Airport Chronicles (Incheon Airport).

so here i am, once again, wasting time at another international airport. it's crazy to think how much time i've spent sleeping on wooden chairs, drinking coffee, watching families and lovers, greetings and farewells. to be honest, i can't complain. i love being here. i love being in the middle of all of this hustle and bustle, watching people of every ethnicity going on their own adventures. people buying gifts for their families wherever they might be (gotta love those hundred dollar fruit baskets in asia!). people in groups going on tropical islands, anticipating the tan and the pina coladas. in a way it makes me feel sad that i cannot share my time in airports with the people i love most of the time. even though they're usually gigantic, i feel very intimate here.

it's crazy how two and a half years ago, my international career had started right where i am now; Incheon airport. how scared i was, being in the big scary world by myself at the tender age of nineteen! i've seen more than i could've ever imagined i would. from kimchi in seoul, to monkeys at the pet stores in tokyo, to sweaty sweaty castings in athens...i am extremely excited (and just a teensy bit nervous) to explore Hong Kong. apparently i will be living with many other models (try 20, male and female) in the heart of the island, pretty much as central as you can get. sometimes i wish they wouldn't always put me in the richest, most western area of the entire country. it makes me feel a little bit strange when you're surrounded by things you already know so well. that's why, after Hong Kong and Tokyo, I want to go on a real dirty, sweaty, real adventure with elliott; INDIA! i know it will be tough - i will be whiny, dirty, and probably quite uncomfortable most of the time - but i know it's something i need to do to keep my head straight.

i really did have an amazing time in korea this time, though. i met two lifelong friends that i miss more than i could say (lauren and letecia). they will both be in new york for a long time, so we will definitely be able to have many reunions in the big apple! i explored, i traveled outside of completely westernized apgujeong...speaking of adventures, let me tell you what happened on jeju island (i also posted many pictures on facebook for you all to enjoy!);
on the second day, our plan was to tackle the tallest mountain in south korea - mount hallasan. usually i am not up for vertical hiking for six straight hours, but i knew i would never get to experience something like this again (and i also didn't want to seem whiny and weak to elliott, of course!). we took the bus on the winding hills, heading up through the forest. we realized when we got there that we were too late to climb to the top; apparently if you arrive at the resting area before 1 (around 4 1/2 hours hike from the bottom), you are not permitted to go any further. what a bummer! we started our trek thinking we could just sneak by whoever it took just to see that amazing lake/crater on the top. poor elliott had his huge backpack on the whole time since we didn't find a hotel close enough to where we wanted to stay..what a trooper! let me just say it was a great hike up - and when we got to the resting area, we were the last one's there. the attendents kept an extremely close eye on us because they thought elliott's bag was full of camping gear (which it wasn't), so they kept rushing us to start our trek down. it was shitty because you couldn't even see ANYTHING from the rest hut. it was just a place where you could buy ramed and chocolate bars. damn...so at around 6 we started our journey down the mountain. it was getting a little bit dark, especially since most of the trail is through the forest. but we didn't care - we had the mountain all to ourselves! and this is where things got intense. about 45 minutes down, we decided to relax and have a smoke and enjoy the scenery. we sat down, listening to the crows and the birds chirping...how relaxing! until.........we heard a rustling in the leaves.
''elliott, what the fuck was that?'' said nervous nathalie
''don't worry, you always freak out about everything! relax, it's probably just a small animal. there is no real danger until the crow crows'' explained irritated elliott
...THE CROW CROWS.
A FUCKING HUGE CAT OF SOME SORT ROARS LIKE I'VE HEARD ONLY IN THE ZOO
''IT'S A JAGUAR, RUN UP THE MOUNTAIN!!!'' screams elliott
i have never ran so fast in my life/been so scared in my life/never felt so much like fainting in my life. we were fucking ALONE on the mountain! so we found a pole with the emergency number, and we called it. the guy spoke english, but when we told him what had happened, he just told us it was either a wild deer or a wild dog. WHAT THE FUCK? THAT DID NOT SOUND LIKE ANYTHING SMALL OR NICE! so they didn't want to come pick us up, so we ran for four hours down the mountain, full of endorphins and sharpened wooden stakes at hand (we must have looked like crazy westerners). we finally got to the bottom and i felt like passing out....so tired and scared!
the rest of the trip was amazing....swimming in the ocean, taking huge ships sailing past beautiful islands, sleeping in hilariously tacky motels for 25$ a night. enjoyed some well deserved soju and watched sunsets from the mountain tops. worth much more than a pair of prada shoes, if i can say so myself!