Even though I had no usual last-minute Fedex deadline that I was madly trying to finish off before my flight, I still ended up staying up all night before leaving for the airport. Last minute packing, paying bills, tying off all of the loose ends that would free me up for a 2 month shoot in South-East Asia, took longer than I thought. It usually does. Instead of trying to get a couple of hours sleep, Along about one o’clock I decided to just make my bed and spend my last two hours in Berrien Springs cleaning Franks Flat.
3:10AM saw me pulling out of my driveway in my daughter Sarah’s car. To save her having to drive me to South Bend that early, she had just left me her car and I would drive myself to the airport, park the car and they would pick it up in the morning. I mailed the bills and made my way out of town.
Catching the 4:30AM shuttle to Chicago O’hare would ensure that I would get there in plenty of time to check in, even if there were traffic problems.
For the first time ever, Korean Air gave me hassle about having two carry-on bags. I know…. one carryon bag has been the rule now for about the last 6 years, but the airlines have made a provision that has left a slight window open for guys like me to exploit, “one carry on plus a computer bag or purse”. I have been able to squeak by for the last 6 years, by having one fairly large carry on, (a camera bag in the form of a backpack), plus a (rather large) “computer case”. In reality my computer fits snugly in a rear compartment of my camera bag and the “computer case” holds my video camera, tape, hard drives and other electronics that are just too fragile, valuable or indispensible to risk getting lost, damaged or stolen in the mysterious realm of checked luggage . This morning, the girl at the Korean Air counter was not liking the size of my computer bag and was insisting that I not only check the computer bag but pay extra for having a third checked bag. This was not a good start to my trip! I knew that the beleaguered airlines had recently started trying to make a few extra dollars on hitting their clients up for extra fees for extra or “overweight” baggage, but I had already taken some precautions against that and was not warming to the idea of now taking out my credit card to make a donation to Korean Air! Apart from the fact that I was not going to be wanting to check my video camera, Korean Air was a Sky Team partner with Delta, with whom I had gold medallion frequent flier status, which is supposed to come with a three bag, 50 pound each allowance, with no extra fees! I had chosen to fly this trip using Korean Air, even though the ticket was costing me $300 more than one of their competitors, specifically because I knew that I had never had any problems with my two carryon bags and that if I did load up on some souvenirs that I wouldn’t have to worry about some $500 fee for overweight baggage on the return flight, because of my preferred status. Now I was getting hassled on the outbound flight. I could feel my blood pressure rising! After some protest on my part, she sought out her supervisor, who once he saw the contents of my two bags, made an exception and told me to try and “pair it down” in the future. I’ll have to see about getting a little larger Camera bag a little smaller “computer case”
I think that the girl might have been new on the job as she was also giving me a lot of hassle about not having a visa for Thailand. I have been flying into Bangkok for 15 years and have never needed a visa for Thailand, which has got to be about the easiest country in the world to get into. They just stamp your passport and wave you on through… Still, it made me take pause. Had Thailand suddenly changed their visa policies since that last time I was there? Would I get there only to be turned back? After consulting with yet another supervisor, she finally let me go and I gathered up the fortitude to give her a courteous smile and a thanks for all of her “help”.
My flight went fairly well. Even though I had not slept for over 30 hours when I climbed on board, I still found it difficult to get much sleep. Not even the blinders that Korean Air provided was helping me this time. It’s not that I have a fear of flying per se, at least not that I would like to admit, but I did have a traumatic experience when I was about ten years old that I think may have left psychological damage. One clear blue sky day on a golf course on the outskirts of Toronto , I witnessed a passenger plane in trouble above us. After two explosions, and an engine dropping to the ground, the plane took a sudden nose dive into a farmer’s field next to the golf course, instantly ending the life of all 109 people on board. This image haunts me every time I fly! Too stressed to sleep, too tired to read, I turned to the personal entertainment system installed in the seat in front of me. I must have watched about six movies in the 13 hour stretch to Seoul. I am not sure at this point if I could tell you the names of any of them, but it kept my mind off the fact that I was 33,000 feet over the Pacific in a led balloon that was one spark away from becoming a fire ball to Earth. I’ve watched LOST. I have seen all of the episodes where they show the plane going down… all of the different angles … all of the different perspectives …
Making the tight connection in South Korea with no problem, I was soon on my way for the 5 hour flight to Bangkok. This time I was able to close my eyes and sleep!
I was pleased, even somewhat relieved, when the immigration guy at the airport in Bangkok stamped my passport, and waved me on through with the typical bored look on his face that I had come to know and love from Thai Immigration guys. I was “in” and my SE Asia adventure of 2009 could officially begin! I collected my bags, found my hotel shuttle and was soon in my room at the Silver Gold Garden Hotel, a short distance from the airport.
January 28, 2009
I managed to sleep pretty much through the night, even though the hard mattress and the huge hard pillows made it a challenge. For breakfast, I ordered among other things a Papaya dish. I had determined that on this trip I was going to enjoy the many different fruits of this region as often as I could. A few minutes later I was brought a dish of what looked like strains of cabbage and carrots, heavily spiced. Had she taken my order wrong? Was this a side dish to something else that I had ordered? I was hungry and didn’t ask questions. I proceeded to eat what was set before me. I was actually enjoying the vegetables and the flavors of the hot spices, until I began to notice the tiny little shrimp… (for those who may not know me well, I am not fond of little critters in my food!) I tried picking them out but it was no use. They were heavily scattered throughout. When the waitress came by I pointed out the cabbage dish and reminded her that I had ordered the papaya. I was even able to point to some papaya that was growing on the grounds of the outdoor cafe. She said, “yes, papaya!”, pointing to my cabbage dish. Something lost in translation? It was my first day. I was basking in the warmth of the tropical sun, thankful to be out of the three feet of snow that lined the streets of Berrien Springs, and a whole two months of adventure ahead of me. Even though my moth was now watering for papaya, I decided not to challenge her assessment of my strange dish and let it go.
I made it back to the airport early enough to shoot some stock footage of the departure level of Bangkok’s new airport. A few months ago when frustrated protesters took it over and shut down the airport for a week, I wished that I would have had some footage of the place up at my stock footage site, for the News agencies to buy. Well, I have it now… Perhaps I will get some sales during the next bloodless coup in Thailand.
One of my clients on this shoot is Adventist South East Asia projects. www.asapministries.com
ASAP is a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist church. They provide salaries for teachers, church planters, bible workers and lay pastors, as well as Bibles, teaching materials, literature, temporary bamboo churches, etc in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and most recently Myanmar. They also recognize the importance of improving the lives of the people that they work with and are becoming more involved in humanitarian relief and development programs such as wells, primary education, skills training and small loan programs. I will be shooting for them for the first two weeks of my journey as well as a week in Laos at the end of my trip. I always enjoy traveling and working with them. They believe strongly in the power of prayer and it is always nice to witness the answers to their prayers along the way and be under the umbrella of their faith.
I met up with the group from ASAP at the assigned gate, and we took the short flight to Chiang Rai, a rapidly growing city in the very northern part of the country. We were met by pastor Phamore , an amazing individual who has for the last 45 years, dedicated his life to serving Karen refugees fleeing Burma. I met him once before in 1993. He had taken me out to the refugee camps and I had filmed in some of the bamboo schools that he had built for the children. It had been an amazing experience and I had come away with some wonderful images of the children, one of which is still featured at one of my websites, www.worldviewimages.com The boy with the umbrella and baby in the bottom left-hand corner is from that first trip to a Karen refugee camp. Ever since that day I have been hoping to return to the camp and spend more time with these children of the jungle. As the years slipped by I began to give up hope that I would ever get that opportunity again as surely, the conflict would be resolved and the refugees would be able to safely return to their home. But here it is 2009, the killing goes on, and the camps are still there! I am hoping to be able to spend three or four days out at one of his schools on this trip and get enough footage for a little documentary on the amazing work that he has done.
For the next few days we will be spending some time meeting with some young people who have come over from Burma who to meet us. They are Adventist youth who have been trained as teachers, but have decided to take up the call to be church planters and medical missionaries. They have come for five days of intense training and meet and greet with the workers of ASAP. Due to travel restrictions in Myanmar, it was felt that it would be easier for them to come to us, rather than us trying to get to them. We loaded our gear into the two vehicles and made our way north another 45 KM.
About 5:00PM we pulled into the grounds of a simple “resort” in the border town of Mae Sai. No beach, no mountain view, no conference room for the meetings and we cook our own meals. But, we each get our own little cottage, and it is only $13/night, so it works out well for a faith ministry on a budget!
With jet lag setting in I collapsed in my room about 8:00.
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