Not in Kansas anymore

Been in Hanoi now for 3 days. I don't know where to start to describe this place. The people here are very inviting and just want to share their amazing food and culture with you wherever you go. The weather here is comparable to southern Florida. Take everything you know about the US and rewind it back about 40 years. Then you might get a general idea of how things operate around here but even then I can't describe all the differences that are unique to this part of the world. The food here has been influenced by all the countries surrounding and most countries that took up residence here in the past. Hanoi celebrates it's 1000 year anniversary on 10-10-10 and it is expected to be a big party. The mentality over here is more go-with-the-flow style than anywhere in the US. As such, it has been interesting to watch some of our more type-A pilots get a handle on the fact that things run differently here, and there are a lot of unanswered questions that will get figured out as the company starts up here. Overall, it's been an amazing experience so far, and I'm still waiting for it to sink in that I'm really here.

One Month Left at ASA...

With one month of work left at ASA and just over a month until I leave for Vietnam, I thought this would be a perfect time to start my blog.  Since Facebook is very limited or banned in most of Vietnam, this and email may be the only way I can stay in touch with most of you guys.  I thought I would start with how this whole idea came about and what I will be doing during my 13 months abroad for those of you who don't know the whole story so far.  There were also many things that had to line up just for me to keep moving forward with the decision to go.  So, here we go.... When ASA put out the offer to work for Air Mekong, everyone seemed a bit skeptical of working in Vietnam, and the package that was offered.  Initially, I completely wrote off the idea.  After a few weeks, I started talking about it with some friends who gave me some good input.  Most of them said I would be stupid not to go so that got me looking into it more.  I thought it was odd that not even one of them thought it would be a bad idea.  I decided that I would send in my form of interest and see what happened.  About a week later I got an email saying that someone would call me to schedule an interview.  It was at this point that I decided to call my parents and tell them about the idea.  I went over what their reactions would be in my head for a while before even making the call.  I imagined my mom crying on the phone pleading with me not to go while my dad threw every reason in the book at me as to why it would be a bad decision.  I was completely surprised when I got almost the opposite reaction from both of them.  Both were a little reserved on the idea but did not even come close to shooting it down which was pretty amazing.  It was also at this point I decided I needed to lift this whole thing up to the only one I could rely on for true direction, God.  Praying commenced from myself and on the behalf of others that knew the decision process I was going through.  As you read on, maybe you will also see how God strategically lined things up for this trip to even be a possibility.  When I got the call to schedule the interview, I had already decided that I would go for it.  I still hadn't made my decision to go or not but there's nothing bad that could come out of the interview process.  In fact, if I didn't pass the interview, that would have made the decision for me right there.  What I was told about the interview was that it would be at 7:15am at our operations office near the airport and would consist of a 15 minute Skype conference call to one of the people running the show for Air Mekong in Vietnam.  It would basically be a HR type Q&A session with no technical questions.  I don't know whether it was Skype or the internet connection, but at least half of the time the audio of the interviewer cut in and out at what seemed like the most important parts of the conversation.  We spent most of the time diagnosing and waiting for the connection to improve so we could talk again.  By the time the interview was over, I still had a list of 30 unanswered questions I had come prepared to ask.  I walked away feeling like the entire interview was useless and that I knew nothing more about what I was applying for than I did before.  On the way out, I was able to ask the interview mediator a few questions.  I found out that at least 180 people were getting interviewed for 34 possible openings.  Being that my interview went as not awesome as it did, I pretty much wrote off any chance of getting a reply.  I knew that there were probably other more qualified applicants who had experience in Asia or whose interview went better than mine.  To my surprise, after about 2 weeks I got an email from the Chief Pilot (my boss) of Air Mekong saying that I was being offered employment after I passed the required background checks and formalities. His name was familiar but I thought there was no way this was the same person I was thinking of.  I replied with an email containing all the questions I did not get answered in my interview and stating that there was still a lot of information I needed before moving any further with the process.  I got a phone call 5 minutes after sending the email back from an unknown number.  It turned out to be the chief pilot calling me to talk and answer all the questions I had.  When he started talking, I thought I recognized his voice but I wasn't sure.  The first thing he asked was why I replied to him so formally in the email I sent back.  He talked to me as if we were friends and asked me how I was doing.  It was at this point I finally put two and two together and realized I had flown with this guy at ASA for almost 2 years when I first started there.  He was now the chief pilot of Air Mekong and was telling me he saw my name on the list of applicants and that when he saw it he knew I had to come over for the job.  What are the chances that I would know the person who would be in charge of running the company? Anyway, I was super excited because I knew I could shoot him an email anytime I had any concerns or problems during this process and he would reply.  Despite this, I still had reservations as anyone would have when making a decision to leave a comfortable life in the States with good friends and a steady job.  The deadline to make a final decision was by 5pm, Tuesday, June 8.  I again called my parents to tell them the news and get their opinions.  Like before, I assumed their reactions would be more negative than positive and again I was surprised.  They both said they supported my decision if I wanted to pursue this opportunity.  I started making calls to friends to get their opinions and see if they knew people who could watch my dog Amber while I was gone, store my stuff, buy my car, and rent my apartment.  These were just a few of the loose ends that needed to be tied up, but all of this needed to get taken care of for me to even consider going for a year.  I know people were praying for me all over the country during this time and for that I am immensely grateful.  About a week went by and by the time it came for me to decide whether I was going to do this thing, all the loose ends I had were tied up.  All my friends and family were on-board, my old roommate Spencer was going to watch Amber while I was gone and buy my car, another friend was going to take my apartment, yet another friend volunteered a room in his house for me to store my stuff, and my cellphone contract was set to expire on August 20.  Now the only one who needed convincing was me.  I waited right up until the last minute to decide.  At 4:55pm I sent my email accepting their offer.  Like I said earlier there were a lot of things that had to line up for this to even be a possibility, and if you know me at all you know I don't believe in coincidences or chance or luck.  A wise, godly friend showed me something a few years ago that I have used to make decisions like this ever since I heard it.  It is basically an illustration of God's will. It is not a formula to deciding God's will in your life in specific decisions, but rather it illustrates areas to consider before making an important decision.  These areas are: Commitment (through prayer), Commands (heard through scripture), Counsel (godly), Circumstances (surrounding), and Calmness (peace in heart).  Based on these different areas, I believe I made the right decision to go.  Now, a month and a few weeks from departure, the contract is signed and things are moving along.  I found out yesterday I will be based in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.  I apologize that this post is lengthy as this is my first time blogging.  I will be putting up shorter posts from here on out. Expect one soon with information on Hanoi.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  Thank you to everyone who has supported me during this process so far.  Looking forward to sharing this great experience with you as this is just the beginning!