Jeanna

East Asia

June 24, 2007

Hello everyone!

I can't believe it's already been two weeks since Joanna and I arrived here in Asia! Time seems to be flying by. I just know these next six months are going to be here and gone so quickly.

Nothing has been what we expected since we got here, but I suppose that's usually how it works. We were supposed to be teaching English in a primary school for the first few weeks of being here, but due to some confusion concerning our majors we haven't been able to do that. The people working in the primary school were under the impression that we are English teachers and when they found out that we aren't, they decided it would be best if we just spent the first few weeks focusing on becoming acquainted with the city. Although this was a little disappointing at first, it has turned out to be a really good thing because Joanna and I have had the opportunity to do a lot of fun things these past couple of weeks!

Two days after we arrived, we were asked by some other M's to go to the bathhouse! I immediately wanted to go knowing that this is a huge cultural thing, but Joanna was a little hesitant. However, I talked her into it and a couple of days later we went with our friends and let me tell you it was interesting. If you don't already know, the bathhouse is a place where men and women go to shower, get massages, or receive a complete body scrub (they are separate of course), however everyone is together in a big open room. We didn't get a massage but we showered and sat in the hot tub with a bunch of people. It was really uncomfortable at first, but I actually ended up liking it! I felt like I was really a part of their culture, and I was definitely getting out of my comfort zone! The unlimited hot water was also a huge bonus!

I also tried my hand at baking in an Asian kitchen...it didn't go well! I tried to use the microwave, but it was all in Mandarin and I ended up burning some chocolate and smelling up our entire hall! Everything seemed to be going fine until I started to smell something rather unpleasant and turned my head and their was smoke pouring out of the microwave! I immediately rushed over and took out the chocolate only to find that it had become one huge mound of burnt coal-like substance. It made me very sad, and I felt terrible for stinking up the hallway! But everyone I've talked to about it here says that it has happened to them a few times, appliances here are just different than the one's at home! It's all part of the learning process.

We are very thankful for the amazing staff working here. They have been very welcoming to us and have been extremely helpful with our adjustment. It's also neat because they have so many contacts here already and that has made it really easy to meet a lot of students! We have had many opportunities to hang out with the students here on campus and that has been amazing. I love them so much and am very excited to see what Dad does with the relationships that we are building.

Well, that about sums it up. Thank you so much for talking to Dad about us. Please continue to ask Him to strengthen our relationships with people and also to help us with learning the language. We now have a language tutor, so we are very excited about diving into that and learning as much as we can. We are also starting English House this week. We will be moving into the dorms, and each of us will be living with five other girls. The goal is to teach them English conversational skills. We will be doing activities with them as well as teaching a class. Please ask that we will have many opportunities to share our stories with these students, and that we would take every chance we are given to love on them. These students usually come from difficult backgrounds and are in need of love. Thank you so much!

In His Grace, Jeanna