Several Stories from the other "M"

There are several stories I want to share with you. The first one is that I had an opportunity to snow ski several weeks ago. I went with a few of my co-workers. I haven't skied in several years - not to mention I am not very good - I am okay skiing in NC & VA but when it comes to real mountains like we have here I think the next time I go - I might have to invest in a helmet and extra padding. On the very first hill (which by the way was really steep) I almost fell off the mountain because my foot was coming out of my snow boot - not a good thing when you are trying to ski. Any way the guys went down first and I came later - I thought I was doing pretty good until I wiped out big time. We got down to the bottom of the hill and my friends mentioned that my nose was bleeding (obviously from when I crashed into the snow face first). I had a wonderful time though - even though I was wondering what in the world was I doing on top of these ginormous (huge) mountain. When we got back home I was doing pretty good except for several days I could not raise my right arm above my head because my right shoulder had too much pain - obvious from one of my many crashes.

Story number Two ~ How do we get around our country when we drive? Well I use google earth a whole lot to get some sort of idea where I am going. We had to drive to another city by ourselves for business reasons and you know the day we had to do this - it was snowing. In fact it snowed two days last week. Driving here is somewhat of a defensive sport. They have places where you can pass - but you really don't know if it is your turn to pass or the cars in the opposite direction. The people here are very nice but when they get behind the wheel of a car it's like they become a whole different person. They become impatient and these are some of the most easy going folks I have ever met. So remember us in our travels. Thank you.

I invited a friend of mine to come over this past weekend for a visit. I sent him a text message and I talked to him on the phone in his language (that was pretty fun - he obviously understood what I was saying because he came at the time I had invited him). We ate lunch and dinner together. When you invite folks over to your house for a visit you need to be prepared for a very long visit (like 5-8 hours worth {thanks mom for the help with the correction - I did mean hours}) ~ this is the culture and we love it but remember us to have strength for these visits. During these visits we talk about a lot of different things - it creates opportunities to deepen our relationships with our friends here in this country.

As we have mentioned before I have a friend who owns a furniture store who I go to visit on a regular basis to practice my language. There is a lady that cooks for all the workers of this store and several of the partner stores downtown. When I am there - I am just part of the big family that eats with everyone. I can't really tell you what I have eaten - I just eat it. Most of it is really good. The other day they made this drink out of yogurt, water, and salt. I am not very fond of this particular drink but I can usually get one glass down. Evidently I got my one glass down too quickly because they filled it back up with another one. So I drank that one as well. Needless to say I get fed pretty well.