All was not fine.
I got off the plane and went to check what gate my flight was at, but it didn't show up on the board. I connected to the airport wifi and checked on an online flight locator website the status of the flight, which informed that my flight had been cancelled.
Another student from the same program told us that during the typhoon, Kansai International Airport, the one I was scheduled to arrive at, had been flooded and all flights to that airport were canceled. It was roughly 4am Japanese/Korean time when we arrived, so even though I emailed the organizer for the program, I could not expect a response for at least a couple hours later.
After going through security, all the students that had been scheduled to go on the canceled flight (seven of us, to be exact) got together and tried to figure out what to do. We found an area and decided that some of us would go find the Transfer Desk for our specific airline and try and get our luggage/get transferred to another flight, while the rest could stay behind and watch our luggage. The search envoy consisted of myself and two other students. Thus began our wild sheep chase.
We found a help desk which directed us to another help desk, who told us that the certain place we were looking for didn't exist but we could try going to the second level of Gate 29 and asking there, which led us back to where we began. None of the help desks were remotely helpful or knew what to do. Dejected, we wandered throughout the empty airport (bear in mind it was only 6am at this point) until, like a shining beacon of goodwill, I spotted a sign in the distance that read "Asiana Airlines Transfer Desk."
To get to the desk, we went up an escalator behind a giant stuffed bear (for real, there are two giant stuffed bears in the Incheon Airport) and arrived upon a dark walkway. It was still early morning, so most lights weren't turned on, or were at the least dimmed. There, at the end of the walkway, the only light in the room, was the help desk, manned by two assistants. It truly felt like a miraculous moment, as if we had stumbled upon an oasis in a desert.
We managed to get transferred to a flight at 12:30 to Nagoya, from where we could get our checked luggage. After this we went back and informed the others, who got transferred as well. Once we get to Nagoya, we're not sure how we will get to Kobe. I emailed the coordinator for our program and informed them of the updated situation, and they said they are trying to arrange transport for us from Nagoya, but we likely won't know what will happen until later today.
I am writing this blog post from Incheon International Airport. Since I have several hours until my flight, I wandered around for a bit. This airport is incredible! It's much nicer than any American airport I've been in. There's free wifi, a food court, lots of electrical outlets, and several cafes. There are even free showers for people transferring to other flights! This is probably the best airport to get stranded in.
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