Transportation

When we first moved here I thought that living here would help me lose weight. I mean, many Asians are slender so the reasoning went that I too would become slender since I lived in Asia. I now know that was faulty logic…extremely faulty logic. Oh well, now I have embarked on a new weight-loss plan. It’s called riding buses. Now, it may not seem on the surface that riding buses would have anything to do with a healthier lifestyle but that is because you may not realize how much running is involved in using buses as your primary means of transport. Take my typical afternoon for example. I walk down to the bus station after standing on my feet all day and teaching. I see many of my students so I think to myself, “I am definitely going to walk to the bus station. I don’t want all of my students to see their teacher running down the street like a crazy woman.” Then I see the Number 11. I start to quicken my pace. The Number 11 starts pulling to a stop. I speed up a bit. People start filing onto the Number 11. I lose all sense of decency and run as fast as I possibly can while frantically waving my bus card in an attempt to persuade the bus driver to wait just a few more seconds until the crazy American can hop on the bus.

Now that I am on the bus I turn all of my attention to the job of standing. I stand feet shoulder width apart and hang on for dear life to whatever I possibly can. I have a secret suspicion that bus drivers are paid extra if they can make people fall down, but I don’t actually have proof of that little theory. I used to hate rush hour traffic in America but the other day I was thinking to myself, “How bad could that have really been? I was sitting and able to choose whatever music I wanted to listen to and have the heat/air conditioner turned to whatever suited me best. My car was not stinky and I actually had personal space.” But, in the end, I decided I would still rather face rush hour traffic on a bus. I really hate driving that much.

But on to a more positive topic…bus cards. They are wonderful! L and I can now ride the bus for a mere 10 cents (versus the 12 cents that non-buscardholders have to pay) and we don’t have to dig through our pockets for loose change while running to the bus which definitely makes things easier.

~A

Re: Firstborn of Creation

I recently posted a blog called "Firstborn of Creation." It was a postulation concerning the meaning of Colossians 1:15 which I've been thinking about recently. At the request of someone I highly respect, I've removed the post. Due to (a) the audience of this blog and (b) our current location, unitycannon may not be the best place to have theological conversation/debates. If you read the above mentioned blog and would like to continue the discussion, we can do so via e-mail. I will create start an e-mail group (like a mailing list) for those of you who would like to be part of the discussion and/or hear what others are saying and my responses. If you missed the original post and are now really curious what this one is about, I can send you a copy of the original via e-mail as well.

Thanks,
The Management

Picnic at the Park

Last week we looked forward to going to the park on Saturday afternoon all week. We packed a picnic dinner, my camera, three books, L’s diablo, and a Frisbee but ended up going home after dinner because it was too cold! We did have a nice bike ride though. There is a park very close to our apartment that was built next to the lake and the old city walls (shown in the picture). I don’t know how old the city walls are but since the city was founded in 900 BC, they could be pretty old. The flowers are blooming all over the city and it is beautiful.

~A

PS We have actually updated our sideblogs (Our Library and A's Quilts).

A's Work and L's School

After a fairly rough start, I am really enjoying my job. I teach four classes (two speaking and two listening) and have a total of around 50 students (and two hamsters who attended my speaking class for the first time on Tuesday). The small class sizes are my favorite part about this job. The school I teach at is a private school (American owned) that offers tutoring for students who want to study abroad. Right now I am preparing them for the IELTS test. If they can pass this test then they will be able to attend a college in an English speaking country. Most of my students are planning on going to Ireland although a few of them want to go to Canada, America or the UK.

For L to get his PhD he has to take four classes, write a thesis and get two papers published in a scientific journal. Right now he is attending his first class where he will be learning to use software for geographic information systems! The class is in this Asian language but the book and the computer program that he is learning about are both in English so he will be able to teach himself a lot of the material. They will also give him English tests. His professor is allowing him to do two self-study courses (and he will turn in a paper for class credit) instead of taking the actual classes so this week he has started learning more about Environmental Geochemistry. His professor has a geochemistry book that is in English and will provide tutoring.

So that's what we have been busy with lately! Leave us a comment or drop us an email to let us know what you are doing...

~A

Fresh Milk

Me: What do you usually have for breakfast?

Friend: I drink a glass of milk.

Me: You mean yogurt? (Yogurt translates to milk here which is frustrating when you are trying to find it in the store.)

Friend: Actually, I have a glass of yogurt and a glass of fresh milk.

Me: When you were in the States did the milk taste funny to you?

Friend: No, why?

Me: Because the milk tastes funny to me here. That's why I never drink it anymore.

Friend: That's because milk in the store isn't fresh, you have to order it.

Me: What do you mean, "You have to order it?"

Friend: I get a fresh bottle of milk delivered to my door every morning.

Me: YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! HOW DO I SIGN UP?

(This part is really the kicker.)

Friend: You call a number and they set up an account, but it costs $5/month.

Me: Can you help me with that?

Me Inside: FIVE BUCKS A MONTH?! WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE TELL ME THIS AT THE AIRPORT WHEN I ARRIVED! I'VE BEEN MISSING MILK FOR MONTHS! MY COFFEE TASTES FUNNY, I NEVER HAVE CEREAL, AND I USED TO DRINK MILK EVERYDAY! I COULD KISS A COW RIGHT NOW!

I read about the good ole days when the milk man would deliver fresh milk but never dreamed this would be a daily reality.

-L

Work in Progress

Originally we wanted to wait to post pictures of our apartment until we got everything finished, but we decided to go ahead and let you see how things are looking. Everyday we feel more at home and we are both glad that we decided to live in this apartment. We appreciate those of you who have helped make this possible so much!

~A

Living Room

BeforeNow

In the beginning this was our bedroom but we decided to make this the living room instead. We want to have lots of room for studies and for having friends over. There is a door by the chair that opens onto the balconey. We are planning to have a herb garden (in pots) there once the weather warms up a little bit.

We really love this room! The furniture just came yesterday and I put the wall hangings up this morning. We decided for our next date night we just want to sit on our new couch and read or watch a movie!

~A

Dining Room

This picture was taken from our front door looking in. The only change we have made to this room is that we now have a refrigerator next to the table. It was so good to be able to buy cheese again! We are planning on getting a larger table so that we can have room for lots of company. We feel that the main way to make friends with the people living around us is to have them over for dinner.
This picture was also taken from the front door. The left door is our bathroom and you can also see the kitchen. We are very thankful for this kitchen. It is much easier to use than the one we had in our last apartment.
This picture is taken from the opposite direction so that you can see the pantry and where the washing machine is (see pictures of washing machine below).

~A

Washing Machine

BeforeLandon Opening the BoxNow

After being without a washing machine for a month (which I know is not a huge sacrifice...), this is the purchase that I have been happiest about. We got the Whirlpool "Easy Logic" machine because that one had the least amount of buttons we couldn't read (all the buttons are labeled in characters).

~A

The Heater

This was our first major purchase because it can get so cold in our apartment! In this country cities below a certain latitude aren't required to put heaters in buildings and our city is right below that boundry. It may not look like much but this heater really does a great job...as long as you keep it in one room with the door closed. This means that in the beginning (when the country was on holiday and we had no school or work) we put the heater in the bedroom and spent a lot of time sitting on our twin bed. We had a game marathon (of course, L won) and read a lot of books. This is the main reason we are so excited about our couch because now we finally have somewhere to sit! I never realized how great couches were until I sat on a twin sized bed without a mattress for a month.

~A

Our Bedroom

BeforeNow

This is our bedroom. We decided to just put the two twin beds (they came with the apartment) together for now but we are hoping to eventually get a smaller bed and mattress. Its hard to find a mattress that fits over both beds so we are still using our little "mattress topper." Its like a two inch thick mattress but it has made the bed a lot more comfortable.

~A

L's Birthday

L's 26th birthday was Wednesday, March 7th, and we celebrated by going to eat Indian food! Afterwards he was able to talk with his family on Skype which is always fun for us. The internet is hooked up in the dining room and our heater was in our bedroom (so that it would be warm when we went to bed) so we both had to bundle up while we were talking.

The next day I had a surprise holiday because it was Women's Day. In the morning one of my students said, "Today is a festival. Its a women's festival. Congratulations." All the women at work seemed really excited and they even got to go home an hour early. Then when I went to the bank they gave me a flower.

~A

Boot Camp

Today we had to go by a university and run an errand. While wandering around campus trying to find the building I noticed that there was an army base next door with soldiers practicing drills. As we got closer I realized that it was college students fulfilling their semesterly training. Every person at the age of 18 must recieve military training and all college students suit up with other new arrivals at college for their training on the campus. As we got close to the fence of the soccer field they were practicing on we realized that today was the ladies' day for training. Here is what we saw: 1. Full time young soldiers proudly shouting and executing commands. 2. Girls wearing their army greens over their more fashionable clothing and everything from tennis shoes to penny loafers covering their feet (didn't see any heels though). 3. Girls in full uniform with more than eight facial piercings. 4. And our favorite, two girls holding hands (customary for same-sex friends in this culture) and not really running but more like frolicing across the field. Imagine cheerleading squad meets West Point. Very odd. Very funny.