Trashcans that aren't automatic and the Chinese do not speak Spanish.

So, being here, I've already noticed some differences. Some huge, some not so big but just interesting.

At the Korby's we had this trashcan that would open automatically. You just ran your hand over it and the top would lift up, and you throw your trash away and as you walked away, it would close. Well, the first couple days being here, I would go to throw something away and just run my hand over the trashcan, well, needless to say, it did not open.

A "compound" is the word that is used for a housing complex over there. The pictures I put up of my neighborhood, that's my compound. In my compound, there are guards EVERYWHERE. Just making sure that the same people are coming and going, and what people are up to. Well, whenever I pass them, I always say Hello, and smile. Most people don't say anything to them, so I figure that maybe a simple Hello and a smile, might just be enough to brighten up a minute or two. Well, I was stopped at the gate, looking for something in my purse, and one of the guards came up to me to say hi and wave, and replying back I said "Hola! Como esta?!" Chinese people do NOT speak Spanish. But, he did laugh after I started cracking up at myself.

The family I live with is very very nice. Not that I expected anything less; they agreed to have a perfect stranger live in their house for 7 months. The first night I met the dad, getting out of the family van, I tripped over my suitcase and almost fell flat on my face. The second time I ever saw him, I was riding my bike out of the neighborhood, and my pant leg got caught in the pedal of my bike and I almost fell over, right as he was driving by. Hopefully in coversations through out the week, I have redeemed myself.

Here are some pictures of where we have the middle school youth group. They meet in a huge room in the community center that is in my compound. It's a really cool set up, the only downer about it is that it all has to be set up and tore down before and after the program. But I think they do a great job of making it go from just a huge empty room, to a place where students would actually hang out.