first leg

Here's the part of the trip that I have never liked -- the transit stop.

All those old kung-fu movies had it wrong. It's not about standing on a mountain contemplating a riddle, or balancing a rock on your right shoulder while standing on your left leg doing "the crane", or counting the grains of rice you have in your bowl. If Master Pai-Mei wanted to teach a student patience all he had to do was make him sit in a transit lounge for about six hours and watch him go mental. I've been here in Korea for eight hours, luckily I got used to this a couple
of years ago.

Last night was fun. I nearly bawled my eyes out several times when leaving. Luckily I had friends like Susana, Lennard, and Angie there to make me laugh. "You go ahead and cry", Lennard said, gently "I'm a heartless bitch so I'll just watch!" Lennard, as usual, made me laugh. Ching-thut actually met me at the airport to see me off. In some ways I wish he hadn't because he had to go home alone after that and I know how sad you can end up feeling. I've been that person several times.

By the time I got on the plane, I was exhausted. LOVELY! Before the journey even starts you feel like a zombie. Thankfully I wasn't the only one.... (see above)