I have quite the week. Last Thursday, I arrived at my church at 7:15 a.m. to travel to CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) to take part in their Mailbox Club as our church had signed up to do so as a mission project. I've been saying for some time that I am eager to be a senior so that I may take advantage of the senior discounts as well as go on senior outings. I had my opportunity to "hang" with the 55+ club last week as I went with 19 senior adults. What a time that was. Having never been to CEF, I was uncertain as to what to expect. I was highly impressed. In fact, if they were not such a drive away from our home, I would seek full-time employment with them. While there, we all split up into groups to help with different aspects of the mailroom. Another lady & I, graded papers. For those who desire to receive them, CEF will mail out Bible Study homework papers. Once completed, the student mails them back to CEF where they are graded, commented on & then the next lesson is mailed out. I found it very interesting to see the high number of people that actually were on the mailing list to receive the lessons. After returning back to the church, lucky me, my car would not start. Fortunately, Uncle Rex (he is the missions director at our church which I have had the privelege of traveling to Taiwan with twice-I call him Uncle though he is no blood relation to me) was there to save the day. He & another man were able to jump my car & get me on my way home. I look forward to volunteering at CEF in the future.
Having worked in retail for so many years, I never have had a need to know particular computer programs such as Word, Excel, ect. However, most jobs require knowledge & proficiency in these programs. With that in mind, I decided to take some 3 hour courses on these. Last Friday, I went to a class to learn Word in a day. Thankfully, as I prepared to waltz out the front door, I thought about the probable temperature of the classroom (thinking back to my days in a classroom) & grabbed a jacket. How glad I was that I did so. I was pleased to see that I was not the only one freezing. Despite the fact there were only 4 others (including the teacher) besides myself, I felt a bit strange walking in. It was a bit like walking back into school for the first day..only after 10 years of being out! The class was rather interesting..it was myself, a lady in her late 40's or early 50's & a couple who had been married for 51 years. The older lady was mesmorized when she learned how to italicize a word or change the font size. What a revelation to her! I had to chuckle. I guess for some, that really is unfamiliar ground. While I knew much of what was taught, I did learn some things. I am attending an Excel class in a couple of days.
Finally, a smoke-free bowling alley has hit our town. After receiving a coupon for a hours worth of free bowling, Haley & I went on Sunday afternoon to check the place out. My oh my, we felt like we were royalty. A hostess at the door to greet us & direct us to the right location, shoes delivered to our lane, a server if we wanted anything off of the menu that sat in front of us, our names already in the computer & the whole nine yards. We were able to get 3 games in during our hour. Best of all, we left smelling no different than when we walked in!
My friend Megan was up visiting for a few days from Memphis so we decided to get together with our friend Kristina and her newly adopted baby, Evelyn. Eveyln is from Korea. Kristina knew of a great authentic Korean restaurant so we went there for a taste of Korean food. My aunt & uncle having lived in Korea years ago, brought back with them a recipe for Bul-go-Ki (I may be spelling that one wrong). We've been making it for years & it is without a doubt, my favorite meal. Once we arrived & I saw that on the menu I decided I must order it to see how different it was from what we would prepare. I was surprised to find that it was actually very similar. I do not know about all Asian countries but it seems to me that the norm with an Asian meal is to have a main dish & many sides are brought out. Such was true yesterday. Having ate many a strange things in Taiwan, none of us were too fearful to try that which was placed before us. We knew that one thing was seaweed-it was fine. One thing, appeared to be tiny fried fish with the heads still attached. I actually liked those while Megan found them to be too salty for her liking. I believe one of the dishes may have been Kim-chee (again, sorry if I've got the spelling incorrect). Whatever it was, one piece was more than plenty for me. We had some other dishes-fish cakes perhaps, sprouts, etc. All in all, I thought everything was good. While we ate, the waitress wagged Evelyn all around & even sat down & fed her her bottle. We received a discount thanks to Evelyn-they extend such to all Korean families. While there, we also were very in tune to the t.v. which was airing what appeared to be a Korean-Christian network. We recognized familiar praise & worship songs & saw Korean pastors. Once we were full, we headed back to Kristina's to hang out for a while. Kristina's black lab seemed to be jealous of all of the attention Evelyn was getting. Megan & I headed out & HAD to stop at Fritz's for some ice cream before she prepared to hit the road once again. We all had a great time together. The bond we formed while serving alongside one another all hot, sweaty & stinky in Taiwan is one that I believe will last for many, many years. I hope.
