Blessings

Praise God for:

• Four smooth on time flights
• All luggage arriving, and it even appears there was no breakage!
• No one taking away my carry-on bag (more on this later)
• Sleep when I wanted to on the journey and (mostly) staying awake when I wanted
• No trouble finding the Elementary and Middle School principals who came to pick me up (not hard to find the white people with a sign in a sea of Asians!)
• Almost 7 hours of sleep in my new apartment last night!  
• A hot cup of tea this morning
• A hot shower

There were really only 2 moments in the whole trip where there were issues of any kind, and they both had to do with the fact that I packed so much (too much) stuff.  The checked bag weight limit is 50lbs, and I knew 2 of my bags were right around 52, which has never been an issue in the past.  But things are getting stricter, so each of those had to shed a few pounds at the check-in in Detroit.  I had not been able to get a good weight on the third bag, which came in at 58lbs, so that one lost some serious book weight.  Mostly I left behind some "would be nice to have" books (in Spanish and for the classroom) and about 3 months of hair product. I stuff a few extra items into my carry-on.  So after spreading my belongs all over to sort through that I got my bags checked and was on my way.  Now, I was carrying on two items- a wheeled suitcase full of valuables, breakables, paperwork, and emergency supplies, and a laptop bag with my in flight items.  In LA I had to recheck-in with the new airline (Asiana Airlines, which was wonderful, by the way) and they actually weighed my carry-on bag. Their carry-on limit is 22lbs and mine came in around 35lbs.  I asked the girl what my options were, and basically I would need to check it (for $55) to Bangkok.  Seeing no other choice we started taking out the "must haves" like original documents, prescriptions, etc.  "Oh, but all these things will break!" the Asiana girl noted.  "I know, that's why they are in my carry-on!".  She began to see just how much stuff I would need to take out and came up with the most brilliant plan.  I swapped out the heavy stuff for things like my neck pillow and novel so that the wheeled bag got down to it's proper limit.  She gave my a plastic bag for the items that didn't fit in my laptop bag, tagged the big bag as "approved" and told me to make sure that the items from the plastic bag somehow fit into the laptop bag before boarding, as I was only allowed two items.  "Will they weigh my bag again anywhere?" I asked her.  "No".  I smiled, thanked her profusely and was on my way.  Of course, upon arrival at my gate I went to a corner, put everything back where it had been, and happily boarded the plane:) 

She was actually the second airline employee to have pity on me and help me keep that carry-on bag with me.  The plane for my Detroit to Chicago flight was tiny, so they were making announcements about limited overhead space and encouraging people to check their wheeled bags at no cost.  They advised people in seating area 4 that the space would be full by the time they got on.  I, of course, was in seating area 4 (the load from the outside in, and I always sit on the aisle) and had no intentions of checking my bag.  I went up to the counter and explained my situation to the woman, who kindly reseated me in area 2 so I could get on the plane earlier.  I told her I didn't care where I sat, as long as that bag got on the plane with me (for 45 minutes I could sit on the floor).  She moved me to an open window seat- in Economy Plus- that also happened to be an exit row.  Double bonus. 

Okay, enough luggage stories.  I have had some cereal and want to get moving on some basic unpacking and seeing the school.  I'll try to take some pics for the next post.