So this is Seoul...

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Not that I've actually experienced Seoul. Technically, I'm in Seoul, but it's 4:00 AM and I'm confined within the walls of Incheon International Airport. Even if it were any other time of day, I'd still be limited to the airport. I thought I'd be able to see this renown technological metropolis. I'm upset. Kind of. Judging from how remote Toronto's own airport is from everything else, I should have expected Seoul's to be no different. The airport isn't even distinctly Korean. It didn't give off a "Korean vibe" like I thought it would. The only thing in the airport that I found different than anything back home in Canada were the washrooms. The stalls were kind of... nice, and the urinals were... interesting. Seoul is boring.

I intended on typing up a post prior to leaving Canada, but unfortunately, like the dirty procrastinator that I am, I left it until just a few minutes before I had to board the plane to even begin typing it up... on my sister's blackberry. My cumbersome thumbs failed to do more than get in a partial sentence before I had to return the handheld computer to its owner. Until I was flying on the plane I didn't realize how much I'd miss Canada, despite my strong desire to leave the country and travel. Let me rephrase that; I wouldn't miss Canada, but the people I left there. Even as I embraced my mother and sister tightly before getting on the plane the notion of leaving them behind for almost half a year didn't fully sink in until I was in the air with no way to turn back. For an entire half a year I will not see my catastrophe of a bedroom; I will not eat my mother's food; I will not be able to drunkenly stumble into my sister's room for a chat; I will not hear one of John's rants; I will not stroke the keys of my own keyboard; I will not have to worry about shards of glass hidden amongst piles of clothes and beer cans cutting my foot; I will not complete Final Fantasy XIII; I will not participate in Anime North or the Global Marijuana March (Hm, it's global. Maybe they'll have one in the Philippines?) But for all these things I will not be able to do in these five months, there will be millions of other things for me to experience and just as many opportunities for me to take advantage of while I am in the birthplace of my parents. This is the reason for this blog: to pressure me into doing things interesting enough for me to share! Who wants to read a boring blog, anyway?

I've yet to experience anything interesting so far -- the entirety of my journey has been in airplanes and airports. I'm too tired to read, but I'm too wired to sleep. After putting my novel down and creating a makeshift pillow out of my hoody, I lay down for a few minutes with my eyes closed, only to realize that I didn't feel tired at all. This must be jetlag. You're tired, but not really. It could also be contributed to the plane ride here; there was no concept of time on the plane. I fell asleep once, but for how long? Don't ask me. The window shutters were constantly shut, depriving the passengers any sense of night or day. I sat in the middle seat, making me feel like a twat everytime I wanted to go to the washroom or get something from my carry-on because I'd have to ask the girl sitting next to me to get up so I could get into the aisle. Fortunately, the girl sitting next to me was pretty cool. Her name is Lee Min-ji, but the introductions didn't come until just before we got off the plane. Before that, we had sporadic conversations that were mainly fuelled by my curiosity of Korean culture. I learned about Korean honorifics and a little bit about her. Korean honorifics are basically titles that could be used as suffixes when referring to someone. Younger siblings refer to their older siblings differently depending on their gender. While a boy would refer to his older brother as "-hyeongnim," a girl would refer to him as "-oppa." One other thing about Korean Air flights: hot Korean flight attendants/stewardesses! I look forward to seeing more on my plane to Metro Manila.

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