Adventure #1: Arriving at Incheon Airport

After preparing for months for this move, it was surreal to be in the airport and ready to go! It was undeniably strange to travel through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport, where the international departures board was almost empty, and most businesses in the terminal were closed. Stranger yet was traveling with fewer than 100 people on the plane to Seoul (Incheon Airport). We could each have had multiple rows to ourselves on the 15-hour flight, although thanks to the adrenaline rush of traveling we basically didn’t sleep anyway!

When we landed in Incheon after an uneventful flight, we were ready to face the hurdles of COVID screening awaiting international visitors to South Korea.

Our temperatures were taken before we could enter the maze of lines. We filled out at least 7 forms with information about our prior travel and health, as well as agreeing to the mandatory 14-day quarantine should we be allowed to enter the country. Eight different officials (each with a different line to stand in) either interviewed us or received and checked the various forms. A cavalcade of young men in full PPE waited to help all travelers install the mandatory self-quarantine app.

The only challenging interaction came at the checkpoint staffed by the Korean army. We had been prepared for each prior step of screening but had never been told we needed to provide the Korean government with a local contact name and phone number. There was a tense moment when the soldier we were speaking with looked at us and said, “I. Want. A. Number.” We pictured ourselves deported before we could even get out of the airport! It seemed natural to provide the name and phone number of Peter’s Seoul National University host, but he was unfortunately out of his office. More anxious moments! Oddly enough, we were saved by our Air B&B host – whom of course we have never met. He immediately messaged us his phone number and vouched for us via phone call with the Army guy. Thank you, Han, for going way above and beyond for us!

Finally, our hands full of paperwork, we were able to clear Immigration and then Customs. It took another 2 officials to help us book a “quarantine taxi” to take us to our apartment in Seoul, as currently new arrivals are not allowed to use regular forms of public transportation. We were relieved not to be put on a bus with our 350 pounds of luggage!

Surprisingly, about two hours after we arrived at the airport we were on a taxi to Seoul. It’s a good thing our flight was so empty, or it’s hard to imagine what the lines would have been like.