I arrived safely in Kota Kinabalu (or "KK" as I've learned that many refer to it here), capital of the Malaysian province of Sabah, right on time, after 42 hours of travel from my home in North Carolina to the KK airport. More than 24 of those hours were spent inside a plane! And no, there were no delays. Everything went just as it was scheduled--which came as a major surprise to me, since that has frequently not been the case in my international travel experiences over the years.

On the two longest legs of my journey (Los Angeles - Tokyo and Tokyo - Kuala Lumpur), I was assigned a seat at the very front of a section of the airplane, next to the window. I had all the legroom I needed and I was able to lean my pillow against the wall of the plane, so I got quite a few hours of quality sleep. That is a huge help as I'm adjusting to the time difference between here and back home. I think that may actually have been a game-changer, and one I did not request. Rather, it was divinely orchestrated so that I would be able to function only a day after arriving here!

My supervisor and I have been warmly welcomed at the retreat center where the RWC workshop will take place. It's a very nice place just on the outskirts of KK. The workshop participants will be arriving later today and we'll begin training tomorrow morning.