Korea Bound

I’m reminded of the camaraderie amongst my fellow travelers. Half awake, in full blown caffeine withdrawal, stepping off a 14 hour flight trying to make a connection in a foreign land at 5am.  We offer reassurances that we are in the right, at least there is a consensus we believe we are in the right line. Every line takes forever, and we’re all trying to get a minute of the alleged free WiFi to reach out to loved ones that we made it, to varying degrees of success.

After we get through customs-lite (international transfer) we scatter to our connecting gates and Beijing greets us with a spectacular sun rise. Watching the sun itself peak over the tree line reminds me of the sunsets in Guinea, it looks like something from the movies. A bright orangish-red orb creeping up over the horizon is slow motion demanding you remember that it has been there forever before you and forever after.  I spent a good decade addicted to this feeling of disorientation and excitement, as if at any moment something could happen that will change your life, if you surrender that moment inevitably arrives. The anticipation is often the delicious part like smelling food being prepared for hours before you eat. 


Speaking of eating! Breakfast on my flight to Seoul was a straight up adventure. I choose the omelet over porridge (so did everyone else). My two previous meals on the long haul flight to Beijing had a roll with butter. This roll had a packet I didn’t think contained butter but perhaps another local condiment since it was nestled in the roll dish. NOPE it was pickled something wonderful. Light green and stringy like seaweed, firm almost crunch when chewed. Slippery smooth but not slimy and a wonderfully mild sour pickle flavor. The next surprise was the roll itself. Like a pro I immediately placed it on top of my hot entree to get that chill off the bun. I break it in half discovering it’s filled with bean paste (I’m assuming) and I said right out loud ‘well that’s a surprise’ it was mild and savory. At this point I'm thrilled to bits and two for two. The fruit reminded me of fruit cups when I was a kid and the omelet went down with no winning or loosing attributes for airplane food. I’m all done save the dessert package that looks to be a chocolate about the size of a Cadbury egg.  I almost offered it to my row-mate because I’m hopelessly snobby about chocolate. But what the hell this could be different or at least worth a try. I take it out an notice there is a filling and think peanut butter? As I break it open to take a sniff I realize...ITS AN EGG!?!?! Omg three surprises in such short order! I bite it gingerly and it’s great! Best brown shrunken egg I’ve ever had.