Flying Via Seoul.

I had what turned out to be a great layover in Seoul for a night. Through the process of checking in, boarding, flying, customs, waiting the random process of our hotel allocation for the layover, I started to see the regular faces, started conversations, share the initial cliche travel stories, the where and why of our journeys, and had the opportunity to eat dinner and breakfast together. In the moment, I somehow became proactive, inviting or requesting to share a table in the bistro of a Seoul Hotel

For dinner, I chatted with a manager of  a basement bar in Sydney on his way to Prague. With a gentle world view tilted towards beer and sports and the bottom line, we pleasantly talked about common ground. Always happy to not take things too seriously.

The following morning, I ended up talking over an extended breakfast of 2 hours with a young woman doing her masters in art History in Paris and a young man moving to London to live with his partner who is studying geology. He was an industrial designer specialising in helping corporations and institutions which are be nature conservatiative, to incorporate a greater use of design into their process. The conversation ranged from poltical, history, philosophy, architecture , chairs, teapots and whatever else morphed into our topics. Each of us bringing a focus and point of view that challenged and complimented the others. A great reminder to be open and curious to the accidental encounters.

By the time we were inside Incheon / Seoul airport ready for our connections, we found ourselves collected together, join by a couple of law grads en route to a masters at Cambridge, outside a small bar drinking an 11am coffee or beer before move on to our various flights.

What a great way to set the tone for the Gogo Gala, being open and confident to break the ice, to make the initial offer. A few people will answer with a grunt and suspicion but some will delight in the encounter too.

Maybe the privilege of flying / travelling has the potential to bring the worst and the best out of anyone - with the pressures, fears and anxieties of being in a transitory state of mind, or even bring out the selfishness of fending for oneself amongst the tide of crowds fighting for queues and luggage, however, we can also be reminded to the humility and the humanity of it all, the collective egos and stories surrounding us and being open to the connections

I couldn't help noticing the connections to my play that I'll try to work on / finish in the course of this European sojourn