Entering Seoul
Immigration
With the flight done, the next stage was to clear Seoul immigration. I was still unsure whether they would let me in as I filled in the numerous forms on the plane and saw others with their visas and felt particularly naked without mine. They’d allowed me to board though, so I was hoping it’d all be good.
It’s quite clear there is a procedure which was going to be followed. Several signs in the queue saying to download an app, although rather confusingly there were two apps, called something very similar. They said to delete one of them and install the other. Korean nationals in one queue, who can self quarantine at home and all foreigners in another queue.
The first queue for the health screen took about 1.5 hours. Here they check your PCR test and then give you another slip to say that you have had the test checked. They stick a little thermometer in both ears and you sign a declaration to say whether you have any symptoms or not. All fine thank you very much.
Once passing through here, someone official says to me in quite an aggressive tone ‘SEMEN?!!?’ and I was like ‘errr..’. Again, “SEMEN?!!” — I just shook my head, thinking ‘Oh, of course that’d be the thing I forgot and didn’t know about these next level Korean COVID tests’.
Eventually I realise that there was a bunch of Indian sailors coming through and OBVIOUSLY he was asking me if I was a Sea Man.
The next stage is the bit where they look at the details of the app, which has to state your quarantine location (which is still secret!).
Then another queue. This time they check some more papers, double check the app and then they ask for a contact name or ‘Guardian’ of someone you know. Luckily I knew a couple of friends who had Korean numbers. They ring one of them and they didn’t pick up so they tried again….this time they did pick up and they ask some basic questions like ‘do you know this person’. I’m not entirely sure of the purpose of this, but it probably adds some social proof that I’m not a complete fraudster.
There’s another queue and this is where they are double checking the immigration and take biometric details etc. Here they ask me ‘Where is your visa?’ and I say ‘I was told I didn’t need one’ and the lady said ‘ you need visa!’ and I was like ‘ah ok, I checked that I didn’t need one as I’m a UK national’ and then she gave me ‘huh?’ look before tapping away at her computer. Bit of a heart pounding few seconds before she says ‘ok, look into the camera here’ and I’ve never been more relieved.
Then another check, with pretty much the same questions and the same biometric details being taken.
Then we’re finally through into the last stage, where I’m given a Red badge and await my fate, being rounded up with fellow immigrants.
Again, more shouts of ‘Sea Man’ (I’m not falling for that again) to go into one queue and the ‘others’ into another queue before another wait. We get on board the coach in the dark and speed off to a location.
In all this bit took around 4.5 hours from stepping off the plane to leaving the airport.
Quarantine hotel.
Being whisked off to a unknown location adds to the intrigue! Where will I go? Will I end up in a lush traditional Korean house by the lake like someone I know? Will it be a high rise building next to a road?
So 45 mins in the dark, no mobile data yet, cruising along motorways and meandering down some other road (maybe its the countryside!) and arrive at…a high rise building next to a road. It’s a Ramada hotel and looks fairly plush in that standardised 4* hotel way.
As we step off, we’re sanitised and given gloves, our bags are sprayed down and then we have to fill out a bunch more forms and be briefed on the hotel procedures. We are then told to delete the app we installed at the airport and put the other one in. Everything taken very seriously and all the staff in full protective gear and are all very helpful, but direct and efficient. They know exactly what they are doing. There is a clear job and people are doing it.
I notice that in particular, it’s one guy’s job is to wear a hazmat suit and individually spray both sides of paperwork from everyone. There is a lot of paperwork.
The room.
Going into the room on the 6th floor is still exciting. I go in and the room is pretty standard, but nice but my immediate concern is that of the lack of floorspace as if I’m going to be here 14 days, then I’m going to need to crawl and roll around like a monkey. Why is there an extra bed?! Is it a trampampoline?
The bath is small but deep, I’ll fit right in…
The best bit though is the fancy toilet with the unknown buttons at the side. You can control the intensity, trajectory and temperature of the water stream. My Korean isn’t great but I believe one of the buttons says ‘Liquid Rimjob’. This will keep me occupied for two weeks.
