Halfway around the world

I left Charleston, SC, at about 6:30am Monday, March 29th to fly halfway around the world to visit my baby sister in Thailand. Lisa was supposed to meet me in Chicago and fly with me, but we hit our first snafu of the trip - Lisa forgot to mention to Mom to get the passport out of the safety deposit box, so she had to delay one day. Flying alone is fun and not fun at the same time. While it's nice to be able to relax and such, it's kind of a pain when you have to go to the bathroom or want to take a nap or walk at the airport. You don't want to leave your bags unattended, but having to carry them around is kind of a pain. No matter, I met a very nice couple on the flight from Chicago to Tokyo who happen to be missionaries in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They are curently living in the States, but we had a nice conversation about oh so many different things.

The flights themselves were not that bad - just LONG.....and since I didn't move around enough, my ankles now look like cankles from blood pooling. There were movies and food on the planes, but airplane food is just so-so, and while it's nice that they have movies, it really cuts into the sleeping time :)

I flew into Bangkok, Thailand around 11pm local time (12 noon EST) on Tuesday, March 30th - almost a full day and a half after I left Charleston. Rachel and Kent met me at the airport, and we took a taxi back to her dorm. Did you know they drive on the opposite side of the road here? THe city (at least at night) didn't look that much different from big cities in the US except for the language on the signs.

The weather here is REALLY hot and humid (not much different from Charleston in August). The beds are hard, and the custom is to remove your shoes before you enter the dorm - I don't know if it's just residential areas or what. I'm sure I"ll learn some more of the customs. We heard/saw lots of roaming animals last night (cats and dogs). They were so skinny - we heard the dogs howling at night. I met several of Rachel's friends, although I"m not sure I'd remember any names other than her roommate Libra, Kent, and Clara who let us stay in her room. Thanks, Clara!

Rachel has gone to class, and I am still trying to get used to the time change. We will go out and find something for lunch in a couple of hours. Tonight, we had back to the city to pick up Lisa from the airport. How exciting to be halfway around the world!