It all began around 7:30 in the morning. I left my house after saying goodbye to my brother and shoving my three very heavy bags (two were carry on) into our car's trunk. My 18-year-old brother wasn't up to waking so early, so my Mom and Dad drove me on the half-hour's drive to the OKC airport (sa-nam-bin in Thai). At the time, it still didn't feel like I was going to leave my family for nine month and go live in a foreign country with people I have never once met. At the airport, I hugged my mom and dad goodbye- it wasn't all emotional- just a quick hug and a "see you in nine months, bye!"
Luckily, I was pre-checked so no nasty security for me (happy Sarah).
My flight left around 9:30- it was a one hour flight to Dallas, Texas. I had a 2 and a half hour layover in Dallas and then boarded the plane to New York' Laguardia airport around 1:00 PM. The flight was about 4 hours long. Luckily, on both of my flights, I sat next to very cordial and talkative people. When I arrived in New York, I went to the planned meeting spot, met with the AFS volunteer and chaperon to the hotel- a lanky young man with a red shirt and a very thick stereotypical New York accent. Him and I got a taxi to my hotel- our driver was a man with a very thick Indian accent. After the drive dropped of the volunteer at his house, (on the way to The Hilton, our hotel) and it was just him and me, he tried to make small talk- all I could understand was, 'what, you no like?!'.
When I arrived at the hotel, I received the schedule and an extremely over sized AFS t-shirt. I was the last student to arrive, so they had already begun the orientation. It was awkward to walk into a room in the middle of a group activity with all eyes glued on me.
The orientation consisted of delicious food, a Q&A session with an AFS Returnee (shutout to Ally!), and more AFS program overview. I was naughty and stayed up until around midnight with my roommate flipping through the TV and talking (not a wise move, Sarah).We left for the JFK airport around 9:30 the next day.
By the time they began boarding for our first flight- to Tokyo, Japan, I was jumping around with excitement. The other kids- Brad (Brandon), Margie (Grace), Emily, and Ryan were very excited as well- so was our crazy chaperon- Derba (De-Bra).
We hand a killer 14-hour flight to Tokyo ANA airlines. I would definitely recommend them- they gave us 3 good meals and I think the flight attendants were the nicest people I have ever met - I will attach pictures. I really was sick of sitting after a while, so I annoyed the flight attendants and passengers by walking and doing lunges around the plane- I also did jumping jacks in the bathroom! (crazy Sarah!).
We arrived in Tokyo around 4:00 AM I think. We walked around the huge mall and I bought mo-chi (happy Sarah). We also got food at the food court- their stir fried Ramen noodles are not half bad!
Around 7:30 (I think) we boarded the plane once again for.... Bangkok! We had a 7 hour flight (ugh!)- again with ANA Airlines- good meals (I chose the Japanese option again) and very nice flight attendants. I sat next to two Thai women whom I tried to have a conversation with (even though I was half asleep).
We finally arrived in Bangkok at 12:30 AM Bangkok time- it was raining. We sleep-walked off of the plane, and some where in my sleep deprived fog, I began to realize that this exchange really was going to happen-. The thought made me really happy and re-energized me for the walk through the airport and to the bus. I was jumping around. We met our AFS volunteer, (Pee Noodi) got our bags, and grabbed a bus (rot may in Thai) to our very fancy hotel in Bangkok. The long drive to the hotel was a struggle- my body craved sleep, but my brain and eyes wanted to savor every moment with wide eyes. I spent the drive with my eyes glue to the window, a stupid grid slapped onto my face- like a dog with it's head out the window. We got there around 2:00 AM. I shared a room with the other 2 girls- Grace and Emily.
I am so happy to be here and can't wait to see what the next nine months have in store!
Until next time,
Sarah Hoson :)
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