(Seoul airport, Seoul time)

Mum's sitting across me, eating Tiaro Gukbab (or not - copied haphazardly off food board), which is spicy tomato soup with beef and rice. I am writing this quickly because we board in fifteen minutes. Have been in Seoul for under a half-hour and am quickly coming to the conclusion that Koreans are not the most polite people around. A flight attendant misplaced my transit card and basically told my mum to go away because she didn't want to explain the situation a second time when she came to fuss and flap over my shoulder. Then Han and I ran into a retail store to take pictures of the Korean-modelled Lancome ads but were banished by a salesgirl who eyeballed our camera suspiciously.

We had to RUN back to the plane because my mum realized that we were among the last few boarders and could not bear the idea of being late for the first time in her life. The sun is setting here, but it'll be noon in Vancouver when we get there.

Well, I actually quite enjoyed the extremely short Seoul stopover. It was fun to wander around the new Seoul airport, taking pictures of everything, checking out the locals and drinking it in, from Mandy Moore modelling Coach handbags on a signboard and the Arrivals and Departures board entirely in Korean.