Let the Games Begin!

Final preparations for the 2011 World Athletic Games are underway. When we moved here, Daegu as already advertising the games on billboards and taxis. I believe the spate of new restaurant signs we saw a few months ago was another brush up for the games, along with the new flower beds, public trash cans, and general maintenance we have seen in the past couple of months. Last week, a bunch of international flags sprung up on our street. We haven't found the U.S yet, but China and Britian are right outside of our house. I talked Bobby into buying us tickets to one of the events. We don't follow track and field events, but how many chances do you have to see the world's fastest people compete?

In other news, Seoul and northern Korea (I think this includes North Korea) has been hit by some devastating floods. It has been raining a lot here, and people up north are losing their houses. Many have died in mudslides and flooding. We saw construction workers upgrading the drainage on our street last week, so I guess we're prepared.   

My bad luck with air travel

I'm at Incheon airport again, awaiting a flight to Daegu. The trip back from Massachusetts has been thankfully uneventful. The trip there was another story. I got a call from Korean airlines on Saturday night telling me that my flight from Daegu to Seoul was cancelled due to weather. It had been raining nonstop. I was frankly relieved. It's quite easy to get from Daegu to Incheon, especially one that there's an express train from the airport to Seoul station. My travel office is rigid about me flying to and from Daegu for some reason, so I always end up getting up early so that I can it around Incheon airport for four hours. There are worse places to be, but I'd rather sleep a little longer. Right now I am waiting four hours for a flight when I could be home in three on the train.

So I took the train to Incheon, trying out the new air express for the first time. It was spotless and efficient, with several smiling attendants to help me. I always want to ask these nice, English speaking customer service reps to come work for me. The Korean customer service I see in the travel industry hasn't made it to the Korean army civilians yet.

So I flew from Incheon to Narita, Japan with no problems. When I got to the gate at Narita, there was a plane at the gate. Always a good sign. Well, after our boarding time came and went, the captain got on the intercom and told us that there was an undiagnosed electrical problem with the plane, which would be delayed for some period of time. It turned out to be an hour delay, which put me in trouble for my connector. Shortly after we took off, I discovered that the screen on my aisle seat didn't work, and reluctantly moved to the back middle seat. I was next to a basketball-player-sized guy whose elbows wouldn't fit inside of his own seat area. Sigh.

When we landed in Chicago, attendants rushed me through customs and to the baggage rechecking area. Someone spent a long time scanning my bag, then sent me to the counter, where they told me my flight was cancelled due to equipment failure. There were a few more flights to Boston that day, so I decided to go on standby for one of them.

As it turned out, there were three flights cancelled for equipment problems, all United. Standby was a free-for-all, with people going from gate to gate hoping to catch a flight. I was number 38 on the standby list for an overbooked flight. I decided to cut my losses and take my confirmed flight for the following day, complete with free hotel room.

The next day, I went to the gate early to reconfirm my seat. There was no plane at the gate! I know that means trouble. Sure enough, the plane was late. A severe thunderstorm passed through and shut down air traffic for awhile. After an hour delay, we boarded. The captain told us we were twentieth in line to take off. After awhile, the engines shut off. The captain told us that a central air traffic control station was evacuated due to the weather, which had gone east, and that we were on the tarmac until further notice. About an hour later, we left.

I got to the conference in time for dinner, which was fine with me. The conference was fun, as far as conferences go. I met some fantastic people and learned a lot from them. We were in session all day, and would have had no time to see Boston if we were there instead of an hour away in Southbridge. We suggested to the bigwigs that we at least get a half day off to do some library related touring in the city next time. Library bigwigs tend not to be like other bigwigs, so perhaps they listened.

On my flight from San Francisco to Boston, the electronics in my window seat didn't work. I decided to suffer through a twelve hour flight with no movies rather than give up my seat. United really needs to overhaul their fleet.

Koreans warned us about monsoon season when we moved here.  Last year, it was very mild and I wondered what the big deal was.  It would rain, but only part of the day.

This year, Korea has decided to prove to me that monsoon season is no joke.  It rains for days in a row.  I know I have spoken of this before, but I can't let it go.  This weather is perhaps literally driving me crazy.  My insides feel soggy.  The dog won't go outside in the rain, so we clean up a lot of messes.  The rain gets into the house, and patters in a constant refrain on the roof.  I lived in Wales for awhile, where it rained every day in the winter, but not this incessantly or with this volume of water.  It's a good thing we live on the side of a mountain.

There have been an inordinate amount of cranes.  I don't know if the rain and the cranes are related, but I often see them flying over the city from my window.  I saw a gathering of them on a mountain in Waegwan earlier this week.  Jin, our neighbor, says cranes are good luck.  I'll take it!  They're also lovely to watch.

Me at 18 weeks

Haeundae Again

Bobby and I went back to Haeundae Beach for fourth of July weekend. The idea was that I could go swimming in the water if we had a place to stay and shower. (There are showers at the beach, but they don't have doors on them.) I had qualms about spending a weekend at Haeundae. It is Korea's most crowded beach, and can get unmanageable during the summer. Fortunately, the guidebooks say that beach season starts in mid-July.

Monsoon season has hit Daegu with a vengeance, and it was raining on Sunday when we left. Thankfully, when we got close to Busan, the rain stopped. When we arrived at the beach, it was very foggy, but mild. I kicked off my shoes and walked down to the water, only to discover that it was frigid! No wonder beach season starts in mid-July! It was so cold that the bones in my feet started to ache.

With no swimming on the horizon, we decided to walk to the mermaid statue that was near our hotel. The path meandered along the cliffs over the water, and the flowers on the mountain were in bloom. It was worth the walk. We proceeded to the lighthouse, which was underwhelming for a North Carolinian. As we later discovered, it didn't even light up at night. We met a banjo player from England who traveled the world. He explained that he trusted God to take care of him. It's not a lifestyle for everyone, but I admire his spirit.

We have never seen the beach after sundown, so we were excited to watch the shoreline light up. Korea is a land of lights, and Haeundae was no exception. I have vowed to go see a different beach next time, but Haeundae never disappoints.

Bobby in front of our hotel

Me trying to wade in the ocean

Mermaid statue

Cliffside path, complete with suspension bridge

The rocky shoreline

The beach at night