iman serna

First encounter...of the Russian kind

     Looking at the tarmac you would think that you were transported to a different time...a more basic time. There were potholes and cracks galore. It looked like a bunch of puzzle pieces that got glued together with tar. Big red Russian signs were painted on hangars.

     Saw a statue of either Stalin or Lenin...I really can't tell which one it was so forgive me if I've offended anyone because of this. Saw ,what to me looked like, military officers all over the runway wearing hats that I would typically think a Russian officer wears.

     The airport itself looked like it was no bigger than the Kalamazoo, MI airport that I've flown into dozens of times to visit Karen when we were dating...it was dinky. For an international airport it was REALLY small.

     The plane finally came to a halt and we were told that we will be alighting off of the plane and onto the tarmac itself and will be walking to get to the terminal...I'm so excited...here we go!

     We went through your typical international travelers route...customs. While we were on the plane they gave us this form to fill out so you can hand it to the customs agent. There were 2 full lines that tapered into 2 agents behind 2 separate glass booths. When it was my turn to present my papers I smiled really big and nodded my head to say "Hi, miss nice customs agent. Please don't make my life a living Sheol just because you know you can". She returned my warm, friendly, non-verbal greeting with a blank and almost icy stare...she then proceeded to look through my papers. She pointed at my passport and then at the piece of paper that I filled out and then she spoke in Russian...my response was idiotically typical..."HUH?"

     In her rough, harsh sounding english she managed to communicate to me that I had filled out that piece of paper improperly. I then attempted to rectify the situation right then and there by asking her for a pen. Her response to my request was a motion to step out of the line and come back when I have the proper documentation...CRAP! I shared this tid bit of info with P.Mike since we pretty much filled out our pieces of important paper together and so I know he got it WRONG too!

     I have never really been in a situation where I felt completely helpless language wise...I've always been able to figure out the language just enough to roughly communicate and be understood. This time  my "привет" or "Privet" or "Hello" just wasn't cutting it.    

     After properly filling out this important piece of paper we went all the way to the back of the line. Just then a nice, trendy young lady who spoke english told us that we can go back to the front of the line. WOW...I asked her "is it OK?" She just nodded and smiled. So off we went and to my surprise no one in line even gave us a dirty look. Thank you young trendy lady, thank you people in customs line, thank you customs agent lady with a stoic face...thank you God!

     After we got through customs it was just a matter of getting our luggages from the conveyor belt of DEATH!!! Hahaha...this thing looked like it could slice your finger off or eat your whole arm to bits if you didn't time your grab juuust it right.

      After we've gathered all our bags we exited the terminal and found David Maxey, Sveta M and Vasya waiting for us. Warm greetings...sorta...was exchanged. Now I said "sorta" because at the time they didn't know me and I didn't know them and so our exchange was very minimal.

     We loaded our bags in David's van and started our little trip to our hotel room. The van's steering wheel is on the right side so I instantly thought that they drove on the LEFT side of the street...WRONG! His explanation was that Russia gets a LOT of import cars from it's neighboring asian countries that manufacture vehicles with the steering wheel on the right. He also added that it's much cheaper to buy these cars so there's also a LOT of them in Khabarovsk.

     I was in sensory overload trying to soak up all the sights and sounds whizzing past me. Looking at all the signs that I'm not able to read. Asking why there are "oil pipes" everywhere (they are NOT "oil pipes", they are pipes that the government provides the people hot water with is what I was told). Right then and there I made a promise to myself that I will be a sponge...I am going to breathe in as much information, as much sight, as much experience as I possibly can.

I quietly whispered to myself as we approached the hotel that we will be staying in for the next few days..."this is cool".

Khabarovsk, Russia...FINALLY!

     Yes, it's another picture of food I ate. Better get used to it coz you'll see more of it all through out my blogs.

NEWS FLASH!
I enjoy food...even more so, I enjoy cultural cuisines.

     So on our flight from Seoul to Khabarovsk we were served with a meal. It wasn't bad at all considering that it's airplane food. The main dish was good, it was sort of a beef stir fry with steamed rice. The only '"odd" thing was the smoked beef with pickle, cherry tomato and some other veggies. I wasn't diggin' that too much. The rest of the meal was good but what really got my attention was the Korean packaged Coke.

     I've been a Coke drinker ever since I moved to the US so I'm some what of a connoisseur when it comes to it's flavor. Well, the Coke tasted sweeter with less fizz than it's US counterpart, kinda like how I remembered it tasting back in the Philippines...not bad at all. The added bonus to my Korean Coke experience was the can. It was petite (8oz. possibly) with a very cool looking design. There were NUMEROUS (x3) times that I attempted to snag an unopened can for a souvenir but every time I asked for one those ASIANA airline flight attendants were just to dern efficient and would pop the top before they got to my seat.

SIDE NOTE: Asiana Airlines in my opinion is the bomb! They had fairly roomy coach seats...at least compared to my prior Korean Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Japanese Airlines experience. They had A-1 service with a smile! The food was NOT BAD at all. Kudos!

      Anyone notice anything different about this picture here? I know I ask a lot of observational questions but I think this makes the blog more interactive and interesting. Click on the pic and take a closer glance at it.

     If you said "hmm...there's no one sitting in between P.Mike and Iman" then you're absolutely correct!

     I think it was by specific design, courtesy of P.Mike, that he had the "A" seat (aka the window seat) and I had the "C" seat or the aisle seat. With all our flights he prayed, PRAYED for the "B" seat to be empty so we can have some elbow room. Well...his prayer was answered on this specific flight! I didn't have to switch seats with the "B" passenger on this one because there was none...thank ya JESUS!

     Try eating with both your elbows tightly tucked in to your sides. Then try orchestrating a food prep with that i.e. butter your roll, unwrap your scalding hot food, cut your meat, etc. All the while trying NOT to spill anything during the occasional turbulence. And to add a 4.0 degree of difficulty...try NOT bumping your neighbor's elbow on either side while you gingerly scoop the food in your mouth...yeah, pretty complex!

     The 4 hour flight was a breeze compared to our Chicago to Seoul jaunt. But after flying for a little over 20 hours not including our lay overs I was feeling "not so fresh" unlike P.Mike who had a shower in Seoul ( I gotta give props to P.Mike for being adventurous!). I knew I needed a shower in a really bad way when I actually started smelling my own funk...nasty! I can't wait to jump in a cool refreshing shower.

WOW...I'm really here.
A Filipino who moved to America and is now on a missions reconnaissance in Russia...WOW.

14 hour plane ride...fun!

After...
...4 meals (plane food...not as bad as I remembered)
...a few snacks (i packed some of my own)
...3 American made films (slept through most of it)
...1 Korean movie with english subtitles (kinda funny!)
...a couple of trips to the bathroom (tight squeeze!)
...one teeny tiny coach sized middle seat (elbow room galore...not!)
...innumerable naps (seriously...naps are the bomb!)
...several time zones (I don't even know how many)
...6,583 miles or 10594.29 kilometers
...an average speed of 650mph
...a total of 14 hours flying in a plane

We landed at 2 in the morning Seoul, Korea time. The airport was VERY impressive. It was very clean, neat and well organized...and it looked like a ghost town. There were a few handful of airport employees mulling about doing their job. All if not most of the shops were closed. The earliest time any shop, even the restaurants, open is at 6am and we have an 8 hour lay over...nice.

     P.Mike and I decided to hit the "lounge" area and "spread out". As soon as I found my spot I sprawled out and took a mini-nap while P.Mike decided to scope out the place. This was also an opportunity for his once cramped 6'3" frame to stretch out.

     After P.Mike's "adventure"...I'll let him elaborate on this one if he wants to...we were famished. Plane food wasn't bad but it wasn't that good either. So we chose to go to this place right here --->

     Now, can anyone tell me the name of this fine airport restaurant?  Anyone? Come on now, I know you can do it. You just have to apply yourself. OK, I'll give you a hint...the name has "Welcome to" in the front of it. Go ahead...look closer. You can even click on the picture to have a closer look. Did you get it yet?

If you said "welly&" you are absolutely RIGHT! The name of the restaurant is welly&...so obviously I asked "& what?" But sadly no one gave me any mind nor any satisfactory answer...this should've been a HUGE hint as to how they would name their dishes.

"Shrimp OMULET with fried rice"


"HAMBURG steak"

     We braved the food titles and decided to place our orders anyway. To be honest I was looking forward to eating some Korean cuisine. I used to go to a Korean church in Maryland when I lived in the east coast. But to be honest...aside from Kimchi and sushi I didn't recognize any of the food.

P.Mike had some kind of pork chop smothered in a tomato sauce of some kind, a side of "fried rice" which was really steamed rice with peas,carrots and onions, rice noodle "salad", Udon broth with fried tofu and a side of kimchi.

     I had the pork chop with some kind of mustard sauce drizzled on top of it floating on some sort of tomato sauce, fried rice "omulet"...yes, the same steamed rice with peas, carrots and onions WRAPPED inside an omelet drizzled in ketchup, french fries (i know, weird), udon broth with fried tofu and the ubiquitous kimchi.

     All in all i thought my meal was pretty good...specially after having tiny portions of airplane food. The true test for me if a meal is good is when I ask myself if I would order it again and to be perfectly honest...I would.

     After our meal we shopped around for some hair gel...again, ask P.Mike, and a cool watch. We went 0 for 2 on that venture...moving on.

Onto Khabarovsk!

Here We Go!

     SO...after a furious white knuckled trip to Fedex and meeting a hair pulling deadline with our visas we FINALLY got our passports to Russia! No sweat...we had 5 days to spare before flying out anyway.

     I had a crash course in learning the history of Khabarovsk as a city. I wanted to be prepared as much as I possibly can. A crash course in "missions etiquette". A crash course in what the essentials are specifically in going to Khabarovsk (P.Mike has been there a couple of times so he knew a thing or two). A crash course in learning how to be a good travelling buddy for P.Mike...I consulted a few people on this one and at this time I would like to take this opportunity to send a shout out to all of them: Mark, Tony, J-Riv and Renae...Good lookin' out my homies, you ALL know how "CRITICAL" it was for me to be fully equipped both mentally and emotionally! HA!

:Time to pack:

10 days worth of clothes: check
Dressy shirt, pants and shoes for church(they like to dress up): check
it's still pretty cold out there so...Hoodies: check
It's also the beginning of rainy season so...Light, water resistant wind breaker: check
Umbrella...ella...ella...eh...eh...eh: check
Comfortable shoes: check
Toiletries: check
Essential medications i.e. Immodium AD, Tylenol, Allergy meds, Sinus and Cold Meds, Etc: check
Books and magazines to read, snacks to eat and a travelling pillow for the looong flight: check
Stewy, my travelling duck buddy: check

:Time to fly:

     The first leg of our journey took us from Tulsa to Chicago. It was only a little under 2 hours flight time. We also made plans to meet up in Chicago with Scott Hodge and Ted Egly and have dinner with them. We got to Chicago right around 7:10pm and we weren't flying out to Seoul, Korea until 2:00am the following day so as you can see we had time.

     I believe it was a great meeting. P.Mike and Scott have had very similar experiences and paths taken in becoming senior pastors of their respective churches. Hearing P.Mike talk and share his heart with Scott made it even more concrete in my mind how blessed we are as a church and how blessed I am as a staff member of this church to have this man as OUR pastor and leader. At that dinner table I was sitting right next to a Godly man full of integrity and honor and I was honored to call him MY pastor and friend.

Next stop...Seoul, Korea.

Why me?

P.Mike: "Hey Iman, do you have a passport?"
Me: "Yes..."
P.Mike: "Is it current?"
Me: "Yes..."
P.Mike: "You're going to Russia with me."
Me: "COOL!"

That's how my trip to Khabarovsk Russia started.

The Destiny Church staff was having a birthday lunch one day
when Pastor Mike turned to me to ask those questions.

In my head I was like..."is this for real?" But my heart was leaping for joy! I've never been on a missions trip and the prospect of going to a far away land such as Russia was exciting.

Then my over active mind started to churn. Questions upon questions appeared as if raindrops from a brewing storm. I started to doubt myself if I was the right choice for this task.

In my mind I began to take stock of who was more qualified to go on this trip. P.Mark would be perfect...he's smart and talented and gifted. Well, there's also P.Arnie who has been to TONS of missions trips PLUS he's been to Russia...he's a missions trip beast! Then again, there's P.Tony who has more talent in his pinky than I would ever have even if I cloned myself...he'd be a better choice.

Then MORE questions ensued...

What do I have to offer?
How am I going to prepare for this?
I'm just a dork!
What was God thinking?!?!
I'm not a missionary!
...OH NO!...
What if P.Mike finds out that I'm really a HACK! That I'm not interesting, smart, talented or funny!
What if P.Mike gets bored with me and then fires me as soon as we get back to the US!
...G A S P!...

What have I gotten myself into?!?!

Then I had a light bulb moment..."Hmm...maybe I should pray about this and ask God for His wisdom." What a concept! Coupled with my prayers I also communicated to my wife, Karen, all that was spinning through my noggin. She truly is a God send...she assured me that I'm good enough, smart enough and gosh darn it...people like me! She also told me that my being picked for this trip is not an accident...God has something in store for me. So with a mouth full of prayer, a heart teeming with hope and a mind ready to soak up some info I was ready to face this challenge.

Khabarovsk Russia...BRING IT!