Ins & Outs

Day 4
9:41pm

This morning, I took the tram & subway to the airport to pick up my mom. It was very easy; I got there from my hotel within 45 minutes!

actually, this wasn't the metro station, turned out to be a mall....the metro is behind this mall. 

Wish they had a metro service like this one in Buenos Aires...In the metro you can find several pretty tile designs

You don't even have to step out to get to the airport. There is an underground pathway that leads you in.

I absolutely love this piece of artwork....actually the upstairs of where this photo was taken is a free art gallery....

We also gawked at the Hagia Sophia & Blue Mosque....pics in mom's camera and coming soon...

First Impressions

Day Two continued....

7.43pm

As part of my vacation, I am determined to go on a diet. A vacation diet. So, here is what I've had so far:

#1. Chocolate chunks from Bethel....I should have jotted down the brand, but they came in a blue and gold wrap and had a delightfully creamy, hazelnut taste. Devoured both pieces in succession.

#2. Salted caramel ice cream from Haagen-dazc. Christine, you will be so envious of me right now. It is just divine.

random observations:

1. If you ever want to know where go find to tall, good-looking and blonde brothers that dress nice, come here. After being only at eye level or below with my fellow brethren in Argentina, coming to the German Bethel was quite an eye-opener, to say the least.

2. There are many many Chinese people here...unbelievable, even just at the airport!

Day Three

2:15am

wow, thank you Jehovah! I made it here to Istanbul!

I took my sweet time leaving the plane and taking pictures...hey I will be here for another 10 hours so there is nooooo hurry. I'm waiting for my luggage at the baggage claim.

#3 Baritos: chocolate covered Muesli bars. yum. devoured before I decided I should have taken a pic. again.

11:15pm

I am a bit exhausted...to make a long story short, after sleeping overnight at the airport, turns out my mom missed her second flight due to a delay in the first flight. Tomorrow I'll be picking her up .

By the way, there is a 5Euro shuttle bus that takes you from the Hagia Sophia to the airport!

I spent my evening here exploring....

First impressions....pictures speak louder than words so here they are....

Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia

Blue Mosque entrance & interior

                                                                    

Hagia Sophia

Hippodrome

 adding to the "diet" list:

#4Flatbread with nutella, sweet potato, or cheese filling

#5Authentic Turkish delight!

                                                

Limburg & Bethel

Day Two
12:15pm

Wow, I have never been through such an easy exit process. I am sitting here at the bullet train, and I had arrived half an hour early! No line! All went very smoothly, except the immigration officer who was looking at my passport was very stern. He asked me when my transfer flight to Istanbul was, and when I didn't hear him, he barked sharply, "WHEN? I ask you because you want to leave now, correct?" When I apologized that 

I didn't hear him and cracked him a lame smile, just from his face I knew that he didn't find anything funny, which made me think he was even funnier. Good grief, I am on vacation! Break a leg!

I made the silly mistake of forgetting that my check-in baggage goes directly to Istanbul....I had assumed that I would get to see it again in Frankfurt...grrrr. Guess I won't be able to give the sister my gift!

I have just entered the bullet train and I am just amazed at how clean and lovely it is...across from me are some businessmen, and they look quite intense with their work....I am pretending to fit in right now by intensely typing my blog on my IPAD.

3pm German branch tour!
Yes, I was picked up at Limburg Station coincidentally by a brother who had worked with Tom in the Mexican branch. I met up with Hilde, a sister I met in 2000, who also was acquainted with my grandmother. She arranged everything very well...I was able to shower, take a tour, have dinner, and associate with a circuit overseer couple within the narrow 4-hour time frame before being dropped back to the airport at 6pm.

Nicknamed the "terminator" tool, this techie device gives specific packing instructions via wireless technology, saving conveyor belt space!

Assembly / family study hall. Has live orchestra every Monday night!

On the way back to the airport, I had a mini tour of Bad Canderg, a small lovely town...

Vacation Series- In Transit

Vacation!

Yes, my faithful handful of loyal blog followers who actually care to read about my life, I am going on vacation. I will try to share as much of the experience as I can....

Destination: Turkey  and Greece  with stopover at Frankfurt

Day 1

The way to the airport is an adventure in itself. My lovely roommate, Christine, accompanied me on a 3-hour public bus ride to the airport. Yes, it is the same route that Gaby and I had taken last time in my entry about Chile. total cost: 3.25 pesos. 

We were fortunate enough to get seats, and my seat even had a cute little space that was just enough to accommodate my carry-on. aww....

8.24pm

I think my Aryan flight companions are getting a bit restless. There are 10 persons in line for the lavatory. Boy...I guess there is an advantage to being seated right up against the lavatory wall....I was able to go right before the line came.

Just watched "Cider House Rules". Oh dear, this is only 4 hours into the and I still have 9 hours to go....I am getting very antsy.

Asian man is knocked out asleep....the only one I've spotted on this flight so far. 哥們， I got your back.

Hmm, a bunch of tall young German fellows speaking German just went down the isle with cans of beer. "Gutentack" fair brother! 

As you can see, a bit of deep personal study is needed at this point to keep me from going insane.

just had a great night's sleep, what a blessing. And I was able to start up an interesting conversation with the girl sitting next to me, and thanks to Jehovah, I was able to casually mention that Satan rules the world....lol.

Miscellaneous Happenings

Hola my dear amigos,

So much has happened since the last time I've written.
From most recent to the past:


Pioneer Meeting & Circuit Assembly  "Sanctify Jah's Name"

It was a truly special feeling to attend the pioneer meeting with the Argentine & Chilean friends!! One of the illustrations used during the pioneer meeting had to the with the growth of the koi fish. The bigger the body of water that the koi fish is placed, the bigger the fish will become. For example, if a koi fish was placed in a large tank, it might grow to be a foot long. However, if it is placed in a lake, it can grow to be 1 meter long. Likewise, the more we take advantage of the spiritual provisions given by the faithful slave, our joy for the ministry (the size of the fish) will increase.

I love this picture from Gaby's camera! Wish I was in it, but guess I was busy....this was taken at the pioneer meeting...  has a mix of the pioneers from Chile & Argentina.

Circuit Assembly....
I think the peak attendance was 200+. This year, most of the brothers from the Chilean Chinese congregation also came. 
 I had the privilege of being interviewed along with Bro. Liang at the recent circuit assembly about how we started and continued to pioneer (went to get a makeover the day before, just so I can look like a 007 heroine!)
 

 Reunion with our Chilean buddies:
We were able to have a parrilla with Boen & Christina, who came from Chile for the assembly.

 Susie's visit 
It was so lovely to receive a visit from home friends, Susie & May.
They were only here for a week, but we had a great time together!

Zone Overseer Visit

Hello Friends,

This is a special write-up about the zone overseer visit from Brother Shepp, a Canadian visiting from the branch in Peru.
The event was held at a football stadium about 1.5 hours from Buenos Aires, in a picturesque town called La Plata.
Altogether, 85,000 people had heard the program on separate sessions held in Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and here. I am not sure how many were in attendance yesterday.


The main focus of the talks was on the urgency of the preaching work.
A brief illustration I really enjoyed:
Imagine yourself visiting a construction site, and you meet one of the workers. You ask him how the work is going. He complains that it's too hot and there is just too much work to be done. You run into another worker and ask the same question. This second worker responds: "Just imagine when this construction site will turn into the first children's hospital to serve our community. Parents won't have to travel all the way to Buenos Aires to get treatment for their kids." He enthusiastically points to different plans he has on site.
Likewise, we can view our preaching work with negative spirit, saying that it's too hard to go door-to-door. Or, we can envision ourselves saving lives and working alongside with the people we preach to in the new world. It's all in the perspective.
Although only publishers were invited to this event, the elders from our congregation surprised Liping with the invitation to attend.

If you're wondering about the dress, yes, my mother brought it for me on her last visit. And yes, I love that it fits perfectly. A sister helped me with lengthening it so it hit right over my knee. I really think of my mom when I wear the dress. ;-)
Funny, I was wearing the dress in the morning around the house and accidentally tore the fabric of the lengthened part...good thing our lovely 75 yr. neighbor, Novka, from upstairs helped me fix it just before I had to leave the house at noon!

Chillin' in Chile

This is a very belated entry about our trip to Chile in January....
So I'll make it short & sweet:
1. 75cent ride to the airport: We were due to arrive at the airport at 5am, latest. We decided to give the public transport a chance....took us about 3 hours but was an interesting ride. Plenty of people board buses here throughout the night. There was a dad with his child on the bus telling his kid a "bedtime story" at 2am in the morning!

2) Crossing the Andes- Amazing views of snow-peaked mountains from our window....

3) Experiencing missionary life firsthand: We had the privilege to stay with Boen & Cristine Liem, a Dutch couple who speak English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese (!) The couple is a LOT of fun....we did shopping, cooking, preaching, eating....everything together. It was a wonderful experience!

4. Cantonese meeting
"Ming bok ma?" The Chile Chinese congregation hosts a meeting once every 2 months in Cantonese. We were able to attend one of these meetings, and there was quite a good turnout of Cantonese Bible students.

5. Betel de Chile
Staying with the Bethel family was definitely a highlight of our trip. Since it was a family of only 120+ people, a lot of people knew where we were from already...

6. Vine del Mar y Valparaiso
Finally, I got to tread in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.... then I realized that I really don't have a six-pack after all....