Leav'n (and Safely Arriving) on a Jet Plane

Yesterday was Sandy's last day in Korea.  Around 9:30am we departed with our friend Abraham Lee on the first leg of Sandy's journey back to St. Louis.  Abraham drove us down from Handong's campus to Busan's (about 125 km south) Gimhae Airport.  I was the worried one.  The trip down took a little longer than I had expected due to a few "wrong turns."  Abraham, though, assured me all along the way, "No worries.  We have plenty of time to get there."  And, we did.

We arrived well before Sandy's flight was scheduled to depart.  We checked-in her luggage and then she proceeded on through the security check to her departure gate.  Gimhae in a new airport, but it only has 6 gates for departure in its international terminal. No risk of getting lost there, but Sandy was on her way to Narita (Tokyo) which is one of the largest airports in Asia.  We had hoped our friends, the Han's, were going be able to meet her at the arrival gate since they would be traveling together on the same flight form Narita to Chicago. 

That hope, though, was not to be realized.  While still awaiting Sandy's departure from Busan's Gimhae, Abraham encouraged me to check my email to see if Dr. Han had sent me any information about the arrival gate for Sandy's flight into Narita.  When I checked, I found an email from him, but it contained information that I did not give me any reason to reduce my worries. 

In fact, I got even more concerned when I read that John would not be able to go down to Sandy's arrival gate -- Gate 81 at Narita.  Rather, he informed me that Sandy would need to find her way through the international terminal's connection security and then further make her way down to meet the Han's at Gate 73 for their departure.  I was able to page Sandy and get a message with that information to her before she departed on the flight from Busan to Narita.

That was my last opportunity to speak with her in Korea.  So, with "I love you, and I'll talk to you soon," we concluded the call, and Sandy boarded her departing flight.  Abraham and I stayed at Gimhae until the status board showed that American Airlines Flight 5848 had in fact departed.  I was hoping that Dr. Han might be able to send me a quick email from Narita when he and his wife met-up with Sandy, but that email did not come.  I, however, took "no news" (as my mother always taught me) to be "good news."

And it was.  Sandy moved smoothly through Narita, met-up with the Han's and departed on the trans-continental flight to Chicago.  She was seated beside an elderly Chinese woman who was on her way to Chicago, too, to visit her daughter.  Sandy was able to help her with her immigration and customs forms and visit with her -- even though she spoke very little English -- during the flight.

About 14 hours later, I was able to get a call through to Sandy's mobile while she was waiting in Chicago's O'Hare Airport for the connecting flight down to St. Louis.  Another 4 hours later, and I called my daughter's mobile phone and confirmed that Sandy had arrived safe and sound back in St. Louis.  She was enjoying the celebration of her arrival with Thea, Taya, Maya and Aydan!  My load of worries was finally lifted as I heard all their voices over the phone!

Now, I have another 25 days to complete this semester, prepare for my own departure from Korea and travel back to the States.