Whey?

That is how I would spell and pronounce the informal hello in Chinese.  I think I am finally somewhat saying "thank you" so it does not sound like gibberish.

On Saturday, we were excited to get off the crazy busy streets and run around the 18 peaks park.  We believe it has about 8k of paved trails with several dirt trails stemming from the main paved trail.  The park was deliciously green with trees.  The park was busy with people doing Tai Chi, walking and running.  Most of the runners would wave at us and say "hello".  We were quite excited to see other people running here.  The park also has a large amount of stray dogs.  One of the dogs seemed to like us so we named it Molly for Molly Adams!

Molly the dog

The traditional fruit markets....aka paradise market for us!

Once returning to the hotel from the much needed run, we were surprised by an incredible vegetarian spread for breakfast.  Some of the ladies from the hotel stay up all night cooking to create a Taiwanese feast.  They cooked about 8 different vegetarian dishes and serve it with rice.  We thoroughly enjoyed the meal!

                                     

We completed our apartment hunt after looking at several apartments.  The one near 18 peaks and the university gym won our heart over.  It just so happens that two of the English teachers at my school live at the same apartment and walk to work.  The apartment has 12 units and is 6 stories tall.  The roof of the building has a washing machine and racks for drying the clothes.  There are some great views from the roof!

Collecting dry laundry from the roof

The University gym 

18 Peaks Park is the green hills in the background.  There is a much larger mountain range behind it but hard to see in this picture.  

Hsinchu City View

Next my manager, Jessica (her English name), drove us to the RT Mart.  It's basically a Super Wal-Mart.  It was not too hard for us to buy stuff there independently.  I think a lot of people just go there for entertainment and to hang out in the AC.

After one more night and delicious breakfast at the hotel, Jessica picked us up so we could go sign the contract and officially move into our apartment.  Signing the contract was a big ordeal (just as everything seems to be here).  Jessica was a translator and bargainer with the landlord.  James had to use an ink pad and sign the contract with his thumbprint!  Here's a link to the video of our apartment so you can see more...sorry that a rambled a bit in it :)  I could not get the video to upload to blogspot.  Anyone have any hints for this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loiEVTCGl2M

After unpacking our items (which did not take too long), we explored the area and walked around the college campus.  Finally a quiet place in this city!  The campus includes a full sized track for public use, basketball courts and a gym with a weight room and a swimming pool.  I think we picked a good location.  By the way, a lot of young children enjoy staring at us.   Besides the teachers at our schools, we have only seen five other white people in Hsinchu so I understand why.  A bunch of the kids are fascinated and want to come say hello.  I don't know if it makes us feel like celebrities or freaks!

                                     

James need to be in more pictures!  Here's the track at the college with 18 Peaks in the background.  

After making a huge salad for dinner and paying way too much money for our food again, I had a breakdown.  Moving to a foreign country where barely anyone speaks your language and everything is so different is not easy (not that I thought it necessarily would be...).  The change is difficult and a wise friend of James told us this is called being homesick.  I am always amazed how God always lets us know His presence.  We watched the Buckhead Church service online at 9 pm our time (the 9 am service in Atlanta).  It made me quite emotional.  Andy Stanley told a story in the sermon about how he had signed up for classes at seminary school, arrived in Dallas (a city he had never been to and did not know anyone), and nothing was going as he pictured before he had even attended his first day of classes.  He was sitting in his "efficiency" apartment thinking what in the heck have I done!  I felt like screaming at Andy "I can relate!!!!"  God works in un-mysterious ways sometimes.

This morning we awoke and could see a much larger mountain range from our apartment widow.  Things are going to be ok with time, patience, help from others, and learning a LOT (including some Chinese).  We walked across town to the Hsinchu zoo and the surrounding park this morning.  The park was kind of cool but our throats hurt so bad from the pollution we decided to buy masks to wear around the city like the locals.  I feel ridiculous wearing the mask but I better get used to it.  By the way, apparently the wind in Hsinchu keeps the pollution low compared to other large Taiwanese cities so I can't imagine what those are like!  We vowed today to ONLY run to 18 Peaks, on the college campus and track, or exercise at the gym. Either that or we might as well take up smoking because it's the same as exercising here....

We spent the afternoon getting a health check at the hospital as a requirement for obtaining our ARC (Alien Residency Card).  The hospital was absolutely nuts with people and drawing a number at each station.  Picture getting you blood drawn at the DMV and that is the hospital here.  RIDICULOUSLY efficient though.  This would have taken 12 hours at hospital at home if it was that crowded.  Impressive!

Next we went to get our cell phones activated with a Taiwanese number.  I literally don't want to write about it because I was so darn confused by the end of it.  Cindy, James' manager, translated everything.  My old stupid phone (not a smart phone...get it?) is too out-of-date for a sim card.  So we put one in James' iPhone for now but we will need two phones after we start work in mid-June.  Decisions and complications...

Tonight we are meeting with a couple of the teachers from our schools.  They are going to help us out with life here and assist with  planning our trip for the next 10 days or so.  We have to be back by June 8th (easy date for me to remember...my birthday) to attend the Demonstration Day at my school, observe classes during the week, and finish paperwork for our ARCs before heading to Taipei for a week of training.  We are thinking of going to the beaches in southern Taiwan.  We can snorkel, surf, bicycle and ride a rented scooter to check out the national park!

PS  We never figured out what that green fruit is but we have tried several other delicious new green fruits in the process.  Anyone know what this is?  It's not honeydew melon and is like a mix between a mango, avacado, and apple.