Last night, late, we had a knock on our door. A man came bearing a tong zhi dan….or notice slip, we had a package waiting at the post office. “Which one?” I asked…..he mumbled something and pointed to the slip of paper. (It is in characters and means nothing to me) I asked him a few more times and he kept mumbling ….finally I said “OK…thanks”.
This morning I took the slip to my tutor and she told me my package was at the “BIG” post office near the school….good. She said I needed my passport to pick it up. Problem. Our passports are currently at the visa office being changed over to business visas. So, I thought I would go with the “play dumb” routine. I went in, produced my slip and told them I wanted to collect my package (in my best language) They promptly brought my package out and asked for my passport. Oh no…I told them the situation, so they asked if I knew the number by memory. My passport number? No. But I did have my Tinker Check Card, with my name printed on the front. They looked at my name on the card then the name on the package, and one of the ladies went to the back to ask. She came back and said just right my bank card number on the piece of paper and I could have my package. Hmmmmm…..write down my credit card number and hand it over to random unknown people….what to do. Oh, they just need numbers to put on their paper….ok….so I wrote down some of my bank card numbers, changed a few......that worked for them. And I got my package.
Actually, the package wasn’t for me, it was for Hannah, who will be 10 next week. From Roman. So exciting. I went ahead and opened it to see what was inside, read the note, wiped a few tears, then sealed it back up. Hannah was pretty excited when she opened it up....put on her new shirt, promptly started listening to her new CD, and ate some Starburst!!!
Thanks Bev and Roman for making our day!!!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
A long time ago.....
This morning, Rob and I were making breakfast. Hudson was hanging around in the kitchen with us talking. He mentioned something about writing something on his blog when he is 50 years old. The conversation went like this:
Hudson: I won't write about Dad beating me at Star Wars until I am 50.
Alicia: I bet when you are 50 there won't be blogs, there will be something else. You know we didn't have blogs when I was your age.
Hudson: How did you talk to people?
Alicia: Telephone, and we didn't have cell phones.
Hudson: Wow, must have been hard.
Hudson: I won't write about Dad beating me at Star Wars until I am 50.
Alicia: I bet when you are 50 there won't be blogs, there will be something else. You know we didn't have blogs when I was your age.
Hudson: How did you talk to people?
Alicia: Telephone, and we didn't have cell phones.
Hudson: Wow, must have been hard.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Thursday night fun
We went to the park tonight and had a great time. Thought I would share a cute kid pic for the grandparents....and others. 
2 Bikes + 1 Bungee Cord = ?????
I have mentioned several times how much I love riding my bike everywhere.......except, when it runs out of electricity. The reason being it doesn't automatically turn into a regular bike you can pedal along, but it turns into a heavy piece of machinary that gives you the workout of your life. My tutor told me she could never have her own bike becasue she can't even lift it onto its kickstand while parking, that is how heavy it is.
The worst bike workout, I mean ride, I had was the time Rob was out of town and I took the kids to eat and to Wal-Mart, both on the back of my bike. It is about a 20 minute ride from our house to Wal-Mart. We finish at Wal-Mart and were coming out of the parking garage, when red lights start flashing.....no battery. So, I "pedal" all the way home, 140 lbs of children on the back of an already heavy bike, and upon arrival I counted it as my workout for the day, and was only a little sore the next day.
Normally our bikes last 2 days on a charge. By the end of the second day, it is time to recharge. However, this week, my bike hasn't been holding a charge for more than a day. I have found my self running out of battery quite frequently.
So....all that set up to tell you about today. After dropping the kids off at school this morning, my battery light came on, but we were half way to our school, and had several more places to go today. So I pedaled most of the day. At our last stop, before home, we were at some friends house, by Wal-Mart. Rob had the idea that we bungee our bikes together and he would pull me home. I said, No way!!! DANGER!! He assured me he had it all figured out. I told him everyone would think we were strange......he assured me they already did. I was out of excuses. So, we bungeed together and headed out. I only had a few scary moments as we pulled out of the parking lot and finally got onto the street. We headed down the street, going at a good pace, when a car pulled out and I put my brakes on and Rob didn't........no more bungee. Oh well. It was a good idea. I told Rob to go on ahead and get home because the kids were supposed to be coming home, and I pedaled home. Now, why didn't I switch bikes with him and have him pedal home? Next time. And sorry....no picture of this incident, that would have been a sight.
The worst bike workout, I mean ride, I had was the time Rob was out of town and I took the kids to eat and to Wal-Mart, both on the back of my bike. It is about a 20 minute ride from our house to Wal-Mart. We finish at Wal-Mart and were coming out of the parking garage, when red lights start flashing.....no battery. So, I "pedal" all the way home, 140 lbs of children on the back of an already heavy bike, and upon arrival I counted it as my workout for the day, and was only a little sore the next day.
Normally our bikes last 2 days on a charge. By the end of the second day, it is time to recharge. However, this week, my bike hasn't been holding a charge for more than a day. I have found my self running out of battery quite frequently.
So....all that set up to tell you about today. After dropping the kids off at school this morning, my battery light came on, but we were half way to our school, and had several more places to go today. So I pedaled most of the day. At our last stop, before home, we were at some friends house, by Wal-Mart. Rob had the idea that we bungee our bikes together and he would pull me home. I said, No way!!! DANGER!! He assured me he had it all figured out. I told him everyone would think we were strange......he assured me they already did. I was out of excuses. So, we bungeed together and headed out. I only had a few scary moments as we pulled out of the parking lot and finally got onto the street. We headed down the street, going at a good pace, when a car pulled out and I put my brakes on and Rob didn't........no more bungee. Oh well. It was a good idea. I told Rob to go on ahead and get home because the kids were supposed to be coming home, and I pedaled home. Now, why didn't I switch bikes with him and have him pedal home? Next time. And sorry....no picture of this incident, that would have been a sight.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Top Ten of the moment...
This is a list of my top 10....top 10 what? Well, top 10 thoughts that are too short to put in a whole blog. There is nothing more than the ramblings of my mind here, nothing earth shattering or exciting, just things I would chit chat with you about over Starbucks.....mmmm sounds good.
10. I really love riding my bike in this cooler weather while listening to my ipod. I have traded a big suburban for my "electric bike" and still I can load children and groceries on the back of my bike...with the help of a bungee cord. What a sight.....me, bungeeing (sp?) my groceries to the bike then riding off into the sunset with my ipod blaring. And no, I don't bungee the children.
9. It is interesting to me how life can seem "normal" no matter where you live. After living in OK for 15 years I felt that was about as "normal" as it could be, then we headed cross country. About the time I adjusted to living in VA for 3 months, we moved. Now we have been here almost 7 months, and normalcy has found us again.
8. Rob and I have been wondering how "weird" we are becoming. When we think about some of the places we eat and even some of the things we have no problem eating....we wonder, when did we come to this? Especially when other Americans come to visit....we realize, we have come a long way.
7. My sappy thoughts have been about my nieces. Last Saturday I helped a friend decorate her son's 1st bday cake. Apparently I had been blabbing about how I had decorated a few cute cakes for my kids' birthdays and I was recruited. I was thinking about how I missed Reese's 1st bday and would have loved to help Heather get ready for the big day, and how in a few more months I will miss Ainsley's 1st birthday as well as Ashley and Abigail's 5th and 7th birthdays. No more about that.
6. As the weather has turned cool enough to open the windows day and night, I marvel at all the sounds of life that go on around me. I love hearing children laughing, crying, ladies gossiping and people playing instruments all surrounding me. It is a beautiful sound....the sound of Life.
5. There is a strange culture shock every Sunday afternoon for me. After spending several hours watching OU football and watching American commercials and eating sandwiches and Pringles, I walk out my front door. The sights, sounds and smells overwhelm me. There are many times I feel like I have just been teleported from OK back here. So strange.
4. I am SOOOO thankful for McDonalds now selling Coke Zero, along with its standard Coke, Sprite, and Fanta......someone must have told them my mom was about to come. It is the little things in life that make me happy.
3. One of the great things about living here is whatever fruit is "in season" is sold everywhere. On every corner and at every market there are people pushing carts of fruit down the street waiting for people to buy. Right now the "fruit of the day" is small mandarin oranges. They are soooooo good. For 4 days in a row now I have bought a bag of these oranges. Hannah and I especially love peeling them and popping them in our mouths!! Sooooo good!!!!
2. I think I have mentioned before how my favorite lunch now is noodles. Today Rob wanted me to meet him for lunch at McD, but he was running late, so I ate noodles with my friend then met him. Today, however, I put too much hot pepper spices on my noodles....WOW! I have never been so miserable. So, I was thankful to arrive at McD and drink a large coke zero while Rob ate. There are some things I don't know when I will get used to, like not drinking a tall glass of water/tea/diet coke/etc... with my meal. (Just so you know, Rob also really likes to eat noodles for lunch too.)
1. My number one thought of the moment is how much I love my husband. I can't imagine this great adventure without him. It is different having him around more than ever before, and I like it. Who knew he could cook, help with homework, and frankly do most of the housework better than I can. He is such an encourager to me and my life is so much better becasue he is in it. We are having such a great time together experiencing life in a new culture and all the FUN it holds!!
1a. Since it has taken me several days to write this.....my newest thought was how amazing it was today when I forgot my first English word. I stared and stared at the word in the asian language knew what it was, described it to my teacher and finally she said in English..."pork rib". Then she laughed very hard. Oh well. Maybe that is a good sign. I have also found that some of my sentence structure in English is changing, that can make for some interesting sentences. No one here thinks it is weird, but you might when I come home someday.
10. I really love riding my bike in this cooler weather while listening to my ipod. I have traded a big suburban for my "electric bike" and still I can load children and groceries on the back of my bike...with the help of a bungee cord. What a sight.....me, bungeeing (sp?) my groceries to the bike then riding off into the sunset with my ipod blaring. And no, I don't bungee the children.
9. It is interesting to me how life can seem "normal" no matter where you live. After living in OK for 15 years I felt that was about as "normal" as it could be, then we headed cross country. About the time I adjusted to living in VA for 3 months, we moved. Now we have been here almost 7 months, and normalcy has found us again.
8. Rob and I have been wondering how "weird" we are becoming. When we think about some of the places we eat and even some of the things we have no problem eating....we wonder, when did we come to this? Especially when other Americans come to visit....we realize, we have come a long way.
7. My sappy thoughts have been about my nieces. Last Saturday I helped a friend decorate her son's 1st bday cake. Apparently I had been blabbing about how I had decorated a few cute cakes for my kids' birthdays and I was recruited. I was thinking about how I missed Reese's 1st bday and would have loved to help Heather get ready for the big day, and how in a few more months I will miss Ainsley's 1st birthday as well as Ashley and Abigail's 5th and 7th birthdays. No more about that.
6. As the weather has turned cool enough to open the windows day and night, I marvel at all the sounds of life that go on around me. I love hearing children laughing, crying, ladies gossiping and people playing instruments all surrounding me. It is a beautiful sound....the sound of Life.
5. There is a strange culture shock every Sunday afternoon for me. After spending several hours watching OU football and watching American commercials and eating sandwiches and Pringles, I walk out my front door. The sights, sounds and smells overwhelm me. There are many times I feel like I have just been teleported from OK back here. So strange.
4. I am SOOOO thankful for McDonalds now selling Coke Zero, along with its standard Coke, Sprite, and Fanta......someone must have told them my mom was about to come. It is the little things in life that make me happy.
3. One of the great things about living here is whatever fruit is "in season" is sold everywhere. On every corner and at every market there are people pushing carts of fruit down the street waiting for people to buy. Right now the "fruit of the day" is small mandarin oranges. They are soooooo good. For 4 days in a row now I have bought a bag of these oranges. Hannah and I especially love peeling them and popping them in our mouths!! Sooooo good!!!!
2. I think I have mentioned before how my favorite lunch now is noodles. Today Rob wanted me to meet him for lunch at McD, but he was running late, so I ate noodles with my friend then met him. Today, however, I put too much hot pepper spices on my noodles....WOW! I have never been so miserable. So, I was thankful to arrive at McD and drink a large coke zero while Rob ate. There are some things I don't know when I will get used to, like not drinking a tall glass of water/tea/diet coke/etc... with my meal. (Just so you know, Rob also really likes to eat noodles for lunch too.)
1. My number one thought of the moment is how much I love my husband. I can't imagine this great adventure without him. It is different having him around more than ever before, and I like it. Who knew he could cook, help with homework, and frankly do most of the housework better than I can. He is such an encourager to me and my life is so much better becasue he is in it. We are having such a great time together experiencing life in a new culture and all the FUN it holds!!
1a. Since it has taken me several days to write this.....my newest thought was how amazing it was today when I forgot my first English word. I stared and stared at the word in the asian language knew what it was, described it to my teacher and finally she said in English..."pork rib". Then she laughed very hard. Oh well. Maybe that is a good sign. I have also found that some of my sentence structure in English is changing, that can make for some interesting sentences. No one here thinks it is weird, but you might when I come home someday.
And it came to pass in those days....
Hudson is memorizing Luke 2 right now.....tonight he was practicing vs. 5, it went something like this.....
"And Joseph took Mary, his EXPOSED wife, who was with a GREAT child....."
I have decided one of the sweetest sounds is hearing your children quote Scripture. In the last year or 2 we have worked a lot on our Scripture memory at home and now in school the kids are memorizing whole passages. Hannah has memorized Psalm 27 and has been talking to me about the truths of this passage and how God is using it to teach her things. WOW! Hudson has memorized PS. 23 and Ps. 148. There is something special about your 8 year old son declaring the praises of the Lord over and over. As a mom, I don't think I could be prouder.
Now Hannah is memorizing Ps. 27 in our new language, she got a 100 on her last test over the first 2 verses. This is a big deal since everyone else in her class has been learning the language for several years and most can speak it pretty well. Hannah, however, is still very new. She was so excited to get a 100 when not everyone did. Her teacher told me she could tell Hannah had worked very hard and was doing a great job!
I am so thankful for all the Scripture that I memorized as a child, and how it has been so precious to me over the years. And now I am thankful that my children too are learning the Scriptures in such precious ways!
"And Joseph took Mary, his EXPOSED wife, who was with a GREAT child....."
I have decided one of the sweetest sounds is hearing your children quote Scripture. In the last year or 2 we have worked a lot on our Scripture memory at home and now in school the kids are memorizing whole passages. Hannah has memorized Psalm 27 and has been talking to me about the truths of this passage and how God is using it to teach her things. WOW! Hudson has memorized PS. 23 and Ps. 148. There is something special about your 8 year old son declaring the praises of the Lord over and over. As a mom, I don't think I could be prouder.
Now Hannah is memorizing Ps. 27 in our new language, she got a 100 on her last test over the first 2 verses. This is a big deal since everyone else in her class has been learning the language for several years and most can speak it pretty well. Hannah, however, is still very new. She was so excited to get a 100 when not everyone did. Her teacher told me she could tell Hannah had worked very hard and was doing a great job!
I am so thankful for all the Scripture that I memorized as a child, and how it has been so precious to me over the years. And now I am thankful that my children too are learning the Scriptures in such precious ways!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Things I learned Today
1. While wearing jeans on a rainy day....take caution. The ground is SOOO dirty and muddy and filthy that the back of your jeans will need to be sanitized before coming into the house. It rained all day and I walked around outside most of the day....my jeans were soaked with rain and dirt. Gross!
2. Finding powdered sugar in our city is like finding a needle in a hay stack. Seriously, I felt like I was on the Amazing Race today. I had some extra time, and had heard that one of the BIG shopping centers had powdered sugar on the first floor. (the import store is out of powdered sugar and Walmart doesn't carry it) I had never been to this shopping center so I thought I would check it out and "explore" a little while practicing my language. Let me say....huge shopping area. Row after row after row of food and vegetables then you get to the dry goods....all the while overwhelmed by the smells. I asked and I asked and I asked "do you have sugar, small, powdered sugar, that you use on top of cakes?" No, not here. The best is getting told to go in ALL directions, then backtracking, then retracing my steps. FINALLY I found the one man in the whole place who had powdered sugar!!! YEA!!
3. You never know what a day may bring....for the first time since we have been here, our import store had pop tarts. Rob bought 2 boxes. The joy this brings.....and we never ate pop tarts when we lived in OK. Go figure. Also, the small store in our apartment complex restocked on Cocacola Light for the first time in 6 months. (not to be confused with Diet Coke...not the same!!)
4. It is possible, in this country, to not be able to find any rice. I know this sounds crazy, but I wanted to make something tonight with rice. On my way home I stopped at the local market. No rice. WHAT!?!?! Where are we? The ladies inside kept pointing me to the rice noodles, but I didn't want noodles, I wanted rice. I said, "Tonight for dinner I want to make rice, or maybe fried rice, where can I find the rice?" They pointed me to the noodles. Obviously I had gone wrong in my communication somewhere. You see, there are different words in this language for cooked rice and uncooked rice. Thanks to the nice lady at my apt grocery store for telling me this. Turns out the fruit and veggie market didn't have any rice after all. I had to go to my small grocery store inside my apt. complex to find it. (because the first place has fruit and veggies, not rice)
5. Riding the electric bike in the rain is not fun. Cold. Wet. Rain in your contacts. Stupid rain pancho getting caught in the wind and almost pulling you off the bike....not enjoyable. However, I happened to be riding with a friend, and we stopped for some warm milk tea and a good laugh about how soaked we were....enjoyable.
6. I never knew why string beans were called string beans until I moved here. WOW! I didn't know what to do with them when I first bought them.....now I know.
7. My language is getting better. Tonight I went to the blind masseuse with a friend. (good thing they are all blind huh?....different post) As I laid there, there were 2 or 3 different conversations going on. Instead of the usual drone of the different language, my mind kept processing and I was understanding what was being said....one group talking about their kids schools and tuition, the ladies at the front desk talking about schedules and time, and my friend laughing and talking with her masseuse. The only problem....is now I can understand ALL they are saying. Before I left, one of the ladies in the shop said to me, "you are so beautiful and your face is so skinny, how strange the rest of you isn't." And on that encouraging note......
All in a day....phew, I am tired.
2. Finding powdered sugar in our city is like finding a needle in a hay stack. Seriously, I felt like I was on the Amazing Race today. I had some extra time, and had heard that one of the BIG shopping centers had powdered sugar on the first floor. (the import store is out of powdered sugar and Walmart doesn't carry it) I had never been to this shopping center so I thought I would check it out and "explore" a little while practicing my language. Let me say....huge shopping area. Row after row after row of food and vegetables then you get to the dry goods....all the while overwhelmed by the smells. I asked and I asked and I asked "do you have sugar, small, powdered sugar, that you use on top of cakes?" No, not here. The best is getting told to go in ALL directions, then backtracking, then retracing my steps. FINALLY I found the one man in the whole place who had powdered sugar!!! YEA!!
3. You never know what a day may bring....for the first time since we have been here, our import store had pop tarts. Rob bought 2 boxes. The joy this brings.....and we never ate pop tarts when we lived in OK. Go figure. Also, the small store in our apartment complex restocked on Cocacola Light for the first time in 6 months. (not to be confused with Diet Coke...not the same!!)
4. It is possible, in this country, to not be able to find any rice. I know this sounds crazy, but I wanted to make something tonight with rice. On my way home I stopped at the local market. No rice. WHAT!?!?! Where are we? The ladies inside kept pointing me to the rice noodles, but I didn't want noodles, I wanted rice. I said, "Tonight for dinner I want to make rice, or maybe fried rice, where can I find the rice?" They pointed me to the noodles. Obviously I had gone wrong in my communication somewhere. You see, there are different words in this language for cooked rice and uncooked rice. Thanks to the nice lady at my apt grocery store for telling me this. Turns out the fruit and veggie market didn't have any rice after all. I had to go to my small grocery store inside my apt. complex to find it. (because the first place has fruit and veggies, not rice)
5. Riding the electric bike in the rain is not fun. Cold. Wet. Rain in your contacts. Stupid rain pancho getting caught in the wind and almost pulling you off the bike....not enjoyable. However, I happened to be riding with a friend, and we stopped for some warm milk tea and a good laugh about how soaked we were....enjoyable.
6. I never knew why string beans were called string beans until I moved here. WOW! I didn't know what to do with them when I first bought them.....now I know.
7. My language is getting better. Tonight I went to the blind masseuse with a friend. (good thing they are all blind huh?....different post) As I laid there, there were 2 or 3 different conversations going on. Instead of the usual drone of the different language, my mind kept processing and I was understanding what was being said....one group talking about their kids schools and tuition, the ladies at the front desk talking about schedules and time, and my friend laughing and talking with her masseuse. The only problem....is now I can understand ALL they are saying. Before I left, one of the ladies in the shop said to me, "you are so beautiful and your face is so skinny, how strange the rest of you isn't." And on that encouraging note......
All in a day....phew, I am tired.
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