So I landed in Seoul 5:30pm Korean time and 4:30am EST. Needless to say I was exhausted when I hopped off the plane and after going through customs. Incheon International Airport is a very friendly and easy to navigate airport that, I believe, gives a great welcome into Korea! But I wanted to talk about the way that I traveled from New York to Seoul. As the title says, I flew on an Asiana Airlines A380-800 Airbus, which had 495 seats and two floors. The aisle economy seat I purchased was extremely spacious with an appropriate amount of leg room. Each seat came with a complimentary blanket, pillow, headphones and later flight attendants came around with a set of ear plugs and sleeping mask. The entertainment provided was also more than exceptional and packed with plenty of things to watch/do on the 14 hour journey. You get an appx. 12in screen which allows you to choose between a wide array of Hollywood, Korean, Japanese and other films from around the world. There are also options such as watching TV programs, playing arcade games, a travel map and much more.
Once we were cruising at about 30,000 ft, and about 30 min after takeoff, the first meal was served. You had a choice between steak with vegetable or bibimbap. I chose the bibimbop and it was delicious! It comes with mixed pickled vegetables and meat which you then add rice, gochujang and sesame oil to and mix it all together. It also came with a side of pickled beets and anchovies and a kitkat for dessert. After the meal was over and cleaned up, flight attendants came around for post meal coffee and tea. The second meal wasn't served until 2 hours before landing, about 10 hours later, but between the two meal we were constantly offered beverages as well as getting a ham and cheese sandwich as a snack. The second meal was a choice between shrimp pasta or spicy pork and rice. I chose the pork, and again, was not disappointed in the quality! This meal came with a side salad as well as fruit. And again, coffee and tea were offered after the meal.
The flight was smooth with only slight turbulence for a short period of time. The flight staff were all very attentive and friendly, speaking very good English as well as Korean. Overall, it's very hard to have an economy seat on a 10+ hour flight that is not without its uncomfortable sleeping positions and busy bathrooms, yet I couldn't really ask for much more than what was provided by Asiana and their staff! Im very excited to be in Korea and, even though the jet lag had me up at 4am, I can't wait to start my adventures at Ewha! Till next time!