Time: 1:30am (11:30pm PST)
The flight here was somewhat of an adventure *for more refer to video log on 9-3*
I arrived at Bangkok very much blind. Before we took off out of Taipei, the flight attendants had to slap a sticker on me recognizing me as a special passenger. I received early entry and was escorted to my seat. Truthfully, I could hardly see and I did enjoy the special treatment ☺. After everyone got off the plane the airline escorted me and a middle-aged Thai native (who was in a wheelchair) through the airport. His name was Kris.
When we met he said, “My name is Kris. K-R-I-S.”
He was actually from Chino Hills. As we were walking I stopped to go to the restroom and I almost went into the woman’s restroom. Luckily, he stopped me or else I totally would have reenacted that one commercial where the lady walks into the men’s room!
I guess you could say we were the lame and the blind. His English was very broken and he didn’t say much, but he was an exuberant guy. I think he mostly knew the bad words, because he mostly just cussed whenever I asked him a question.
Our escort led us through customs (we didn’t have to wait in line) and to the baggage claim. Luckily as soon as we got there I was able to make out on the conveyor belt the form of my luggage, which had my spare contacts. I quickly grabbed the case, unlocked it, opened it and retrieved a contact lens. Once my vision came back into focus, I was so relieved. I could see!
The whole situation made me realize how much I need to depend on God. I know losing my contacts was just an accident, but I guess I’m a thinker. The situation made me think of how, as Christians we are called to live by faith. In Hebrews it defines faith as “being certain of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. If you know me, in a lot of ways I can be a high control person. I like to micromanage things to give me assurance of a favorable outcome. Perhaps in some way God was reminding me, as I entered Bangkok, that faith is not about what I can control, but trusting that God works out every situation for his glory and my good. I’m reminded that as I seek to grow and follow God’s plan for my life I will have to live by faith and not by sight.
Our escort loaded Kris’s and my baggage onto one cart. As we walked toward the exit I noticed a rather large, Jabba looking man with a sign that said “Ethnos Asia”. I waved to him. He didn’t speak that much English. He came over and I unloaded my lugged from the cart. Kris had told me to tip our escort $5.00, 204 baht. I didn’t know then that that’s actually a pretty large tip, maybe worth 4 or 5 meals.
I shook Kris’ hand and thanked him for his help. He asked for my number but I didn’t have one yet, so I wrote my email on one of his boxes. I said goodbye to Kris, my first friend in Thailand.
The big guy and I walked to his car. At about 2 am the air was warm and slightly humid. As we drove into the city, I dozed in and out. I tried to make small talk, but after one or two tries it became kind of pointless. He had the AC blasting. I tried to make things out, but it was too dark. The only thing I really noticed was that the license plates had funky writing and that I was sitting on the left-side front seat, but the steering wheel was on the right side. Weird.
When we met he said, “My name is Kris. K-R-I-S.”
He was actually from Chino Hills. As we were walking I stopped to go to the restroom and I almost went into the woman’s restroom. Luckily, he stopped me or else I totally would have reenacted that one commercial where the lady walks into the men’s room!
I guess you could say we were the lame and the blind. His English was very broken and he didn’t say much, but he was an exuberant guy. I think he mostly knew the bad words, because he mostly just cussed whenever I asked him a question.
Our escort led us through customs (we didn’t have to wait in line) and to the baggage claim. Luckily as soon as we got there I was able to make out on the conveyor belt the form of my luggage, which had my spare contacts. I quickly grabbed the case, unlocked it, opened it and retrieved a contact lens. Once my vision came back into focus, I was so relieved. I could see!
The whole situation made me realize how much I need to depend on God. I know losing my contacts was just an accident, but I guess I’m a thinker. The situation made me think of how, as Christians we are called to live by faith. In Hebrews it defines faith as “being certain of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. If you know me, in a lot of ways I can be a high control person. I like to micromanage things to give me assurance of a favorable outcome. Perhaps in some way God was reminding me, as I entered Bangkok, that faith is not about what I can control, but trusting that God works out every situation for his glory and my good. I’m reminded that as I seek to grow and follow God’s plan for my life I will have to live by faith and not by sight.
Our escort loaded Kris’s and my baggage onto one cart. As we walked toward the exit I noticed a rather large, Jabba looking man with a sign that said “Ethnos Asia”. I waved to him. He didn’t speak that much English. He came over and I unloaded my lugged from the cart. Kris had told me to tip our escort $5.00, 204 baht. I didn’t know then that that’s actually a pretty large tip, maybe worth 4 or 5 meals.
I shook Kris’ hand and thanked him for his help. He asked for my number but I didn’t have one yet, so I wrote my email on one of his boxes. I said goodbye to Kris, my first friend in Thailand.
The big guy and I walked to his car. At about 2 am the air was warm and slightly humid. As we drove into the city, I dozed in and out. I tried to make small talk, but after one or two tries it became kind of pointless. He had the AC blasting. I tried to make things out, but it was too dark. The only thing I really noticed was that the license plates had funky writing and that I was sitting on the left-side front seat, but the steering wheel was on the right side. Weird.
2 comments:
another good entry. keep them coming dude.
wow glad you had some help there after losing your contacts. talk about literally being blind...
i forgot about the coup. they're all over the gov. right now, aren't they...
press! God is good, all the time.
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