After packing up and checking out of our hotel, we made a plan for getting to the International Airport 45 minutes away in Incheon. There was unfortunately no direct route to the International airport so we had to go to the domestic airport first to catch the subway, which was fairly close to the hotel where we stayed in Seoul. The problem was that with all our luggage, we wouldn’t fit in a single cab. There were some minivan cabs that we had taken once, but when I called the driver, he said he wouldn’t be able to make it and suggested getting two cabs. Sarah got in one cab with Branson and Harry and I got in another with Ady & Dawson. I gave instructions to both cab drivers because neither spoke any English, but apparently wasn’t clear enough. Sarah’s cabbie pulled up besides us and asked again where we were going. If I had been thinking, I would have told him to follow us exactly or given him the phone number to my rented cell phone, but that didn’t happen.
In the process of driving, we got separated and ended up at completely separate parts of the airport. When Sarah didn’t show up, I started to get worried because I knew she wouldn’t be able to communicate very well. I walked around (dragging 2 kids and several bags) to all the places I thought she might have ended up, but didn’t have any luck. Not only were we worried about finding each other, but if we took too long, we could have missed our flight home. I went to the information desk and asked that they page Sarah in English and ask her to contact another information desk.
Sarah in the meantime walked up and down the airport drop off terminals and while doing so overheard my page, but couldn’t figure out where they were telling her to go as the page was all in a thick Korean accent and in the midst of cars coming and going in a loud airport terminal.
So she walked inside the airport and found a different information desk and explained to them that she had gotten separated from me and two of her kids and was looking for them. They unfortunately hadn’t heard what had been paged on the intercom and suggested that she try finding me at the the subway station under the airport. So dragging a cart full of luggage with Branson and Harry she made her way down to the subway but didn’t find me there.
At that point she and the boys said a fervent prayer asking Heavenly Father to guide them and help us find each other. Sarah felt prompted to leave the older two boys with the luggage (in case I showed up) and then ran as fast as she could back the way she had come with plans to once more run the length of the airport looking for us. It was certainly a very stressful time for our little family.
In the meantime after my unsuccessful pages, I decided to go looking again and started to drag my kids and bags with me. After a few minutes, an agent found me and started to briskly pull me towards the subway. She explained that she knew where Sarah was and would take me there! She then ran ahead to get Sarah and I followed behind more slowly. Eventually she met up with Sarah as she was heading back to the airport on an escalator and was able to reunite us once again! What a relief it was to finally find each other. It was certainly pretty touch-and-go there for a while. It probably only lasted about 20-25 minutes total, but it felt like an eternity!
Because of our crazy adventure at the airport, Sarah felt that some Kripy Kreme donuts were in order and we celebrated our reunification! We also made sure to say a prayer of gratitude to our Heavenly Father for helping us to find each other. But oh what a story!
We took our final subway trip to the International airport and luckily had plenty of time to spare. We got some dinner and the kids even found a playground to hang out in.
Next stop, the good ol’ US of A!