Culture Shock

So last time I blogged I was sitting in an airport in Japan, now I'm sitting on a chair in my apartment in Saipan.

The End

Oh wait...nevermind.

Yesterday seems like such a whirlwind! Honestly I couldn't believe it was the same 24 hour time period.

I landed in Saipan at about 12:30am. My flight overall went well and quickly, the fact that I pretty much slept the whole time probably had something to do with it. It took about 15-20 minutes total to get through customs and I walked out the door into a sea of humidity. The face of my principal (we'll call him...Principal) and his daughter were standing with smiling faces, open arms, and welcoming words. After a long flight it was good to feel such warmth from people. We made our way to the school and they helped me take my bags up to my apartment. I had never been so thankful to walk into an airconditioned building before. After they left I felt like I could do anything but sleep. Excitement and jet lag will do that to a person I suppose. Eventually, at about 4am, my eyes lids became heavy and I drifted off with the sounds of the Phillipine Sea behind me.

After a suprisingly restful four hours of sleep (no sarcasm) I walked to the balcony outside my door. Enveloped in heat, I looked to my left and saw my neighbors come out to greet the day. Being all former Dordt students gave us an instant connection. My immediate neighbor (we'll call her AVH) and I had had a couple education classes together. A few doors over live my sister's former roommate (we'll call her AVE) and her husband (we'll call him NVE). After chatting with them, unpacking, and a quick trip to the store I was ready for some quality exploration time.

AVH and I head down to the beach. The scenery in itself is breath taking. Beaches with sand so soft that they cushion your feet when you walk on it. My toes happily sunk themselves into the Phillipine Sea and were please to find that, unlike the bodies of water that I'm familiar with, the temperature was amazingly warm. Almost like bath water. As our sandy footprints continued I couldn't help but feel a bit of healthy culture shock. I still can't believe that I was given the priviledge and opprotunity to live here. God has blessed me with so much already and now He has given me the gift of life on a tropical island.

It's cool to see His creation in different parts of the world. How creative and inventive He is is really awe inspirig for me. Even after a day in Saipan I can't get over how rich his pallet of colors are, definitely a feast for the eyes.

I was reminded of this again after the first snorkeling excursion AVE, AVH, and I went on. As the rain drops danced on the water's surface, the three of us were sticking our goggle-covered faces in the sea. For the sake of sounding uneducated, it was basically like Finding Nemo in real life! Fish of all different shapes, sizes, and colors darted back and forth, I even saw a school of small, black fish. After a little bit (and a couple mouths full of saltwater) we traveled to a different section of beach and just sat in the water letting the small waves move our bodies in every which way.

Time passed as we talked on our marine couch. A local teen came up and offered us a plate full of chips and dip from their dinner. It was funny because at first he wasn't sure if we spoke English or not. (There are a lot of Russians who come to this Island for vacation...and darn it all if all of us white people don't look a like :p.) After we greeted him he seemed relieved that we had a langauge in common. This was another cultural moment for me, I had never had a complete stranger come up to me and offer me some of their food. Well unless you count the people who give out free samples at the grocery store. AVE said that instances like this happen very often. After we finished our snack we went and talked to the grandmother of the teen who had fed us. She was a great lady to talk to, super funny too.

Soon we gathered our belongings and made our way back home and got ready for dinner. NVE and another teacher (we'll call him W) are avid spearfishermen and they both had caught two huge fish. The five of us made our way up to Garapan to cook them with a bunch of other people. The food we made was delicious, it was definitely a welcoming dinner to say the least.

Now I sit at 7:18 in the morning in my quiet apartment on Sunday waiting for time to pass before church starts. I'm not sure what today will hold, but I'm ok with that...I'm on island time now ;).