I Arrived!

It happened! I landed in Seoul, South Korea, this evening at 6:20pm. As I exited the plane, the heat hit me like a sick wave from Hell... it was awful, much worse than I thought it could be.

Bo Young came to meet me

Regardless, I went through customs and immigration and got my bags. In the arrivals area, Bo Young, my friend from high school, was waiting to meet me with a big sign that had my name on it. Wow, that is a good memory.

After the initial, "I can't believe you're here!" from both of us, we went to the Shinhan bank stall so I could change some USD into South Korean Won. The exchange rate isn't bad!

And then we left the air-conditioned airport, back into the Chaco. We waited for a "limousine" bus which would take me to where my hotel is. The ride took about 45 minutes, but it was very interesting to see Korea from the ground, finally.

South Korea, from the ground.

After we arrived at the hotel and I checked in (she even called them ahead of time before I landed, just to confirm the reservation for me), then Bo Young took me to a restaurant where she had made reservations for us. By this time it was 9:00pm however, and I wasn't hungry at all (what with the heat and the two dinners they served us on the plane). We had a bit of bulgogi (Korean BBQ beef) and then we walked around a bit and looked at the shops.

Mmm, Bulgogi Brothers restaurant

It may not look like it, but I enjoyed it!

Seoul has lots of these things, most of which are open 24 hours:

- Cell phone shops
- Convenience stores that are half the size of Canadian ones
- Coffee shop, cafe things. Some are open 24 hours.

A final note for tonight: Korea smells different. The air in the airport smelled different, but in the city it's worse. There's this.... stench that seems to be everywhere.... Maybe it's just a big-city thing :P Either way, it's pungent.

G'night (chalga!)!

PS - This is me taking a final photo with my family before I left: