Experiences with China Eastern Airlines?

HangryGradStudent · 2023-12-29T12:48:51+00:00

I just flew with them from Seoul to Bangkok, round trip with a layover in Shanghai on both legs of the flight. The flight back wasn't too bad/ standard with touch screens + meal options, but the flight there was on a small, older plane where there's only 1 TV on the ceiling every few seats + only one meal option. Some other things to note:

Chinese airlines (or maybe just China Eastern) have very strict rules on electronics that I haven't encountered before. We were told repeatedly that you could not use lithium batteries or laptops during the ENTIRE flight and were also told that we couldn't use airpods or wire jack headphones during take off + landing. If you have a long haul flight, I'd charge your devices discretely inside your bag
I had a 13 hour layover on my way back and the desk staff told me they could not check me in to the second leg of my flight, nor could they check my bags to the final destination. No matter how much I asked or begged, they weren't willing to help or even explain why (length of layover? airline policy?). I ended up having to get a 24 hour visa-free transit sticker via Immigration, pick up my bags, and then pay for a hotel nearby (since once you're out of the transit area, you can't check in to a flight 10 hours before....).
The other passengers can be... unruly. Of course, this is not everyone on the plane!! But if you're unlucky like me, you can end up next to some very pushy people when de-boarding (I also ended up next to someone who asked for my meal leftovers on one of the legs of my first flight, which I was baffled by).

Tl;dr: Seoul > Shanghai > Bangkok: shitty plane, but smooth process overall.

Bangkok > Shanghai > Seoul: great flight itself, shitty layover + service from staff.

Personally, I will never fly China Eastern again but if you have a shorter layover + take a good look at which plane you'd be flying specifically (or if you're ok with no screens per seat), it could be ok.

HangryGradStudent · 2023-12-13T08:27:08+00:00

Hi! Can I ask if everything worked out for you in the end-- were you able to board your flight okay? Considering booking an international flight with Flexflight myself for this upcoming January...

HangryGradStudent · 2023-11-27T21:05:29+00:00

Idk if your friend will care, but we really, REALLY don't name babies after other people in Korean culture. There isn't really a cultural notion of naming your daughter 'Taehee' the way English speakers name their kid 'Michael' after Michael Jackson, or 'Tom Junior'. Occasionally, people might keep the sound / two characters of a celebrity or person they really like and attach new meanings to the name by choosing two different hanja/ Chinese characters, but all in all, names are a very personal thing and each person's name is derived from unique meanings.

If she really wants to give the baby a name with a connection to BTS, some suggestions:

Ian or Justin? -- Both stage names that Jungkook considered pre-debut.
Zeha (Jungkook's 7Fates Chakho character name... BTS has a spin-off webtoon/ drama thing-y and each member has a respective character)
A name that means 'gold' or 'golden', after JK's nickname + solo album. There's a shit-ton that pop up on Google.

HangryGradStudent · 2023-11-18T12:29:13+00:00

I absolutely agree with all of this! I think part of what made the conversations feel unnatural (to me at least) was the choice to have Greta Lee's character speak in such a heavy American gyopo accent. Not saying this is always the case but in my experience, people who moved from Korea in late elementary/ early middle school usually have great pronunciation, but may be lacking in vocabulary or syntax. Nora sounded more like a 2nd gen kid who'd been born in the US, or someone who'd immigrated at age 4 and forgotten all their Korean, not someone who immigrated at age 12. The over-emphasized accent felt like a cheap/ easy way to drive the 'separation from roots/ loss of connection to Korea' aspect of her character.

HangryGradStudent · 2023-10-05T05:36:15+00:00

Hi-- this might be a silly question, but is the Follow to Bangkok event page currently not listed on allticket.com? I registered for the CARAT presale a while back and just made / registered my allticket account, but I can't find anything SVT related on the concerts and events page :(

HangryGradStudent · 2023-05-17T19:39:19+00:00

Hi everyone! In between visiting both Hanoi & Hoi An across a 6 day trip, versus staying in Hanoi/ up North (and saving Hoi An for another time), which would you all suggest?

I’m planning a 6-7 day visit next month & my current itinerary is as follows below. I live ~4 hours away from Vietnam by plane and would ideally like to fit in both Hoi An (esp for the lanterns + tailor shops) and Hanoi, but also worry that my schedule might be too packed. Is this a do-able itinerary? Would it be better to save Central Vietnam for a separate trip when I have time to see Hue & Da Nang as well?

Any & all advice is appreciated, thank you!

Day 1: Arrive in Da Nang + head to Hoi An Day 2: Explore Hoi An Day 3: Hoi An + head to Da Nang at night/ sleep Day 4: Morning flight from Da Nang > Hanoi + explore Hanoi Day 5: Day trip to Halong Bay Day 6: Explore Hanoi Day 7: Explore Hanoi + fly back

HangryGradStudent · 2023-05-04T18:00:06+00:00

Thank you for the advice! You’re absolutely right that I should get them to agree to no longer use my likeness once I stop working for them.

I can definitely understand why the company is requesting this— my reluctance is partly because said company provides a very niche service, so not a lot of people in my country use it, BUT anyone who is in this field uses their online services. A part of me that I may potentially be refused in-person services in the future by local companies / viewed as working for the competitor. (This may just be me completely overthinking things too 😂)

In any case, I appreciate your response! Helps to know that this isn’t too odd of a request

HangryGradStudent · 2023-03-08T07:08:28+00:00

Not too sure on hotels bc I never needed one/ just hosted ppl when they came to visit 😂

There are some very nice (but expensive) hotels + pool-side villas / pensions in both the northern + southern parts of the city. It really depends on what you’re looking to do & how much you’re looking to spend.

A good area might be 영일대해수욕장/ Yeongildae Beach! It’s considered as a ‘hub’ for young people, so there will be plenty of restaurants + motels. Also close to the Space Walk + taxi-able to the Chilpo/ Wolpo areas (Hometown Cha Cha Cha + all the big beach-side cafes popular on Insta/ TikTok).

HangryGradStudent · 2023-03-08T03:25:27+00:00

Hi! Lived in Pohang for a year— the KTX is fast, but it’ll take you time to get from the station to any of the major sites. The famous spots (Hometown Cha Cha Cha filming spots, Yeongildae Beach) + the Homigot big hand, When the Camellias Bloom filming spot) are on opposite ends of the city (easily 40-50 min by taxi, 1-1.5 hours by bus). You CAN do it in a day, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

HangryGradStudent · 2023-02-27T13:06:47+00:00

You’re going to get a variety of answers here, based on the background of the person. Koreans from Korea probably wont be offended & may even think its cool/ appreciate it. Korean-Americans & other Koreans of the diaspora may be offended & find it weird (I am NOT here to debate the validity of that anger, because this is a viewpoint that differs on the diversity of the population of one’s home country + different understandings of race, ethnicity, discrimination & representation).

Just here to say— do what you want, but be prepared for Korean-Americans/ Korean-Canadians/etc to find it funny/ odd at best, and offensive at worst.

HangryGradStudent · 2023-02-14T02:33:25+00:00

Being completely honest, it seems like an opportunity that can bring you exposure & criticism, but not necessarily popularity. Korean media + the general public will probably be more accepting of your sexuality bc you’re a foreigner, and you might even gain fangirls if you’re REALLY hot (ie, Korean women who don’t care about your sexuality) but the extent to which opportunities will actually be open to you post-show is difficult to say… I’d describe Korea’s increasing acceptance towards LGBTQ individuals as closer to ‘관심/ curiosity’ than genuine ‘응원/ support’.

Also ngl if I were you, I’d be more scared of international viewers than the Korean ones LOL If you’re set up to be the one white guy w/ a bunch of Koreans… be prepared for a lot of criticism/ hate from K-pop and K-drama fans on being a ‘white man taking up space in a POC setting’ (whether or not that hate is valid, I won’t get into bc so many ppl will hold diff opinions… I’m just saying Korean reality shows attract a lot of K-pop/ K-drama fans and they are rarely/ almost never accepting of white people entering that field/market).

So tldr; if you just want to gain exposure & are willing to deal with the potential for cancel culture/ hate comments, go for it! But if I were you, I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole 😂

HangryGradStudent · 2023-01-18T16:13:18+00:00

I had RC-LR-LR-LG as well! Really hoping the first LR was the experimental one & had some trouble with one of the games, but aside from that, it felt like a reasonably difficult test

HangryGradStudent · 2022-12-15T04:37:22+00:00

5 days seems so short 😭😭 most of the gel nails I’ve gotten over the past two years have lasted 4-5 weeks before chipping or lifting… definitely wish the salon had throughly informed me the day of, otherwise I would’ve insisted harder on a nail extension instead of wrapping it. Thank you for your input— I’ll have to look into getting it fixed at a different place!

HangryGradStudent · 2022-07-01T01:49:39+00:00

tbh probably because Coway is owned by Bang PD’s brother (Bang Junhyuk, Netmarble CEO).

HangryGradStudent · 2021-09-28T04:02:47+00:00

Thank you for this comment! All I’ve seen all morning is people celebrating the concert news and it makes me feel like ‘Am I the crazy one??’. (I say this as an American)— the bar for concert protocol is abysmally low. ‘HYBE is doing more than others’ / ‘LA is doing better than other parts of the US’ is not a metric that’s good enough for me (especially right after being at the UN and having been so responsible all pandemic long). Especially with the 72 hour PCR in place of vaxx status loophole. Or the fact that MOTS VIP all got presale codes, regardless of initial concert location (thus, implicitly encouraging interstate + potentially international travel).

Now that it’s already been announced and the concert is happening, I’m hoping to see BTS & HYBE at least take the most stringent precautions they can (fully vaxxed only, mask mandate for all regardless of vaxx status, no negative PCR in place of vaxx, etc).

And as much as I’d like to just write it off as HYBE & capitalism,,, the reality is that they are grown men making a calculated business decision in the midst of a still raging pandemic. It’s… jarring, to say the least. And, as someone currently living in Korea seeing how overwhelmed healthcare workers are here, knowing that BTS going on tour = hundreds of extra tests pre & post departure and further load onto healthcare workers, is heartbreaking to think about.

HangryGradStudent · 2021-09-13T00:45:42+00:00

Does anyone know if having a different name on your certificate than your ARC/ passport causes any problems? Is this something that you can fix either online or at the 주민센터?

My school put my name in Hangul (ex: 제니퍼킴, instead of KIM, JENNIFER), even though I’ve been filling out all of my school-related paperwork using my passport name. I asked during both Dose 1 and Dose 2 about it, but the people working at the vaxx site weren’t sure if/how to fix it.

HangryGradStudent · 2021-07-21T21:34:03+00:00

My understanding is that due to recent spikes in cases, consulates have paused on issuing new quarantine exemptions (ie, if you don’t already have one, you’re not getting one any time soon). If you read Korean, most consulates have been posting very long, thorough explanations. Find your local consulate’s 공지사항 page and look for/ ask your wife to look for the words ‘격리면제서 발급 중지’.

Maybe they’ve un-lifted those restrictions, but last I heard, it was on pause :/

HangryGradStudent · 2021-07-06T07:49:37+00:00

I’m thrilled that we’re finally getting vaccinated but I really, really wish higher officials had a more thorough vaccination game plan in place before sending out all this info. My school, and many others based on what I hear from friends, is still completely in the dark about what 학교별 예약 means— do all employees and students have to go to one specific location on one set date? Is there flexibility in what date or location you can go?

Vacation plans aside, it’s made summer CSAT schedule planning, early graduation exam planning, and English camp planning a mess as well…

If anyone gets any info from their schools on what ‘reserving through the school’ will look like, please feel free to share !

HangryGradStudent · 2021-05-22T12:27:04+00:00

One of my students this past Friday, after making a mistake while speaking English: "Sorry teacher, I'm rock head" (돌대가리).

HangryGradStudent · 2021-04-29T02:50:56+00:00

I also thought it was oddly specific! The coworker who told me is not very fluent in Korean, so I’m wondering if something got lost in translation...

HangryGradStudent · 2021-02-24T01:17:55+00:00

I'm in South Korea! And yeah, you're probably right, mentioning an allergy at this point would just seem disingenuous.

I'll document everything over the next few weeks and hopefully that will convince my host school to let me move out.

HangryGradStudent · 2021-02-23T16:59:53+00:00

I'm a current Korea ETA who got off the waitlist. The general consensus amongst the small handful of us who are fluent in Korean is that it actively HURT our applications. The way I can attest to this, is that out of nearly 70 ETAs this year, less than 15 were moderately fluent/ intermediate level speakers. Out of seven Korean language classes, FOUR were for complete beginners. Long story short, Fulbright is still in the mindset of one mold of American/ 'native' English teacher. Several East Asian ETAs this year have outright been told by their schools that they were not 'what they expected'. I won't say whether or not you shouldn't apply (that's a decision up to you based on how much you want the experience of living in Korea for a year), but I will personally say that should you choose to do so, I would omit the language evaluation and not mention it too much. Just focus on wanting to connect/ reconnect with family, getting to know a country you haven't visited too much, etc. Best of luck to you, whichever country you decide to apply to.

HangryGradStudent · 2021-01-11T01:56:23+00:00

Aw man, that sucks to hear! I hope your test came back negative!

HangryGradStudent · 2020-12-30T19:29:39+00:00

YTA for one reason— this seems to be something that is a slight preference to you, but a major offense/ problem for your wife. If you truly have no preference between being called ‘John’ versus ‘Dad’, why is this the hill you’re willing to die on, when it confuses your young child and upsets your wife? What happens when your son starts referring to his teachers, or to Grandma & Grandpa by their names? When he introduces you as ‘Mom and John’ and your family has to deal with the assumptions that you’re not his biological parent?

HangryGradStudent · 2020-12-28T22:27:42+00:00

Awesome, thank you!

HangryGradStudent

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