Travel Plans

Man, I hate to take a chance on jinxing this by writing it down, but I can't not do it:

We leave Pusan Saturday at 11:40 a.m., a very reasonable time for once! We have a two hour layover in Tokyo's Narita airport, a fine establishment if you enjoy that slightly wacky Japanese perspective on life. We then fly to Minneapolis, where we have three hours and 20 minutes to clear immigration, customs, and catch our flight to Kansas City. We arrive in Kansas City at 5:13 p.m., also a reasonable time!

We had talked about flying Monday or Tuesday, but NorthWest is changing this flight around starting next week, from which time it will be much more inconvenient for us. I think it goes to Moscow or something instead of Kansas. This means we have two days to get our act together and packed for the trip. I don't expect to be writing here on Roblog again until we are back in the States, and even then it is likely to be even more brain-scrambled than the stuff I've been throwing out for the past few weeks.

I had a good day today. As you read in my earlier post, I was waiting around for Horyon's visa to be issued. I started at a PC room, where I wrote that post, then moved to a video room. These are a pretty cool way to kill a couple of hours. It's like a small video rental store with maybe a dozen small rooms in which you can watch the video you rent. This one charged me only $6, cheaper than going to the movies. AND I didn't have to listen to other people talk on the cell phone and fart around, AND I decided when to start the movie and which movie to see, AND I could ask the woman to pause the movie so I could talk on the phone or go to the bathroom or whatever. With all these wonderful advantages, I made up for it by renting and watching "UltraViolet". It was a fun little comic book (sorry, I meant to write "graphic serial novel") adaptation with lots and lots of shooting and swordplay and high-tech gizmos and all that futuristic stuff. It was one kind of movie that Horyon doesn't care for, and so I avoided subjecting her to it. It was a good waste of two hours. Took my mind off of waiting for the visa to be ready and wondering if there were any other mistakes I could make.

I then went to Durga, a nice little Nepali restaurant just around the corner from the embassy, less than a 10 minute walk away. They have a nice lunch special for only $8 (easy to find on their website), and since I spoke Nepali to them, they gave me extra food for no charge. Their website is mostly in Korean, but they have maps to find it in both English and Korean. If you're in Seoul, especially going to the American embassy, you should check it out. It's only two subway stops from Seoul Station. If you go at lunch or dinner time, be prepared to wait. It's doing very well.

After lunch, I still had more than two hours to wait for the visa, so I went back to the video room.

They don't have a website, as far as I know. They didn't even have a Western toilet. Good sound system, projection t.v., lots of movie choices (including a few Korean pornos that made me feel a bit squeamish about the sofa I was sitting on), and a friendly attendant, but the building was old and the bathroom... traditional.

My second movie choice was much better. I watched "My Super ex-Girlfriend." Funny, silly, lighthearted. Made me forget how bad it is when Horyon gets mad at me. Again, a perfect choice to take my mind of events. I laughed out loud a few times, and enjoyed the rest. I may have to rent this one again, because Horyon might enjoy it. If you enjoy super hero movies at all, check this one out.

I then went back to the embassy. They told me in the morning to come back at 3:30, and it was only 3:00, but I couldn't stay away. After a five minute wait, they gave me Horyon's passport and a big packet that we are supposed to give to the immigration people when we arrive in America. We are not supposed to open it before then.

Kind of makes me think of the way that kings and emperors used to kill men by having them deliver their own death sentences to someone else, except I'm sure that's not what this is.

After getting the visa, I stopped by Durga again and bought enough food to feed all of us one genuine Nepali meal. Lunch or dinner tomorrow, I suppose. I couldn't resist. I just haven't gotten enough Nepali food in the past few years, and I wanted to show my support for them.

I got to Seoul station just a little bit late for the 4:30 train, so I bought a ticket for 5:00, arriving in Pusan just before 8 (an hour and a half ago). I enjoyed a live South American band named Sisay playing outside before my train left. Bought one of their CDs and got them to autograph it for me. I enjoy that style of music, though I kind of expect this CD to sound an awful lot like the other two CDs by similar groups that I have bought in the past.

The train trip was uneventful, with Burger King food consumed en route. I listened to my MP3 player and read a trashy detective novel until we got to Pusan. Taxi home, change of clothes, called my parents, and wrote this entry.

Now Maxine and Grandpa are here, so it's time for me to stop and go play with my daughter.

We will be seeing some of you very soon!!!!!

Peace (at last!),

Rob