Busyness and culture

Yesterday we went with some people from church to the Singapore Zoo.  That is a beautiful zoo!  Everywhere you go, you are surrounded by trees and beautiful foliage--you're walking through a tropical rainforest.  The animals have nice big places to roam.  The zoo also has a waterpark area, but that was closed yesterday, so when we were finished at the zoo, the group from church took us to a swimming complex.  I think they said it was built about a year ago.  There was a big pool, a smaller pool, a couple of slides, and a very nice kids' area.  It cost about $1.50 per adult and 80c per child, or something like that--very cheap!  Outside the pool area there were ping-pong tables, shops, and restaurants.  All of this is provided by the Singapore government.  The government here is a very intrusive and yet good government.  They have the interests of the people at heart and do what they can to make their people happy.  This includes setting up swimming complexes like this, along with exercise areas because they also want their people to be healthy.

Today was a busy day around the home, as new appliances, mattresses, etc. were delivered and different people were here to work.  That brings me to a cultural difference.  In Michigan, if we want to get rid of our things, we have a garage sale or sell our stuff on Craigslist.  Here, if people don't want their things, they give them away.  I guess there isn't really a place to have a garage sale when you're living in a high-rise apartment complex. :-)  We have been the beneficiaries of this way of life a number of times already, and today we got two big bookshelves and...a piano!  It is a "real" piano, not an electrical one like they had been talking about getting.  Both the planned electrical one and the one we got today were free, along with the bookshelves, just because someone didn't need them anymore.  Amazing.  There was a very interesting thing about the piano:  it needed to be plugged in.  We asked why.  There is a heater inside the piano to keep it dry so that the humidity doesn't ruin the piano.  I had kind-of wondered how pianos "survive" this weather, and now I know!

Speaking of surviving this weather, my husband said it got up to 94 degrees in our flat today.  I said, "No wonder Jason was so crabby!" :-)  Yes, it's hot here!  We have air conditioning units in our bedrooms, along with fans, so we sleep very comfortably.  We just roast during the day. ;-)  Someone from church is talking about installing ceiling fans, which would help.  The heat doesn't bother me most of the time, but the kids get very sweaty, and poor Jason gets quite cranky.  We hope he will adapt soon.  I don't know how long it's supposed to take to adapt to this weather.

Prof. Engelsma gave another speech tonight, and there is one more tomorrow, followed by a welcome dinner for our family.  We have already been very warmly welcomed by the church here.  They have showered us with gifts and made sure we are well taken care of, including bringing "Western" food to church for the kids on Sundays and at speeches.  We appreciate that very much.  Emily and Megan are the most adventurous at trying new foods (besides my husband, who will eat anything!), but Eric has been struggling.  However, he tried shrimp yesterday and liked it, and today we found milk that most of us could drink, so things are looking up!! :-)

By the way, our "critter count" here in the flat is at 9 cockroaches and 2 geckos.  I found out I handle geckos about as well as I do mice...not so well. :-)