Wow, I've got a lot to write about! I love you! It's the fifth day now actually in Singapore but I've got to tell you about the plane ride, and work, and the place we live temporarily and the place we just got.

So read on to discover a new land and have adventures with me!

Friday - Sunday

Thank you so much to everyone who came to my going away party! It was amazing to see so many people that I love and say goodbye. I'm really thankful that I had that opportunity. You have all encouraged me in many ways and are still doing so.

So anyway, I left for the airport real late on Friday night but a little earlier than I had expected, and Chris Comair calls me up and says he is at my place, but I'm gone. So, 'cause he is a pretty awesome friend, he drives down to the airport to see Matt and I off! It was a great start to the trip.

It was a long flight, and actually, I was incorrect in telling you that we were going from Seattle to San Francisco first. We actually got right on a 747 and went directly from Seattle to Taipei. We had to buy Elite Class tickets because Economy was sold out, so it was actually a fairly pleasant flight. However, I didn't sleep at all the first flight. We landed in Taipei and then took the flight to Singapore from there on a 777. The second flight was really nice, though. Elite class had been overbooked so we were upgraded to business class! Mmm omelette breakfast. Except they wouldn't bring me alcohol. I asked for a screwdriver, dammit! Oh well, it was like 8 in the morning. I mean, not for me; it was about 4 in the afternoon my time, but maybe they didn’t want to serve me booze so early. I slept maybe a little on the second flight, but it wasn’t very good sleep and I was still exhausted by the time I arrived.

At New Life, my church in Everett, one of our pastors, Rick, introduced me to a guy name George, who is a missionary and has his family in Singapore. The dude is just really cool, and I'm now starting to get to know his family.

We got into the airport at about 1:30 or so on Sunday afternoon. It was great, we easily picked up our bags and got through customs quickly. We had a fun time with the money changers. We sort of looked over at the money exchange booth and the person working there noticed that we were foreigners looking for money and she got all excited and beckoned us over very enthusiastically. She really wanted to change our money.

After that we called George and he obliged to pick us up from the airport. Did I mention how nice this guy is? So we drove around trying to find DigiPen for a while, since we were supposed to meet some people there in the afternoon. After a few phone calls and George telling us some stories about facing armed gunmen in Papua New Guinea, we made it to DigiPen, but no one was there so we went to the place we were staying temporarily. We were staying for a little while at this condo that DigiPen owns in a complex called Heritage View. It was quite nice actually, and in walking distance of the school. There is a co-worker of ours, Bill, that lives there for right now (I've never met him) but he is on vacation and is getting back on Friday. His room was locked, so Matt and I ended up sharing a one-bedroom apartment. Matt likes sleeping on the couch for some reason though…

That first evening we took the opportunity to walk around the area. Holy crap it is hot here. We just sweat all the time when we are outside, it's actually sort of miserable. But we did get out and explore that first night. After that we were so tired from travelling that we crashed pretty hard.