14 hours after our feet left our hometown ground, we landed in Seoul, South Korea. It was twilight as we flew in. We could see a lot of water and some green hills, but everything was this hazy yellow. It felt very "right" to me that it looked this way, although I can't pinpoint why.
Stepping off the plane was less exciting than I thought it would be. I imagined bursting off the plane with this crazy energy, suddenly connected to my son by solid ground.
And I was excited, but not in a crazy way. More in a sleep deprived way.
The Incheon airport is probably very large, but it felt really small to me. Honestly, both times I was there my mind was sleep-deprived and a million miles away, so I consider it a victory that I remember anything at all. We waited around one carousel that felt like the only one in the whole airport, although I am sure this was not true. We finally got our luggage (that was quite wet on the outside from spending the trip with the mud-dragged, drenched luggage of our companions). My most vivid emotion from that entire evening is simple relief that our luggage made it.
It was really hard for me to perk up.
We took a hotel bus from the airport to our hotel, which is about an hour away. Playing on an old TV was a Korean game show and that background noise was the soundtrack to our introduction to Seoul.
The drive is a lot like the country. Industrial turns to rural nature turns to beautiful metropolitan city.
I love city lights; I always have. As a child, I would strain my neck for the first glimpse of a big city at night and it would give me this jolt. So much beauty. So much possibility.
Seeing Seoul loom ahead of us was exhilarating. I tried to take pictures; I tried to take video, but in the end, I put the camera away and just took it all in. Each light. Each building. Each bit of art. Each large dark patch of water breaking up the lights and spreading the city out as far as I could see. In that moment, it was the best, most brightest skyline I had ever seen.
The city of my light.
There is no other way I would have wanted to be introduced to Seoul.
I barely remember the arrival in Seoul, and I know that as soon as my bum hit the seat on the bus, I was out *cold.* It's one of the things I regret most about our trip, but it also makes our trip exactly what it was supposed to be...
ReplyDelete"The city of *my* light." i have chills - sniff. another beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteI had chills as I read about your drive into Seoul from Incheon because I remember having some VERY similar feelings and it brings it all rushing back .... sigh.
ReplyDelete