Arrival

Well, the trip went as smooth as can be! Most of the flights had personal headrest TVs and we just watched a whole bunch of movies and the time flew by. Tokyo was beautiful and I definately want to go back there when we can spend some more time.

We tried some wierd Japanese delicacy candies... they wer nasty... gooey and tasted a little too much like sushi.

So we're here! Our apartment is pretty sweet! It is roomy, brand new, and has huge windows in every room. We even have a bathtub which is unheard of in China. No A/C though and the heat is taking some getting used to... actually I should say the humidity. It's not all that hot, but I am constantly dripping with sweat. It's only 23 right now but I am drenched. We have a half hour to write e-mails before we head into Ikea.

Yesterday after our flight got in and we saw our apartments we went to the market and it was pretty crazy! Fresh fruit, baking (you can get it here, but it's wierd stuff) and fish laying out everywhere. There were also little electronics shops where we bought a hairdryer, hair straightener, alarm clock that talks to us in chinese, and some fans.

Later after some unpacking we all went out for supper and DANG THE FOOD HERE IS GOOD!!! It was unbelievably tasty! Luke ate everything except for one salad with cilantro in it cause he hates cilantro. Some of it is similar to Americanised stuff and some is totally unique. 25 of us went out for a HUGE meal with over 30 dishes of food, drinks, dessert and tons of left overs and it cost 824RMB which is about $125 canadian.

Fireworks go off all the time here. They say they set off fireworks when someone is born, married, or dies and there is the show at the theme park at night. Oh, there go some right now... in the middle of the day... wierd.

Haven't been to the beach yet but I can see it from here because I'm on the 5th floor of the school building. They were saying it used to be very pebbly but about 5 years ago the world volleyball championships were here so they trucked in a bunch of sand and now it's perfect.

They've been talking alot about trying to keep everyone from getting too homesick etc. and I'm realizing how lucky I am to have Luke along with me. These other kids are here with no family nearby, that would be rough. With Luke here it feels like home already. There are a few guys here and Luke is making friends fast, which he hasn't done since we were married so I think this is going to be really good for him. There is another husband who came with his teacher wife so Luke will have someone to hang out with during the day and I'm really glad for him. They want him to join the staff hockey team and asked if he would be interested in coaching.

Anyways, they're pulling us off because we have to head to IKEA so I'll write again soon.