Seoul Shock

Let me just say that flying on Korean Airlines is an institution. If my whole trip consisted of flying KA around the world and ending up right back where I started, then it would have been well worth it. The jet was huge, like the Titanic with wings and a stronger hull, and the service was exquisite. Korean versions of Heidi Klum dressed as a stewardess and minus the annoying banter, patrolled the aisles awaiting my beckon-call, and though there were some several hundred passengers, it seemed like they were all there exclusively for yours truly. And they all smelled really good, too.
I thought I'd get some much needed sleep on this 15+ hour flight, but I probably slept less than an hour the whole way. Every seat had a tv on the back of it, with an endless selection of movies, video games, and a GPS system that let me track what part of the stratosphere I was in. I watched Iron Man (twice), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Stupid-Ass Monkey Scene, and oddly enough The Graduate. After gorging myself on movies and and Tetris, I went and explored the rest of the Enterprise, including the second floor.
I've been exceedingly lucky when it comes to who I've had to sit next to on the few flights that I've been on, and this trip was no exception. The lady I sat next to on my flight to Seoul did not utter one word the entire 15+ hours, even when I offered her a Spree. She did offer me a stick of gum during our descent, but again, silence. She didn't even get up to go to the bathroom. It was kinda unnerving.
My flight left Atlanta at around 1:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday, and we landed in Seoul sometime after noon on Wednesday. I've tried to figure out the time difference several times, and it boggles the mind. Anyhow, we descended into South Korea amidst a dense, foggy afternoon sky, so I couldn't make out much of the country-side, and my stoic co-passenger had the window seat with the shade drawn the whole time, so sight-seeing was futile.
My first impressions of Asia were completely odoriferous. It just smelled completely different from America, the whole Korean airport and even now at my base in Chiang Mai. Sort of a sour odor that I can't really compare to any other I've experienced. But I'm sure I'll get used to it. Beyond that, my time in Seoul was pretty uneventful up until boarding my Bangkok flight three and a half hours later. Customs was a breeze, and after that I pretty much wandered around, dragging my lower-jaw on the ground, gawking at all the Koreans. After finding my departure gate, I once again searched for a secluded bench to ease my back-pack onto for a little shut-eye.
There is nothing I've ever experienced more disconcerting than waking up from a 1 hour power nap in an airport in Seoul, South Korea. Before I even opened my eyes, the chaotic Korean speak that had been plagueing my dreams threw me for such a loop and caused me to sit up with such acceleration that the crackers resting on my tummy flew off and struck a Pakistani man sitting next to me. My panic was well-founded though, as I realized that my flight was boarding without me. Alls well that ends well, as I found my way safely onto the plane for the final leg of my journey.