The most amazing thing in the whole world

It's 2000. Or is it 6am? Either way, I have been up for a very long time, and I am ready for bed.

Twenty-six-and-a-half hours ago I woke up in Chicago, too excited to sleep. It's not every day that one wakes up thinking, "I am flying to Korea today!" We finally made it to the terminal at the O'Hare airport at 4:40 - over an hour after I woke up. Somehow, we were in the right place, so after a somewhat hurried and thoroughly bittersweet goodbye to three of my best friends I hurried off to check in my giant orange backpack full of clothes and enough shampoo, lotion, and shaving cream for four months. Shockingly, everything went smoothly, and by 5 o'clock I was sitting in United Airlines' terminal 3B waiting to board my flight to San Francisco.

American cities are interesting places if one is interested in observing different kinds of people. The man sleeping in old jeans and a faded, unbuttoned button-up shirt thrown over an even more faded t-shirt. The two business men wearing grey suits and pink ties, holding their airport Starbucks and laughing like they didn't notice that it was too early to be up. The old couples, placid and comfortable - used to life. The 20-something man sitting a few rows over reading and pretending to ignore the world around him. The family behind me: Caucasian dad, Asian mom, mother-in-law, and grandmother and grandfather-in-law, the young Asian girl, daughter or sister? and finally the baby boy named Joseph. They'd forgotten his shoes, but he didn't seem to mind. I think he didn't realize it was too early to be up either...

We all boarded successfully. The seat next to me was empty - always a plus, and in the third seat sat my friend the Asian grandfather-in-law. I wanted more than anything else to open my window and watch the clouds - imagining all the states below them: all the states I'd never seen. But they wanted to sleep, (imagine that!) so I pulled down the window shade and slept.

From 6am, Thursday morning until 1440, Friday afternoon I was either sitting in an airport, waiting - isn't that what people do in airports? Or sitting on a plane trying to pretend I was more excited than miserable. Now, I know that sounds like a long time, but it was only 18 hours.

When I finally arrived at the Incheon Airport in Seoul, I was too tired to notice how excited I was. I was not, however, too excited to notice how nervous I was. My flight history is this: Dallas Texas and back with Jo five years ago, Berlin, Germany and back with a group from Tech five months ago. That's all. But I made it through customs and baggage claim alright by following the crowd - this time they (mostly) right. I'd kept my shoulder bag full of book with me, also the matching bright orange suitcase that held shoes, toiletries, a towel, and everything else. My backpack was not hard to spot.

Then I was done and all I had to do was find my friend Jinju who had come to meet me. Naturally she found me first. Jinju was an exchange student at TTU during my freshman year there. We became good friends then and have kept up since, so seeing her was like seeing a long-lost-sister. Nothing could have been more perfect!

We took the train to my hotel, deposited my colorful luggage and then went in search of something to eat. It was good. It had chicken in it. The word for "chicken" in Korean transliterates to "ka." I am afraid though, that I was a very poor conversationalist... Now I'm back at the hotel. That shower felt nice, this bed feels even nicer. And sleep sounds like the most amazing thing in the whole world.

By the way, I don't like the color orange.