Flying to Quarantine

The week leading up to my return to Korea was stressful. Snow had been forecasted to fall, starting the night before my flight.

Snow, in North Carolina, is chaotic. Just hinting at a slight possibility of a flurry will cause North Carolinians to rush to their local grocery stores to buy out all the milk, bread, and beer, in case the stores close up. As the roads can also be dangerous due to black ice, North Carolina tends to shut down. Because of this, I was worried my travel plans would be delayed or canceled.  

We watched the weather forecasts like hawks. And, as a good North Carolinian would know, the forecasts started as “It’s going to be a huge snow storm!!!”, to “It’s going to pass us by.” to “We might get 3 inches!”.  

In addition to worrying about the statuses of my flights, I had to ensure I had the negative COVID19 test results within 48 hours of my departure from the USA (per Korea’s restrictions). I (unsuccessfully) attempted to schedule testings earlier, to hopefully fly out before the snow was due to start. I made appointments at 2 different locations, within the 48 hour time frame, of my original flight time, so that I should be covered in case of flight delays. After receiving the 2 test results (negative!), I felt more relieved and ready for any possible travel issues.

Friday

The Friday before my flight, local public schools were canceled, prepared for the pending weather. This meant Mom was able to stay home! She made lasagna for our dinner.

When people ask what foods I miss from home, I have a small standard list:

As a lot of work goes into making lasagna, it was always a special meal.

Together, with my parents, and my brother, we enjoyed the delicious dinner, and played a few final rounds of Ticket to Ride before I headed upstairs to complete my packing process. My flight was still on schedule for the next morning.

Saturday

The snow had begun to fall Friday night. The temperature, thankfully, stayed below freezing, meaning a minimal threat of black ice. I was wide awake most of the night, so I kept checking my flight status.

After giving Mom multiple hugs, Papa and I hopped in the 4-wheel drive pickup truck and left a little before 5am, with plenty of time to drive carefully and arrive safely to the airport. Papa hails from the state of Ohio. He spent many years driving in deep, heavy, snows and white outs. As he has spent nearly 35 years living in North Carolina, he is also familiar with NC drivers and road conditions in the snow.

The 2 inches of snow on the ground was beautiful to look at. We only noticed a handful of black ice spots along our path, and few drivers. Papa safely delivered me to the airport terminal by 6am, where I gathered all my bags, gave Papa a big hug, and headed to check-in.

We’re Flying First Class!

This time, I was treating myself to first class flights. This meant I waited in the Delta Sky Lounge, where I enjoyed a continental breakfast buffet and plenty of comfortable seating options. It was a nice, welcomed change from my usual budgeted travels.

My flight to Korea connected, again, in Detroit, where I did not have sufficient time to check out their Sky Lounge. Instead, I had to queue at the gate to have my temperature checked, and my documents reviewed.

Once on board, I was ushered to my first class seat, and greeted with, “Welcome Ms. Houck. Would you like some champagne?” It took me a moment to accept the sparkling offering, because I was so impressed that they pronounced my name properly.

I settled into my spacious seat, and enjoyed my glass of champagne, awaiting take-off. Not having to shift left and right as fellow passengers boarded and passed through was very peaceful!

Many have asked me how I could afford the first class seat. And the honest answer is, usually, I can’t. Because I had not flown home for two years, I decided I should treat myself. I had already budgeted to pay for extra leg space, choosing the premium economy level, the same I had flown my first flight to Korea in 2020. I remembered how comfortable I had felt, and I wanted that feeling again. So, when I was booking my flights, my original plan was only premium economy. I had shopped around, comparing the prices of different airlines. As I was browsing and dreaming, I realized I could afford first class for my return flight. My thought was, if I had traveled home in January of 2021, I would have spent around $2,000. I applied that saved money towards this vacation’s budget.

Once safely in the air, dinner was served. I had ordered the roasted lamb and vegetables as my entrée, and it was DELICIOUS. Dessert was a chocolate mousse pudding. I ate slowly, savoring every bite. Who knows the next time I’ll be able to afford first class?!!?!

After eating, I unfurled my seat to its flat-bed setting, grabbed the comfy comforter, and actually snoozed for about 4 hours. Although it wasn’t a fully restful sleep (I move a lot in my sleep), it is the longest I have shut my eyes on a plane! Once I was ready, I put my seat into a comfortable lounging position, and watched movies.

The remaining meals, albeit delicious, were not as exciting as the lamb. Although I did have 2 glasses of champagne during my flight, I tend to chug water, to battle dehydration and motion sickness. I’m sure I could have bugged the attendants for more snacks and drinks, but I was happy to just watch movies and chug my water.

Due to my restless legs, I tend to request aisle seats whenever I fly. Any slight extra leg space is always welcomed! This flight, however, I was able to sit next to a window, with ample space for my legs to kick about as needed. I took advantage of the window, opening it often to view the sun rising over the horizon.

Once there was more sun in the sky, I noticed we were flying over thick ice and snow. I wish I knew precisely where we were in respect to land, but my screen’s flight tracker was not working. Regardless, I enjoyed my bird’s eye view of the changing landscape.   

Customs and Quarantine Procedures

The plane landed at Incheon Airport around 4:30 Sunday afternoon. After completing my customs forms, I grabbed my bags and disembarked, following fellow weary travelers. Immigration and customs processes took about 30 minutes, queuing, passing forms and documents to three or four various officials, grabbing my remaining baggage, and seamlessly passing through their final checkpoints. I know there was at least one COVID19 document check thrown in there somewhere. It was a fast process, and gave me false hope for the journey home.

Once through customs, we were funneled into two sections by officials dressed in full body PPE: those with private cars, and those who required bus and train travel. As I needed the train to return to Daegu, I was placed in the latter group. I joined a group of 40 or 50 people who were hustled down escalators to the airport’s bus terminal. We would be taking a shuttle bus to 광면역 (Gwangmyeon Train Station), which is about an hour drive east of the airport. We were asked to line up our luggage, and sit and wait for the shuttle bus. After shuffling heavy bags through customs, sitting was welcomed. Little did we know, we would be sitting for at least an hour, waiting. I made friends with two other Native English Teachers, who were also returning from their visits home. The hour passed a bit quicker as we joked about feeling like a herd of sheep, and talked of our families. Finally, we were boarded onto a bus, and shuttled an hour to the train station.

Around 7:30 or 8pm, we arrived at Gwangmyeon Train Station. We hopped off the bus, grabbed our bags, and were taken down to the basement holding area, which was specifically for quarantine passengers. We purchased tickets for our respective destinations, and herded in to the next waiting space, where there was only seating to accommodate one fourth of our now 100 or more travelers.

My ticket was for the train departing at 10:30pm. Others were for the train at 10:40. My new friends and I stood along a wall, people watching for the next 2.5 hours. I was lucky to have some home made snacks gifted to me by a kind soul from back home: ginger cookies and a savory checks mix. I offered to share the snacks, but was very happy to have them all to myself.

20 minutes before my train would depart, I had to line up with 60 others, two by two, to prepare to go to the platform. I looked around, seeing the other tired travelers, and sending silent positive vibes to the very young children and their parents, who were the most well behaved, despite their exhaustion. Once the train arrived, the quarantine passengers were to fit into a single train car, which seats approximately 60, along with our luggage. This was a disaster. Luggage was in the aisles, held in laps, and even some in seats, which passengers refused to move for others to sit. With each train stop, we had to do a shuffle of luggage and people, to allow passengers to exit. After two hours, I was finally one of the passengers to crawl my way through with my bags, and hop off. We were greeted by quarantine officials, who (literally) ran us through the Dong-Daegu train station, passed all the taxi stands, across the busy street, and to the quarantine station. I really felt the 빠리 빠리 lifestyle. They were unforgiving for anyone who needed to stop. Instead, they would grab your bag and tell you to hurry and keep up.

At the quarantine station, we lined up our bags to be sprayed and sanitized, while we checked in, and were assigned our quarantine taxis. Finally, around 2am Monday morning, I arrived to my apartment in south Daegu. And after making 2 trips carrying my luggage up 4 flights of stairs as quietly as I could manage, I was able to shower, and take a moment to decompress from over 30 hours of traveling.

Quarantine

My 10 days of quarantine began when I landed in Korea on Sunday, the 23^rd of January. As I am a long term visa holder (E-2), and because I live alone, I was able to quarantine in the comfort of my own apartment. If you do not meet certain criteria, you would need to quarantine in a government specified facility, which you must pay for out of pocket. I believe this cost around $1500 (which includes three meals a day).

In order to keep tabs on all quarantined travelers, the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDA) created an app for location tracking and symptom logging. Upon arriving to the country, officials would help us to select the correct app to download to our phones, but registering was our responsibility. Thankfully, the app was available in English. We are also assigned case workers who will check up on us throughout the 10 days. These case workers are based out of our local community health departments.

I completed registering during my many hours in limbo between the airport and my apartment. I received a call from my health department, confirming my arrival to Korea, and also informing me they would be sending an official on Monday morning to administer the PCR test which is required within the first 24 hours upon arrival. I was lucky to have an in-house test, versus most others who must hire a quarantine taxi to deliver them to the health department for theirs.

Monday morning, I allowed myself time to relax, awaiting my personal PPE entourage to arrive. I checked my temperature, and informed it on the phone app. I also ordered groceries on another app (Thank you 쿠팡). When they arrived, it was one person in PPE, who stood just inside the entrance to my apartment, and administered the test. In less than two minutes, I was alone again. It’s cool… just 9 days left.

I spent my days informing my temperature and lack of symptoms into the quarantine app, watching too many movies and shows on my various streaming services, and blindly scrolling through social media. Although I messaged friends and family, I didn’t feel social enough to call people too frequently. Even though I had intended on cooking, more often than not I was ordering delivery. My case worker would message me every now and then, checking in to see how I was doing, or if I needed anything. After five days, I did begin searching for a used car to buy, for once I was free.

I had one more PCR test on the 10^th day of quarantine, and pending negative results, I would be released by noon the following day. On the 11^th day, I kept checking my phone for the results… which didn’t come. After noon, I reached out to my case worker, asking if he had heard anything. He called the health department for hours, and no one picked up, as it was a holiday. I reached out to my co-teacher, to let her know of the situation, since the next day (Thursday) I was due to teach at school. She also called the health department, hoping to get some answers. Unfortunately, I was forced to wait until Thursday, 12 days from start of quarantine, for my results. My case worker called the health department first thing in the morning, and they informed him my results were negative, and they had simply forgotten to send me the results the day prior. By 9:30am, February 3^rd, I was finally free and able to leave my apartment to… go straight to work to teach. But it felt so good to be with people again, and to teach my graduating 6^th graders one last time.

Quarantine: 끝

Thursday evening, I celebrated my return to society with some friends, at an all-you-can-eat self-serve Korean BBQ spot. It was delicious, as usual!

My routine quickly returned to normal. Friday, and the following week, I taught the final lessons for the 2021 school year at the elementary school. I am now desk warming at both schools, using the bountiful free time to prepare new lessons, and improve old ones.  

Since returning from the US, there are some things I miss:

• I miss hearing my nieces and nephews early in the mornings, trying to play quietly so as not to wake their parents.
• I miss the family, and taking part in daily routines.
• I miss the big, open space in the kitchens.
• I miss the dishwasher.
• I miss playing the radio and jamming to songs I forget to search for on Youtube
• I missed having a car that I could hop in freely, whenever I wanted.

Although, at this time, I will need to rely on the magic of internet, social media, and WhatsApp to stay connected to family and friends, I at least have the power to not miss one particular thing: I have recently purchased a tiny, adorable, car.

I am looking forward to the weekend adventures I will have in 2022!

Here are a few snaps from my 3 weeks since leaving quarantine.