Unexpected Trip Back to the US

I was meant to write this blog since I arrived Chicago during the summer. But because of my sickness and other stuffs that are coming during school year, I have not had a chance to write this until today. This is my little journey back from Bangkok to Chicago during the end of the 2013 summer.

 The first thing that happened for this trip is that I thought my flight was one day later than it supposed to be. I checked email that morning and got a message saying that I should check in 24-hour before the flight, and that when I realized that I got the date of my flight wrong. Fortunately, I packed all my stuffs before (Thanks to mom), so I am basically ready to go to the airport.

After saying goodbye to my family, I got on a plane as it supposed to be. However they said that there was some technical problem at the engine,  so we have to wait in the airplane for two hours. While waiting, I watched "The Internship" and almost forgot that we were still on the ground and haven't moved an inch for two hours. Then, they said that we had to catch the next flight next morning (10 am), and that was about 2 am. We took a bus to Novotel near the airport. Here is the view from my hotel suit.

View from my hotel near the airport

We had to wake up early to catch a 10 am plane. (At least the breakfast at the hotel is nice) We got to Seoul, South Korea around 6 pm on the same day (09/05/2013). Obviously, I missed the next plane to go to Chicago, so I had to spend another night at the hotel in Seoul. I could just stay in the hotel doing nothing after dinner which is provided by the hotel, but instead I met an Iranian British guy who also have the same situation with me but he was going to London. We decided to spend the night in Seoul. (I was here before so I wasn't worried too much for how to get around Seoul) By the way, I had only one backpack with me since my luggages were in the plane.

My overnight hotel in Seoul

After talking with some officers at the train station, we decided to go to downtown by taking a train and then taxi. We ate at some local Korean restaurant. I had no idea what I ate. I only knew that they were some kinds of chicken and pork on sticks and you supposed to eat it with salt. We also had couple beers and soju because some Korean locals next table suggested us to have some. That was my first time having soju. It was stronger than I expected. Then, we walked around the neighborhood at night until we saw Cheonggyecheon stream. It was one of my favorite places in Seoul.

Cheonggyecheon stream at night

We walked to another bar for some more drinks and snacks, but we realized that we have to catch the last train back to the hotel from Seoul Station. So, we decided to just get a beer and caught a taxi to go to the station for the last train. (We were so close to miss the train) 

One more interesting thing that I got from this flight cancellation is that I got to meet this interesting guy. His name is Reza Jafari. He married a Thai woman and she came visit her parents and that is why he was in Bangkok. He also owns a tailor shop in Warwickshire, UK (I had no idea where that was at the time). He was an interesting guy with many good stories. Hopefully, I will have a chance to meet him again.

 Reza and me at Cheonggyecheon stream 

Lastly because of this flight cancellation, I realize that we should all expect an unexpected thing to happen to them because no one (not even one) know all about the future. And once it comes, we should deal with it as best as we can given the situation and resources we have, so that we won't regret afterward once it was gone.  I could spend the night at the hotel in Seoul and just have a story of how unfortunate I was having to spend two nights at two different airports. But instead, I chose to go out with this guy and have a much more interesting story. At the end, I was not sure that this flight cancellation is the worst thing or the best thing that happened to me that summer. (by the way, I also got $30 for this flight cancellation apart from two free nights at hotels)

To conclude, there is neither good nor bad situation because everything depends on which angle we choose to see and which path we choose to walk. Some said that "attitude is everything and everything depends on that attitude."