FedEx

Last week we got an e-mail saying FedEx couldn't deliver a package for some reason... Ok, so we decided to go there. Found the address in a book. Found the street. Followed the map to the street. Wandered down the street... no FedEx... Saw this huge business with a US and national flag so decided to stop there and ask. No clue where it was. But with a little English they offer to drive us around in their seriously nice mini-van to find it. Hm... ok?! After two stops for directions (the last one being at UPS :) we finally spotted it down what looked like an alley (but probably wasn't). We were extremely thankful to our drivers and then tried to explain to the FedEx people why we just showed up at what looked like their warehouse. Of course we didn't have the tracking number... it was starting to look pretty hopeless when this younger guy came up to us and knew just what we were looking for. He had tried to deliver it but the phone number was wrong and he couldn't reach us! Ah! Praises that we finally got it and all is well. Just another day in East Asia!

Calligraphy Class

So on Wednesday afternoons we have an optional calligraphy class. Awesome. But hard! Here's us trying to get started. That's our teacher standing behind us.

A Rickshaw Ride

Grocery shopping

So today I (Andrea) decided to do some grocery shopping after school. No problem. Take the 33 bus. Get off and walk five minutes to the supermarket. Shop around looking at all the new fruit like tiny apples and persimmons, different vegetables, live fish and seafood in tanks, dried fish and seafood in bins and packages, a whole aisle full of ramen, and an international section where a tiny container of pb is about $6. Figure out where to get the vegetables and fruit weighed so they can put a price tag on it. And after a while, start to get a little discouraged when the workers tell you "may yo" meaning "don't have" when you ask about black pepper and different herbs and then say a whole bunch of other things you don't understand!

But regardless, somewhere in there I must have forgotten that I would be walking home because I bought a squash, an extra large container of oatmeal, bottles of vinegar and ketchup, frozen chicken breasts, vegetables, some fruit, along with the bottles of toilet bowl cleaner... Not smart! I felt like such a pack mule carrying it all home in my backpack and two bags on my shoulders!

I was later told that I need to take Eric with me. Yes, or just not buy so much at one time!

We Made It!

We left saying so many sad good-byes, but praise God that we made it safely along with all of our luggage! We arrived about 36 hours after leaving Iowa to a warm welcome and a clean furnished apartment. Our first few days have been spent learning new things such as:

• Buying our "water dispenser" and ordering 5 gallon bottles of water over the phone
• Getting a bus pass that allows us to take the bus for about $0.10 a trip
• Finding our way to and from the local Mega Mart - two floors of everything!
• Watching our coat rack and shelves fly down the road to our apt in a rickshaw
• Using our built-in rice dispenser

We're doing really well though and have been blessed with people very willing to help us. We start school Friday after a long national holiday finishes. Excited to start learning some language!

Settling In

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