I love Korea

Our flight from China to America started with a flight on Korean Air. We knew it would be good when, instead of grimacing and muttering when they saw our children in tow (like certain American airlines), the stewardesses brought our kids some cute little toys, then handed me a plastic bag with a pile of napkins-- all with a smile! And you know what? We DID have a nice flight.

Then came the real treat: a 3.5 hour layover in the Seoul Incheon airport. We planned our layover to be as short as possible, but in hindsight, that was kind of a mistake. The Seoul airport is AWESOME! Seriously, if you ever have to have a layover in Asia, try to aim for Seoul. The first thing I heard when I walked off the plane was "Gangnam Style" playing on someone's cell phone or in a distant shop. Awesome! But then in the main terminal as we headed toward our gate, we encountered this: 

Is that a string/flute/piano ensemble IN THE AIRPORT?
America, we need to step up our class!

 Awesomer!!
We ventured toward our gate, and when we got to our ticket transfer counter, the lady told us that, "I'm sorry. Your Delta flight is being flown by Korean Air."
Sorry? No way! We were overjoyed!!
We made our way to a play area:

Trampolining with some Indian-American kids

An awesome swinging gate guarding the entrance to their cave (complete with spider)

The play place had a giant TV hooked up to a Wii, which if our children were older, we totally would have used!
And right next door were the FREE SHOWERS. Other airports have showers. Tokyo. London. Whatever. But these were free! Towels, soap, etc.? All provided. And it was really nice! Not nasty at all. (Although, after living in China, we are easily impressed!) Kevin decided to go relax in the shower, but by the time he got there, 5 other people were waiting in line before him, so he ditched that idea. (Plus, we had only been traveling for a couple hours at this point. Not exactly a 17-hour day or anything.)
Outside in the waiting area, there were funky lounge chairs, kind of W-shaped, or N-shaped. You could lie down, stretch out, and even fall asleep on these bad boys. And since we were up in the mezzanine, the loud airport noise couldn't be heard.
We got smoothies at Smoothie King, after a friend's recommendation:

Naomi holding her treasure

 Kevin got mango, the girls each got apple, and I got blueberry, because you can't go wrong with a blueberry smoothie, right? Um... wrong. But after one of the girls spilled mine on the floor, I just tossed the rest and finished the apple smoothie(s). I would never have guessed it, but the apple ones were by far the best!

Penny climbed and played and drummed on these little stools, then she just kicked back and sang to herself for a while.

And then on our flight to Hawaii, the girls fell asleep at the beginning with only minimal (less than an hour) of fussing, and they slept the rest of the 8-hour flight. I worked on my cross-stitch, watched "What to Expect When You're Expecting," and reveled in the fact that-- for the first time in over three years, I got to do something besides fuss over children during a flight! Wahoo!

Korean Air, Korean airport, and by extension, all of Korea, THANK YOU for being amazing! Kevin has now decided he wants to serve in Korea, and we love everything about you so far!

I'm excited for the rest of our trip, of course. Thanksgiving with family in Hawaii will be marvelous. But please indulge me as I relish the fact that the most painful part of the trip was actually quite mostly painless.