Adjusting

This will be brief as our internet connection is very fickle. A week ago I was thinking, "This might be a more difficult adjustment than I bargained for." I knew about many of the difficulties of life before coming, but facing them was another thing. I still miss many of our friends and family in the States, and in many ways our our thoughts are with many of you. Also, we had an attempted break-in, we had food eaten by rats and I felt driven to hide by the bugs. It often seemed like I was spending a lot of time waiting around to accomplish relatively little and was getting lost a lot. In spite of all this, I feel like we're adjusting to the difficulties. The deterring of pests and thieves is becoming part of routine and waiting offers more time to just reflect. We've had some really lovely dinners with new friends this week and have found some cool spots by getting lost. When I think back over the week, it's the good things that have come to mind. We hope you have had just as good a week.

Phnom Penh

Well, we are settled in our new home in Phnom Penh. This has been a very fast adjustment-partly because we've lived in Asia before, partly because Eric was here first and also because I have had no jet lag at all. One of the main benefits to working nights all year long is that I had absolutely no difficultly in moving 12 time zones. It's been GREAT!

I just want to say first off that I have pretty limited internet access, so I will probably not be checking e-mail all that often to start out with, but will try to answer within a week.

So far, things are going well. Eric was able to get things pretty well settled in our house and thankfully, much furniture was left, so there's not too much to do with that. Our house is very different from anything we've lived in before. When I walked in I felt like I was walking into a train station-the ceiling is that high. I think it must be 20 feet high or more. The only window in our bedroom overlooks this space so sometimes I feel like a factory floor supervisor when I look down on Gabe and Eric down there. Our house as a whole is so dark that when the power goes off I would need a headlamp to do any work. But overall, it's a good living situation. We have great neighbors and their kids have been over quite a few times to play.

Eric is enjoying his classes and Gabe has had a great first week. The first day one of his classmates was waiting for him and had drawn him a picture welcoming him to school. The other kids in his little class have been incredibly friendly and nice and overall, that is exactly as we hoped for him. He seems very happy already. It is a little different adjusting to the security issues. Kids up to 5th grade must be collected directly from teacher by a parent and people don't tend to go out as much so kids and parents stay around school for quite a while after school to let kids have a bit more play time together. Gabe's teacher is English, but grew up in Thailand and even taught at Grace before it was Grace, so she knows exactly where he's coming from, which is great since he's switching to the British curriculum.

Overall, we've had a good first couple of days and hope that it's a taste of how things will go during our time here. I'll try to post more pictures soon.

From Taiwan (again)

I last posted more than a year ago, and here I am again in Taiwan. I've never been outside of the airport, but this airport is starting to feel sort of like Gary to me. I've been through both so many times and know all about the amenities. In Gary, I know all the cheap gas stations, all the clean bathrooms, the train stations, the meeting points, and all the fast restaurants. In Taiwan, I know the most comfortable places to rest, the free massage chairs, Hello Kitty Land and the free computers. Yet I've never stayed in either place. Maybe someday. Until then, I'm passing through on my way again. Two flights down and one more to go til we land in Phnom Penh.

I also want to say that we had a good year in the States and it was hard to leave. We missed everyone before we even left.

I'll write soon and hope to post some more pics of life in PP.