Bleary eyed and totally disoriented, Bill rolls over to turn off the alarm clock’s obnoxious buzzing. 3 a.m. already? It can’t be!! But, alas, it was, and the journey began. Promptly, at 4 a.m., our ride arrives to load suitcases and very sleepy children into the van for the 20 minute trip to the airport. We had an amazing weekend with close friends sending us off in prayer, and with Dad there for the weekend to see us off. It was truly a blessed weekend.
Now, Monday morning, the day was here…We had thought about this day since our appointment day March 10, 2009. The airport is quite busy at 4:30 a.m. We nervously stepped up to the ticket counter to check in our bags. Our ride had left, so if any bag was overweight, something was going to get left in the airport. But, praise God, all bags checked; in fact, the heaviest bag turned out to be only around 47 pounds!!
It is hard to imagine a 29 hour trip as uneventful, but ours really was. Our only delay, it turns out, was in actually leaving Richmond. The phrase “ignorance is bliss” was the theme for Connor and Jaden. They were so excited to be going to Thailand finally that the “bigness” of the trip was lost in the excitement. But, as a trip like this can do to a person, the 4 hour layover in Seoul included 4 deep sleeping American travelers. Then, at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11th, our plane touched down in our new home. We were met at the airport by some of the Grace staff, and collected all 8 suitcases, on time and intact.
By the way, Jaden’s wonder over the bathrooms on the plane was disappointingly overcome when he finally saw, for the first time, the plane’s bathroom. Connor’s comment, as only Connor could, was “Hmmm; it’s kinda like a locker…..with a seat.”