Flying to Korea
All my bags were packed and I was ready to go to Korea! I’d like to have said that getting checked in and through to the gate went without a hitch, sadly this time it didn’t! I’d like to have said that the airline caused this unneeded stress at the beginning of an amazing trip, but it wasn’t.
Unfortunately, this time it was all me. I made a silly mistake when booking and checking in for this flight, and almost had me miss it entirely. Instead of putting my official and given name from my passport on the booking, the airline was not able to reconcile the difference between “Christopher” and “Chris”. Because of this, I wouldn’t be able to fly on the existing booking. After a lot of discussion (And groveling on my part), one of the agents (My hero’s name is Demi) was able to re-book my entire itinerary under the same fare price as my original booking months ago.
Looking back, it was such a “rookie” mistake and I really have no excuse. In fact in Japan I was once asked to provide proof of my name because I had done the same thing. That time, after producing a few credit cards with “Chris” they let it slide. This time though it was much more strict. I should have taken it as a warning, but didn’t. Lesson learned. Sometimes even seasoned travellers make silly mistakes!
The Flight
With the flight fiasco behind us. Suzy and I were able to get this show on the road! It was a long and uneventful flight to Beijing where we had a two hour layover. We spent it in the Air China First Class lounge which was a nice way to unwind and refresh ourselves after a long flight.
From there it was a short two hour flight into Gimpo International airport. Upon arrival I picked up a KT roaming data SIM card which would be helpful for internet access and getting around. We hopped on the subway for an hour long ride to Sinsa which we would call home for the next two weeks. It had been a very long day(s) of travel and we crashed shortly after settling in.
Training to the Olympics
We had a super early start the next day having booked a train departing Seoul at 6AM. However probably due to a bit of fatigue and jet lag we ended up missing that train by about 5 minutes! We arrived at the ticketing booth and was able to arrange first class seats on the next train leaving at 7. We were thrilled that we wouldn’t be missing any events, and we’d get to chill on even more comfortable seats for the 2 hour ride out. While we wanted to sleep for a majority of the ride, it was hard when you are treated to some amazing landscapes of a wintery Korean countryside.
Figure Skating Team Event
We arrived in Gangneung at around 9 AM and made our way via shuttle bus to the Gangneung Olympic plaza. We had tickets to the Figure Skating Team Event. When we originally chose this event, we wanted something that was creative and something that would be live spectator friendly.
Little did we know that we’d get to witness Canada’s first Gold medal of these Olympic games! By the time the Ice Dance portion came up we’d already clinched and the dance was just a formality. However Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir blew us out of the water anyways and put an exclamation point on the Canadian win!
What an amazing event to watch, and a very pleasant surprise to see Canada win! After all the trouble I’ve experienced with the travel, moments like this certainly make it worth it!
Gangeung Olympic Plaza
With the high of the golden win, we left the arena and spent a few hours in the Olympic plaza. We checked out a few of the exhibits and pavilions. We were simply enjoying the great Olympic vibe.
Canada House
We had another stop on our schedule and that was to visit Canada house. This visit was even more special after the gold medal win. We were among other Canadians basking in the win! Canada house has a great setup with an outdoor patio, different Canadian fares and great Canadian beers! We spent a few hours celebrating with our fellow Canadians!
Sadly it was time to go and we reluctantly made our way to our airBNB for the evening. We planned to visit the Olympic sites again at night. There was a K-Pop concert Suzy wanted to see. However with everything going on, the short nap we took turned into a 12 hour crash. By the time we woke up it was the next day with much more Olympic goodness to come!
I’m glad you also have some credit cards on you that said’Chris’ on it instead of your real name. And glad Demi was able to fix it, I’m sure that was the only time you’ll be sweating on this trip!
This will definitely make it into a travel mishap post sometime int he future!