Off on holiday once again! Very excited about this trip: visiting South Korea, the only country in North East Asia left for me to visit, followed by a return to Japan, which I left almost exactly three years ago, after living and working there for two years. My trip didn't really get off to the most auspicious start. I couldn't check in online (there were no seats for one of the flights!) and then both flights were delayed, the first by an hour. I arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, and tried to find the connections desk check in for the onward flight to Seoul. There was a huge queue there, and to be honest, the staff didn't really seem to know what was going on. A lot of the people ahead of me were also trying to check in for flights. They had been to the departure gate, and were told they needed a boarding pass, so had to check in. they had to stand in this queue, in some cases for a couple of hours. In the meantime their flights had taken off, and the staff at this desk told them that in fact, they should have insisted on getting a boarding pass at the departure gate. They even started arguing amongst themselves over what the correct procedure was. Which of course didn't help those who had already missed their flights. It all seemed very chaotic. I had to wait well over two hours in this queue. It was only near the end that someone came round offering bottles of water. Finally, at the desk, I was told I still couldn't get a boarding pass for my flight, as there were no seats, due to overbooking. I really fail to understand how someone at the appropriate airport, trying to check in for a flight some 2.5 hours before its scheduled departure time, cannot be given a seat, regardless of how often the airline overbooks. I was told I would have to wait until I was in the departure lounge. I had plenty of time before my flight so wandered around the airport for a little while, until I heard an announcement for my flight - advising that it was to be delayed by around three and a half hours. Fortunately, we were given vouchers to spend on food within the airport. I went off for a wander, and next time I glanced at the departure board, the estimated departure time had changed, with no announcements, with a further delay of an hour. And around half an hour later, when I again looked, it had again been put back, by another hour or so. Back at the departure gate, the cabin crew were unable to offer any advice - they seemed to know as much as the passengers - only that there had been a technical problem, and they were awaiting a part to fix it. They didn't even know if the flight would depart that evening as there was no plane. Finally, another plane arrived for us and eventually we were allowed to board. There was even an announcement apologising for the delays, one due to technical problems, another due to a passenger's medical problem. We were probably about 6 hours late in departing. The flight was ok, I had a window seat