Today is Sunday in Beijing and we were able to find a branch of our church here and attend their services this morning. It was great to be able to meet new friends and fellowship with others of our same faith in a different part of the world. It was kind of tricky finding the place to attend as the information that we got from Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City listed the Branch President's home address, rather than the address of the church service! Luckily we were able to hook up with some of our cousins (Melanie Clark) friends here and they were able to get us the correct address and directions to the church in an email. it was nice because they sent a diagram written in Chinese that we just had to print out and give to the cab driver. Getting back to the hospital was a bit trickier... we took a brochure of the hospital that had the address on the back and a diagram. The cab driver took us somewhere else first, but then he looked at the diagram closer and we finally ended up at the right place!
The language barrier is very difficult. Most people do not speak English at all! It is hard to get around due to the language barrier. I am not sure what they are going to do when the Olympics come to town, as it will be a challenge for people to get around. The exchange rate works to our favor, however, and so far we think that we spent $5 on dinner last night, probably .70 on breakfast, about $5-6 dollars on the cab ride to and from church.
Dan thinks the hospital is a bit restrictive --- we have a room that the door locks and we have to get permission to come and go. It is probably a good thing, as they are watching out for us and our safety while we are here. We need some pictures to put up on the wall so that it is a little friendlier atmosphere. We are EXCITED and HAPPY to be here -- just a few differences to note from our home sweet home... Dan starts his program in the morning. We will meet the doctors then and they will develop a customized program for him. It will be exciting to get started. He will have the operation this week to take his bone marrow - but we do not know which day that will happen. Therapy and Chinese medicine will also commence soon. We will keep you posted!
Many, many thanks for all of your support to get us here!
Dan & LaNae
2 comments:
Dear Dan and Lanae,
Hello from Ohio! We've figured that it is Monday...your time...so things are probably happening for you. We are excited for you and our prayers and thoughts are with you both! We are glad to read that you arrived in fine order and that you were able to make it to church today. We will be so anxious to keep up with your progress on this blog. Take good care of yourselves. We love you so much.
Melanie, Lyle, and Sean Clark,
Glenn and Jill Schenk, and
Derris and Laurie Anderson
Hey! I just got back to the States - and it is fun to read all the posts that have been added! Many thanks for your support! We love you!
LaNae
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