January 5th: Flight from South Korea to Chiang Mai…Meeting buddies! <3

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The second flight went by very quickly and even though I knew it would be smart to try to stay awake to decrease some of the jet lag, I could not keep my eyes open at all. I read my Bible for a little while and then started a movie only to have to pause it three or four times because I had to close my eyes and go to sleep. The movie I watched though was about international travel and got me even more excited about being in Thailand. After getting off the flight and going through customs all I could think about was how excited I was to lay horizontal. But then, as we walked through customs and were greeted that all changed! I was still very exhausted and ready for sleep, but the greeting I got from my Thai buddies was so sweet!! They recognized me right away and ran up to me, one holding their phones and video taping as I greeted them for the first time. They placed a lai of Jasmine flowers around my neck that smelled amazing and helped to cancel out some of my stink from the long flights. We introduced ourselves and laughed and smiled about how excited we were to finally get to meet each other after talking on Facebook for a few weeks. They were adorable!! They told me they thought I was so cute and beautiful and they quickly grabbed my bags from my hands and held them for me which I thought was so sweet. They have such servant hearts and were trying to do everything they could to take the burden off me which was so nice after such a long journey of traveling. They were all smiles and were so happy to see me. The culture surprised me with how friendly and joyful it was. We all rode on a bus back to the college and introduced ourselves. When we got to the school they showed us to our rooms which were so nice! There was a college shirt, an elephant bag, a water bottle, a name tag, and some flowers on our bed when we came in. I was surprised by the beauty and space in our new living arrangements. We were oriented to the room, we unpacked, and then went to bed! SO tired!

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