The Adventures of Team Daniels: October 2022

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Hello, America!

We woke up to our last morning in Korea.

We made it with all our luggage for our morning flight on time.

We even had enough time to enjoy a complimentary breakfast in the business lounge.

We won't be seeing Ryan the Kakao mascot any longer.

It took a lot of research and adjusting of schedules, but for various reasons, Korean Air was the only airline that would allow Chuey to fly with us. One more reason to love Korea.

Since we had to be at the airport a few hours before the flight plus the flight itself being 14 hours, we snuck Chuey out of her bag, stuck her in a huge plant area, and let her tinkle in the airport before the flight.🙊

Here we go! The Daniels have left the building.

Business class is so much better than 'no class,' which is what one of the expat kids used to call it. We had our own little private 'rooms.'

My little dog was supposed to stay in her crate and under the seat the entire flight, as per the airline rules.

My legs couldn't even reach the foot rest as I sipped my complimentary champagne. It's a shame the company doesn't always buy my airline tickets.

안녕히계세요.

Fort Worth, here we come!

Chuey was a total rock star. She couldn't understand why she couldn't get on my lap. I snuck her up a couple times, but it was too hot for her as I hid her under the blanket. The attendant was so sweet to let me bend the rules. When it was time to land she apologized that I needed to have her zipped in the crate for her safety.

That's American soil down there.

The first time in the US since we left three years ago for these guys!

Our first stop upon arrival.

💙 Three years between hugs is too long.💙

[July 7]

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

안녕히 계세요 Goodbye, Korea - Incheon

Our drive to the airport was a quiet, reflective, sad drive.

Three years ago we had no idea what South Korea had in store for us. Apprehension was high as we loaded our suitcases onto a plane with no plans to return for two years. Abe told us that most of the Lockheed people enjoyed it so much that they all extended and the kids were never ready to move back; we took that with a grain of salt. Honestly the bar was set pretty low.

We had to get one more snack from a Korean rest stop on the drive to the airport.

We landed at our hotel in Incheon and all our bags. We were told our Korean shipment would not arrive for four months, so anything we thought we would want before that was in those suitcases and duffle bags.

When the company pays, we get nicer hotels. Check out that view.

Chuey took notice of the view, too.

It was incredibly hot, but I convinced everyone to take a walk. It was the 'bees knees.'

송도센트럴공원송 Songdo Central Park is just like it sounds--a pretty park in the middle of the bustling city. The Songdo International Business District is a new city built on 1500 acres of land reclaimed from the Yellow Sea. Reclaimed land means to increase, or build up, the amount of available land from the sea that can be put to economic use. Apparently this practice has been going on at least as far back as 1906 when a huge earthquake in San Francisco happened on reclaimed land. Who knew?

This was the last picture I got before I gave everyone permission to go back to the air conditioned hotel room. You can't see the sweat in this photo, but we were all glistening in the afternoon sun.

After dinner Daisy, Chuey and I ventured out again.

We rented a moon boat.

It did't go very fast and the turning mechanism was not accurate. They warned us to pass under the middle of the bridges. Daisy got us close to the edge. I took over but it was too late; we were getting very close to hitting the bridge with the top of our moon boat.😨 There was a guy on a jet ski who went around helping people; we ended up being two of those people he had to push away from the edge.

A traditional Korean 한옥 hanok is located along the river, which added to the ambiance of our river tour.

Central Park is well-know for the Tri-Bowl. It is so called because there are three shapes that resemble bowls. The three-bowls stand for sky (the airport), ocean (the port) and land (the metro transport).

South Korea was such a pleasant surprise for us. The landscape is beautiful. The gradual changing of all four seasons was such a fresh welcome. And the people were delightful. Always so kind and helpful. You can never out-give a Korean because they are so generous and thoughtful. Everything was clean and safe here. And delightfully quirky.

Life as we knew it has been put on pause for three past three years. Everything slowed down. Relationships became more important than activities. The Lockheed community has been wonderful. Strangers who became like family, always looking out for each other. And playing together. Lots of playing. Well, at least for us TA wives. ST, the man who we rented our cars from, always joked that when he is reincarnated he wants to come back as a TA wife.

Too many wonderful memories to list. I will have to rest assured that I have captured them through this blog over the last three years.

I have always wanted to live abroad, starting with my first international trip to Mexico while in high school. The Lord blessed me the adventures of living in Australia and the UK over the years. I am so thankful He granted me that desire yet again with SoKo. If the opportunity ever arises, I will do it again, over and over.

Thanks for the memories, Korea.💖