from airport to airport

I got to Gimpo Airport a couple hours early. For the most part, it was a smooth experience, except I found out that, if I wanted to check my backpack in as luggage, I had to remove my portable battery—the one you use when charging your cell phone while you're traveling. At first, I didn't get what the check-in lady was talking about when she asked me whether I had any batteries in my backpack. I reflexively said "no," but suspecting I'd misunderstood something, I looked up the term she'd used: 보조배터리/bojobaeteori, i.e., a portable battery for cell phones  A Google Image search definitively proved that she had indeed been asking about my portable battery. The lady told me I was checked in, but the process wasn't quite finished until my bag had been checked. Sure enough, my battery was found by security, and I was sent to a side room to deal with the matter. The security agent in the side room was friendly enough; she told me that such batteries were considered restricted items because they could sometimes burst if left with the check-in baggage. I took the battery out of my backpack, stuck it in my pocket, and since I already had my boarding pass, that was that. I proceeded to my gate, got myself a sparse lunch, and spent two hours waiting for my flight to board. I texted JW to let him know I was on my way to Jeju. I still don't know his travel dates, but I assume he'll tell me at some point. 

Here are some pics of the transit from Gimpo Airport to Jeju. I didn't realize Gimpo is still considered an international airport. I think the last time I was there was in 1989, just as my last visit to Jeju was as a high schooler in 1986.

a look out the window before we taxi

passing over the last bit of the mainland

passing some of the coastal islands before flying over the blue water

possibly Chuja-do, which looks like a uterus and fallopian tubes

first glimpse of Jeju

a reminder that Jeju is very built-up, not some primitive paradise

Land features resolve as we descend. 

down we go

landed and taxiing

Welcome to the mean streets of Jeju, muthafucka'!

I'm always learning new—often basic—vocabulary.

When I got to the baggage claim after a restroom break, my backpack was the only bag on the carousel.

The stone "grandfather" is one of many symbols of Jeju.

Not pictured: Jeju hits you in the face with palm trees. As soon as I stepped outside into cloudy, cool weather, the palm trees were right there, waiting to ambush all of us tourists.