Away from Korea

As the plane took off, the map came up and showed us heading toward Pyongyang. I figured I'd get my first and only look at North Korea. No such luck. The plane lifted and surged to the left, away from the Peninsula. Still, I had my forehead pressed to the window to look; shame everything was soon obscured by smog.

The flight attendants came around with orange juice, then an hour later, lunch. Gee, rice. It wasn't until after lunch that ominous gurgling began. Yeah, spicy food redux. And that's all I'm saying!

During the afternoon, we were asked if we wanted a snack. The green triangle thing looked nice. Oh... boy... a triangle of rice with a smear of something that smelled like tuna gizzards, all wrapped in seaweed. Good thing I had more orange juice. The Kimichi Origiri tasted fine with a gulp of juice, but the smell...

Okay, I have to say flying over Russia was a real buzz. The landscape from 30,000 feet is breathtaking. We skirted around Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia, over the Southern Syberian Plains and the Ural Mountains. The Earth shows off her colours in spectacular fashion when you're high in the sky staring down. It has an element of alienness that sparked some interesting world building ideas.

And still there's that wretched gurgling...

We flew over Copenhagen at two in the afternoon and landed at Amsterdam. Of course, I had to go from one end of the terminal to the other to catch the flight back to Copenhagen. Finally landed at seven in the evening, the sun in full glory. For me, it was 2 am Korean time.

Family reunions take time so I didn't actually get to bed until after ten at night. The last time I did an allnighter, I had a short story to write for the next morning's class at University. I had a real case of the staggers, like I was drunk without the benefit of the alcohol.

May in Denmark is stunning and so green. I took myself off for a walk down to the sea via a lovely forest. We got bush in Australia; Europe has forests. The scents, the sound of the birds, the light coming through verdant foliage, all so different and relaxing.

And it was a good thing I felt all loose and easygoing, for that night and last night, we had important parties - the main reason for this trip - and food to eat and... well, you know the rest. Tonight is leftover night and tomorrow? We shop! Um... if I can remember what currency I'm supposed to use. So far I've spent Aussie dollars, American dollars, Korean Won and Euros. Next up are Kroner. Guess I have to remember to keep it all separate.