"The Anticlimax" or "Better Late than Never!"

After a restless night of sleep, I woke up before my alarm on Sunday morning.  I prayed, showered, brushed my teeth, put on the clothes I had laid out the night before, and went over my list of things to remember one last time.  Then my mom, dad, brother, and I piled into our car and went to meet up with my grandma and aunt for the drive to Gerald R. Ford International Airport.  I forgot to eat breakfast but was too nervous to miss it.

When we arrived at the airport two hours later, Lindsey was already there along with her family. We also had a send-off party that seemed to keep growing until that moment when we walked down the hall to the security checkpoint.  It was great having so many people there for encouragement, prayers, and farewells.

I felt pretty cool, too ;)

Eyes still a little teary, we showed our passports and boarding passes, had our carry-ons x-rayed, and made our way to the United Airlines terminal.  We weren't there long before one of the employees announced that the pilot of the plane we were going to be taking had noticed something that needed to be taken care of by a mechanic.  I wasn't about to object to them making our flight as safe as possible.  After all, our connecting flight's departure time was still three hours away.  We sat patiently, and I let my family know about the situation.  

The minutes ticked by. I gazed out the window at the plane.  I suddenly realized we had been waiting for an hour, and I could not see anyone that looked like a mechanic anywhere.  The employee came back on the loudspeaker. "Ladies and gentleman, I apologize for the long wait, our mechanic was not on the field and had to be called in...usually the mechanics are not here on the weekends.  He has arrived at the airport now, but there is another plane ahead of ours that also needs to be serviced, so unfortunately it will be closer to 11:30am before we are able to board."

I went to speak with the representative at the terminal kiosk and explained the situation.  He was sympathetic, but said we would probably miss our connection.  Lindsey also went up to speak with one of the reps a couple of times, but their best advice was to take the plane to Chicago and try to catch a different connecting flight if possible.  At this point I found myself feeling pretty frustrated, and had to pray for patience and strength to handle the situation gracefully.  I immediately began to calm down, and when we were finally able to board at around 11:50am, it was with the assurance that if we got there in time, so be it, and if we did not, perhaps it was for a reason.

We landed, safe and sound, at O'Hare...five minutes after our Asiana plane took off without us.  Disappointed, we made our way to the United Airlines customer service desk.  They were sufficiently sympathetic to our situation, but were unable to find us another flight leaving earlier than Monday at noon.  Instead, they booked us in a hotel, gave us meal vouchers, and shuttled us over to Rosemont, not far from the airport.

Some Facts about Rosemont:

1. It is a part of the greater Chicago area that is completely dedicated to accommodating stranded air travelers

2.  The restaurants are all pretty pricey, and the dinner entrees do not include extras such as soup or salad, they must be purchased separately (so thankful for those meal vouchers!)

3. None of the hotels in the area offer free internet access, and there are no coffee shops, internet cafes, or non-hotel-affiliated restaurants anywhere within walking distance (in other words, they’ve got a pretty good racket going)

That being said, our stay at the Crown Plaza hotel was not at all unpleasant.  On the contrary, the room was nice, the staff friendly, and the food tasty.


We got to the airport via free shuttle the next morning and found our way to Asiana's terminal.  Thankfully, we were assured that the special vegetarian meals we had requested, along with our checked baggage, would be on the flight with us despite the changes.  I went to check out what the plane looked like, and, at least compared to the puddle jumper we took the day before, this plane looked ENORMOUS.  I felt a shiver down my spine as I realized this multiple-ton hunk of metal would shortly be lifting us through the air over a distance of nearly 7,000 miles.


The culture shock they warned us we might experience began even before we boarded.  While waiting in the terminal, announcements were made mostly in Korean.  Of the hundred or so people there, only about ten people were of non-Asian descent.  At the end of the boarding corridor, there was a table stacked with free South Korean newspapers (didn't do us much good).


In the cabin, everyone was very friendly and hospitable.  The pocket in front of my seat contained magazines, a blanket, a pillow, headphones, and these awesome little slippers. 

Stylin'

The flight attendants wore matching uniforms, high heals, and identical hairdos.  Requesting a special meal apparently pays off, as we received both our lunches and dinners before anyone else.

They were pretty tasty

Throughout the flight we were able to track the progress of the plane on our little tv screens.

The on-board service was almost overwhelmingly good at times.  It got to the point where I would try to look very interested in whatever I was doing at the moment any of the attendants passed so they wouldn't ask me if I needed something again.


Well, praise the Lord, we landed safe and sound after fourteen hours.  After going through immigration and customs, we found the SDA Language School representative, and walked out into what will be our home for the next year....

...but that's another story, for another blog post.