Deb_CP6 & CP7-July 22, 2012

During the travel time back and forth to the church, we had ample time for a wide range of topics to converse about today.  Joyce shared several disappointments from the weekend.  She did not get to participate electronically with her brother’s wedding.  However, she did see some pictures already on Facebook.  We had an interesting discussion of wedding traditions in the US and Taiwan, including the names of the different attendants in the US.  Another challenge that Joyce had to face this weekend is the move that she had expected to make this weekend.  The place that she had expected to move into fell through when the current tenant decided not to move out until December.  Joyce and her roommate had already sublet their apartment to another student who will move in at the end of July.  They also had left much of the furniture since the new place was completely furnished.  We did some brainstorming on her options and hopefully, helped her formulate a plan for this week. 

Then, we spoke about the amount of homework that she has to complete this weekend.  As a level four student, she said that she has to write summaries this week on three or four research papers that she had to read for homework.  We also talked about the work that I had to accomplish to complete my CIES class, also.

After church, we talked about religion in Taiwan, and how different it was compared to the restrictions on religion in main land China.  Joyce asked more about how I met my Taiwanese godson’s parents.  I shared with her how we met them at the University of West Florida; worked through the language issues while trying to help get ready for the baby; and how my husband and I brought the twelve-hour old baby “home” to care for him while his mother was in the hospital due to complications of the birth.

I discovered that Joyce is a craft “addict,” as am I.  So, we made a little detour to visit JoAnn’s fabric store.  On the way, I took her by way of Trinity Catholic to show her where I worked.  Then, she learned two new idioms as I traversed through the neighborhoods, instead of the main roads.  I had to explain “back roads” and “off the beaten path.”  She wanted to know why you’d “beat a path.”  She got me on that one.