I. AM. HERE.

I made it safely to Seoul!  But my flights...ugh.

The first one wasn't bad - I checked my 2 suitcases, brought my backpack and small carry-on through security (and I do mean small - this is relevant later), and made it to my gate with plenty of time.  There was a slight mix-up where some dude got his row wrong so my seat was taken, but it got sorted out pretty easily.  Quick flight, no problem.

But Chicago.

Maaaaaan, screw Chicago.

No, I like the city, that's not fair...but last time I flew through Chicago, it was super easy.  This time it was not.

For starters, I couldn't find a freaking board with flight info for forever, and when I did I couldn't find my connecting flight on it.  I saw no United Airlines employees at any of the gates, and I was hoping to ask them how to find terminal 5/the shuttle to it.  I walked around following signs, but they suddenly ended and it seemed like the way to go was out, as in outside security.  Yeah no.  I turned the other way, but it didn't seem right....blah. I knew I was crunched for time and this was not going to end well if I kept wandering.  I saw a group of police officers standing around and figured screw it, they might not know where I need to go but they seem like they're in here a lot, so they might be able to point me to someone who does.  I explained what was up, and one of the officers started to tell me how to get to terminal 5 but then changed his mind and decided to walk me over to the shuttle.  I'm really glad he did - turns out I actually did have to go out past security and I would never have done that on my own.  Random CPD officer, you're the best.  I'm sorry I don't remember your name but I only got a fleeting glance at your name tag.

So I finally got to the terminal and tried to go through security, but I was informed that Asiana Airlines requires their own boarding pass and the one I had was through United.  Balls.  So I ran over to the counter hidden waaaaaay down towards the end (they need a bigger sign!) and asked for a new boarding pass.  It was actually going smoothly (finally) until the woman at the counter said my carry-on was too big.  Um, what?  This is nowhere close to the size limit. What.  What what what.  Apparently my backpack was "too big to be a personal item" so that was my carry-on.  I was in too much of a hurry to argue more than a little so I asked how much to check it...and she wouldn't give me a straight answer.  She kept asking what was in the bag, could I make it smaller, oh you have makeup in there I don't want to check it makeup is expensive and I don't want it getting lost blah blah blah.  For crying out loud, lady, my flight boards in half an hour and I haven't even seen security to know if I should be panicking about the lines or not.  JUST TELL ME SO I CAN PAY AND GO! (No, I didn't say that.  But I was thinking it.)

She eventually checked my bag for free even though she was supposed to charge me, so I was grateful for that.  I guess she felt bad about my trouble.  She was pretty nice about the whole thing and seemed genuinely concerned, so I did my best during the exchange to bottle up my panic and not freak out at her for doing her job...even though I'm still skeptical that I really wouldn't have been allowed my carry-on.

Security was pretty quick, thankfully, and I ran down to my (super-crowded) gate with a few minutes to spare before boarding.  I guess this is what the travel agents were worried about when they told me I would need to hurry.

The flight itself wasn't bad.  I was stuck in the middle of a row (ugh) but the people on either side of me were really nice.  The guy in the window seat (well, the wall.  He had no window. Kinda disappointing.) was very friendly and started chatting with me right away.  Turns out he's teaching in Seoul through EPIK just like Ashley.  I was a bit worried about the woman in the aisle seat...she reminded me a lot of the woman I sat next to on my last flight to Seoul, and that woman scared the crap out of me.  I was afraid to even breathe.  She wouldn't stop giving off an air of utter hatred starting from the time I walked up and said excuse me so I could get in to my seat.  This woman, however, was much nicer and much more relaxed. We didn't really talk, but I didn't feel bad about breathing in her general vicinity and she was really nice when either I or the guy next to me wanted to get out of the row.

I managed to sleep on and off, but it was hard for me to find a comfortable position.  The chairs were shaped all wrong for my back and if I didn't have something supporting my lower back, my whole back would start hurting in about 5-10 minutes.  Ugh.  I ended up putting my neck pillow on the seat-back tray and faceplanting into it for most of my attempts to sleep.  It worked well enough.

Also, in the in-flight entertainment, I found Tangled with the option for Korean dubbing...and Phineas and Ferb with the same option.  SCORE.

Up next: finding the reps from my school in the airport, meeting my fellow new teacher, the end of travel day, day 1 of work, and my first full day in Seoul.