Sizzling Bowl of Dol-Sot Bibimbap

Well, first time traveling over seas alone is going well so far. Left Flagstaff at 6pm, got to LA around 7. I am definitely a fan of airports and riding on planes! I just love seeing all the different types of people and meeting people with some awesome life experiences! My trip of meeitng neat people started on the first flight to LA. The guy I sat next too worked for a company that did all the visual effects for Shrek, Star Wars and Indiana Jones!! When I arrived in LA I had about 5 hours to kill. So I ate a $10 airport salad in a little cafe, watched soccer, and talked on the phone with friends until I had to board the plane. Seeing as this is my first time traveling into Asia, I really wasnt sure what I was gettting myself into. Instead of going through a gate to get on the plane like normal, they cram as many people as they can on buses and bus you to your plane far away from your gate! It was awesome! Then you get on the plane and all of the flight attendants are all dressed up in their matching hair-dos and outfits.

The flight to Seoul Korea wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. It was a 14 hour flight, but because it left LA at midnight, I was able to sleep most of the way! Watched a few movies, and talked with the people sitting next to me headed to the Philipines!

Getting into Korea, I started to get nervous, because I had to goto baggage claim to pick up my bags and re-check in. After figuring out where to go and exchanging American dollars for Rupiah, I went to go check in. Man you dont realize how freakishly tall you are until you go to an Asian country. I am pretty sure they were all thinking I was some giant haha, it was great :)

Once safely pass security check points, I was free to roam-for the next 9 hours. The airport here is like a mall- fancy stores everywhere you go! As I was walking around like a lost American (which I definitely was) I found this cute little booth that had a very intriging sign "free event- experience true korean tradition. The girl who worked the booth wore traditional clothes. She spoke broken English, but was so sweet. I ended up making both of the crafts, and established a nice little conversation partner. She taught me some Korean and I helped her with her English. I think she told me her name 5 times and I still couldnt say it. She said it meant Pearl, so I told her that was her new "American name " :)

My next adventure in the Korean airport was finding something to eat for lunch. I had asked Pearl where I should go, and she wrote it down in Korean on a piece of paper and I went searching. I ordered my first adventure meal of the trip....

I wasn't exactly sure what I had just ordered, but I wasn't going to be a whimp. When the buzzer went off for me to pick up my food, I came to the counter to receive my sizzling rock bowl of mystery food! To my surprise, it was all delicious! Seaweed soup (tasted like miso soup) some type of hardboiled egg, kimche, some pickled things and rice and egg...it was so cool because the bowl was so hot it was still cooking the food (ended up cooking the raw egg on top). So after my first adventure meal I survived! I also had an adventure drink- corn iced tea... not too back kind of tastes like cereal haha

I have about one more hour to go until I get on the plane to Indonesia! I can't wait to see what crazy adventures are to come!!