2018 South Korea

Sleeping on the flight was comfortable, the chairs were more spacious and well cushioned, we could actually lay back in our chairs, it was nice but still a little uncomfortable. We all woke up at multiple points in the night so we all discussed sleeping over at Kaitlyn’s house until we were well rested and ready to go back home. Ananya brought a pack of playing cards so we played a few games until the flight attendants came around with refreshments. We all chose tea to brighten up our day and keep us from dozing off yet again. 10 minutes later, the captain was on the intercom and informing us that we would be landing shortly. Gathering my things, I told the others to do the same. I felt happy that we were home but at the meantime, I was disappointed the trip was over but at least in the end, I would have the memories of going with my friends. My ears popped not allowing me to hear out of my left ear so I stared out the window, counting down the seconds until we landed. I got to 1,694 ...

The familiar beep of my alarm jolted me awake at 6:00am, and I was ready to snooze it and go back to bed as if it was a regular day, but after a couple seconds I realized that we’re not in North Carolina, we’re in South Korea! I was so excited for today, we were going to Songdo Central Park! I had seen an ungodly amount of pictures of the lush green trees, the river, and the villages nearby. I woke up Anisha and Shreya by throwing a pillow at them, and took the blankets off of Isabella and Kaitlyn’s bed. We all fought over who got the first dibs on the bathroom (Isabella won) and took turns until all of us were ready. At 7:30, we went down to the first floor of the airport and found a McDonalds and KFC right next to each other to eat some breakfast. Shreya of course went straight for the KFC and bought a twelve piece bucket of chicken drumsticks to share with all of us while Anisha and I went to McDonalds to order three plates of pancakes. We all sat down at a table in the food court ...

The next day, I woke up completely panicked by the alarming noise in my room. Not realizing it was Kaitlyn who was playing the loud 80’s music to wake me up, I unconsciously threw a pillow, and almost knocked down Kaitlyn and her boiling hot Omija tea. (The Omija tea being a tasteful traditional Korean tea, that implied all 5 flavors of sweetness, sourness, bitterness, saltiness, and pungency.) I gazed at the alarm clock, it read 5:00am. Although it was not a good way to start off my first “official” full day in South Korea, I was still excited for the plans we had today. But before I could utter the words “I'm starving”, Shreya, Ananya, and Isabella came knocking on our door, Kaitlyn floundered to the door to answer. Without a word, we all looked at each other with the same thought: breakfast. It took sometime to decide where we wanted to go, as Ananya was stating how nutritional each restaurant was. Unfortunately, we didn't end up listening to her, as we made the choice o...

We woke up to the sound of the pilot on the intercom advising passengers to buckle their seatbelts, and that we would land in an hour. It was around three o'clock in our local time zone, which meant that we had slept through breakfast. However, based off the aftermath of last night’s dinner, and the shut sickness bag laying at Isabella’s feet, I could tell none of us were that upset about it. Kaitlyn stirred from her slumber completely parched, just as Anisha began complaining that she “felt like a raisin.” Ananya attempted to get up from her chair to stretch, and immediately tumbled onto to the ground from the turbulence. We all burst out into wild laughter. After, she went to grab something to eat and drink, and I to use the bathroom. When I had returned, there were multiple bags of junk food on the table, each marked with neon graphics and Korean inscriptions. They were accompanied by glasses of water. Ananya looked content with her ability to clinch complimentary snacks as s...

The day was finally here. After all of our planning, packing, double-checking, triple-checking, and preparing, we couldn’t believe that the day was finally here! Our alarm was set for 5:30am, but none of us actually needed an alarm; our excitement was enough. The morning was a hustle for all of us: getting ready, checking everything for the last time, and saying goodbye to our houses for the next two weeks. We all met up at my house, and I made a big breakfast of pancakes with blueberry compote. I called my sister and she said she would be at my place at 6:30am to take us to the airport. It was 65° and sunny, so we all were comfortably wearing t-shirts and leggings; comfortable clothes for the long journey. Pancakes with Blueberry Compote We reached the airport around 7am, yet our flight was at 10:35 am, so we went to go check in our luggage; I’m pretty sure we annoyed the people behind us in line by taking a plethora of pictures. The security line was as long as it always is, ...