Boiling Water!

I have so much to report out on so I'll post a few blogs in the next few days. First, the trip over was on time, smooth and uneventful. It's just so damned long! Just what I thought we only had a few hours left I would realize that we'd only been travelling half of the time. 15 and a half hours on a plane is an extraordinary long time when you can't sleep. I survived and here I am.

I was picked up at the airport on Saturday night by a woman who works for the school. We got into a cab and she brought me to my new apartment. I'll post some info about that later.

They bought me a few food items for the apartment like water, milk, juice, instant ramen noodles, a salad and some fruit. She handed me a new phone and left. They gave me Sunday to myself to recover from the trip. On Sunday, I realized I had nothing in the kitchen except a handful of utensils so I had no way to boil water for those noodles or even to make a cup of tea. That's when taking this trip hit me. What am I doing here?! I can't even make a cup of tea?! I was tired and jetlagged and needed to make my new apartment feel like home. I couldn't even boil water.

I basically ransacked the apartment looking for anything I could use to boil water. Nothing. Although it seemed a bit scary and daunting I took a shower and ventured outside. For a city of 2.5 million people, it is eerily quiet on a Sunday. I found a few restaurants but no stores. I didn't feel up to navigating a restaurant where no one spoke English and the menus didn't have pictures to guide me. I came back home empty handed.

I emailed one of the teachers at my new school and she quickly responded by giving me directions to a 7-Eleven. I didn't find a way to boil water but I was able to get a few other basics. I definitely felt like a fish out of water the first day. first of all, I was the only non Asian person I saw. Second, no one could speak English. Finally, everyone just stares at me here. I get it. I'm tall, fair skinned and have red hair. There's no way I could fit in or sneak by even if I tried.

Now, looking back at that day, I wish I'd had someone for a little bit to guide me through the space and a bit of the day. But I did come earlier than anyone else so this is all on me not on the school. I just thought that the space would have a few more kitchen items.

But I survived. And later in the day, after doing some cleaning and searching, I found a bike helmet and a skillet. I was so happy I literally did a happy dance. I was now able to boil water! I'm home!