This day only lasted 10 hours since there was a 14-hour time change. The day I come back, April 11, I’ll get those 14 hours back (-1 hour for the difference between Chicago and Indiana, PA) for a 37-hour day.

In those 10 hours, I did two things; from midnight to 1 AM, I was in the lounge and stood in line for the plane. The rest of the time was on the plane. At midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, we were over Siberia and had another 5 hours before arriving in Seoul.

I saw one of the strangest inventions I’ve ever seen, in the business class bathroom in Chicago. It’s a device to wash your rear end after using the toilet. From the description — “Because washing with water can be more hygienic than wiping with bathroom tissue, we invite you to experience the Washlet. With features such as gently aerated warm water cleansing and warm air drying, the Washlet helps clean your bottom better. Experience Washlet and see what you’ve been missing.” There were the following controls on the unit – Rear Cleansing, Rear Cleansing Soft, Front Cleansing, Dryer, Up and Down Position, More and Less Water Pressure, Pulsating, Oscillating, and maybe the most important one, Stop. I didn’t need to try it but maybe on the way back I can find it again and use it.

“Experience Washlet” an alternative to toilet paper with 11 controls

For dinner on the plane, they had three choices; steak, shrimp and scallops, or a Korean dish called Bi-Bim-Bab. I was up for the shrimp but decided to get used to Korean food and chose the Bi-Bim-Bab. I also got it because I loved the name. I was glad for the direction booklet, which was only given out to the non-Koreans. As is typical from what I read, they do not use a fork or knife, only a spoon and chopsticks.

The directions said to spoon the rice into the big bowl containing beef, carrots, cucumbers, noodles, zucchini, radish, and bean sprouts. You then add the spicy red paste sauce (second from the left in the picture) and sesame oil and mix it all up. There were side dishes of roasted anchovies, a clear soup, and the ever present Kimchee (upper left). From what I’ve heard, Kimchee (spicy pickled cabbage) is included with most meals and each cook makes it differently. I really liked the Bi-Bam-Bab. It was a needed distraction to have to partially put the meal together.

Dinner on the plane, a traditional Korean dish, “Bi-Bam-Bab”

I skipped the spicy noodle soup at 10 PM or so and was having a tough time sleeping. Even though the seats have 12 or so buttons, I still couldn’t quite find the right position. My shoulder was acting up and my legs were cramping a bit. I remember thinking I’d been on the plane a long time after 5 hours or so and realized I had 9 more hours to go.

I got a screen shot of my monitor showing us crossing the International Date Line. In late December, Margaret, Keith, and I stood at the Greenwich Observatory in London with one foot on the East of the Prime Meridian (0 degrees longitude) and one foot on the West. I was now at 180 degrees longitude or exactly half the way around the world from that point in London.

Screen shot showing us crossing the International Date Line near the North Pole

I caught the screen shot over Siberia at midnight, at the end of this 10 hour day. I could see Sarah Palin’s house from the airplane. Hey, if she can make stuff like that up so can I.

At the end of the shortest day of my life, over Siberia

The person sitting next to me was a Korean-American owner of a beauty salon in Chicago, going to visit her sick mother in Korea. She was a good conversation partner. I showed her some pictures of Jerusalem and she asked me if I was a Christian. I respect all religious views and was glad to get back to less controversial topics after just a few minutes. She ended it by suggesting I go to the Creationist museum in Kentucky to get my “questions answered”. With my others travels planned, it’s not a priority to get to the Creationist museum.