Getting reading for our move up to Prince Albert, Sask.

We are back in Canada now. We are feeling a little more relieved now that everything is more stabilized. Alice is feeling much better now and more energetic. I am also feeling like I am getting more things done. This week, we got most of our errands done. Now I am painting my parents deck so we can have a BBQ outside.

We are now in the midst of preparing to move to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (pop. 45,000) to start my internship at Messiah Lutheran Church. Last week, we drove up to Prince Albert to look for an apartment and found a place about 5-6 blocks from the church. This is more convenient because I can also go home for lunch. We will move some of our stuff into our apartment on July 27. We will rent a small 10-foot U-Haul truck because we don't have much stuff. We are looking forward to getting settled into our new place.

I was told that Messiah Lutheran Church has an average of about 150-200 attendance on Sundays. It seems like an active congregation for a Lutheran church. I anticipate I will feel a little nervous but that's the excitement of a new place and new people.

Returning back to Canada sooner than expected

We will be leaving Taiwan on July 8 (which is earlier than expected) due to difficulties with her pregnancy. Please pray for her. She was in the hospital this past weekend here in Changhua. It was good that we had travel insurance to cover the hospital expenses. She wanted to return back to Canada sooner so I called up the airline at 1 a.m. Due to our circumstances, Air Canada was kind enough to allow us to change our departure date back to Canada with a change fee. Please pray for Alice's health. The doctor gave her some medication and she is okay right now.

a department store with washrooms with different themes

Last week, we went to another big department store in Taichung, Taiwan. This one is called Chungyo Department Store. It one was similar to Sogo but it wasn't as high-end so we didn't feel as intimidated, however, it is still considered a fancy department store, even in relation to North American department stores. What blew me away were that the washrooms with different themes (click on 下一頁>> under the picture to see the different floors' designs). That's way too cool... something a country-bumpkin like me has never seen before in Canada or the US.

Chung-Yo is a 15-floor store and they also have elevator hostesses. Man, I love the idea of elevator hostesses. That's what I call full-serve. I asked again if I could take their picture and this time they didn't say "No" so I got a snapshot…I guess persistency pays off (I'll put this picture on the blog later when I get a chance). As the elevator door closes, the elevator hostesses bow before the people as a gesture of thanks and respect. This comes from the Asian way of "giving face." This bowing also happens when the store opens and when the store closes. A group of workers will go outside of the store at the open and close of each day and bow to thank their customers. I didn't get to see this but it would be very interesting to have actually seen this. Bowing is a very Japanese thing to do so Chinese people don't do this here. This is not surprising since the store's Japanese style of merchandising and service was modelled after the chain store Shin Kong Mitsukoshi. Most people in North America have not seen department stores like this because it is a Japanese style of shopping.

What also blew me away were the numerous full-service restaurants and food court restaurants on the top three floors. There must have been 20-30 food court restaurants on one floor. I ordered an individual hot pot that that was heated underneath with a flame. I'm liking the Asian way of eating. It's so different from North Americanized-style Chinese food. And it seems cheaper to eat here in Taiwan than it is in Canada.
Here's a long review about Chung-Yo if you have time to read.