After some very long flights and fun layovers of sleeping on benches in airports, we have finally made it to Chaing Rai, Thailand! But just barely…

We arrived in Seoul, Korea after a 13 hour flight from Los Angeles. It was 2:30 am Salt Lake time, so needless to say, we were exhausted. We located our next gate, and seeing that we had a couple hours till boarding time, we decided to get some quick shut eye on the benches. I (Stephen) worried briefly that we wouldn’t wake up, but dismissed it after realizing the uncomfortable conditions in which we would be resting.

 

I woke up, and immediately knew we had slept too long. I looked at my watch which read 8:20. Our flight was scheduled to take off at exactly 8:20. I couldn’t believe it—we were going to miss our flight. With a small hope of getting on the plane, I ran to the gate agent. She asked me where I was going, and although initially telling me “sorry, too late”, she decided to try to get us on. I ran and woke up Lizzy [by hitting me quite hard on the head with his passport, I might add]. We threw our stuff together and ran into the airplane with a small Korean man following close behind repeating, “Please sir, hurry sir.”  

I couldn’t believe we made it on the plane. I have a newfound love for Korean people for their willingness to get us on our flight.

After flying from Seoul to Bangkok, we took our last plane to Chiang Rai. We landed, got our luggage (which surprisingly had made it there too), and along with four other volunteers in our group, found our “Country Directors”. We got in an awesome little van which had disco lights inside and drove to the YMCA. This is where we are staying for the day because it is close to the airport and other volunteers will be coming later tonight.

We have already made some great little Thai friends here at the YMCA by playing soccer with them and swimming in a 3-foot deep swimming pool. The kids are so friendly and full of energy. Even though we can’t understand each other’s languages, it is easy to communicate and have connections with them.

Me and three other volunteers, Hannah, Courtney, and Taylor

We also had our first Thai meal at the YMCA, which consisted of some very spicy (and delicious) red curry. Stephen is going to have to get used to the spiciness of the food though. He was sweating bullets because of the curry. Literally. Everyone in our group was laughing. We finished the meal by having ice cream that was delivered by a man in a motorcycle. It was chocolate, with blue rice and peanuts. SO GOOD.

We are excited to get to our house tonight and see where we will be living for the next two months. Tomorrow, we are planning on going to a local school to help relocate them to a new building.

The restaurant where we had lunch

A sign outside the YMCA. We thought of Mom and Dad who are currently in Paris.

One of the studs at the YMCA, playing games on the computer.