The smile on the young South Korean's face did not falter as he stalwartly pushed my husband in his wheelchair from one end of Incheon International Airport to the other in pursuit of the various formalities our return trip from Australia via South Korea to the USA entailed.
In seeking the best hotel for our overnight stay, we settled on the Best Western because of its familiarity and it being close to the airport and the young South Korean settled us outside on the sidewalk in front of the sign for the Best Western transportation stop. Before leaving us, he wrote a note in Korean to the bus driver to ensure that customer service at the airport were notified when we left the hotel in the morning so that someone could meet us at the curb. When we offered him a generous tip, he politely refused. In his limited English and with a broad smile he explained that he was only doing his job and didn't need to be compensated. We, in turn, told him how grateful we were for his outstanding service and that we had no other way to show him our gratitude. After several further refusals he finally and, reluctantly, capitulated.
The Best Western, in keeping with its US roots, proved quite ordinary except for some Korean culture differences in décor and presentation but the service from their front desk in the person of a young lady called Cathy was beyond reproach and worthy of accolades. She pampered us on arrival and the following day arranged for an American breakfast to be cooked especially for us. Then, instead of putting us on the hotel bus, she had one of their SUV's, obviously kept for more notable guests with its little vase of plastic flowers on the dashboard, take us to the airport.
At the airport, when the black Hyundai pulled up at the curb, one of the airport customer service representatives had a cart ready for our luggage and a huge welcoming smile on her face and she quickly stepped up to push my husband in his wheelchair.
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Incheon International Airport - Click photo to enlarge
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There is no doubt that the flight on Korean Air to and from Australia to South Korea was marked with doting flight attendants. They not only performed their duties with aplomb but with smiles and incredible friendly and genteel attitudes. That, along with the Incheon Airport and Best Western Hotel experience left a warm hospitable impression of South Korea, as a whole, on us.