Stranded?

Normal day--the kids were pretty good, Joelle was obnoxious, the Korean teachers ignored the foreign teachers, Mr. Kim was nowhere to be found.

Recently the Impact Intro classes were doing a chapter on jobs and I asked the students what job they wanted to have one day. Brad (6th grade) answered that he wanted a job that he liked, and that he could have a house and a car and a family. Brilliant! It doesn't matter what job I have, as long as it's one that I like and that allows me to live comfortably. There's not a job in this world that I'm going to like 100% of the time; as long as I like it some/most of the time then it's a good job for me.

The latest in the trying to get a ticket home is not necessarily good news. There's something really disconcerting about being on a virtual island and not being able to get off of it!

Following is the correspondence I've had with the travel agent, one I've used many times before with good results. I don't think it's necessarily his fault, but he could respond a wee bit faster.

9/1:

Dear Mr. xxxx,

I need a one-way ticket from Pusan to Tampa, Florida, USA. I finish my job on 9/24. I realize because of the Chuseok holiday it might be difficult to leave the country then. I could leave anytime 9/26~10/2. Can you please tell me what's available then and what kind of prices.

Thank you.

9/3:

Dear Beth,

Thanks for your e-mail. I checked the possible flight itinerary and quote with Northwest Airlines as follows,

NW 6 28SEP BUSAN/NARITA 1015/1225
NW 20 28SEP NARITA/MINNEAPOLIS 1520/1200
NW1760 28SEP MINNEAPOLIS/TAMPA 1519/1925
FARE : \785,800 + TAX\58,800 = \844,600

Would you like to book these flights ? If so, please advise me your full name on the passport. Thank you, waiting for your reply.

xxxxx xxxxx

9/5:

Mr. xxxx,

The flights sound good. The full name on my passport is _____. I live in Ulsan so if you tell me your bank information I can have the money transferred to your account. Thanks.

Despite the flights leaving on Chuseok Day, it's good--doesn't leave too early, layovers aren't excessive but do allow enough time to go from gate to gate and enter the country in Minneapolis. I'm in a bit of a hurry to get the tickets paid for and in my hands because:
1. It's just 3 weeks away.
2. I don't know if Mr. Kim will have a problem with the price.

Then today (9/7):

Dear Beth,

I'm so sorry but I just got the info from Northwest Airlines yesterday that they raised the airfare suddenly due to the oil crisis. So, the new fare for your flights is,\935,800 + tax\58,800 = \994,600

They raised it \150,000 more....it's crazy.. this kind of thing make my business difficult.

For alternative, I checked American Airlines as follows,

AA7264 01OCT BUSAN/NARITA 1340/1540***OPERATED BY JAPAN AIRLINES
AA 60 01OCT NARITA/DALLAS 1825/1530 : WAITING
LIST
AA 832 01OCT DALLAS/TAMPA 1706/2024
FARE : \830,000 + TAX\64,600 = \894,600

If this is OK, I will try to get confirm the waitlisted flight. Please let me know.

Thank you again.

xxxxx xxxx

Do you see any problem with that? I see many problems! Besides the fact that I would be waiting around without a job or people to hang out with for 3 days, I would be on a waiting list from Narita to Dallas. Also, the long flight would be a couple of hours longer than the Narita to Minneapolis route. It would also give me only 90 minutes in Dallas to go through immigration, pick up my bags, go through customs, recheck the bags, and get to the right gate (not counting any extra security). In Minneapolis, an airport that I'm at least somewhat familiar with now, it usually takes at least 90 minutes, sometimes more, to do all that. I'd be arriving in Tampa on a Friday night instead of a Tuesday, which would mean it would be more annoying for Mom and Dad to pick me up and I don't know Dad's schedule but Mom would be working all weekend so I wouldn't be able to see her much, plus I'd be dead tired all weekend so wouldn't feel much like seeing my friends. 100,000 won ($80) difference--so not worth it, regardless of whether I was paying for it or not. So I replied,

Mr. xxxx,

Thanks for checking with the other airline, but I'd rather have the Northwest flight. It's worth the extra money to me to leave earlier and have a sure flight. So please book the Northwest flight.

Thanks.

I really want the ticket finalized before the weekend!!