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9.01.2013

Assault On All Senses

So we're finally back on the blog! I am regretting not having done an earlier post than this... to be honest, there is so much that has happened since our leaving the states and getting settled in our apartment overseas that in the back of my mind I have been thinking, "how in the world am I going to be able to blog on all this?" Lesson learned. I will aim for more frequent blogging. This is a long one thanks to my procrastination.

Our first few days in Asia were a scramble to fight through our jet lag by traveling to the various furniture stores in the area to get what we needed for our apartment. It has been fun but chaotic. Craig and I are learning basic words and phrases slowly in the language but personally, I am getting really creative with charades, which I've had some success with in grocery stores.

East Asia is such a different place. The best way I have heard it described here is that it is an assault on all the senses. This is absolutely true.

Some random notes about what we're experiencing:

- If the (unregistered) cab driver picking you up at 7am happens to need your help pushing the car to get it started, just let your husband handle it.

- It is acceptable (guys) to take your shirt off while you walk to work in the morning so it doesn't get sweaty. Why don't we do this in the US? Makes sense to me.

- Horn honking is different in every country. Here, it is done as a courtesy to let another drivers know you're on the road with them. This equates to lots of honking.

- On that note, there is no prideful driving here. There is no road rage. There is no being appalled when a huge van comes swerving dangerously close to your electric scooter. There is no shooting the bird. You forgive, don't make a stink about it, and move on. And I have yet to see a wreck.

- Intersections and traffic flow directions apply about 70% of the time.

- That bright orange, burning sun in the evening might be brighter here because of the pollution in the atmosphere, but it's still beautiful. I still believe God is an Auburn fan and that he likes the auburn sun.

- Grocery stores: there is no Publix. Ingredients you need will be found at about 4-5 different "xaio mai bu's," (pronounced shaow my boo, meaning small store selling all kinds of random things plus groceries,) but also several stores you have to take a subway ride to. Groceries will be a fun challenge. We are almost 2 weeks into being here and I feel quite accomplished that we have olive oil, butter, sandwich bread, fruits/veggies, oats, dish soap, etc.  We actually bought chicken breasts the other day. A sweet lady helped me find and package 2 of them... they were hiding under the chicken feet.

- Electric scooters are our transportation. Terrifying for me at first in this traffic but now quite fun. If it's raining, you wear a rain jacket and be grateful for the "che" (pronounced chuh, or motorized vehicle).

- Every day after lunch, locals take an hour to close their shops and nap. This makes perfect sense to me, and I'm not sure why we don't do this in the middle of our work days in the states. Waste of an hour in the work day? Absolutely not. Thanks to this hour "xieo shi," (she oh she? not sure if that's right... aka nap,) they're open til late at night. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

- Taxis here have 3 wheels. One wheel up front; 2 in back of the tiny little van. They are either lime green or red. I don't get how they don't tip over given the way they're driven. Miracles happening every day here. 

- It is acceptable to stare. Hard. Especially at the one blonde person.

- Fun fact. I have heard all three sounds coming from our neighbors apartments: Mariachi music, The Beatles' "Hey Jude," a live rooster fighting for survival on someone's balcony.

We are in a large city with skyscraper apartment buildings. It's best described as a big city but with a third-world feel. This is what I have found true for the cities we have visited so far, and the way of life here has captured my fascination. Our friends here say "it's different and so random, but easy to love," and day by day, I'm seeing this is true. I'll do my best to explain the way of life in the little part of town where we live.

The people are hard-working, polite, and unimposing. They busy themselves in the bottom of their storefronts selling specific goods, such as water coolers (everyone here must drink filtered water), shoes, clothes, pots/pans, etc, but mostly are small street-style restaurants. Each small family lives in the second story over their xiao mai bu, which is open every day of the week. They work, they eat together, they sleep. Every day. They live with basic needs. I have rarely seen a TV. There is no need for one, so it seems. There is little need for law enforcement. Everyone is generally behaved (for lack of better word) and sticks to the rules. There is no deceit or "ripping off the American." The cab driver might occasionally try to charge you a few extra yuan. But for the most part, you hand someone a bill and they will always, without hesitation, give you the same treatment and price they gave their neighbor. I have no idea how much they're charging me for something when I hand them 100 yuan, which they could easily keep and say "that was the whole price," but I will always get 95 yuan back.

They are not judgmental of us for not knowing the language yet. They don't throw up their hands in frustration. They smile and politely deal with my charades.

They don't have much, but they don't consider themselves unfortunate. A Bentley or slick new Mercedes will occasionally make its way through the neighborhood where xiao mai bu owners are fortunate to have a scooter. But no hard feelings, it seems.

Craig and I are having a blast and getting comfortable with roaming around town on the che. I, personally, am growing less concerned and less afraid to sound like a fool using the little language I know. Needless to say, we are eager for school to start so we can get this language learning going. And we are excited to already be meeting students that are on campus early that love to speak English to us and want nothing more than to make a new friend. Craig says we need to brush up on our ping pong skills stat.

The Lord has been so good to get us to this point. I see him in the least expected places here and I'm so grateful for his presence in such a spiritually dark place. Before we left, someone mentioned how astonishing it is to be in a sea full of souls but know that God is talking directly to you. I have felt that while we are here, and his power/ability to do that is amazing--especially here. Next time I blog, I anticipate it will be much more spiritual observation than worldly. It's fun to be immersed in this culture and pull my thoughts together but will be even more fun to do the same after spending more time in his word.

Some of the many photos to summarize our last few days are below... I realize this is too many photos for a blog post. Oh well.

Our view on a more clear day
Normal traffic situation

This street was beautiful!

"Cab" drivers looking for business.

Kathleen looking calm and confident about this cab ride.

Typical meal here is done family-style. Craig is brave and tries anything... I'm getting there.

In a cave... in a boat... notice the sketchy lighting. Worth it though!

Boating through the cave

4-hour hike through the gorge


Motivating reason/way to learn our numbers.

As soon as we think we have this place figured out, we find stores like this.

Typical city haze. Still so beautiful.

A family having dinner together in their restaurant.

Our che! (scooter) Complete with eagle up front.

On campus

On campus

On campus

In one of the local xiao mai bu's  :)



We made it to IKEA!
Our view at dusk