Except the worst, hope for it to be not quite so terrible.
CA, Sconnie, my Mom and I departed Alabama at 4:00 AM. My mom's car was loaded with 1 ginormous dog crate, 8 large suitcases and 4 carry ons. Thank goodness for SUVs. We drove four and a half hours to the Atlanta airport. The drive was uneventful, probably because I was still sleeping with my eyes open. Luckily CA was driving and awake with his eyes open. My saintly mother then had to turn around and drive straight back to AL because my dad was having surgery that same afternoon... because big things can't possibly happen on separate days.
I really expected to be a wreck when I said goodbye to my Mom at the airport, but I held it together. I think it was due to the fact that I was focused on the logistics of getting 12 bags and a dog into the airport while figuring out where my dog could use the restroom before I had to lock him away for 18 hours. There were tears later when I really thought about what was happening - it is very likely that we will not see our families for two years and that's a huge deal for me - but in the moment I was all business which kept me from becoming a face faucet... yet.
We found a lovely man with a very large cart to drag all of our stuff into the terminal to check in for our flight. We arrived about 3 hours early, which we were instructed to do in order to ensure they could get Sconnie checked in and on the flight.
While CA was doing the check in thing, I took Sconnie to the "pet relief" area of the airport to get one last go before his imprisonment. I was instructed to get there by taking the escalator. If you've met my dog you know he's scared of everything (the vacuum, anything that looks like a vacuum, anything that's out of place, anything that moves and he can't understand why such as feet moving under a blanket) and a moving staircase was not happening. He looked at it and I looked at him and we both knew there was no way. Luckily, there were stairs that were really slippery which he proceeded to drag me down (maybe because he'd been stuck in a car for 4.5 hours and needed to go out or maybe because he knew he was about to be stuck in a crate for 18 hours and wanted to escape as quickly as possible).
The "pet relief" area was a joke. It was an 6'x6' piece of pavement that was covered in AstroTurf and had a tiny, fake, red fire hydrant on it. Luckily, my boy has a good nose on him and immediately knew how many thousands of other dogs had been here and did all of his business with efficiency. Meanwhile, I was trying not to gag.
Sconnie dragged me back up the slippery stairs where I only tripped and nearly cracked my head open twice. CA was done checking us in which meant we were relieved of 8 of our 12 bags. We then had to travel down to the cargo check-in to drop off Sconnie. This is when I lost my mind.
Exactly how can I be expected to take my little Sconnie boy, stuff him in a crate and allow some random person to wheel him away only to know that he's going to be placed in the belly of the airplane with so many loud and scary sounds and movements for a 14 hour plane ride? Remember that I wouldn't even put him on an escalator because I thought he'd be scared? Yeah, this was not a good moment. I started crying and totally embarrassed myself in front of the other people who were checking their golf clubs at the International terminal on their way to some island resort destination.
To be fair, I think all the crying was a compounding of a lot of things - the dog, saying goodbye to family and friends and knowing I was going to have to sit on an airplane for 14 hours to live in a different country where I don't know anyone and can't speak or read the language.
After having my moment, I went to the restroom and pulled myself together. CA and I then made it through security without incident, got breakfast without incident and then walked laps up and down the terminal for an hour because we knew that we'd be sitting for a very long time. I also bought myself a nerdy but very comfy neck pillow that was too expensive and saved my life.
Upon entering the airplane I was ready to be crammed into a tiny little seat without enough leg room to cross my legs, but I was pleasantly surprised. While the seat wasn't roomy and certainly didn't lay down flat like the seats of those lucky jerks in Business or First Class, it did have enough space for me to cross my legs without lifting one completely over my head and I had my own TV which I could control. Score!
The 14 hour flight went faster than I expected. CA and I stayed up long enough to be served our first meal (choice of chicken, beef and bimimbap which is a Korean dish that we decided to eat and didn't hate) and wash down an expired Ambien with two tiny glasses of wine (this practice is not recommended by anyone's doctor or me but it's totally the way to go). We both passed out for 5 hours and woke up unrefreshed. I then watched two movies - Frozen & Saving Mr. Banks. CA watched two movies that I've never heard of and had no interest in watching which is why everyone should always have their own TV on an airplane. We ate another meal (chicken, beef or pasta), read my book and a few magazines and POOF it was time to land.
Before they turned the fasten seat belt sign back on, I went to the restroom again because I wasn't sure how long we'd be at baggage claim, customs, etc. only to have to wait for a woman who was practically taking a shower in there. She was in the bathroom FOREVER and came out looking perfectly quaffed, teeth freshly brushed and make-up perfectly applied. All 6 people waiting in line to get in the restroom looked far less fresh or amused. Seriously, if you're going to be in the airplane bathroom forever, do it earlier. Maybe I was more easily annoyed because I'd been trapped for 14 hours or maybe this lady was just rude.
Customs was easy and all of our eight bags made it to baggage claim - SCORE. We loaded them onto two luggage carts which I stood and watched while CA proceeded to the livestock area to pick up our boy. We then managed to get all three carts out the terminal exit where two very nice men who will work with CA were waiting to take us to the base.
Let me just take a minute to brag on my pup for a minute. Not only was Sconnie his happy, sweet self when he was released from his 18 hour captivity (he totally freaked and jumped and licked both of us when he was let out which made me feel so much better because I was convinced he would be angry with us and never love us again) but the dog didn't make any sort of mess in his crate. NONE. Let's just say that if I was confined for that long I couldn't say the same thing. My dog is amazing. However, when we let him out of his crate I was reminded of the scene in Austin Powers when Austin Powers is thawed after many years and proceeds to urinate for an aggressive amount of time. There was no designated pet relief area so this happened right outside the airport exit doors. I'm sure everyone appreciated that.
Before proceeding to our final destination, we had to stay one night in Seoul so CA could do some work stuff there the next morning. The drive from the Incheon airport to Seoul was harrowing - luckily we were not driving but the crazy drivers in DC have nothing on Korea. Unfortunately, we arrived in Seoul about ten minutes after the dog kennel closed so Sconnie had to spend the night in his crate on the loading dock of the hotel. I was not pleased about this and he was not pleased about this but I was so freakin' tired by the time this occurred I really couldn't care all that much. I think Sconnie cared. Before locking him away, we took him for a good, long walk. After locking him away, I ate chicken fingers, chugged two glasses of wine and passed out.
That's it - that's how we got here. We are living in a hotel for the next few weeks until we get our apartment and our household goods are delivered. I hope to give you guys updates on what we're up to, but there won't posts coming your way on a regularly scheduled basis for a while. I personally prefer the predictability but I'm already beginning to realize that things are on a bit of a looser schedule around here so you'll have to adjust as well.
Julie
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