Chinglish, anyone?

I've been here a week!

It seems crazy to me that a week has gone by already.  I've already jumped headfirst into my job, done a good bit of exploring, and have started to settle in a little bit.

While these things are fresh on my mind, I thought I'd comment on some of the quirkiest linguistic things I've encountered since arriving.

Scattered throughout the raised escalator system.

There are ample opportunities for hilarity when translation from Chinese to English happens because the structure of the languages is so different.  For example, the already absurd phrase from one of my early Chinese textbooks,  "Jirou xianzai zai kafei bei.zi li" Literally translates to "The Chicken right now at the coffee cup inside"(actually meaning The chicken is inside the coffee cup right now).  So, you can see how confusing translation can be going from Chinese to (proper) English.

 Also, the British influence in HK for so many years has also yielded a lot of new (to me) phrases.  There are also funny hybrid words that I haven't ever encountered anywhere else, but that appear, at least, to be English.  Some are useful PSA's, like the one to the right.  There are also signs approximately every 10 feet imploring you to hold the handrail.  (But don't worry, they're sanitized).

Here's the list so far with appropriate translation:

Aircon = Air Condtioning
ie, Could you please turn the aircon on?  It's stifling in here.

Uni = University ie, Don't ask him to lead the group, he's going to Uni in the fall and won't be here.

Rubbish Bin = Trash Can ie, please throw that in the Rubbish Bin.

In the bathroom at my church

Car Park = Parking Garage, Parking Lot, etc ie, Wasn't it funny and slightly sad when my boss' car battery died in a the carpark on the night I arrived and we had to take a taxi to my host family's house? (true life example here, people)

Lift = Elevator, ie, Her apartment has no lift - can you believe we carried her furniture up 5 flights of stairs? 

Funny phrases:

We can start with this one.  "No littering into the bowl".  Really the translation isn't that terrible, but what's going on with the figure?  Is it a bee?  Or another insect? Why is it using the toilet to begin with?  All good questions, my friends.

In the MTR

Another funny one I encountered in the MTR (Hong Kongese for Metro or Subway).  Spitting is totally disapproved of here, and I believe is illegal.  Apparently it was such an epidemic that signs needed to be posted to remind people of their duty to not spread their filthy spit-germs. (photo courtesy of http://www.bootsintheoven.com/boots_in_the_oven/asia-china-just-hong-kong-for-now/)

I am totally loving these new linguistic surprises.  I encounter at least one per day, but have been woefully bad at documenting them.  I found a great site for some other funny "Chinglish" here http://mistyhilltops.com/2011/08/info/humor/fun-with-chinglish-stand-still/
(Photo credit to her for the Escalator sign)

Hopefully I can be as prolific as she is at capturing these funny signs!

Anyway, that's all for now.  I am getting excited for our first real event with the kids at church tomorrow night, and have had a great week of planning in preparation for the fall.

Stay tuned!
The Adventurer

You Drank the Water? And other Uh-Oh Moments

Moving to a new country is always a fun experience in learning the local culture and customs.  Lots of people, including a large swath of those I studied abroad with, preferred to carry on as if they were in America, but my inner Anthropologist cringes every time I break a cultural norm.  As such, I've tried really hard to learn (in a hurry) how things are done Hong Kong style. 

On Saturday, I was invited to Dim Sum with my co-worker and a couple of volunteers in the student ministry.  Let me say that it was DELICIOUS.  We had a lot of different things from spring rolls, to pork buns, to stuffed chili peppers to shrimp dumplings and egg custard.  The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was a gelatinous square of shrimp and some other mystery ingredients.  During this meal, I learned several good lessons.  First and foremost, when someone pours you tea (and there is always tea at such an occasion), you tap two fingertips on the table to thank them.  (Two knuckles are also acceptable, but that is too similar to the horned frog hand sign for TCU, which I refuse to support, haha!)  Also, you are given a pair of chopsticks, and a bowl with a plate underneath.  It is a good idea, according to my new friend, to rinse off the chopsticks and the bowl with the hot water they provide you.  Also, it is customary to eat out of the bowl, no matter what dish you're enjoying.  One last funny cultural thing - the waiters stand at the table and count your money right there.  No going back to a cashier stand for them!  They want to make sure they've got the goods before you leave.  There is also no tipping in HK.  Score!! This meal cost me right around $8.

The mass of humanity that is Hong Kong is really indescribable.  Hopefully this picture can try and do it justice.  To imagine my next faux pas, imagine all these people crammed into a subway.  Now, imagine them all scurrying out of the subway as if carried on an invisible river.  Now imagine me, playing the part of the log jam, frantically searching for my Octopus card (subway card) and blocking one of the exits.  Cue pushing, loud grumbling, and many stank-eyes. Yes, friends, this was my experience on Saturday.  After leaving Dim Sum, I decided to wander around Causeway Bay.  I found my way back to the metro and decided to head back to Central (the area near the church) to explore some more and do a test run of my route for Sunday.  When we arrived at Central, I was feeling pretty good about my life.  I had public transportation in HK mastered.  Boom.  Then I got off the train and the aforementioned log jam incident occurred.  As I hastily scanned my card on the reader (once it was found, of course) I got totally disoriented and came out onto an alleyway instead of beside Louis Vuitton, where I had entered.   Quite the difference, as you might imagine.  This is the point where I truly understood just how dependent on my iPhone I have become.   In Houston, assuming I was walking around for some unknown reason, I would have just busted out my phone, looked at maps, and navigated my way out of there like it was my job.  But, alas, I don't have a working iPhone here yet, so I wandered aimlessly around the station for what felt like at least 37 sweaty hot minutes before finally recognizing the Marks and Spencer that signaled the street I wanted.  Phew.

One other charming difference between HK and the US is that hey they drive on the "wrong" side of the road.  This has probably the most challenging difference for me to conquer, because let's face it, getting this right could be a life or death decision!  On Saturday alone, I had the pleasure of being chewed out in both Mandarin and Cantonese for failing to "Look Left or Look Right".  26 years of conditioning is quite the habit to break.  Thankfully, lots of the bigger streets do have these handy signs to remind me, so I may make it home after all.

Lastly, yesterday evening, I started feeling a little blah.   A little sore throat-ish, a little tired, but I chalked it up to traveling and breathing recycled air for over 28 hours.  Today, however, I discovered the real source of my problems.  While talking with the domestic helper at my host family's house, I mentioned to her that I wasn't feeling great.  She asked me what my symptoms were and I told her that I just had a general stomach ache and didn't feel all too awesome.  I said that I should probably drink some water because I felt a little dehydrated.  She offered to get me a glass, and I told her that I'd just get some water out of the tap.  Her eyes got wide and she said to me in an alarmed tone, "You drank the water?!!"  I replied, ever frantic, that yes, indeed, I had drunk the water.  She gave me a pitying look, and said nonchalantly, "Well, that's why your stomach hurts! You can't drink the water here.  It's no good for you".  Oooooh buddy.  Welcome to my intestinal tract, foreign bugs and other miscellaneous aqueous ingredients.  I'm sure we'll become acquainted in no time.

Tomorrow is my first day of "real" work, though I did get to attend church and and event on Sunday with the kids.  Thoughts: I LOVE them already.  They are smart and funny and a little crazy, but hey, this is Youth Ministry! It's what we live for!

Til next time,
The Adventurer

Hong Kong Beginning

I've arrived in Hong Kong! 

The past few days have been a crazy rush of getting introduced to my new job and new city.  Hong Kong is definitely like no other place I've ever been.  There is a frenetic energy that pulses all around, from the main streets to the alleyways, there is a constant flurry of activity.  Purposeful businesspeople head through the crowds, friends meeting for lunch chat and stroll, and I wander, looking up to the (smoggy) sky, checking out the buildings around.

16 minutes from Hong Kong after 36 hours of travel. 

I made it to Hong Kong after a bit of a crazy flight from Singapore.  I had my first proper introduction to a mainland tourist group, and let me say culture shock.  My inner Anthropologist was wildly scolding my human nature when I found myself aghast when the woman next to me took off her pants nonchalantly mid-flight, when I entered the bathroom and discovered, thanks to the shoe marks, that someone had used the toilet as a squat toilet, and when I could not hear myself think because of the immense number (and volume) of conversations going on around me.  As I have come to find out from talking with the people in HK I've met, this is totally normal for groups such as those.  So, I have taken it with a grain of salt.  Though, somewhere over the South China Sea, I began to ask myself what I had gotten myself into!

Driving on the left and some smog... oh, and beware incident!

But, everything comes to an end, and that flight, thankfully, did.  I was greeted at the airport by my new boss, his two kids, and my co-worker.  They happily carted my luggage to the car and we set off for the city.  Hong Kong airport is on Lantau island, which is quite removed from the city.  As we drove in, I was surprised to see so much green space.  I had though of HK as being a super urban environment (which it is in places), but out on Lantau, there are lots of mountains with dense vegetation.  Also, HK'ers drive on the left, as in Britain, so it was eerie for me to sit in the front left seat without being the driver!  This is a picture I took as we were getting ready to drive over one of HK's many bridges.  I wish I could tell you that this was fog, like San Francisco, but it is sadly smog.  Couple the mainland's factories with HK's car pollution, and this is what you get most of the time. You can also see at Taxi in front of us to the left.  All of the taxis in HK are color-coded to where they drive.  So on Lantau, they are green, I think.  Apparently, it takes a good deal of bargaining to get them to go into another zone.  Taxis where I live now are red.

ICC building to the right

As we drove into the city, we passed right by Hong Kong's tallest building, the ICC (International Commerce Center).  It is also home to the world's highest hotel, the Ritz Carlton.  My boss' son told me that he had his birthday dinner at the top! It is 118 floors tall!  This isn't a great picture, but it is the tall building to the right side of this array of skyscrapers.

This building is on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong which is the peninsula that juts out from Mainland China.  Directly to the South, across the harbor, is Hong Kong Island, where I live.  We drove in a tunnel under the harbor to get to HK, and when we emerged, we were in the middle of total skyscraper-ville.  Everything was vertical, and very close together.  It's what I imagine New York City would be like, just on steroids.  My office is right in the middle of all this craziness, in a place called Sheung Wan.  We're only a few kilometers off the harbor.  We parked in a car park (HK talk for a parking garage), and went and had some dinner at a great little pizza place close to the church.  After pizza, we went and checked out the church, where I got to see my new desk and the youth space.  I will be happy there, for sure.

View out my window - HK at night

 

As we were attempting to leave the car park to go to my host family's flat, my boss discovered that his battery was dead!  We abandoned the car there temporarily and lugged my bags down to a nearby taxi stand.  My co-worker and I hopped into the taxi while my boss and his kids sorted out the car.  As the taxi climbed up the mountain, I could see the lights of HK even better.  The flat I'm so lucky to be staying in has a gorgeous, sweeping view of Victoria Harbor, looking towards Kowloon.  You can see the ICC building to the extreme left of the picture, with the ICF building on the HK island side appearing the tallest in this picture. 

My hosts are actually out of town until the beginning of September, so I got settled in by my co-worker who lived here when she first moved to Hong Kong and the family's helper, Jeany.  A lot of families in Hong Kong have these so-called helpers, usually from Indonesia or the Philippines.  They live-in, do the cooking, cleaning, laundry and anything else that needs to be done in the house.  I was a bit uncomfortable when Jeany asked me what time I wanted breakfast in the morning, but I was advised by my co-worker to go along with it.  Apparently, the helpers see the kitchen as their domain and can be insulted if you don't allow them to help you.  So, I'll be getting used to that, at least until I move into my own place and have to figure out how to cook, shop and do laundry on my own here.  It's like a halfway house for new HK'ers!

Alright, enough for now.  Next time: dumplings, what's your sign, and my first lifegroup meeting...

The Adventurer

Traveling Mercies

My plane with our stewardess, Lee Ling Ling
the "Singapore Girl".  Basically, one of the most gorgeous,
put-together Asian women on the planet.

As I write this I'm sitting in the Singapore Airport.  Saying goodbye to my friends and team members at the church, as well as the families I have grown to know and love through skating was so incredibly hard.  But, as I've been assured over and over again, God does things for reasons we don't always understand, and the most heart-rending decisions are normally the ones that are the most fruitful.  In any case, I've asked a lot of people for good vibes, prayers, etc for my traveling and let me say, it's worked!

I started off my day on Tuesday, August 21st.  My cousin, Sara, dropped me off at IAH about 2:30pm, I got checked in, ripped half of one of my toenails off trying to lug my 50.5 pound bag onto the scale, and tried to bribe my way into Business Class (it didn't work, by the way).  After waiting FOREVER to pay for my extra bag, I got checked in, and said my goodbyes to Sara.  I have been dreading this since I decided to move, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  When you're kindred spirits with someone, no distance can really change your friendship.

IAH to Moscow Breakfast.  Baked Beans
And Eggs?  

SO, about the plane.  It was NICE. When I first got on, we were all handed hot towels and a menu detailing dinner and breakfast.  The plane was in a 3x3x3 configuration, which I hadn't ridden on before, but it worked out great because the middle seat was empty.  I was SURROUNDED by Vietnamese people who were all really friendly, especially the woman I shared my row with.  We took off, I perused the in-flight entertainment options (nearly endless, by the way) and we had some dinner.  My strategy, I'm proud to say, worked for the most part.  I was able to stay awake for almost all of the 12 hour flight, except for a brief catnap from 11:30pm-12:30am Houston time.  In the morning, we had a strange combination of scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, potatoes and what tasted like baked beans.  It was a little unusual, but actually quite good.

We landed in Moscow, which was uneventful, except for the graveyard of planes sitting beside the runway.  Not exactly the most assuring sight after a 12 hour little sleep flight, but hey, whatever does it for you, Russia.

Flight path from Russia. Right over garden spots like
Islamabad and Kabul!!

The Moscow airport was wholly unremarkable except for the abhorrent service by the airport employees.  Some of their policies seem downright ridiculous (for example, making transiting passengers on my flight (me) wait in a line to be passport checked, baggage screened, then passport checked again).  And some poor woman and her 90's-ish elderly mother got separated in front of me and the staff wouldn't let her back in to help her.  Otherwise, I sat around waiting to re-board my same plane after they cleaned and re-staffed.  A short hour and 20 minutes later, we were off again.  THIS time. though. I had an agenda!  I downed some Ambien shortly after we took off, had some Thai red curry with rice, and I was racked OUT. Somewhere over Kazakhstan, I awoke, drooling on myself and getting the stank eye from a man across the aisle, so I decided to turn over the other way and drool in private.  I slept pretty solidly through that leg of the flight and awoke when we were just over Calcutta. According to the map, we flew over Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan (right over Kabul, eek), Pakistan before taking a hard left towards India/SE Asia.  We also certainly flew within sight of the Himalayas, but it was night and I was asleep, therefore that wonder of the world still remains to be seen.

I knew I liked Singapore about 2 hours before we landed.  I was served the BEST pancake (okay, crepe) that I have EVER had.  And it was on an airplane.  I can't make this up, people.  It was doused in some delicious vanilla cherry sauce and I NOMMED it like it was my job.  Henceforth, I will only be flying Singapore Air.   Which means I'm in need of a wealthy benefactor.  Anyone? Ha.  Anyway, we landed in Singapore which was awesome.  There were a bunch of outlying islands that we crossed over on our way to the airport and they were ALL populated.  Tons of lights.  Some guy in front of me said, "Are those designs?"  And I wanted to say, "You're thinking of Dubai", but I refrained and watched him try to make out what the "design was".

Welcome to Singapore Airport Spa. 

We put down in dark Singapore at 5:10am, Thursday, August 23 local time (4:10pm, August 22nd, Houston time).  I really have nothing to say about Singapore itself as I couldn't see anything, but if it is anything like the airport, I will be returning for a visit.  It was like some crafty Scandinavians came down here, asked some Singaporeans how to best fuse these two ideals and BOOM! Out came Singapore Changi Airport.  The BEST part of my whole trip, however was the "Transit Hotel" I visited  when I disembarked.  Now before you start thinking I did something sketchy, you just back that train up! The transit hotel has rooms that can be rented to sleep if you don't need a whole night in a hotel room, and it is located right in the terminal.  The BEST part, however, is that you can also just pay to rent a shower.  I researched this before leaving, but didn't have high expectations.  I was imagining a truck stop type setup, but boy was I wrong.  It was like Singapore Airport Spa in there.  Each shower was in an individual room with a sink, vanity, plug, and bench.  They even threw in a towel in the price of the shower. (The best $6.94 I've ever spent).  I get inconsolably cranky if I have dirty hair, so this decision was a life-changing one.  I took my time repacked my bag, was able to change clothes, dry my hair, and even put on some makeup so I didn't look like someone out of a "The Walking Dead" episode.

I'm waiting now for my HK flight, which departs in about an hour and a half.  I was able to call my parents and let them know I got here okay, thanks to Skype.  I think this is about it for now.  I'm being met at the airport in HK by one of my bosses, Wade, and m co-worker, Julie, I think.  Stay tuned for my HK arrival!

Til Next Time,
The Adventurer

69 kilograms

Did you know that I have 69 kilograms of stuff?

In reality, I probably have WAY more than that, but that's how much stuff I will be taking to Hong Kong with me.  Lots of people have asked me what kinds of things I'm moving with me.  I'm in a little different situation than most expats that move to HK, because my company isn't paying to relocate me.  This is totally fine, because 99% of the things I have, I really don't need that much anyway.

In any case, most people are shocked when they hear that I'm only taking the stuff that I can fit in 3 suitcases (or 166 linear inches, if you were curious).  I've done a LOT of research, talked to some people who have lived in HK, and have decided on the bare essentials.  I'm hoping that this blog might be of some help to someone in the future who is moving to Hong Kong, so I'll give a you a brief rundown of what I packed.

• CLOTHES.  Lots and lots of clothes.  Probably about 85% of my packing space is devoted to clothes.  Mostly, this is because I've heard that buying clothes in HK if you're not a size 2 is not a pleasant experience.  So, I've over-packed a little, in my opinion, just in case I want something I can't easily (or cheaply) find.  I'm sure I could buy things at department stores, but I'm all about spending money traveling and not on expensive clothes.  So, there you go.



• Toiletries.  Probably about another 13% of my luggage.  Again, after doing research, I've discovered that there are a few, shall we say, key items, that cannot be easily found in HK.  The first, and most important, is deodorant.  Not that HK'ers don't wear deodorant, but apparently the kinds that are available are gel or spray-on.  And that isn't going to work for this girl.  I have a very specific kind of deodorant that works for me, since I can tend to be a sweaty beast, so I stocked up on approximately 8 sticks.  If you're a guy and you're skeezed out by lady issues, just skip down to the next bullet point.  Ladies, stock up on those tampons.  Apparently the pickins are pretty slim in HK (truth of this remains to be seen) but my feminine hygiene is nothing to play around with.  So, I stocked up on about a years worth of tampons, just to be on the safe side. I will definitely report on this tampon dilemma once I get there.



• Last but not least, books, mementos, pictures, DVDs etc.  This occupies the paltry remaining 2% of my luggage.  With pictures ultra digital nowadays, I have most everything on my hard drive, but there are a few things I really wanted to take with me.  Like my 20x24 stretched canvas picture of Nyhavn in Copenhagen that my cousin got me for Christmas.  Still trying to work that one in... 



• What I'm not taking: Electronics of ANY sort besides my cell phone and laptop chargers, very many winter clothes, or items I haven't seen or used in the last 6 months.  

This woman obviously has fingers of steel

I decided that in order to be on the safe side of things, I would load each bag to capacity before starting another one.  That way I didn't end up with say, 200kg of stuff after I'd completely packed.  So, I started on the first bag, affectionately called the blue beast.  I could fit myself in this suitcase EASILY.  The good news is that this suitcase can hold A LOT.  And another great feature is that there's a little handy weight indicator on top that will tell you if your bag is over 50 pounds. Doesn't that sound like a great idea?

So, after loading my bag down with as much as would fit, I set it upright (okay, lugged it), placed my fingers underneath the indicator, pulled up, and almost sprained every finger on my right hand.  It felt like I was lifting a 4th grader worth of dead weight.  And yes, I have done that before, don't ask.  It's called Children's Ministry. The red light immediately came on, as if to say, "are you an idiot? Of course this is overweight!!" So, just to "double check" I took it over to our scale, set it down, and waited for that magic number to appear.  67 pounds was the verdict.  Despondently. I unloaded 3 bottles of contact solution, a couple of shampoo and conditioner bottles, and one space bag full of clothes and got it down to 51 pounds.  I'm hoping that with a smile and a story about how I'm going to share Jesus with the Asians, they'll let me squeak by.


In this bag contains: 3 pairs of flats, 4 picture frames, a wooden plaque that my sister-friend Amy made for me, a T-Shirt quilt, 2 space bags full of 47 articles of clothes, a purse full of toiletries, q-tips, mousse, perfume, 8 sticks of deodorant, and a pair of running shoes Pretty decent! You can even see my sparkle Toms poking out of the zipper pockets.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about the move.  Despite a splitting headache that has made me feel bleh for the past couple of days, I think I'm ready to go.  It all feels really surreal to me - not sure when reality will kick in.  Probably when I'm over Northern Canada and realize that I'm not in Kansas (okay, Houston) anymore.


And for the pièce de résistance, I went to the doctor this week.  While talking about my normal sleeping patterns (I got a gold star for my 8+ hours of sleep per night) I informed her of my 31 hour flight extravaganza, and my abysmal record of sleeping on planes. Since I would be awake for 41 hours when I arrived in HK assuming I couldn't get to sleep at all, she happily prescribed me some Ambien! Praise Jesus.  I have tried literally every. single. method. for sleeping on a plane. Melatonin, Ear Plugs, a fuzzy U-Shaped pillow, having an entire row to myself, lights off in the cabin, comfy clothes, following my normal bedtime routine, meditating (seriously), lots of water, no water, etc, and I just cannot fall asleep.   While I'm normally totally anti-medicine, I'll defer to what my friends U2 would say, sometimes you just can't make it on your own! So, me and my friend Ambien will be getting acquainted somewhere over Kazakhstan if all goes according to plan.  Hey, I figure being in a sleeping medicine fog is preferable to being in a sleep-deprived coma/hate spiral/funk when meeting my new workmates and hosts.

This weekend is party-a-palooza.  I feel so loved and appreciated by all of my Houston friends.  Just 5 short days til I'm outta here!

Til next time,
The Adventurer

Some Last Minute Things

I got to hang out with this cutie

One of the greatest parts of going away is that it forces you to spend time with the people you love.  Since you won't be seeing them as often as you would when you lived stateside, you obviously make time for them.  One of the greatest things I've done in preparation for leaving was spending a few days with my parents.  Fortunately, they moved back to the city we lived in when we first moved back to Texas in 2005, Clyde.  I love this little town, I love the people my parents made friends with, and I ESPECIALLY love it because my sweet nephew lives just 15 short miles away.  I love to snuggle this babeh, kiss his sweet cheeks, and watch him do all manner of funny things.  I'm sure the next time I'm home, he'll be doing all sorts of new things.  So, these moments are especially precious.  It was great to have a couple of days hanging out with my parents, sister and brother in law.

Sending my Visa Application to HK

One of the complicated parts of moving abroad is inevitably the Visa process.  Luckily, it is completely legal and allowable to enter Hong Kong as a tourist while waiting for Visa paperwork to be processed.  This is exactly what I'll do - and I'll have to exit HK once my Visa goes through, travel somewhere else (probably a boat to Macau) then re-enter the country on my permanent working Visa.  As part of my visa application, I had to fill out about 9 pages of paperwork in order to get my visa processed.  Mostly, this included educational records, and a letter of support from each of my previous churches stating my job duties, and 6 pages of paperwork in Chinese and English.  See my previous post, The Spinster, for more info on this hilarious form.  Long story short, I finally received each letter, dutifully provided on letterhead, and sent it off to Hong Kong last Monday.  I also encountered the mythical chupacabra of the Postal Service, a nice, competent employee who actually seemed to like their job and life.  As Mary helped me fill out my envelope, it all became very real to me!  I'm moving to Hong Kong in just over eleven days!!!

What? No oven in Hong Kong?!

Last, I had a great meeting with my future boss and his family this past Wednesday.  His son goes to Rice University here in Houston, and they were in town visiting him and their other family in The Woodlands (North of Houston).  We got together at the Galleria, ate some great Mexican food, and talked about everything Hong Kong and Community Church related.  It was great to get to meet Steve and Marian and to have a face to go with the name finally!  I got to ask a lot of my questions, mostly about what I should do about banking once I get there, and got a lot of good feedback on some things I should do and expect once I move to Hong Kong.  One funny thing that I discovered is that most apartments in Hong Kong don't have ovens.  Not something I ever would have thought to ask, but it came up somehow.  I shared this info with my roommate who is a baker-extraordinaire, and this was her reaction.  She can't imagine how one would survive in an environment without an oven.  Stay tuned, everyone, I'll let you know!

Well, the final countdown is on.  I'm leaving in 10 days.  It's all becoming more real and more surreal by the moment.  I'm drowning in the little details, but incredibly excited and ready for the adventure to begin!  Til next time,

The Adventurer