Day 1&2: Getting to Seoul

These Korea posts are long overdue! But I finally found the time to write them now that I am sick with bronchitis. So without further ado.......

I have never been out of the country before; I have never owned a passport before either. So this was quite an adventure to say the least. When I boarded the plane in Honolulu I was pleasantly surprised to find some goodies in my seat. There was a bottle of water, a lap blanket, a small back pillow, and a personal bag that had a toothbrush and toothpaste and some thin slippers. Also, I had never eaten a meal on a plane so when I was served two I was excited. Later I came to learn that getting two meals on an international flight is normal but I had never flown international before. The flight was long but It was pleasant.

When I landed I had to go through customs and immigration. Once I was through I changed my money into won.

It took a little bit for me to find Lindsay once I was out of the terminal. Lindsay is one of my very good friends that I met in Monterey, CA and she is now stationed with her husband, Ryan, in Seoul, South Korea. Once we had found one another it was to the subway to make our journey to her apartment in Seoul. The subway had to be one of my favorite things in Seoul! I know that sounds a little odd to be so fascinated with public transportation but the subway was so clean and it was so simple to use even though I speak no Korean at all. 

Once we got to her house she got me all settled in. She made us an amazing dinner of her homemade tomato soup. Lindsay is quite the cook and always has been. We stayed up just talking and catching up. It was great to be able to catch up with her in person. 

The next day we lounged around Lindsay's apartment till about noon. We headed out to Yongsan to go pick up Alex. Alex had been in Korea for the past three months on deployment so I was more than happy to see my marine again. Once we got Alex, Lindsay took us to a very yummy restaurant called the Pumpkin House. There we had one of my favorite meals, beef kalbi. The meat was so tender and tasty! I tried everything that was on the table and all of it was delicious. 

After we finished up lunch, Lindsay drove us back to Yongsan base and dropped us off at the Dragon Hill Lodge to check in. 

After we got all settled in Alex and I had dinner at the hotel. After dinner we decided to venture out into Itaewon outside of base. I picked up a little jewelry box for my mom while in one of the many shops. It was a little overwhelming to see all the people crammed into such a small area. Lindsay met up with us and we got some delicious hot chocolate and my new favorite desert...rotiboys! They are a fluffy butter cream filled pastry. 

It was an amazing first two days in South Korea. And the adventure was just getting started!