Fun Facts

I saw a bunch of people mowing the grass by hand
In China you can download pretty much any song you want through Google LEGALLY
I saw a guy carrying an electric scooter on his bike
I made pizza and ice cream out of play-doh today
Mike and i have been invited to "perform a love song" at an english corner
we got a sweet new couch - PTL
It's not good when your Chinese teacher learns you name and calls on you ALL the time.
Today I ate banana bread, Burger King and Subway.
We are kid-sitting for our boss.
We made friends by looking lost...we didn't have to fake it.
One people group that's international...cafeteria ladies.
They don't appreciate it when you laugh during your school physical at the clinic


Yup that just about sums up our life right now.

What's So Funny

So the other day we went to buy an iron and the guy gave us a demonstration on a steamer - well let me just say that it was an excellent demonstration and he sucked us right into buying one. When we got home we realized that the place you put the water in was broken. So last night I ventured back out to try to exchange it. I get to the store and try to mime that it's broken. She laughed at me then took me to another lady. I mime that it's broken to her and she also laughed at me. Then she took me back to where they sold them and explained it to the guy. He proceeded push the button and slide the part right off (who knew there was a button!) and the all laughed at me.

So I get my steamer then ask if I can look around the store. She takes be back to the other side of the store and gets me a locker to put it in while I look around the store and a receipt that opens it. After I finish my shopping I go back to the locker only to find that I have lost my receipt. I mime to a lady that I have lost my receipt and she laughs at me and takes me back to the other girl at customer service who also laughs at me again.

Then I go to the fruit stand to pick up some oranges. (which cost me about 24 cents) and apparently I was a little slow to count my change and the woman laughed at me. It's like the whole country has an inside joke that I don't know about.

Oh well, I accomplished my tasks and made a new friend. All in all a pretty good night.

PS at China Wal-Mart if you take an article of clothing back because there's a hole in it - instead of giving you a new one or a refund they just sew it up for you right behind the customer service desk.

Chinese Class - Day Two

In our second day of Chinese language class our teacher gives us a paragraph of Chinese characters and says "Here is a riddle for you to figure out." Awesome. I can't do riddles in English. When she eventually translated it for us this is what we got.

upside fur
downside fur
middle have
a water grapes

Any guesses?

(Post your guess as a comment - we'll see if anyone can get it.)

Grilled Face = Bad

We've been blessed with an apartment that is within bike riding distance of almost anywhere we would need to go. There are bikes and electric scooters everywhere here and we've been weaving in and out of them all week exploring our city. A couple days ago we made a run to Auchan (basically a super Wal-Mart on Chinese steroids) to get some shelves for our apartment. So with a big box of shelves on my bike and two boxes strapped to the back of Mike's bike we headed home. Right outside of the bike parking area there are these short red posts placed about a foot apart so that you can't take the carts out of the store. I'm not known for my agility and riding through these posts in a crowd of people, bikes, scooters, food carts, taxis, etc was always a little unnerving. I had previously navigated these posts on my bike before without consequence but on this particular day I caught my pedal on a post and was quickly headed straight for an old woman with a food cart grilling sausage on a stick. Luckily I caught myself just inches away from grilling my face next to her smelly sausage.

Auchan - Our store of choice - I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the store is huge. I couldn't even see the other side of the store from where I was standing. You might also notice that it's a little bit crowded.

Typical ride home from the store

Skype Information

Hey many of you have been asking for our Skpe info.

Our Username is - redletters2

Feel free to look us up and set up a time to talk with us. We deffinitely want to keep in contact with all our friends back home. Please please don't ever think that we are too busy or wouldn't want to talk because we do!! We are 13 hours ahead so just shoot us an email and we will find a time to have a Skype date.

We're Here!

After so much time talking about the move we are finally here and its great! The plane ride went smoothly and were were greeted by our new friends here at our apartment (pictures below). These last couple of days we have been cruising around town on our bicycles and exploring the city. City is amazing - it's full of new sights and new smells. Lots of pics coming.

Living Room - We're looking for some couches a little more cushioned

Dinning Room - and hall way

Master Bedroom - Officially the hardest bed I have ever seen

The study

Bathroom/Laundry Room

Kitchen

Not Pictured: Guest room - which means you should all come visit cause we have a room just for you!!

Our friends did such an amazing job chosing our apartment. We are close to campus as well as amazing shopping (including Wal-Mart) and the mall as well as delicious Chinese Restruants. We even have a garage complete with bikes left for us by some semester students - thanks guys the bikes are great

Good-byes

Difficult good-byes are a blessing because it means that time you spent with those people was so good.

Two weeks ago I couldn't think about saying goodbyes to friends and family without tears welling up. I asked the Father for peace and it came. I was still dreading the time home thinking about how awful it was going to be to say farewell to the friends and family that we love and love us. One week ago I couldn't sleep and Father reminded me that he was strong enough to make this time at home not only bearable, but actually a really good thing. He has been so faithful to His word in these last few days.

Thanks to all the students - Mike came home feeling so encouraged and affirmed that we are supposed to be making this move and that the Father has specifically chosen and equip ed him for the task at hand. Talking with student that have spent time in our city got us pretty stoked to go.

Thanks to friends- Thanks guys for spending some time with us at home and making us feel loved, and thanks to those of you who came to the airport before dawn to see us off.

Thanks to family - Thanks to the Ritzman's and the Easton's for all the support. Thanks for showing us tons of love and for sending us out with your blessings. I know that we asked a lot of you and put you through some extra emotion and stress by taking off overseas.

We love you guys
Mikes final American meal