February 12, 2003 (edited)

i got into my city and dorm on sunday morning (feb. 8th) and entered a cold, dreary looking room w/ wooden floorboards that were peeling like nuts, but in 2 days i got it to look pretty decent~ :) a few rugs thrown over here and there...some pics from home hanging on my walls...etc~ ill tell u how hard it was to find a decent mirror in person...lets juss say that didnt take one day~

i do have a team here, but we are not all focused on one thing together..its more for accountability and sundays and stuff...but man, they have been very good to me and have taken me to all the stores and places i needed to go to~ this city is actually pretty big and the rate that it's advancing is amazing! there's things i didnt expect here, such as a pricemart, which is like a sam's club or a costco back home...man, its nuts~~ and i also just got broadband (ethernet) in my dorm room during the new year!!! so that makes life 100x easier...making phone calls are still kinda difficult, but what a blessing!!!

so far i havent really made national friends, but classes start on the 16th so im hoping to find a chinese to help me w/ my language studies and i can maybe help her w/ her english...that's one of my goals this semester...i've also met some ppl in my dorm...im in the foreign student's dorm~ there's ppl form america, italy, japan, england...i met a korean man on campus the first morning too~ i heard there's loads of koreans, but i have yet to meet them...its very different from short-term here...the pace is a lot slower and the focus is more specific. i like that much more..i dont feel rushed and i can build real relationships~ im healthy and food aint shabby here! yum...

please lift up:
1. school...i have to study hard and learn the language b/c i want to communicate well...also, the ppl here think im chinese..hahaha
2. good, real friendships...thru those close relationships, that i can share in time...in His time..not mine
3. my future...i dont know if He wants me to come back another year or more, but its good to pray about it right? :)
4. time...i need to use it wisely b/c one year will go by fast and it usually isnt enough time~