Settling In

August 28, 2010
1:45 PM
Yilan Apartment

On Thursday, Yvonne helped me move apartments. I'm now settling in comfortably in Xue Shan with Brittni and Carolyn. I'm missing the familiarity of Luodong but I'll learn my way around here soon enough. Thursday I had lunch with a couple of other ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) and their LETs (Local English Teachers) and went to Carrefour for some essentials. I was feeling a little bit down, just out of sorts with stress and moving, so I went to Luna Plaza that night for dinner. I have to say, Cafe Grazie perked me right up. I had a great pasta dish with a Coke while I read one of my books from home (and found another love note in it), and the radio played familiar country music. Seriously, what more could a girl ask for?

Friday I started looking over books for Monday's story time and then went to the big faculty lunch meeting for the start of school. Yvonne and I sat with the school nurse, who was very sweet. Yvonne invited me to ghost month dinner with her family. I went home for about an hour and got some laundry done before she picked me up.

I have to say it was a really wonderful experience. Yvonne has twins, about a year old. At first they didn't want me to hold them very much, but who can blame them? When you're in your grandma's arms or your auntie's arms, and your mom just got home, you don't want a stranger holding you. They warmed up to me though and Yvonne's whole family was so nice.





I found out that there's a correct way to burn paper money for the ghosts--making sure that the shiny part is on the outside and folding all the pieces of paper. Dinner was home cooked with a lot of organic food grown by Yvonne's family. I think my favorite was the yam cake. We also had chicken, duck, rice, some sort of green vegetable for long life whose name I can't remember, something else made with yams...there were 5 or 6 dishes I think, and the rice. After dinner, Yvonne took me out to a bicycle shop she knows and helped me pick out a good bicycle, negotiate a good price, and even got the owner of the shop to tried the bicycle to my apartment for me since I didn't have any other way to get it home. I am now the proud owner of a new bicycle--the first bike I've owned since I was probably about 8.

I'm going to practice with the bicycle today in the courtyard between the apartment buildings, where I can't get run over, and try and find a new place for dinner tonight.