs) and fermented cobra juice, literally whole cobras soaking in a tequila-colored liquid contained in large bottles.
Back at my gate-post, I tried to get comfortable again amidst more news of international and domestic turmoil. Couldn't wait to get the flight underway and overwith. Was finally starting to fall asleep in my chair with my back to the window, when I was awakened by several dozen people or so frantically flashing their cameras at something behind me, and jibber-jabbering in several different languages. Dazed and confused, I turned around expecting to see the Hindenberg falling in flames. But it turned out to be my ride pulling in to port. The plane was fucking massive. Hopefully, I'll have some pics up soon, but the shit had two stories! The wheels were as wide as that Chrysler Concord boat I used to drive around. I couldn't wait to board, and my usual pre-flight jitters were assuaged, knowing that I'd be flying in the Korean equivalent of Airforce One, I mean nothing short of Everest was gonna bring this sucker down. When the boarding annoucement finally came, I of course decided to make two final phone calls, including one to my mom which almost caused me to miss the flight altogther. But after one final free phone call, I was finally on my way off this island. Next stop: Seoul.
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