ASIA 1999

When does a trip really begin? Something I read by Rudyard Kipling said that much of the adventure is in the anticipation of the journey. For a couple of years now I have had a subtle longing to return to Asia and especially to Thailand where I served a two year mission in 1974-76. With the way I enjoy traveling however, (no advanced plans of what to do or where to stay) it is hard to find anyone else interested in going. Sometime in November, I happened to have dinner with my old missionary friend, Alan Shields, and he was ‘down’ for the trip. He was in the process of finishing a house (he’s a builder) and would have a break before the next one would start. Within ten minutes of conversation we had decided a trip was possible and laid plans to that end.

I was in the process of changing jobs but made the 18 days off a condition of the new employment. Alan’s wife Becky had gone to Europe for 21 days a couple of years earlier so according to her, it was payback and he was free to go. With a fist full of frequent flyer miles, nothing stood in the way and we set the departure day for January 10.

The 10^th was a typical Sunday with planning meetings for the youth combined activity and the Venture scout program. We had a Sunday dinner at Alan’s folks house and showed some slides that I had of us in Thailand 24 years earlier. Angela gave us a large box of homemade cookies (delicious) to take with us.

I had packed the night before and included some light-weight ‘new fiber’ shorts and shirts for hot climates and packed as lean as possible. Only a pair of sandals, one sweatshirt, pants shirts, shorts and underwear. Al and I drove to my house and Frank drove us to the airport. He had just come from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and told us of all the new designs he had seen there.

We were an hour early (standard recommendation for international flights) but with my medallion status were soon in the Crown Room with drinks and peanuts making phone calls. Al called Becky and I called my folks and informed the ‘tower’ of our flight plan. Mom was wondering how we were going to ‘check in’ with them on a regular basis in case something happened while we were gone. I didn’t have any answers because we wouldn’t be staying at any hotels that had computer phone access and I didn’t have my Novell International calling card. Dad said, "We’ll just have to get on God’s internet to let you know." That sounded good enough for me.

Our flight to San Francisco had some delay but we still made it in plenty of time to make our connection. This was the first time I had ever flown on Korean Air (everyone thinks of the 747 that the Russians shot down when they think of Korean Air). We were on the 39^th row but fortunately had a seat between us so it wasn’t too uncomfortable.

I slept most of the way but awoke with a headache. As we approached Seoul I kept watching the outside temperature and thought it would rise from 14 degrees F as we descended but it didn’t. Fortunately the only exposure we had to the elements was a short blast of cold air as we stepped from the plane to the ramp.

Waiting in the transfer lounge at the Kim Po airport in Seoul we ran into Randy Pierson whom I had worked with briefly at Novell. He and one of his new hire associates were making an exhaustive visit of all the Novell Asia offices over the next couple of weeks. We visited a while and I wondered why I felt guilty in a way that I was going on an 18 day ‘no technology’ vacation while he was just continuing to work. Oh well, I didn’t feel guilty enough to want to switch places with him.

While there, I used the rest room and came out without my waist belt which held my passport, ticket and money. I raced back in and fortunately it was still there. I guess it was a good reminder to reinforce appendage awareness so that I wouldn’t forget it somewhere else further in the trip and cause more problems.

So Alan and I hadn’t really spent any time together since we were roommates at BYU 22 years earlier. What’s changed in 22 years? A lot and not very much. He now has six children with his oldest Jon attending college as a freshman. Our lives in some ways have been very different but in other ways very much the same. The close association that we each had with our families was still a bond that we could relate to and talked with interest how our families had grown, weathered storms, and had happiness over the last couple of decades. Al’s dad currently has cancer and we talked about how the possible imminence of death brings a new perspective to life.

From Korea, we flew the five plus hours to Bangkok. As we descended out of the clouds I had a strange sense of coming home. I could see the rice fields stretching in long neat rectangular patterns with scattered trees here and there. Bangkok International airport was much larger than it had been even fourteen years ago when I was there on the Clegg Brothers World Tour 85. Lots and lots of planes and gates that stretched forever. Customs and passport control was a breeze and we soon found ourselves descending into the arrival area with, of all things, strains of ‘Jingle Bells’ in the background. Some display was welcoming foreigners and it seemed so tacky.