After an overnight flight from Dubai, I landed at Incheon international airport. Other than being pricey, Korean Air is a fantastic airline. Excellent service, slightly more space between seats and (given that everyone aside from myself and 2 others were Korean) polite passengers. I was sleeping when they first came around with food, and they placed a sticker on the seat back. And, when it is meal time, everyone has to put their seat backs up, so that the person behind can eat properly. I tried bibimbap, a Korean rice dish with beef, that came with instructions on how to put it together. It was very tasty. In the morning, I had the rice porridge. And even though I was stuck in the middle seat, I managed to drift off a bit.Once at the airport, I passed through customs in no time (there was literally no one in line for foreign passports). Picked up a SIM card for 30$ (good for calling + 1gb data for 30 days). There are other SIM cards, but only good for 5 days. Then I took pictures with the Olympics things, found food, got money out and went to the KTX station. The airport is very clean, but it was hard to find the banks (I walked right past them).

I ended up at the KTX in terminal 2 a whole hour before my train and wasn’t permitted in yet. I also began the saga of trying to pick up my PyeongChang Korail pass commemorative card. Terminal 2 said I had to pick it up at terminal 1, so, since I had time I went there. After waiting in line for what seemed like forever (I’ve learned things don’t move too quickly here), the lady there told me to pick it up in Jinbu. None of the people seem to have any clue of what I am asking for, even when I showed them a picture of Karen’s card. Anyways, I got my train from terminal 1, along with several visitors and some Australian, Italian and Korean athletes (they were filming the Korean athletes in my car). As we passed through the city, it is very obvious that it is winter from the trees, but there was one thing that was missing… Snow! How are you going to have a Winter Olympics when there is no snow! (I suppose that is why it is not based in Seoul). The train itself was a nice ride, through the countryside.

When I arrived at Jinbu (Odaesean) station, it was full of press and people. There was barely an inch to move. I was hoping to leave my bag in a locker, but surprise surprise, they were full. So, knowing that Karen and Sanna were planning to go to PyeongChang station, I went to catch the shuttle bus. And who do I find in line? Karen and Sanna!! (Sanna is Karen’s friend from Finland). What luck! It made the looming stress of trying to find each other in a foreign location disappear.

The shuttle from Jinbu to PyeongChang was about 30 minutes and dropped us off in town. We wandered the main streets and Snowland, taking in the experience. It is fun to see everyone supporting their countries! Sanna was popular, as she was the only Finn people had seen, although she got some glares from the Norwegians!

We took lots of pictures with statues of Soohorang (white tiger representing the protector of Korea) and Bandabi (bear for the Paralympics).

It is definitely cold out, and I layered up as much as I could. The thermometer doesn’t seem that cold, but with wind and humidity, it is biting. We ended up in the GS25 convenience store for ramen (they have tables and hot water) and then headed in to the main stadium/park area. Security was fine and I could bring my carry-on backpack in. (Yes, I was that person who brought my luggage to the Olympics with me!)

We probably could have left ourselves more time to be able to check out the K-Pop holo concert, but we didn’t realize it would be there. We took photos in the bobsled and found a huge group of Finns for Sanna! It is funny, as Canadians, we look at each other in acknowledgment, but it’s like we are wary of other Canadians. Or we are too polite to go crazy and intrude on their group!

We found our seats, at the VERY top of the stadium. It actually worked out well, since I could just leave my bag in the alleyway behind me. We opened our swag bags which included a blanket, PyeongChang tuque, a fun Torch pen that lights up, noise makers and the very Korean and very necessary hand, cushion and feet warmers! I would have had hypothermia without them, I am certain. The wind was sooo cold. On the plus side, we could stand to see over the people ahead of us. The ceremony was definitely a show, and I am a new K-Pop fan. The singing and dancing is so catchy! If you are into pop tunes, check out Red Velvet, BTS, Momoland, Twice etc.

The vibe was a bit quiet, but that could be because we were at the top. At the beginning, it was the (North) Korean cheer section that was overshadowing the performers. Once the countries started filing out, people started to liven up. Canada, USA, Germany and Switzerland had the largest teams, but it was some of the warmer countries like the shirtless Tongan who stole the show!

After the athletes entered, the main show began. I chose to just enjoy it without taking any pictures until the torch entered. The torch was located behind us, so we didn’t get the best view of it or the fireworks, but that is ok. The famous Korean figure skater, Yuna Kim, lit the torch.

With that, we willed our frozen bodies down the packed stairwell. Kathryn and mom would not like the crowds. I was also reminded of our numerous fire drills at school, in which we try to shuffle 3000 people from 4 floors down 5 flights of stairs in under 7 minutes. We would have failed, or been in serious trouble if there was an emergency. We warmed up in the restaurant and were treated to the company of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, who later were sat in front of us on the last train back to Seoul, and who needed to borrow my phone charger.

So one of the downfalls of the first event ( and a source of frustration in our travel plans) was the lack of foresight when it came to transportation. They only added extra trains that left late enough for people to catch. The shuttle buses weren’t running fast enough for everyone who followed the advice of taking the train to and from events instead of driving. When we joined the line (an hour after the ceremony ended) it was still an hour wait in the cold. They finally sorted it out and we made it to the train station to join the multitude of stranded spectators trying to sort out missed trains and find a way home. We found space on the floor and eventually some seats to wait for our train (we had booked the recently added 1:45am train, which was an improvement over our previous 6am train). Everyone was exhausted! But we met some nice Koreans on our train who helped us sort out if the bus would be running yet or if we would need to taxi (we needed to taxi, since we got back to Seoul at 3:30am and the buses didn’t start until 5). We finally caught our train and “snuck into the more comfortable first class seats). However Karen and I are more of the rule following type, and were constantly expecting the inspector to tell us we were in the wrong car, or for someone to tell us we were in their seats. No one did, and we rode in comfort back to Seoul. At the station, another Korean helped us order a taxi and after the craziest driver (who was pushing 145km/h), we made it home. It was a very long day, and I finally got to see a bed at about 5:30am! Oof!