I moved to Japan in March, and had spend the last 7 months in Japan. While it was absolutely wonderful, especially taking advantage of the Japanese government’s travel subsidies, when the government announced that mid to long term residence could leave and re-enter the country starting October 1, I started plotting for a trip to another country to see friends that I hadn’t see in a while. On top of that priority list was Korea for various reason.
A business and residence track was announced between Japan and Korea, however it was not feasible for me to obtain a business visa in the short period of time before I planned to leave, so I resigned myself to going through the mandatory quarantine process. I’ve documented the whole process.
I knew a few things going in. I knew that I wouldn’t have choice on what hotel I was staying in. I knew that the cost was 1680000 won. I knew I would be fed 3 meals a day. I assumed that I could get food delivery if I wanted to (wrong).
First, Japan restricted flights between the two countries so that only Narita and Kansai were acceptable arrival, and thus departure airports. I had originally been planning to fly in and out of Narita, but had to change my plans. The cheapest round trip mileage redemptions were 15,000 ANA miles + $70 or so in fees, or 15,000 Delta miles + $70 or so in fees. I had originally been planning to use ANA miles on either Ethiopian or Asiana, but the 96 hour prior to the flight requirement passed and I couldn’t. Furthermore, once you fly the first leg of the round-trip, you can’t change your trip with ANA (at least not for free?). Delta turned out to a good backup on Korean Airlines, and due to COVID-19 policies, allowed free changes anytime.
I was able to buy the ticket a few days ahead of time no problem. Adjacent seats were blocked off on Korean Air. On the day of departure, no test prior to flying was required for my situation, all I had to do was sign a quarantine agreement while checking in. At Narita, it was totally dead. Only one duty free shop and one restaurant was open. No lounges on the International side seemed to be open, while I knew that the Domestic ones were. Boarding was straightforward, the flight was reasonably pleasant, and we were served a light meal.
Landing into Korea, I was greeted by this:
The airport didn’t feel very restrictive in their controls at all, except for an extra health declaration and check station, and more protective equipment up like shields than usual. After the health check which was just a temperature scan, I was directed to a booth prior to immigration where they took my documents. They assumed initially I was Japanese and had a visa, and were a bit surprised that I was coming in as an American without a visa. I was made to agree to a 2 week quarantine, then was given more documents as well as a colored sticker on my passport that I ended up showing immigration.
I walked through customs to the arrival area. There was another booth there, where they looked at the colored sticker and directed me to another waiting area for people going into government quarantine. There really didn’t seem to be very much to prevent me from walking off at this point besides probably being tracked and caught later. Nor did there seem to be hardcore PPEs or enforced social distances. In any case, after 20 or so minutes waiting, we were directed onto a government bus, which started driving to… somewhere.
I landed at 5:45pm, and the whole customs and waiting for the bus took around 1 hour. It took another hour to get to our destination, as we finally stopped at Sotetsu the Splaisir Seoul Myeongdong hotel in the middle of the city. The whole hotel entrance was converted, to be covered up. When I stepped in, all the staff were covered in full PPE, and we were directed to sit at individual desks while given directions then individually tested and checked in. I was given a mouth swab and a nasal swab and WOW did the nasal swab hurt as they shoved it far down my nose. Eventually, I was called up to the front to pay for my stay, which I was able to use a mix of cash and credit card for. I was told that I would get out in 14 nights, given a key card, and went on my merry way to my room.
Inside the room, I was given various supplies:
- 6 2 liter bottles of water
- A stack of paper cups
- Green tea bags and instant coffee bags (the coffee was horrible)
- Pillows and bedding
- Hot water heater
- Tissues
- Tissue paper
- A supply of biohazard bags to put my waste in
- A sanitizing spray for the waste
- Shower toiletries
- A toothbrush and toothpaste
- Bar soap
- Bar detergent for laundry
- Towels
I passed my days, well, slowly. A lot of online meetings, Netflix, getting work done, trying to do online fitness classes, catching up with friends, watching TV, studying Japanese etc. The worst part was the food. I thought that we would be able to get meal delivery, as is the case with a few other countries like China, Taiwan, and Singapore. Turns out I could not get anything delivered at all, and instead was provided with cold Korean bentos at about 8am, 11:30am and 5pm, which were… uninspiring to say the least.
I was pretty energetic, productive, and in high spirits until about day 8. I was starting to run out of things to do and was getting SO bored. I started to notice some stress symptoms such as wanting to just sleep. There would be announcements made at regular intervals about meal delivery, about procedures, and about not leaving the hotel room otherwise being subject to the criminal justice system of Korea.
3 days before checkout, I received this form to fill out. Freedom was close! I could have chosen to leave at midnight, but I figured I’d just take the free bed for the night and leave in the morning.
On the day before checkout:
On checkout day, I packed up my things and came down to the lobby, where they checked my ID, then loaded me onto a shuttle bus for Seoul Station. There were no options just to walk out for some reason. Finally freedom!
This was definitely a unique experience, and I was willing to do it once to see friends here, but I’m not ready to do that again for Korea, would definitely do no more than 7 days, and if so, would definitely be more prepared.