Once again we all traipsed down to the Paris Baguette for our third and final first meal of the day there. Excellent stuff. I saw a large "Paris Baguette" truck on the freeway later in the day, so it's clearly a nationwide chain. We need one in Davis.
After we returned to the hotel, we grabbed our over-stuffed luggage and met downstairs to await some kind of farewell meeting with the mayor. None of us were quite sure where that was supposed to happen. But, it turned out that the mayor was off in the nearby mountains to officiate at the start of a mountain bike race, so that meeting was cancelled. We loaded up into another bus, this one commandeered from some youth center. There were only seven of us in a bus that probably sat forty, but that's sort of the way the hospitality has been throughout --over the top! Of course, we are "rock stars" --DMZZ Top --after all (in our own minds, anyway).
We bade farewell to some of our local hosts who came to see us off, and away we went on the long drive to Incheon Airport, near Seoul, where we had arrived a week earlier, though it seemed like a month ago as we had so many wonderful experiences packed into that one week.
On the way to Incheon, we stopped again at Taejeon, Korea's 5th largest city, where our host, Sung, attended college and grad school in civil engineering at Chungnam National University.
On the campus we met his major professor who showed us some of the campus. It was large and had some beautiful features. I, of course, was attracted to a 1950s vintage Lockheed T-33 displayed outside the engineering building. We were given a tour of the library, perhaps the size of UC Davis Shields Library with many students studying, even though it was a Sunday.
Sung's mother, who lives in town and with whom he visited several days before our arrival, showed up to meet us and give gifts for her grandchildren.
The professor than treated us to lunch at a very upscale hotel just a few blocks away. It was a buffet of mostly Korean food and was, as every meal we had, delicious.
Back on the bus. One rest stop. Driving into Incheon, we passed over a number of bridges and causeways to get to the landfill on which the airport is built. The tide was out --waaaaay out. And on part of the estuary, many boats, from small dinghies to relatively large fishing boats and barges, were stranded on the estuary bottom, waiting for the tide to reverse. Never seen anything like that.
The dearth of observed bird life continued. Saw a few gulls and other shore birds, but nothing like you'd expect in such an environment. I may not have mentioned this before: the lack of birds was remarkable. In Seoul and Sangju, I only saw magpies. A fair number to be sure, but nothing else. Not even any LBBs (Little Brown Birds of indeterminate species so common in the US). I saw some ducks and one heron-like bird in flight on the drive into Sangju. That's it. Sort of disturbing.
We arrived at Incheon airport about 2 1/2 hours before our scheduled departure at 5:40 pm. Incheon has a huge harbor and port, in addition to the very large airport. I did not see any plane there smaller than a Boeing 767. Supposedly, Incheon airport has the highest customer satisfaction rating in the world. Of course, the UC Davis University Airport may claim that, too. Who knows?
Boarding was on time and easy. Got my preferred window seat behind the wing again. Lucky! Pleasant flight of about 9 1/2 hours back. Watched one movie and some shorter documentaries. Got about three hours sleep. Mostly cloudy over the Pacific, and I was on the wrong side of the jet to see Tokyo, but we did fly directly across Japan just north of the capital, and I saw lots of lights. Food was okay, service impeccable, free booze, attractive Malaysian flight attendants. What more could you ask for? Well, you could ask for an empty seat between you and your nearest seatmate, and I got that, too.
Dropped into SFO right on time. Got through customs without a hitch. Sung had a local (Davis, Korean man) shuttle waiting for us. Quick drive back to Davis (but no red-light running, sadly). End of trip.
I really liked Korea and Sangju. What serendipitously contributed to my enjoyment of the whole experience was 1) it was totally unexpected and happened in such short order, 2) never having expected to ever visit the country, and with so little time to prepare, I had no expectations about the land, its people and culture [it's not a place like China or Japan that we Americans generally hear much more about], and 3) add to that with it being my first overseas trip --I arrived as somewhat of a blank slate which allowed me to experience it all in a manner I will probably never experience any other foreign nation/culture/people again.
Thanks to everyone who made it happen: especially Sung Moon, our fearless and tireless host who first extended the invitation to me (and who saved my butt on day 2 --but that's another story for another time); Cliff Contreras and Bob Segar who supported my request to take a week off at one of the busiest times of the year for me at UC Davis; and to the wonderful Korean people, especially the Sangju officials who drove, guided, and (especially) spoiled and pampered us in a manner that we did not deserve but for which I will always be grateful. I also have to recognize the foresight of the City of Davis and Ruth Amundsen who recognized Sangju for its many qualities that it shares with our community that make it probably one of the best sister city pairings in the US. Thanks to all.
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