We Made It

Keith, Madison, and Jade being goofy at Baan Kanoon

One portion of Wat Doi Suthep

One of the team's first experiences with a Songthaew

Me overlooking Chiang Mai

Hanging out at Andy's house

Well...obviously...we made it. Our whole team has now successfully arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand...but not without some adventures that some might call difficulties. When I last posted we were in Andy's living room. Let me walk you through the days between then and now. First, we all got up well before the sun on January the 1st and headed to the STL airport. No problems there. It was when we got to the airport that the first issues began to arise. Problem #1: Jade packed too much stuff. (Bag was too heavy to check without extra fee) Solution #1: Put 12 pounds of Jade's stuff in someone else's bag. Problem solved. Problem #2 (about 10 minutes after Problem #1): Jade packed liquids in her carry-on that were too large and she didn't want to throw them away. Solution #2: Check tiny make-up bag and hope it arrives in LA. Problem solved. Problem #3: We arrived at our gate as they were starting to board and the whole team was hungry and wanted some breakfast. Solution #3: Buy breakfast swiftly and then bring it onto the plane with us. Problem Solved. Our flight from St. Louis to LA was rather uneventful and problem free. Arrival in LA brought the next batch of issues.... Problem #4: While waiting for hotel shuttle we call our hotel to learn that they don't have a shuttle. Solution #4: Pay for 3 taxis to shuttle team and luggage to hotel. Problem Solved. Problem #5: Upon arrival at hotel, learn that we only have 4 rooms reserved and that we can only put 2 people in each room. (There are 11 on the team in case you had forgotten). Solution #5: Put 3 people in 3 of the rooms anyway. Problem Solved. Problem #6: As we learned about #5 we were informed that our rooms wouldn't be ready until at least 2:00pm...and we arrived at the hotel at 11:30am...with all our bags. Solution #6: Sit outside front door of hotel for 2 1/2 hours while going in shifts across the street to eat lunch. Problem solved. After we all finally got in our rooms, things went quite well in LA. The team, minus Theresa (napping), Nicole (who was visiting with her Aunt and Uncle), and I (also napping), had quite an adventure Friday Thursday afternoon. They decided that they would like to see the beach in LA. As we had been informed that it was not too terribly far and that the route was pretty straightforward...I sent them on their way. I later learned that it took them over an hour to get to the beach by foot...and therefore over an hour to get back. Needless to say, there were at least a few tired feet. Some of the team also decided that getting in the Ocean in January seemed like a grand idea. So...obviously...that led to some very cold and wet teammates. Either way there was not any serious harm done. The team all arrived back at our hotel at about 6:00pm and we all went to the Sizzler across the street for dinner together. It was delicious, if not economical, and gave us a fun chance to hang out all together with no stress added. We all got to bed at a decent hour and then headed to LAX again at 8:00am on Friday via Taxi. The next couple of days get a bit muddled...time zones are confusing. We left LA at 11:00am on Friday and arrived in Seoul, South Korea at 5:20pm on Saturday. However, the flight only actually took about 13 hours. During this exciting flight I managed to watch 5 movies and to sleep for only the last 30 minutes. Oops. South Korea was pretty thrilling too. We just sat in the airport and got some food. However, we also split up into two groups. Somehow when our tickets were ordered, we managed to get 7 from South Korea to Chiang Mai and 4 from South Korea to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. So, we parted ways with Tim, Melodie, Madison, and Keith, desperately hoping that we would see them again. (And we did...no worries) Our flight left Korea at about 8:30pm. We flew for 6 hours and arrived in Chiang Mai at about 12:30am on Sunday (Chiang Mai time is 13 hours ahead of CST and 2 hours behind Korean time). There were many people there to pick us up at the airport, including Quintin, Kim, Glenn, Ekk, Ess, Bay, and others. We were all quite tired and enjoyed the chance to move our stuff into our hotel (The Green Palace as it is called) and get to bed. Getting to bed...yes...that's what most of us did...that's what I THOUGHT all of us were doing. I learned this morning that that wasn't truly the case. Evidently Andy H and Nathan decided that they weren't too terribly tired just yet and ended up adventuring through our neighborhood by foot until 6:00am this morning. They should sleep well tonight...and at least they can now inform us about the locations of all of the local 7-11s. This morning the other 4 who were routed though Bangkok arrived and Glenn picked them up from the airport. We all met at Baan Kanoon, which is the community center here that is run by Quintin and friends. It serves as a light to this community mainly via English tutoring and classes. We had a short time of welcoming and worship and then we headed up to the waterfall in order to have more orientation and spiritual and mental investigation time. After we all discussed what we were feeling and what we expected of the trip we meditated on and discussed Philippians 4:1-13. It is a great passage and I would encourage any of you to have a look at it. I found verses 4-7 particularly applicable. Upon completion of this time we headed up to Wat Doi Suthep on Suthep mountain and had lunch. It was many on the team's first experience with legit Thai food...and they loved it. We then took the opportunity to walk around inside of the Wat and for most of the team to get their first glance of Buddhism in practice. We spent some time there observing and praying and then headed back down to Baan Kanoon for more cultural orientation. We completed our educational time for the first day at around 6:00pm and headed to the Walking Street (a special market that is held only on Sundays where an entire street is blocked off and many stalls are set up selling many different kinds of foods and souvenirs). We sampled many different Thai street foods at the Walking Street and then split up and walked around until 8:30, at which time we all met back up at Wawee Coffee, some of us got some coffee, and then we headed back to our palace. That is where we are now. We have purchased some internet time here at the hotel in order to hopefully make it easier to blog more often...which should hopefully shorten the length of my average post significantly.... Anyway, we are here, everyone seems to be loving it, and we are safe. (I've even heard a couple people mention already that they don't want to leave...suggestions of getting a big house...picking up odd jobs and the like....but don't worry, I'll bring them all home ;) ) I sincerely hope that all is well in America as we are away. Please continue to pray for our team for energy and good health as well as unity and willingness to serve. Thanks for all your support and have a great Sunday! Sawadee Krab.