airports

How lovely, this country named Korea. I haven't even left the airport, and I've already been inspired by the bathrooms (smelling faintly of saunas - in a good way), the landing strip (the tarmac surrounded by a mountain range), and the hi-tech (and free) internet lounge I'm currently sitting in.
Somehow, the 14-hour direct flight was entirely tolerable. Despite the disappointing movie options ("Miss Congeniality 2", "Hitch" and an old Star Trek episode), I sunk into my vacant row of three seats and started a fine novel ("Some Great Thing", by Colin McAdam) and listened to my latest acquisition for the ipod - a mesmorizing live album by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham (see: the writers of 'Dark End of the Street' and 'Do Right Woman' to start with).
And I kid you not: I sat down in front of this computer, opened the browser, and a website (nate.com) instantly popped up. Why is this signifcant? Well, were it not for my friend Nate's forthcoming wedding on Jeju Island (my eventual destination in a few hours), I certainly wouldn't be here at all. What were the odds of a nate-dot-com website being the first for me to set eyes on during my first ever trip to Asia? Who can be sure, but it's certainly a good start.