All Along the Way...

1st Leg...

This trip has been one of adventure and randomness, and I'm only in Seattle!! When we got on the plane in Calgary there were some problems, and so they took about an hour to fix everything. My flight was supposed to leave at 6:30am, but instead I think we left aroun 7:30am. Some people complained about it after, but the truth is, I was asleep the whole time, so I wasn't aware AT ALL of how long we had been sittin there. As far as I knew we were already in Seattle! Not only were there problems with the plane, but it was a tiny propeller plane which totally threw me off!

[ppkkmmmmelody Jessica phuong cuong]....this little bit between the brackets was written by a 5 year old, Vietnamese girl who I've become friends with. She sings me songs and pounds on my computer.

Anyway, somehow I ended up in a long conversation about Jesus with a man who is involved in Wicca. His name is Ocean...he used to be Catholic, was eventually turned off God and the church completely, and liked the idea of turning to something more abstract, and totally away from God. If you think of him, please pray for him.

2nd Leg...

I am now in Korea. Twelve hour of hot, recycled air later, I am in the bright, shining, intergalactic airport of Incheon. Again, this journey only proves to be more of an adventure with every step that I take. I sat beside my new friends Choi and Simon and discovered more personally, the differences between Korean and Canadian cultures. They definitely don't have the same idea of personal space as we do. I think that if you are being pushed and shoved, it should be taken as a sign of affection. Since I had the window seat, Choi would lean over to look out and show things to Simon, pointing with his finger directly in my face. These two guys were awesome!! My name was no longer Jessica, but rather Jesheeka...Choi showed me every photo of his daughter and wife that he had available, and also taught me how to eat the traditional Korean dish, "Bim Im Bop" (excuse the poor spelling). The thing with this particular dish is I don't like it, but every time I fly to Korea I end up sitting by some Koreans and when given the option between western food and Korean, they go silent and wait to see that I choose the right one. I alwasy feel obligated to get it, but I really don't like it. And every time I pretned like I've never had it and that it's my favorite.

Anyway, I'm awake when i should be sleeping while all of you are warm in your beds, with the exception of parents with young babies (I feel your pain!!!). It is 4pm here, and my body says that it's 1am. I really don't know if my scattered minutes of sleep on the plane come together to form a nice, round 8 hours. In fact, I'm positive they don't. I'm delirious and slightly nauseous...either from pure exhaustion, or the bane of my existence "Bim Im Bop". Another 5 hour flight to go, and then I'm home...

I'm Here!!!

I'm officially in Thailand now!!! I arrived at 10pm, Thai time, and then proceeded to exchange my money and catch a taxi. The beautiful thing about this is it went smoother than I would have ever anticipated! The money exchange guy agve me a tip to find cheaper taxis (I think because I spoke some thing to him in Thai), and then I immediately got a taxi that knew where to go and didn't overcharge me! We found the ywam base without a hitch! I must have got in somewhere around midnight.

I was absolutely exhausted!!! I had been travelling for 27 hours, and averaged somewhere around maybe 4 or 5 hours of sleep...needless to say, I fell asleep directly. At 4 in the morning, some people came stomping into the building, talking really loudly and using their heavy feet, and then at 6am there were many people showering and talking in the shower. So my blissful rest was disturbed, but I still feel a whole lot better.

So now I'm all clean and fed, and feel totally at home. The weird thing about this is it doesn't feel weird at all being here. I went out walking this morning to find myself some breakfast (a whole pinneapple and a water...50 cents) and I was the only white person around, and yet it felt so normal. I don't know...it's like I was made for this. Being here has taken any edge off that I was feeling before. I'm no longer nervous, or anxious...just excited.

I head to Chiang Mai tonight on the night bus. Another night of fitful sleep...pray that my health keeps up in all of this. I still don't know what I'm going to be doing once I get there...hopefully I will know sometime this afternoon.

I love you all!!! Thanks for joining me in this journey!