Around the World in 27 Days
Part III Korea
After quickly getting the low-hanging fruit of Delta and AeroMexico out of the way on the Million Mile challenge from Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), I decide to do one of my longest flights (13 hours) early, while I still had some stamina. Korean Air was actually one of the nicest trips I’ve had across the Pacific, the only downsides were because of my timing.
See, I got there at oh-six-hundred on Sunday morning, in December, right before a coup attempt.
Getting there that early, and crossing the International Date Line from the east means that a whole day disappeared on the way and I had no sense of what time it was. Oh and my hotel wasn’t even close to ready for check in. So, I sat there freezing in the lobby waiting for the sun to rise.
I’d been to Korea once before almost ten years ago. Some of the negatives that stood out were: endless blocks of concrete apartment buildings that look like they were hit with an anti-charm missile, pickled everything in the cuisine, and times where everyone around me, on the train, in busy intersections in downtown Seoul, at restaurants etc.. were not talking or looking up but instead staring silently into their phones.
That being said, there were a lot more positives. People I got to interact with were friendly and curious once they put down their phones. K-Pop and Korean BBQ grew on me. And I went to the Korean War museum which really hits home just how long Korea has been preserving their culture in the face of what seems to be annual invasions from stronger neighbors, going all the way back to the Mongols. I got the feeling that your average Korean grade-schooler is more prepared for a missile attack than most Americans are for their DoorDash to be late.
Having been to Korea in July and December, and by virtue of the country being quite rocky and northern, I have to recommend going in the summertime. It isn’t like Rome or Paris where the crowds are oppressive when the weather is nice, and the cold there can be quite something in the winter.
Another admirable quality that I should mention is the Korean dedication to Democracy, which considerably exceeds American dedication right now as I see it. I wasn’t aware of the attempted coup at the time, sequestered at Inchon airport like I was, but, in essence, Korea had a right-wing asshole make up an emergency, call out guys with guns, and try to declare martial law. He tried to close down the legislature and claim extraordinary powers. The legislators scrambled to convene, people demonstrated, the army backed down, his own party abandoned him, and that was that.
It was really something to see, even if I was hearing about it the same way everyone else was i.e. through the international media, and I just happened to be somewhat closer. It is hard to see so many attempted coups and insurrections dealt with in the last ten years, and then for America to go so hard in the opposite direction and actually give this piece of shit legally what he was trying to take by force four years ago…
Ahem, sorry, so back to traveling. After my brief stint in Korea I hopped a China Eastern flight to Shanghai. China Eastern is one of China’s big airlines, but not the only one in the SkyTeam Alliance. I needed to get several Chinese airlines off my list, Shanghai was a very short flight from Inchon, and I’d already been to Beijing so this was an easy call. See you next week for adventures in the Peoples Republic!
