An Interview With Mom

My mom has sent me a nice, long list of questions which she has asked me to answer only when I have time. I thought I'd post some of the questions every so often and answer them, and that way she can read them, and they give me blogging ideas, as well! So, here goes the first few questions (more to follow in days to come!).

When do you leave the house in the mornings? We are presently in language classes from 9 a.m.-12 noon. We leave our apartment about 8:50 a.m. to walk the 5-7 minute walk to the office. By noon, I'm totally exhausted. We walk back home, eat, and I nap for 15-30 minutes to recover from the mental twisting my brain has done to learn the language, not to mention the contortions my mouth must do to try to make sounds that it has never learned (there are several sounds that just aren't in the English language). Also, last night we observed and helped with a class much like the one we'll be teaching in the fall. A big part of our learning right now is going to the evening English teaching classes and either observing or practice teaching. I was helping one young woman with the "th" sound last night. The Mongolian language doesn't have the tongue come out under the front teeth for that sound. Their closest sound is the tongue behind the teeth. So, I was showing her how to do it and it took a lot of practice. I thought, "This is what I look like in language class! Concentrating to make a sound that my teacher has known all her life!" She finally did it well and I cheered her on. Big smile!

Do you watch TV? We have a TV in our apartment, and we'll probably watch some sporting events some time. We haven't had time to watch it yet. We've been exploring our neighborhood and setting up house and studying language and.....!

Do you hear news on what's going on in the world? Not as much as I think we should. When I sign into the internet, I scan the home page to see if there's anything I should read about. If there's any great, breaking news, we'd love for anyone to email us a link or copy/paste an article into an email. Or, if you know a good news website, will you let us know? I'd like something that's not super liberal and would give us a good idea of what's going on when we want to read about it.

Do you feel 'at home' in your apartment? Yes! We love it. There's things that I truly "hate" about it...at the top of the list is my washing machine which holds about four items at a time (I'm really not exaggerating at all!). But, our landlord has been very attentive when we've had some problems with electrical outlets and plumbing leaking, and the place has been well furnished with a nice set of pots and pans (we thought we'd have to buy these!), pretty dishes, oriental rugs, a sectional couch, table and chairs, beds, fouton, curtains, and many other things. We have been thankful for all that has been provided in the cost of our rent.

I think of how the same way that Paul received a gift through Epaphroditus, we sense His provision for us. Philippians 4:18-29: But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God, And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.