CCCS Thailand

Dear Family and Friends,

I am safe and sound in Bangkok. I have been here almost 40 hours and having a great time.

It took a long time to be able to relax. Lukas and Jacob kept asking on Wednesday, "Aren't you ready to leave yet?" There seemed to be just one more phone call, one more e-mail, one more telephone call, one more snail mail letter, one more write up for a meeting that I would be missing, one more meeting....and so on. Finally at 5:30 pm, on Wednesday, we were able to leave town for Chicago where I would catch my plane to Thailand on Thursday morning.

Tim and I packed up the car and headed north. It was supposed to be one last hot date before we parted for almost three weeks. To save time, we ate supper on the way. We hit the drive though at Culver's, very nice butter burgers for Tim and a wonderful salad for me. They gave us an extra strawberry shake which was fantastic. I was very tense, from the hectic last 10 days, with the wrap up of the school year and trying to think of everything that I would need. One special moment that helped me loosen up a bit was reading funny cards at a gas station. Most had goofy photographs of animals, babies or old people with great punch lines. Finally we reached the Comfort Inn near the O'hare Airport. Morning came quickly.

At the airport, we followed sign to International departures. The signs were very emphatic that you must drop off the passenger before you park. So we got out at terminal 5. While Tim was parking the car, I discovered that my airline leaves at terminal 1 in a different building. When Tim met me, we took the tram to the proper terminal. There were lots of people at the All Nippon Airways desk. Tim helped me with my heavy suitcases and calmly made out the labels to attach to my checked bags. All of the passengers that were supposed to travel the day before were there because the was a problem and their airplane had to turn back to Tokyo. They were rescheduled to fly with us. I was assigned to sit in the business class section. I understood them to say that they were taking two planes that would leave at almost the same time for the same destination. I thought that I would board the second plane that was supposed to board its passengers 5 minutes later. Boarding time was delayed a bit. Finally everyone got up to board. When the area was almost empty, I asked when the second plane was supposed to board, I was told that there was only one plane, and that I was to board immediately. I'm glad that I asked. Otherwise, I might have missed the plane all together!

Business class is amazing! The seats are so spacious! When I was seated, I couldn't even reach the seat ahead of me without leaning forward a great deal. My seat mates helped me figure out how to set up the personal screen and how to put up the table. In the pocket ahead of me there was a pair of blue terry cloth slippers to put on with a note on the bag that said, "Please feel free to take home." There was even had a shoe horn and bag for the slippers so that your other belongings wouldn't get dirty. They brought everyone a knit sweater and a comforter so that you wouldn't get cold. The pillow was large and had a real cloth pillow case. The food was awesome too. They brought a special drink to everyone, I'm not sure what it was but it was great. For dinner, they brought an appetizer of some kind of bean paste with a tomato and artichoke with a little stick to eat it. The main course was served with a personal table cloth, two silver spoons, two forks, a knife and chopsticks. There was a salad, two rolls, pasta with mushrooms, and smoked fish with scallops and shrimp. Fresh fruit followed for desert. Hot tea was then brought with a green cube. It looked like green fudge, but tasted a little like fish. The stewardess said, "If you want anymore food, just let us know and we will bring it."

There were dozens of movies from which to choose, I think that I watched four, Mama Mia, What happened to the Morgan's, a video of building the skywalk at the Grand Canyon, and Rain Man. I started watching Big Fish but we landed before I finished. It was hard to sleep even though the seat folded down into a bed! The were buttons to press to position your seat, even one that when pushed gave you a back massage.

They even had packaged toothbrushes and tooth paste and mouth wash in the bathroom for after your meal. I ordered noodles for my other meal and ice cream for desert. It took a couple of hours but finally into the second movie, I finally said to myself, "Relax, You are on Holiday!"

At Tokyo, I found the new gate easily and enjoyed looking in a few shops. I read the USA Today that I was given on the airplane. I rode economy class in the second airplane, in tight quarters. I got to sit by the window, but only got up once so that I didn't disturb the man next to the aisle. I watched a few more movies, finishing Big Fish and also watching one that I had watched with Tim, the Bucket List, two years ago on our previous trip.

Once we got to Bangkok, I found the immigration station and showed my passport. I found the baggage claim and loaded my heavy suitcases. My friend Dang was to pick me up. Like a fool, I had left all the contact telephone numbers at home. God is good and Dang found me with no trouble. It was 24 hours since I left Chicago. About 11:00 p.m. Thai time.
We drove to the Concordia Gospel Ministries where I would be staying. My friend, Robin who teaches English as a Second Language, helped me get settled in.

I soon went to bed.
Time to sign off,
Dawn