Settling In....

     


I am grateful when I think about what Father has done in brining me here.  I have other moments too...stressed out with lesson plans,...sick with a sinus infection due to bad air.....and weariness at being stared at.  More often than not the starer is not at all subtle.  I sometimes feel like I could cause an accident in the street the way people on motor bikes crane their necks around to look at the strange tall foreigner, even after they have passed me by!    Some times when I go into a store, the clerks will come up close and just stand there and stare at me while I'm shopping. I usually try to smile and say hi, but sometimes I'm really not in the mood (I need more patience and grace). 

       Last Wednesday I attended a government run fellowship with my friend Kim.  There were a few other foreigners there and maybe 25-30 people in all.  Upon arriving and meeting others who were there, Kim and I were almost immediately recruited to sing special music for the whole group at the end of the service.  We searched through a song book for ideas and ended up singing “Come, Now is the Time to Worship,” I was slightly out of my comfort zone to say the least :)  


Last weekend was a wonderful bonding time with my "family!" My school payed for us all to go on a retreat to get a way and rest.  It was a wonderful time of exploring a new city, shopping, and eating western food (which I really wasn't craving yet, though others who have been here awhile were happy for something different). 


Oh...funny story, I ordered dinner at a little "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant a couple days ago and I got rice with peanuts, kelp, peppers, and chicken.  Note to self: if you order anything with chicken, be warned about what part/parts of the chicken you may find....it could be called "chainsaw chicken" by the way the whole bird is cut up and thrown in....all bones, skin, heads, feet,...everything except the innards.  yummy.