I found a place!!!

Great news! I have a place to stay!! It is a one bedroom with a study (a.k.a. when you all come to visit, you have a place to stay!). It is in a good location (don't worry mom, it is close to a grocery store) and has a great pool and a gym that I can use anytime. And, if my calculations are right, it is right off of the path that the cycling club uses on their group rides. I will keep you posted on that. Sorry that I do not have any picutres of the place, but when I went to look someone was still living there. Right before I sign the lease (and after the woman moves out) I will have one more inspection to do. I will definitely take some pictures and post them for you to see.

Interesting little tid bit for B.J., today in the elevator on the way back to my apartment from the pool, they were playing "Little Drummer Boy"! I just smiled and laughed inside.

Also, Kipp, I had an arabic version of Red Robin for dinner tonight. It was a "burger" (a beef? patty that was about a millimeter thick) with lettuce, tomato, cheese and an egg! It was not nearly as good as Red Robin and definitely did not come with all you can eat fries. It did come with curry chips though. They were delicious!

So one of my co-workers in Chicago just sent me an e-mail. He is from Turkey and has been in the states for several years. He said that when he moved to the states he was told that he would go through stages of adjustment. First is the excitement phase when you learn new things and are over whelmed with everything around you. Next is the homesick phase when you start to miss the things that you had back home. After that is the frustration phase when you really start to take notice of the differences in cultures and way of life. Finally, is the normalization phase when you continue to learn more and start to feel at home.

I think that these words of advice are probably right on. I spent some time thinking about these phases and where I think I am. As with everything, I would imagine that there are many overlaps and redundancies in the phases, however I think that I have a little bit of all of them!

I still find myself learning something new everyday (today I learned that, in this region, you cannot choose your benefit plans at work).

I also find myself on the verge of tears whenever I hear the right song on Itunes or re-read the cards that my parents very sneakily placed in my luggage!

On top of that, if someone invades my personal space one more time, I think that I might just snap! Needless to say, the concept of "personal bubble" is non-existent over here. The other day, I was in the grocery store and this guy came up behind me and started touching my back with his folded arms full of fruit. I would move forward, he would move forward, I would move forward, he would move forward. I thought that I could turn this into a little game and stepped to the right. He stepped forward. Now we were almost even in the line. I thought, "Oh, hell no! Not a chance that I am going to let this guy in front of me because I am afraid of his fruit!," so I stepped back. Now he was practically wearing my clothes! Just one of those things, I guess.

I am not convinced that I am in the last phase yet. I still think that I have much to learn and I don't quite feel at home yet. I am sure that once I stop living out of my suitcases, I will feel better (I know Dad, I should have un-packed when I got here).

Anyway, when are you all coming to visit?! Let me know, I now have a study where you can stay! Miss you.