Ahneonghaseyo!

So, somewhere along the line, I've crossed into tomorrow, and just wanted to let you all know that it is a good day, worth getting up for. Thirteen hours into the future, I've looked down at the North Pole, and have seen both Alaska and Russia, without even getting up (ha Sarah Palin!). I've listened to 15 different albums on the handy little entertainment console, and eaten through a variety of airplane food. Korea Air is probably the friendliest and most helpful of the airlines I've flown - there are perfectly timed cups of brown rice green tea, warm face cloths, complementary slippers, and just when I was feeling hungry, a banana delivery. What could be better?
The program participants are spread throughout the plane, but I have found a running group for myself, enjoyed pleasurable conversations with many, and had many opportunities to practicing introducing myself and saying where I am from.
On the plane, I sat next to a Korean student who, after completing his first year at university in America, has decided to move back to Korea, leaving his nuclear family, hoping for a new start  back in the country where he grew up. He taught me a few Korean words and phrases, and helped me in my assembly of the bibimbap dish for lunch, introducing me to the elements of his culture and reintroducing himself to aspects of the country where he will be returning. He has passed the first round of a K-POP Star audition, and now will be working his way up through a series of televised auditions back in Korea. For part of the flight, he quietly sang and beat-boxed, providing convenient in-flight entertainment.
The new Korean food product for the day has been a highly innovative little toothpaste-like tube of hot pepper sauce, gochujang, which one can mix in anything, for the taste, or the fun of squeezing it out of the tube for lack of something better to do on the flight. The unexpected Korean food of the day was a warm bread roll for breakfast filled with meat.
One might imagine that it is hard to sleep on a 14.5 hour flight in constant daylight, but when traveling with a summer reading book advertising itself as a "lively and entertaining guide to reading between the lines," sleep is almost instant, at least for a little while.
We got to the Global House at Yonsei University where we will be staying, and have just had our fourth dinner for the day. More updates to come once we start to travel around!