I looked at things from the hotel and airport personnel's point of view. Our plane arrived at Incheon Airport only two hours after the change in destination. The staff members of Air Canada in Seoul would arrange hotels for more than 300 unexpected visitors in a hurry. The situation would be the same in the airport. Personnel on midnight duty would call for assistance to staff members of security, immigration, or other ground staff. People whom we had met at midnight must have been called when in their bed. Such an idea made me thankful for accepting the landing of the plane. According to our hotel's front staff, the direct flight from Toronto seemed to have arrived at Incheon Airport before our arrival, avoiding the furious weather at Narita International Airport. I understood the chaos in the airport.
There was something that I suspected at the front desk of the hotel. The clerk insisted that he would keep our passports. I didn't know why, but I had no choice at that time. I deposited my passport at the front desk. I'd not been challenged to do so in other hotels. When I visited Seoul last time, I kept my passport all the time. Naturally, it was not his own idea, but the general rule of the hotel. Did they worry that we would escape or go missing? However we didn't visit there by our own desire. We were afraid that they might be used illegally.
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