Overnight delay

After close to three weeks in Japan, I felt ready to return to Korea and the final preparations before teaching starts later this week. But United apparently wanted otherwise. When trying to check in for my evening flight to Seoul, I learned that the flight would have an “overnight delay” and that I would instead fly tomorrow morning at 10 am. These are the moments when I am really thankful for the academic flexibility which my job offers. I wonder how many Korean employers that will be happy with having their employees trapped at Narita on a Monday morning? Knowing this and the sheer desperation that this will cause to some of the other passengers, I quickly decided to not use my Star Gold standby list privileges but rather take it slow, spend a last night in Japan and reflect on the journey ahead.