Trip #2 here we go!

October 11-12, 2012
(Neil posting)

Well, here we are again. My office is a mess as I have bags open and movies downloading from iTunes. Had to go into the office this evening and just got home to start packing around 10pm. My plan is to stay awake all night to get on Vlad time. I'm not sure if that is the best idea but I figure heck, let's give it a try. This trip is very important because it is the trip where we plead our case in court in hope of being granted custody of Angelica.

I dislike packing. It always stresses me out because I might forget something. I don't know why. They have stores where we are going. The night wears on and even after several cups of coffee I am getting sleepy........

We fly to San Francisco - easy flight. We then head to Singapore Airlines and start to board. When we get to our seat in coach we find that two others have our exact seats. They have overbooked us and "selling our seats" for a voucher, free flights,or a 30 day supply of beef jerky just is not an option; we are on a mission to Vlad. The stewardess who weighs about 97 lbs and looks like a porcelain doll, takes our boarding passes and disappears. After about 10 minutes of standing in an emergency exit row, as the plane continues to fill up, she returns. "Mr. Gamblin, will you and your wife please follow me?" we start heading to the front of the plane. While I thought it might be a nice gesture of Singapore Airlines to allow us to visit the cockpit and receive some pilot wings for our troubles, I was hoping for something better . . . and you guessed it. Business Class. Thank you Lord! Why us? I guess he knew after my attempt to stay up for 36 hours, I'd need it.

We were upgraded to the road warriors' Nirvana. The land behind the curtain that always closes between the elusive privileged and the rest of us who have ridden in coach and wondered if the oxygen is better up there or if the toilet seats are heated. Well, I must say, I think the oxygen might actually be better...the whole experience was awesome. Although those who reside up there are humans just like everyone else they are served wine with their meals and never have to worry about their glasses being empty. But, above all, the nicest feature of the land "behind the curtain" was the seats that fold into a bed. Yes, I slept and did not worry about waking up with my head on the sweet Russian babushka next to me.

We landed in Seoul, which I love, and made our way to our shuttle which took us to our hotel. An easy drive and we were familiar with our surroundings this time. We did not walk to the beach and eat BBQ shellfish since Dana started the flight journey with both stomach flu and a throbbing earache and we felt it best not to push our luck with the risk of acquiring bacterial meningitis at a seaside shellfish snack shack.

So after a fitful night of sleep (not really SLEEP per se) on a box spring we woke up to the call of the roosters across the way and made our way back to Incheon Airport to get ready for our flight to Vlad. One of the things that we have come to love about Korea during these last two trips is the quirky and (somewhat hip) nerdiness of the Korean youth. From Korean pop music to high-water rolled-up jeans above knee socks and Korean Converse high tops...they have their own style. We have noticed that young couples like to profess their love of each other to the world by wearing matching shirts. On the last trip we counted 8 couples in the span of about 20 minutes and this time we spotted 3 while just going through the security line. We think next time through we will try sporting matching "love billboards" (sans high-water pants) to better fit in.



We finally made it to Vlad and it feels good to be here. It's SUNNY! Amazing how everything looks better in the sunshine. It's Fall here and the thick forested hills are alight with the colors of changing leaves. We were able to clearly see the terraced hills that rise up from around Golden Horn Bay. We can now see the beautiful similarity to San Francisco Bay that we had read about. We are thankful to have this as an imprinted visual memory of our daughter's homeland.

Off to the Vlad Motor Inn! We figured we should celebrate our return with a very traditional Russian meal of Borscht and caviar. It was delicious.

It is dark and chilly here, no longer light until 10:30 PM like in June. Time to head to bed--we have a big day tomorrow--we get to see our girl again! I wonder if she will remember us....