We really enjoyed the journey from Newark, New Jersey to Seoul. All in all, it was long but comfortable. Special note to Rob's brother: Bill, thanks again for your wonderful surprise visit at the airport to see us off--it really calmed our slightly shaky nerves before the trip. Our departure was at 11:30 am (US East Coast time) on Friday, October 2, 1998.

Cheris and Bill kickin' it in Newark.

Somewhere over the Atlantic.

Malaysia Airlines treated us like royalty: ten video channels and twenty audio channels on the screen and headphones for each seat (yes, even in economy class!), all the free alcohol or soft drinks you can handle, and great exotic food. We were amazed to discover that our flight went EAST--we flew over Spain, Italy, Greece, the Mediterannean Sea, Saudi Arabia (skirting the border of Iraq!), and Oman before our first stop in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. That was a 30-min break to refuel, pick up and unload passengers, and stretch our legs.

Next stop: the palacial, brand new Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia for a 4.5 hour layover--about 9pm to 1am (Saturday/Sunday) Malaysian time. We had fun with our first money-exchanging experience so we could buy coffee and some sandals for Cheris with Malaysian Ringgets. We'd hoped to see the city center, but it was an hours' cab ride from the airport, so we couldn't risk missing our connecting flight.

Rob trying to look cool at KLA.

Landing approach: the outskirts of Seoul.

Then on to Seoul. We arrived at 8 am (Seoul time) on Sunday, October 4. Met our boss's sister quite easily after customs and baggage pickup, then took the 2 hour bus ride with her to Taejon. We met our boss, dumped luggage at our apartment, got lunch, took a quick tour of the school, and made it back to the apartment at 4 pm. We fell asleep right away, woke up at 8 am the next day, and had no jetlag, really! Not bad.

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