So, You're Americans, Eh? - 8/10/06

This is one of our neighbors, Liz, posing with me outside of our apart-ments. She, like nearly all of the people in this village, is a citizen of Canada. She is a returning to Blue Creek this year to teach 1st grade. Last year was her first year here and she still remembers what it's like to be new in this town. She has been so helpful and supportive of us! She has been hanging out with us in the mornings, drinking lattes, planning ways to add color and style to our apartments, giving us tips for getting along in the community, laughing, and trying to convince Nathan that Celine Dion is a talented performer with a wonderful singing voice. Most of the people here ask us where were are from and when we reply "Washington State" they are surprised and say, "Oh, you're not from Canada?!" I get the idea that Canadians tell the same jokes about Americans that Americans tell about Canadians.

Here are a few more pictures of our apartment, so you guys can get a better idea of where we are living. Basically, the bottom floor of this building holds the Credit Union, a market, and a hardware store. The top floor houses a large, cement-floor room where the town occasionally holds town-wide meetings. Also on the top floor is an office, a smaller meeting room which is used several times a week by various community boards, a laundry room, and in the corners of the top floor they built two small studio apartments (currently empty) and two larger two-bedroom apartments.

Our apartment is small, but surprisingly, hasn't felt too small for us yet!! We thought our last place was too small for us, but since we brought so few of our belongings with us, we don't feel as crammed into this place as our last one. We have turned a corner of our kitchen/dining room in to a living room by making a make-shift entertainment center. With our speakers, laptop, and PS2, we can listen to music, watch DVDs or play video games. We were looking forward to playing a lot of DDR, but so far, haven't been able to get that particular game to work.

Our bedroom still needs work, it's pretty bare!! It is difficult to decorate our apartment because the walls are cement, so we have to think of creative ways to add color (notice the "table cloth" above). I bought a cool towel and hung it in one of the widows for some color, and we turned one of the Rubbermaid tubs we brought onto the plane into a night stand. This is only temporary though, and I hope to have it a bit more "homey" soon--something for me to do while Nathan is at work if I don't find a job! Although it's bare, this is till our favorite room, because it is where our AIR CONDITIONER lives!!

So, we are making ourselves home here and making actual friends! Last week, Liz, and I picked out fabric at a local store and we recovered our dining room chairs. They are now a little less 1980s and stained and a little more tropical! Today, Nathan, Liz and I went back to that same store (the only one in the town) and bought more fabric for curtains!! I bought a blue tropical pattern for the living room/dining room/ kitchen and a maroon tropical pattern for our bedroom. Look at me, I am becoming domestic!! The fabric will add some color to our clean, but very drab apartments and I will learn a new skill--curtain-making! (Don't worry, I will add pictures at a later date when the curtains are finished)

Look at us, Canada and the US, bonding, laughing, having things in common and enjoying each other's company! What's next? World peace?