Korean Cab Driver

A selfie-obsessed seat neighbor. A no-nonesense Korean cab driver. Two grannies gossiping while taking a break from a hike. Yes, I've met all sorts of colourful characters in Busan, South Korea, and I've only been here for one day so far.

My seat neighbor was one of the two worst kinds of seat neighbors. The two types of seat neighbors I dread are the extremely chatty ones who talk to you from tarmac to tarmac, and the obnoxiously rude ones. Yes, people, there is nice middle ground. My seat neighbor was a Korean girl who looked to me to be about 20. However, she may have been 40 for all I know- Asian women are blessed with wrinkle-free baby skin until they are like, 70. I want those genes... Anyway, I was sitting in the aisle and she had the window seat. Instead of saying "excuse me" in any language or at the very least gesturing to the window seat so that I could get up and provide her access to her seat, she climbed over me and whacked me in the face with her purse and didn't say a word. Real nice. She then proceeded to take the pillow from the spare seat between us, because of course I wouldn't want it, and then she put all of her belongings on the spare seat. Real nice. When the dreaded turbulence of death started, all I could think was that she was the last person I'd want to crash sitting next to. Because yes, I always assume that turbulence equals inevitable crash.

Prior to taking off, she spent about 10 minutes arranging every single strand of hair on her head and practicing a number of pouty faces for a number of selfies she took. What is this world coming to?

Dear God, please make this woman stop

Anyway... eventually I landed, giddy to be in a brand new, shiny country. I immediately loved it, but felt like I was back at square one as far as being completely unable to communicate. It felt like I JUST got to the point where I could understand and converse even the slightest bit in Japanese. Time to start all over. I blew through customs quicker than a determined tumbleweed, and was ready to head to my destination.

That is one determined tumbleweed.

The first thing I came to adore about the lovely city of Busan was the abundance of free WiFi. Seriously, Japan needs to get on that. Even when I do find free WiFi in Japan, it is extremely slow. I know, I know- first world problems.

It's a hard-knock life. Just ask Annie.

So back to my story! I planned to take the metro. I had it all mapped out. But, sometimes, plans change. In this case, someone changed my plans for me. As I exited the airport, a stout little Korean man began yammering to me. I realized he was asking if I needed his taxi services, and I said I was alright, but he didn't understand me and kept insisting, so I asked how much it would be and he kept saying "one zero." I didn't know if he meant 10,000 won, or 10 won, or 100 won or what other mixture of ones and zeros he meant. A little fuzzy on the conversions still, I caved and let the determined little man take my suitcase and place it in the trunk. As I got begn to get in the back seat, he shook his head and wagged his finger at me and pointed at the passenger seat. Okay, sure, I'll sit next to you, sir.

The ride was a hilarious event during which he talked on and on in Korean, and I replied in English, and I had no idea what he was saying whatsoever. At one point, he reached in the glovebox and handed me a piece of gum. I hope he wasn't trying to tell me something about my breath. Anyways, once we arrived I realized that yes, the 30 minute cab ride was only $10. I loved the little man so much that I gave him a little extra because he was so rad.

The next morning I decided to conquer one of Busan's many peaks. I almost diverted from my plan, however, when I stepped outside into the frigid air.

I have been in Colorado, Minnesota and Chicago in the wintertime. I know cold. This cold made all of those colds look like a Miami beach vacation. This was the kind of cold that violently rips through your layers, renders your handwarmers useless and freezes you to the deepest depths of your core, down to your very soul. Okay, that sounds dramatic. But it's not too far off. The frigidness of the air was augmented greatly by the harsh wind, as well.

Finally, I decided it was all about the attitude. I was all like:

Actually, it did, like five minutes ago...

Tune in next time to read about my epic hike!

 

Welcome to Japan

I can see all of your worried faces now and read your distressed thoughts and worries surrounding whether or not I made it safely to Japan, the land of sushi and anime. Well to put an end to all of your worries, I am here safe and sound in Ageo after much trial and tribulation thus far. I departed San Francisco on the eve of August 16th and flew via Philippine Airlines to Tokyo via Manila. Honestly, the safety video shown by that airline made me laugh hysterically. 

Oh man. The sheer comedy of it all. So when I landed in Tokyo I was excited and nervous. People instantly showed off the kindness for which they are known. I showed an airport employee at the immigration line my passport and he saw my work visa and escorted me kindly to the "Priority and Business Line." Awesome. I felt SO V.I.P. After getting through the airport the next step was to get on a train up to Sendai in the north of Japan. Doing so with 5 bags was no easy task alone. And yet, with all of the automatic help offered by the Japanese, I felt so far from alone. At one point, I dropped my bag down an escalator and a man ran after it instinctually, then grabbed it and waited for me at the bottom where he handed it to me and bowed before continuing on his way. 

Honestly, the kindness that the Japanese exhibited to me on that first day alone made me feel completely welcome. Everyone bowed at me non-stop, and apologized frequently for their poor English which also made me feel guilty for being the ignorant American who couldn't speak to them in their own language.  

Much more to come of course...

The Trouble with Modern Air Travel

Flying, the dreaded mode of travel for many, can lead to substantial irritation to put it mildly. Delayed flights, seats seemingly designed for the comfort of a leprechaun or small child, and overpriced food and drink are just a few things about which the majority of customers complain, despite being the new normal.

I pity those working in the customer service positions for airlines today. Seriously, I tip my hat as a former customer service employee to all of them. Working in that capacity for the air travel industry would be a new type of Hell, I image, that would easily trump the working for the food and hospitality industry. The people that airline employees deal with on the regular, generally in a cool and calm manner, redefine rude and need to attend extended classes at Cotillion in the worst way.

This is how customer service employees WANT to react to irritating people...

I concede that I have complained numerous times in the past in re unfortunate flight experiences. However, I always do so in a more or less polite manner, generally via a thoughtfully written e-mail, and I never do so over factors that the airline cannot control. Previous complaints of mine include poor treatment by an airline employee or huge mistakes such as insisting that I did not have a seat on a flight back to the states from Canada, where I was connecting, despite having my confirmation number. Those, I like to think, are legit and merit complaint. However, I have seen some crazy Jekyll and Hyde moments in airports around the world. At Washington National Airport here in D.C., I was in line to board my flight to Orlando when I beheld a rather frightening reaction by a lady waiting for a flight to Boston. At the information desk at the gate for the Boston flight, an airline employee stepped up to the PA microphone and announced that due to the extremely dangerous storm pommeling the north east coast, their flight would be delayed for three hours.

I’m sure that people around the world could hear the collective gasp produced by those waiting at that gate. The mad uproar began with only a select few keeping their calm. One woman stood out from the rest by displaying an extremely unreasonable reaction to the news. She jolted from her seat like a jumping bean and screamed “WHAT?!” in a voice brimming with ire after the employee concluded her announcement. She stormed up to the customer service agents and began expressing her displeasure. I half expected a torch and pitchfork to materialize in her hand from the sheer anger manifested on her face. The customer service kept her cool better than an air conditioner in the arctic. She even seemed to have mastered the fake smile while internally not-caring. I imagine her thoughts while dealing with women like that...

This reaction made me realize how ridiculous people can get over things that cannot be controlled whatsoever. Nature, the grand reminder that we humans are not always in control, dealt her a bad hand and she couldn’t handle it. Complaining about a deadly storm interrupting your travel plans is a completely fruitless waste of energy and a way to unnecessarily ruin the airline employee’s day. Yes, how DARE the airline not use its magic weather control gun to blast the storm away from Boston! Do these companies not realize that their customers have PLANS?! 

OH PLEASE NO!!!!!! NOT A DELAY!!!!!

Louis CK says it best in his bit about the ridiculous nature of the complaints made by today's generation. Lots of language, but hilarious...

Prior to my flight to Orlando, Florida, I had never had the pleasure of flying with JetBlue. What a lovely, underrated airline! Actually, on second thought, I cannot call them “underrated” as I haven’t actually researched their ratings. Well, if they are not rated as one of the best airlines, then they are definitely underrated. When I learned the other day that Frontier charges their customers for their FIRST carry-on bag, I wanted to vomit in disgust on the spot. JetBlue offered FREE TV the entire flight and unlimited snacks! Not just bags containing a grand total of two peanuts, but a basket containing of a selection of six plus varieties of goodies. So…moral of the story is fly JetBlue when you can. Yes. That is all for now.