House Hunting, Noodles, and a little Drama

We have been gone a week. A week has never drug on so long as the one I have just completed. We have been in our city for 3 days now. It is amazing how utterly helpless you can feel not being able to communicate fluently. We can say a few things, but within about 2 phrases we are finished. We have had some wonderful people around us helping us, taking care of us and making sure we are OK!!

Today was day 2 of “house hunting”. Yesterday, day 1, began with an apartment we really love. It is open, spacious, good size kitchen, bathrooms, and storage….all unheard of here. So, it has been downhill from there. Today we looked at a nice place that is currently an office building, with a little imagination, it was doable; except, that it was on the ninth floor overlooking a busy street with a balcony whose railing wasn’t high enough. Rob and I both had visions of Hudson and Hannah playing and someone tumbling right over that railing. So, that one was a negative. We looked and sweated most of the day, up and down stairs searching for the place we are supposed to live. We think we are going to begin talking to the landlord of the first place we looked!

For lunch today we went to Pizza Hut! Hooray! We were enjoying the people we were eating with and having good conversation, our pizza had just arrived when all of the sudden tears started rolling down Hudson’s face and Hannah had a strange look on her face. Then Hudson starts screaming. He had put his arm through the railing beside us and his arm was stuck. I tried to pull it out, but he screamed louder, Rob got up and went to the other side of the railing and started pushing while I pulled…..more screaming. High drama at pizza hut. The waitresses asked our friend if they should call the police. No need. I am quite certain at this point the people in this restaurant had never heard wailing like this before and they really didn’t know what to do. Finally, after what seemed like an hour…it was really only 2 minutes at the most, I slid the fatty part of Hudson’s arm around a little, and Rob pushed…and he was free. No bruises, not cuts, only a lesson learned. Don’t stick your hands through things…..or your head…..and whatever goes in can usually come out, just stay calm. So, after a little drama, we finished our stuffed crust meat supreme pizza. Arms intact.

Finally, as if one day couldn’t contain enough excitement, we struck out on our own for dinner. Not knowing where to go, or what we would be eating, we were armed with the name of the place we are staying and our trusty phrasebook. We had pretty much decided we just wanted some noodles for dinner. I know the words for fried noodles with meat, so I thought I might get us close. We found some places with restaurants, and I asked if they served the dish we wanted. They all pointed me to a place around the corner. So, we found it and went in. The waitress said yes, they did have fried noodles. When they brought our food out, it was noodle soup with some meat and veggies. Not exactly what I thought I was getting, but tasty all the same. We thanked her and began eating. Shortly the chef came out with his dinner (did I mention we were the only ones there) and began to talk to us and tried to put some spicy sauces on our noodles. We told him, no thank you, it was good like it was. After a while they came back, telling us to use our spoons for the soup not the utensils we were using. We nodded and they kept talking. We finished our noodle soup and paid. The chef and the waitress came back talking and talking to us, but I’m sorry I have no idea what they said, only that they abruptly went into the kitchen and fired up the cooker. We were about to leave, but I told Rob….I think they are making us something else. We decided to wait to see if it was for us or for someone else. (there was no one else in the place, and their dinner was still sitting on their table) Sure enough….out comes the noodles I originally thought I was ordering. He mixed in some spices and told us to eat. It was delicious. We ate, they smiled and watched. We were really full, but felt the need to eat what they had just brought. We finished about half of the plate and asked for a doggy bag. They were pleased for us to take the rest home. As we left, they wouldn’t accept any money for the extra dish they made us, only asked us to return and eat there again. We said we definitely would. We think we may frequent there often and hopefully they will become friends.

Whew! Time for bed….it has been quite a day. It is amazing how much work it can be just to go out, eat, find your way around, and try to communicate in another language. We are learning though!! Every day is a new adventure. I am sure there will be more tomorrow.