With the help of so many people, we are getting by now. :-)
First, to address the issue of buying groceries, we've had 2 families in the congregation here fetch us to Walmart and a mall respectively. They brought us there and then waited for us to be done then fetched us home again! Good thing they had huge cars too, those 7 seater kind but with really large boot space, cos we bought a plastic storage cabinet for the kids' clothes in addition to groceries.
I have found that: potatoes, milk, cereal and pasta are very cheap here, so we must eat more of these. But, rice is expensive, very very expensive. And I can't find any Milo at all!!! So sad, cos I drink Milo in the morning and at night. I got myself some hot chocolate powder though, cos I don't drink coffee but it doesn't come close to Milo of course. Xizzy says she gets her Milo in Asian supermarts in Germany but it is expensive. I have yet to visit an Asian supermart yet, will check it out sometime, after we can drive our car.
The church people here are fantastic too, they have made us feel so welcome and also helped us to settle in tremendously. They have given us a lot of second-hand stuff that are still in great condition and very useful, like kitchen appliances, kids' and my clothes, warm clothing etc. And they also bought us new things, clothes and jackets for me and kids, and toys that I may not even have bought for my kids in Singapore. Like a Wilson soccer ball, a basketball, a Disney "Cars" Lightning McQueen that can shoot darts (ds1 loves it so much, but has been shooting me and his poor bro with it), a tools set with a drill that actually operates, and so on. Very suitable for boys indeed. There was a cute second-hand lawn mower too, toy one, that I haven't yet tried with ds cos it's just snow outside now, but it looks very fun. And oh yes, they also passed us used car seats, high chair and stroller, which are of course, extremely handy.
We joined in the church's New Year's eve countdown and got to make many more friends, some of them who are also moms with young kids. Didn't take any photos though, cos didn't want to look too enthu. haha. In case they thought I never see food or celebration before. :-)
New Year's day, we had dinner with a family from church who's hubby is American and he met his wife while stationed in Korea (air force), so he has a Korean wife and their sons are both very good looking. She's a terrific cook so we had both American n Korean cuisine. We enjoyd ourselves eating Kimchi and chatting and ds1 got to watch several dvds at their house and even borrowed some back!
Another thing I realise is, people here are very DIY. Our small house is very old, and hence a lot of the things are falling apart. On New Year's Day, I was bathing ds2 (the pooy guy, it had to happen to him) when suddenly the heater stopped and icy cold water rushed out onto him. He cried and shook terribly, not just his lower jaw and teeth , but his whole body! His knees knocked together even and I could see he was terrified. Though he still had shampoo and soap on him, I just gathered him up in a towel and brought him into the smallest room to dry him and warm him up. Dh went to check the water heater and it was hissing and leaking, so he called in a repairman. You know, it was New Year's Day, and the repairman came, took a look and said that sound is normal for a 14-year old heater, we should change it (but it costs US$777). He gave us some reasons and explanations then charged us US$99 for the house call. Such service normally costs a lot too, so most people fix things themselves.
For example, dh said there was something wrong with the furnace and a church friend helped to fix it, then just before we arrived, the toilet pipe actually burst and another church friend solved the problem too. Dh learnt by the side. The church elder then joked with me that at the end of our stay here, we'd be equipped with plumbing, electrical, general repair and handyman skills!
(that's the kids' table he made: sturdiness tested by ds1 n ds2 who climb on top n jump down from it. they also play their "drums" on it.)
Another thing I discovered was that, with all the bow-making dh was learning, he also acquired very good woodworking skills. The computer table, shelves, kids' table and stools etc in the house were all made by him!! I was quite impressed cos the things were all sturdy and did not look raw or rough. I thought he bought them. Since we arrived, there was a need for more hooks and storage too, so he went to work making all of them. Quite useful lah, I must say, the benefits of his course.... haha.
