Greetings again from Korea!

I came in this morning at around 4 a.m. to find the hotel I thought was included w/ my ticket wasn't. It was no big deal, though, as I managed to book a room through the Korean Air desk for not too much more money.

I'm staying at Hotel June, one of the hotels in Incheon where we stayed last year. I was in the other one last year so I didn't know how nice this one is. The hotel manager shuttled me for free to the airport and when I got to my room I realized just how different Korea is from Mongolia.

Here's a sampling of what I have in here:

Jacuzzi
Sauna
Flat screen computer w/ high speed Internet
Large TV
Refrigerator
Cup sterilizer
Hot/Cold water dispenser
Cushy double bed (something I've been missing for quite a while now)
dresser w/ combs, hair stuff, soap, etc.
couch

and....here's the kicker:

The toilet has all these weird buttons on it that squirt and air dry. There's a massage button on there too. After a year of using a hole in the ground I find it a little frightening.

The lights are all freaky deaky and energy saving, so when you walk inside you slip your key card in a wall socket and it turns the power on. Some lights are motion sensitive others are controlled by a space age panel on the wall. Also, when you put your key in the slot a voice welcomes you to the room.

I can't believe I was on a plane for under three hours and I'm in such a different world.

Aside from the material things, it's different here in many other ways. I walked around the streets of Incheon this afternoon, retracing some of my steps from last year. I found some neat walking paths and tried again to get to the ocean but there are too many things in the way (such as small mountains).

It feels tropical and the first thing that hit me this morning was how strange it is to feel humidity again. My shirt was soaked when I got back to the hotel but it felt good just to notice moisture. There was fog on the mountains (which just crop up out of nowhere on this tiny island) and lots of places had veggie gardens just placed anywhere. There are a lot of condo style housing districts here...kindof like at the beach I guess. But the streets are laid out beautifully, with nicely designed overpasses and gardens and such.

I regret to say I don't think I'll make it into Seoul this time around...I asked at the desk and it's a long trip in that involves shuttling back to the airport and paying a lot for transit. Seoul-Incheon is a ways out....Seoul-Kimpo is the closer airport I guess. It also feels very strange being without language again. Many people here do speak English and if I got to Seoul I am sure I'd find more. But I feel more comfortable staying in Incheon...there's a lot to see here too. When I travel next year I may end up back here and have someone else to sightsee with, which would be cool.

Anyway...I go to the airport again at 7 tomorrow morning and fly out at 10:50. Not much longer now!

Carrie