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Published: December 11th 2012
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Cool shop
maybe I was just tired but this was totally tripping me out July 30th, 31st… whatever
It is pissing down with rain (oh, at least it was a second ago) which is probably not a bad thing, we arrived at 7.30am to 27 degree temperatures. I snoozed off and on for an hour or so.
Ah the old airport routine; buy a coffee so you can sit in the nice seats in the café, nurse your coffee for a good hour or so… repeat the process as needed. I still have about 5 hours to kill, will have a browse a of the shops, which will be a nice bit of walking after all the sitting down I’ve just been doing. Actually the Paris to Seoul flight didn’t really feel that long… well the bit in between the turbulence and landing felt INSANELY long but the rest was fine.
~Later~
Hmm there are a couple of things that I’ve noticed here and I’m not sure if they are cultural differences or just the rudeness of a few;
1. Sneezing and loud wet coughs; apparently it’s not necessary to cover your mouth for these, share them with the whole airport, it’s only manners!
2. Being considerate
the traditional approach
airport musak, old school of other pedestrians in the airport… you don’t need to worry about this, feel free to suddenly cut in front of other people giving them the options of swerving, stopping or walking into you (maybe I should just start doing that?) and if you make eye contact with the person you’ve cut off, don’t bother with an “oh, I’m so sorry” face, a “what’s YOUR problem?!” face or completely ignoring the person are much better options.
On a more positive cultural note, the airport has several “Korean Traditional Culture Experience” centres dotted around the airport where you can see traditional music performed, get books about Korea, do some sort of writing or art with a kind of ink soaked hair brush, and see vases & plates and just generally get a good vibe for the history with the option of buying souvenirs (but not the obligation).
They really pull out all the stops here; every hour (or maybe half hour) a procession in full historical/traditional dress come through the airport. A man cries out, they beat big drums, play traditional instruments ands surely everyone gets a lot of exercise. It’s all very beautiful and impressive, though
On the board... finally!
flight was delayed a bit not particularly great if you want to grab a bit of sleep in between flights!
Slightly nervous for the flight after this morning’s turbulence… I don’t see myself developing a fear of flying (fingers crossed) but definitely I have a healthier respect for it now. You really don’t think about how high up you are until you start dropping. On top of this I think the lack of sleep is again tempting another onset of sickness and I can hear a few wet coughs going on in the departure lounge (from uncovered mouths of course).
Hmm, sick people and at least one screaming child in the departure lounge… this’ll be a fun 12 hours!
~Laterer~
One of the coughing people was sat in front of me and (joy of joys) behind me was an infant who’d kick my chair or flick his tray table (which felt pretty much the same as the kicking). Any time his mother would actually stop him doing either of those things he’d burst into screamy tears… so I had the choice of annoying noise, or annoying bumping unless he fell asleep (he didn’t).
I wonder if it’d be possible for airlines to plan out their seating so that families with small children were all seated in one (preferably soundproofed) section of the plane, so the only people being annoyed by small children were people who had small children themselves. A pipe dream I’m sure.
In a similarly innovative frame of mind, I was wondering how it is that nobody has solved the problem of turbulence? I mean we can deal with most impediments to smooth drive in the car, tar seal, suspension, snow ploughs etc… surely somebody could come up with an… er, air plough or something?
This flight was VERY turbulent, the seatbelt signs were on for 70-80% of the flight, nothing as severe as the Paris-Seoul flight but there was much more of it. A personally challenging moment for me was being caught with a full bladder in the middle of a long stretch of turbulence. I got up to go to the loo and, despite the fact that I said I was in danger of wetting myself (only a slight exaggeration) they were still trying to get me to sit down. I refused and eventually convinced them that I’d take responsibility for any injuries I sustained. They relented, but I did notice later when they came around with water they didn’t offer me a refill!
Tonight’s entertainment, from memory; the Aardman movie “Pirates”, which I had already seen but it was good all the same, the Lorax which (though it had the odd good bit) was really a travesty, it looked less like Seuss and more like “Glee-meets-Dreamworks”. Saw “5 Year Engagement”, Jason Segel is a funny guy (not to mention, a good writer) as for Emily Blunt, hmmm Emily Blunt.
I really enjoyed it, I think though that men should abstain from watching rom-coms on planes after 36 odd hours with little sleep because you find yourself almost shedding a tear at some of the sadder or happier parts… very unmanly. I’ll have to eat a meat pie and hold a rugby ball later to regain my machismo!
~Even Later~
Arrival in Auckland airport, again the new passport technology makes it so easy and quick to get through passport control… I approve.
It is a weird mix to be back. I’m kind of happy, kind of sad. Being surrounded by my own language and accent again is equal parts reassuring and boring. It has been an extremely bipolar trip with most of it being such fun and so ‘life recharging’ whereas those bad days or bad moments (“like the day of hell” in Heathrow or the days of sickness in Zurich) were so bad as to make you want to just chuck it in and go home!
All in all though, the good and bad have all educated me and the whole trip has really changed my perspective of my own life in ways that I won’t bore you about because I’m sure it’ll all sound quite pretentious… likewise, I was going to give “shout outs” here to various people I’ve met, caught up with, stayed with etc but I’ll probably forget someone or embarrass people, so suffice to say I’ve enjoyed spending time with ALL of you, you’ve made my trip the fun, enriching (see how pretentious I am) experience it was and I hope that you took as much from my company as I did from yours, and it depresses me a bit that it might be some years before I can go back (if I ever get to go back) so clearly you should ALL come over to NZ and visit ME in Dunedin!
I will end on a tasty note;
Cornish pasties, haggis, espresso, schwenker, gelato, calzone, burek, chips with mayonnaise and big camembert baguettes!
One way or another, the 6-7 weeks were memorable!
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