God's Provision and the Craziness of Thailand
Wow. "God has provided" is an extreme understatement. Whether it be the financial situation with just coming up with all the money, things as simple as where my seats will be for my flights, or even taking care of a fee for an extra suitcase, God has provided. When I found out that literally every expense was perfectly taken care of, I was in awe. I wasn't shocked because from the start I told my mom not to worry about it. I knew if this is what He wanted me to do He'd show me and provide for it. Ha I sure was right. It was seriously constant reminders of Him showing me this was His plan 100% for me. So on the 8th my mom and I were suppose to check in online for my seats etc. We forgot ha. At lunch I mentioned something about it, and my mom went home to quickly get my seats (I did not want a middle seat ha). I have wanted window seats for a while now, (I've always loved looking out the window) so my mom calls and tells me that every single one of my seats they had for me were window seats (they were already done for us). How dang cool is that ? So that was a blessing because I'd been stressing about that for a while (I haven't had any weirdo talkers yet so that's exciting hahaha). So as Ben, my mom, and I were packing, we realized the weight was too much for my one suitcase. We just decided to bring another because I'll have gifts and more clothes coming home anyways. Another suitcase is $100 extra, but after making the decision to take it, we look online. It was already taken care of. Not one, but two bags it said were checked and no additional fees charged us like it was suppose to. He rocks. Last night was a total blessing in itself too. My family, Ben, and I went to Goodwill and all picked out the most hideous outfits for each other for $5-$10 each. We went through our fancy hotel looking like absolute garbage and stunk like Goodwill. It was awesome. Then, we went to Hooters to see my cousin and ha was she surprised to see us (and looking like that) hahahaha. We also had to go to Target of course, and in every single place we got either the immediately look away people or the "what the heck are you wearing" looks. It was good to keep all of our minds off of what was to come the following day.. it was great though. Leaving my family, Ben, and my pets sucked. It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. At the airport, I didn't have a ton of time for goodbyes, but the time we did have I could only think about how I wouldn't see these people for an entire year. It just broke my heart. I couldn't help bawling.. I finally left them, and I got checked the first security line I was in. They finally let me go and I waved goodbye.. the last time I'd see them.. I went on to my gate, trying not to cry, and sat by myself with my carry on and backpack. They started calling the zones and I told myself I was okay and God was with me keeping me safe and making sure I was okay. It was finally my zone, so I got my stuff and headed onto the plane. I ended up sitting by a snobby girl who had her Starbucks and makeup done perfectly etc hahaha. We didn't talk much so it was a good flight hahahaha. When I got off in Detroit, I had lots of time to spare. I found my gate first, which wasn't hard, and I went to the restroom after. I walked around for a while and found a Chick Fil A after walking around trying to find it for like 30 minutes hahaha. They only had the chicken sandwich and 8 piece chicken but tests available (???). They were also only accepting cash because their system was down. At least I got a free chicken sandwich coupon I guess ! My ears were still messed up from the flight, so I could barely hear haha but they didn't have fruit cups either (again ????) so I got an 8 count and fries (I don't like their fries). I got my drink and food and went to my gate. I had gotten several blisters from walking around all over the place, so I was glad to sit. There were so many people waiting at the gate. I finally got on and tried to prepare myself for the 14 hour flight ahead of me. (I wrote this paragraph at 6am on Sunday after I arrived because I realized I didn't talk much about all of this) So I'm writing this on the way to China, (almost there) and so far it's been pretty smooth. This 14 hour flight was not the most fun hours of my life being crammed in a seat having limited space and everything, but it has gone as well as it could ! The Chinese lady by me barely knows English, but she's very friendly. We have a seat in between us to have our own space, so that's nice. It's been kind of hard being able to go to the bathroom since I'm by the window, and she was asleep most of the time. I've watched several episodes of all kinds of shows and watched a couple movies. I haven't slept a single second this entire time though ha rip. I've been close to dozing off and then the flight attendant comes with food or the infants start crying. I can't get comfortable either :/ Wonderful time. I'm extremely sleep deprived, but I can't sleep on planes ! I even took a sleeping pill :// At least I got some insanely beautiful pictures of what all we went over though. God's creations are breathtaking no joke. But anyways, I just wanted to do a quick update on what's going on.. more to come : D So Shanghai's airport was a rough time ha.. everyone working wasn't friendly at all so it made it hard. The airport was confusing, and thank you Jesus that I found a white man that was going to Bangkok that I could speak to about what to do. I followed them for some of the way, and when I had to go through security that's when it definitely went down hill. They said I had a small battery somewhere, but I didn't remember putting batteries in my backpack. They told me to look, so I literally dug through my backpack for ten minutes trying to find this stupid little battery they told me I had. After I couldn't find it and started to get teary eyed, two of the security workers started digging in my bag and took everything out of it. They finally found this battery. It was a portable charger in my purse that I don't even remember putting in there. One of them called me a name (pretty sure it meant stupid), and they told me to put my stuff back in my bag and to leave. Once I was out, I couldn't find the screen where it showed what gate to go to. I talked to an older white couple if they knew where one was, and they directed me to one. Once I got to the screen, it had all kinds of destinations but no Bangkok. I asked a Chinese worker, and she helped me find the gate. I then met two other exchange students that were on the flight. It was a rough time at that airport ha. (Wrote this Sunday at 6am since I didn't talk about this airport much) When I arrived in Bangkok, I had another exchange student with me at least. We had no idea where to go or what to do. It was very crowded for it being 2 in the morning. We went to the immigration lines and it was PACKED. Soooo many people were in the lines. There were two lines, and we didn't know which like to go in so we guessed. We ended up not having all the papers filled out we needed to have. We had to go and get a paper that basically reiterated what I already had done on another paper, and go to the back of the line again. We finally got to the passport checking station, and made it through at about 3:20am. We found the gate where our luggage was, and it was all there. (Thank you Jesus) We quickly and eagerly went to find our host families. My friend found hers first, and I couldn't find mine. Klang (my host brother I talk to a lot) came up with a huge smile on his face and said hello. My face lit up. We then went to see my host parents, and they were so so happy to see me. They waited since midnight, and we ended up leaving at about 4am.. crazy. They welcomed me with open arms, and they made me feel at home. They took my luggage and we headed to my host dads apartment. They rented me my own apartment space to myself. It was very nice, but I couldn't sleep. I showered and laid in bed for hours. Jet lag got me. I went to bed at 6:28am and woke up at 7pm when they said we were going to eat. It was crazy. We went to their fried chicken wings little restaurant, and they were really good (the sauce was extremely spicy). They took me to eat Thai food, and it was good but very spicy. We also walked to get my shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. They paid for it and told me not to pay them back. We sat at the chicken restaurant until about 11:30pm and made it back to the apartment at around midnight. Bangkok traffic is insane also hahaha. I showered and laid in bed until I finally fell asleep around 3:30am. My emotions were all over the place. I had to get up at 9am and it was rough. It was extremely overwhelming. I was busy busy busy. We left at 9:30am and started the journey to Saraburi hahaha. The traffic made it take hours and hours. It was terrible. We stopped to get a little bit of breakfast, and we found a Dunkin' Donuts. It tastes strange but really good. We went in 7 eleven (they have so many 7 elevens) to get waters and left. They constantly ask if you're hungry or want more food or if you're full. We got back in the car and kept going. The sights were absolutely beautiful on the way there. We had to stop to get gas twice on this trip. We ended up getting to their house at like 1pm and a ton of their relatives were there for Mother's Day. (Mother's Day is based on the queen mainly) I wore blue that day not knowing that's technically what you're suppose to wear because she liked blue. It was one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life. Everyone was speaking a language I couldn't comprehend or understand in the slightest. I wai'd to everyone (putting your hands together and slightly bowing) like I was suppose to, but I just felt stupid. I felt like they were making fun of me, and I had no idea what was being said. Klang's cousin asked why I ate with my fork, and I thought I was eating like they do and doing well. I barely was actually wrong, so I just felt stupid. People were joking around, but I had no idea what they were saying. My anxiety was hitting me at full force and I just wanted to go upstairs to my room to cry ha. I ate a bit, but my stomach was hurting from the stress and bad anxiety. They unloaded my luggage and took it upstairs. It was HOT upstairs wow. Klang showed me around, and it just didn't feel like home.. the Buddha statues and worship room is right next to my room. It makes me feel eerie that it's right by my head basically when I'm sleeping. They completely redid a bathroom for me, making it very modern for me. They bless my heart so much with how much they've taken care of me. My room just doesn't quite feel like home yet, but it will get there. My room was very hot. We went back downstairs and I talked to one of the relatives, a probably 20 year old guy, went to the UK to study. Since he knew fluent English, we talked for a while and helped ease the anxiety for a while. We talked about things like soccer, football, his girlfriend, his experiences there in London, and lots of different easy topics. He lives and works in Bangkok so I'll only see him one more time (Father's Day for the king in December), but he said to let him know if I had questions about Thailand. He said he'd be happy to help, so that was a relief. The two grandmothers there sat in chairs as their children and grandchildren got on their knees in respect, and gave them these little flower decoration pieces (I don't know how to describe them) wishing them peace and comfort etc (that's what I got from it). The guy I was talking to that went to the U.K. told me to come with him, so I got to participate in the culture right off the bat. It felt bizarre, but it felt right. It was cool to be apart of it. It was really awesome to see how much respect they got from their children and grandchildren. All the mothers got a flower pinned to their shirt as well. Even though I felt extremely out of place and insanely overwhelmed, it was interesting being apart of such a polar opposite culture from what I'm used to. We left to get my SIM card, do my bank accounts, and get my school uniform. I was kind of glad to be out of such a stressful environment ha. The shopping center to get the SIM card and where the bank was was soooooo loud and overwhelming wow. They had Thai music blaring and it was so crowded. We got my SIM card finally, and then went to the bank. We have to wait until I go to school to do the bank stuff because I need more documents. We then waited for the other Rotarian and an exchange student from Texas so we could get our school uniforms at her shop. We met with them and went to the shop. It was so hot ha. We got my uniform and his and left. They kept saying how sleepy I looked because I was filled with pure exhaustion at that point. Jet lag is real my friends. I went to my room and just cried and prayed. It was about 6pm so I talked to Ben for a bit on the phone, and he prayed for me and just listened. I messaged my mom and she sent me a lot of scripture to wake up to this morning too. I got up at a quarter til 5 this morning, but I went to bed around 8pm last night so it was okay. A few side notes: - Dang I miss American food
- When I was sitting in Bangkok the first night I watched a movie or tv show being filmed on the street ha - The view from my window and house is absolutely gorgeous of the mountains
- Only in Thailand there are an insane amount of wires connected to the electricity poles for internet and electricity etc - There is currently a lizard on my bedroom wall - The smells are very different in Thailand - My host family is very sweet
- Homesickness is realllllll
- I'm asked 24/7 if I'm hungry or want food and they eat typically five times a day
-my air conditioning is broken in my room (awesome right) so klang brought a fan in thank u Jesus !
- I'm going to school Tuesday and mortified so prayers please ! - I hope I don't see any large spiders becauseeee the guy who went to the U.K. warned me of them ! I'll stick with lizards - Last but not least, thank you so so so much for the prayers.. this is one of the hardest times that needs lots of prayer
(I'll try and post pictures in a separate post)