Today I went to a Korean spa with someone who was on my flight. It was magical...

Well first, I need to clarify. By flight, I mean the imaginary flight I staged here in Seoul. That was the main reason I came here. I came for the closing of my exhibition at a small gallery here called archive bomm (pictured above... the building is very unique). My exhibition was on the third floor gallery. It was air conditioned...

My exhibition room was carpeted this nice brownish purple. There are two white noise machines, a monitor tilted portrait style that looks like a big iPhone, and some cushions on the floor. (Special thanks to Guhong who helped put this all together.)

The gallery advertised the closing and found seven people who wanted to go from Seoul to New York (13 hours, 23 minutes flight duration). As the flight guide, I prepared all meals (one dinner, one dessert, and one morning breakfast) and made a few announcements throughout the flight. But really, it was just me and nine other people (7 gusts, 2 organizers, and me) in a small room for a very long time.

We actually decided first to fly to Tokyo, just in case anyone needed to leave before we took our big flight. During the shorter flight (1 hour, 45 minutes), I gave a little lecture about Flight Simulator. Then dinner was served. (I made summer corn soup with toast and a salad.) And after dinner, I gave another little presentation. Once it was done, we had already landed in Tokyo...

We soon departed for New York. This was the long overnight flight. I wasn't sure how we would pass the time (13+ hours...) but somehow we did.

Gradually, the flight passengers slowly turned into characters. I wasn't sure if they were themselves or other people. They were strangers to me at first, after all... One guy started selling socks in his duty free shop. One couple started sleeping early. And one quiet girl read almost the entire time.

I talked with some passengers. I wrote on this Pomera. I took bathroom breaks. Once I left the building to walk around the block and felt a bit of guilt. But the other passengers didn't seem to notice.

I didn't think it would be possible to sleep in the small room. While it was carpeted, it still wasn't as comfortable as a bed. But eventually, somehow, by 2am I was asleep. Dan typed this in the flight log:

Sleep seems like it is something that is shared, almost contagious. When was the last time I slept in the same room full of people? When was the last time you did? When everyone starts to sleep, it becomes easier for me to sleep as well. Maybe this is because we release sleep waves, sleep pheremones, that our sleep antennae or sleep feathers pick up on. We are sleep birds.

One passenger didn't make it through the night. She left early. But before she did, I talked with her a little.

I learned she is a set designer for theater, but she wants to be more of a director. She has a specific ambition of staging plays inside Airbnbs. She hasn't done it yet. But one of the reason she signed up for this flight of mine was because she felt this flight could be like a play.

The longer the flight went on, and we sunk into our characters, and the more our patterns were noticed, the more it seemed true. The play played itself for most of the time, but some elements were pre-decided (the meals and their contents and times, the room/plane, my lectures).

I wanted more of this space to hang out with and create plays. I started having ideas about having flights in New York, once I return. What about a flight during the day, on some picnic blankets in a park? Or a flight in my bedroom? It made me want to remove my bed and have something more like a simple pad on the floor... so I could be equal to guests.

There seems to be more of a sleepover culture in Japan and Korea, and maybe all of Asia, I don't know, than in the west. If someone needs a place to stay, just roll out your extra tatami mat. Or go to a Korean spa and sleep, as they're open 24 hours.

I realize I hadn't slept in a room full of strangers maybe ever before. It was quite the abrupt but invigorating start to my time in Korea. I thought, wow, what an interesting way to start a trip! It's like I get onboarded with a whole cast of characters, a whole story. A whole summer camp of connections...

I started having ideas, too, about going on an imaginary trip with some friends, where we not only have a flight there, but a flight back. What about a week long trip to iceland this fall? During the trip, we could all stay in touch on a group Telegram chat.

Anyway, back to the spa. I met M there, who I bonded with easily on my flight. She and her friend S wanted to interview me at the spa. She called it a "fire interview," as Korean spas are often very warm, with many coal-heated rooms or saunas. There were also ice rooms and salt crystal rooms. We spent some time in massage chairs too... and did face masks.

After the first sauna, M told me this is their style of interview. In every room, one of us will take a selfie, one of us will draw a picture, and the other will record a sound. We will keep doing this until our time at the spa is over. After these contents of the interview are recorded, M and S will decide what medium the interview should be and then compile it from the relics.

I was refreshed. I also felt mirrored, in a way, as my "flight" in Seoul was similarly a little aimless. I had no big plan other than flying with strangers and hanging out. It was a relief simply to hang out with people and let thoughts naturally develop and flow rather than plan something out. M and S said they had read interviews with me, and they didn't want me to have to repeat anything. I felt so understood. I told them their concept was as refreshing as the spa.

That night I went to bed early, my body relaxed. For once, I woke up before breakfast was served. I awoke to some magical incoming messages. Things are coming together again.

More excerpts from the flight log...

What you eat is who you are. Now I am one bowl of summer corn soup and super fresh salad, Laurell. - Yoon Juli, on 1,296 miles from Tokyo.

I forgot to bring my socks today. I felt bad for other people. but a guy sold socks in texfree shop. I bought one. it was 10 socks in one package.Now I don't feel bad anymore. happy.

Sleeping on the floor makes me aware of my body. Soft body, meet hard floor. What parts of my body are soft? What parts of my body are hard? Soft meets hard. Hard meets hard. As I move around, different softs meet different hards, and different hards meet different hard areas.

I like whispering with people. Sometimes it is fun to start whispering with someone and see if they whisper back.

Goodmorning everyone through inner silent shy voice.Sleep doesn`t sleep but good,Sweet browney awake me.We have 670milesleft before landing.

Sleeping in a shared home must be one of the more primordial and universal human experiences to exist.

Eventhough I doesn 't sleep well,but it was nice experience.I feel so comfortable and nice.