20 hours getting here...1st few hours in Bangkok

So I watched 3 movies, and read most of 'Ida B. ... and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, adn Possibly Save the World'. That book came recommended by Rachel, and is a great piece of children's literature. Also I spent some time with Henry Nouwen's 'The Return of the Prodigal Son, A Story of Homecoming'. I'll say more on that later. In fact I think my posts may fall into 2 categories - observations and stories of my travel's here, and reflections on the journey.

Observations and Stories of My Travels
20 hours is a long time to be traveling on a plane, but I have to say it was pretty good until the last 2 hours. Between movies, reading, sleeping, and visiting with my seatmate on the second flight, it went well. My seatmate is a professor of Chemistry at a university here, and he is somewhat representative of some general Thai qualities I've experienced so far - polite & personable.
I hadn't experienced this use of technology on planes before this trip - I had my own personal screen that showed movies (from a list of 30), wide variety of music, and info on the status of the trip - how far we'd come, how long till landing, how high, the temperature, speed, etc.. It also had some pretty interesting general info on countries - like, India which is a bit smaller than Texas, has a billion people, while China, which is roughly the size of the US, has 1.3 billion.

Reflections on the Journey
So, as I was getting ready to leave, I started casting about for something spiritual reading, and picked up 'Return of the Prodigal...' by one of my favorite Christian authors. Henry Nouwen, a Catholic priest, taught theology at Harvard, Yale & Notre Dame, until he decided to leave that to live in a community of developmentally challenged adults, a community called L'Arche in Toronto. Interestingly, there is an extension of that community in Tacoma where we live.

This book is a reflection on Rembrandt's painting of the same name. I didn't think about it when I picked the book to take with me, but the theme of home is one that is particularly relevant to me now. I am away from home (Tacoma), and I am preparing to work with Rachel's class on a scene from Romeo and Juliet - with the themes of belonging, community, etc.. as expressed in the rival families. Also, have had a heightened awareness because of our friends, Mandy & Joel, who are spending 10 months in Nairobi, and reflecting on this same issue.

The painting is based on the story of the Prodigal Son as told by Jesus in response to this passage starting at Luke chapter 15:
'The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." '

The most interesting part of this for me is the exploration of the parts of me that are both the younger son who leaves and then returns, AND the older son who stays, outwardly doing the 'right thing', but then is filled with resentment when he doesn't 'get his due'. I relate more strongly with the older son actually, but also the younger. How about you? Who do you relate to? the story is found in the New Testament at Luke 15: 11-32 if you want to read it.