I'm Back in Seattle Again

It's been an eventful last few days, but my flights from Berlin to Seattle went well.  The 777 from London was only like 1/3 full so it was easy to stretch out a bit, take a couple short naps and watch a few movies.  The timing of the flights was a bit challenging, but I'm glad I was able to get the flight I did.  I am very grateful for Andreas meeting me at 5:15 a.m. at my apartment to take me to the airport.  Thank you, brother for all you have done for me, and for your incredible sacrifice to come get me that early in the morning!  Thanks also to Katja and Christoph for also meeting us there at 5:45 a.m.!  I was encouraged to see all of you one last time before I left. You guys are really the best!

The night before I was trying to get things all taken care of and was struggling to keep my suitcases under the weight limits.  I wanted to have one bag be regular price (up to 51 lbs) and the other to be heavier.  I was allowed only one free piece of luggage, so I had to pay for the second one and both ended up being overweight.  Cost me about $180 just to bring my luggage back.  I had only about $50 or so on me when I left Berlin and a bit more in my account in Seattle. Just to get back on the plane, with the fee and the luggage costs totaled nearly $400!  Thank goodness for my friends in Berlin who took up a collection at my party last Saturday! Thank you to everyone who helped out!

The flight from Berlin to London was pretty full, but it was only 1.5 hours long.  The layover in London was pretty quick, got to stretch my legs and go through security again.  They bussed us out to the plane and it must have been at the far corner of the airport (Heathrow is HUUUUGE!).  Sat by a student from Tacoma and he told me about his 3 week visit to Morocco.  Pretty interesting.

Because of the early morning start in both Berlin and London, I saw the sunrise about 4 or 5 times total.  Once on the way to London, then once over Greenland and then a few more times over northern Canada.  Since I am currently having issues with my laptop, I will have to show pictures of them, they were incredible.  I especially loved seeing the tops of the white mountains of Greenland turn pink with the sunrise.  Incredible.  There was also a full moon which pretty much stayed right below the starboard wing of the plane most of the flight.  Beautiful!

When we landed at Sea-Tac, we went through our screenings.  They had us scan our passports in these machines, however as soon as I scanned mine, the whole system went down....  Oh well, the process really didn't take that long.  Then they have you pick up your baggage on the carousel then you have to give it to other people to send it through I'm assuming, another screening.  Then they send it to baggage claim to be picked up the final time. I guess that's a newer thing, but I haven't flown into a US airport internationally for a while.

Then the amazing Clerissa came and picked me up in her stylin' Saab convertible (top UP... brrrr....). She drove all the way down from Lynnwood and all the way up past Everett to drop me off. Thank you so much for your great heart of serving, it really means a lot to me! 

So I got a chance to spend time with my mom and brother and went out to do a bit of shopping for some necessities.  I tried to stay awake longer but only made it to about 6:30pm.  Either way, it was still almost 30 hours awake, with three hours of sleep the night before.  Did get a few short naps on the plane, but only a couple hours more at most. 

Yesterday I took a walk to see how close the nearest bus stop is from my mom's place.  Couldn't find one, but later found out where one is. It's about a 15 minute walk, but realizing that I really need to get a car.  Mom is very generously letting me borrow hers when I need it, but don't want to totally over-use that privilege.  Thanks, mom, for letting me use the car!  Please pray for me to find work quickly and to be able to get around (and to be able to afford it!).

Also, I have been experiencing some challenges with my laptop.  Because I foolishly asked my roommate in Berlin to put Linux on my computer earlier this week, I cannot figure out how to get connected to the internet.  On top of that, I'm seriously questioning my own timing and sanity for requesting that.  I'm totally dead in the water without my laptop and my mom's computer will not allow me to attach Microsoft Word documents to applications since she doesn't have Microsoft Office on her computer.    I really hope I can get these things resolved quickly....

Anyway, thanks everyone for your support and prayers.  If you feel moved to give, any amount (even $5) would be helpful for me to get established here.  Thanks!