Spring Has Arrived to NYC

Food and Animal Double-Takes

If you have followed my blog the past 9 months, than it is no news to you that my favorite blog topics are the bizarre and ironic.  The unusual.  The things that you don't normally see and cause you to do a double-take.  Luckily, I nearly always have my Ipod on hand to capture such moments and then share then with you.  Here are a few more of those pictures.

Animal/Food: The ground between animal and food doesn't really exist in Asia.  Personally, there are a few animals that I would rather not convert to energy, but you do what you have to do.  This is the common bowl of noodles I'm served while working with a few Chinese churches here in the city.  This bowl had no fewer than 5 baby squids in it.  I love working with these people though.  They are wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ that are excited about seeing the Gospel shared throughout their people.

Animal (or I guess insect): I had this sighting while on my visit to Raleigh, NC.  It just made me wonder how big bugs get in North Carolina...

Food:  Finally!!!  An honest advertisement...well partially.  The part they didn't include is that you are also crazy if you buy them, because they were already molding. 

Animal: ...I don't think this picture needs clarification.  This lady is walking her bird in the park!

Food:  This is just plain awesome!  Do you guys have these near you yet?  You pick your drink on this touch screen, then you choose from like 8 different flavors you can put in it (lemon, lime, cherry, strawberry, orange, raspberry, etc).  I got kind of excited about it...

It's My Pleasure

Hey readers...if there are any of you still following.  I will try and start writing again.  The past month has been really crazy as we hosted over 350 college students in three weeks.

A week and a half ago I traveled down South for my buddy Mason's wedding.  I flew into Raleigh, North Carolina on the way to see my girlfriend Marilyn and meet her family.  I arrived on a beautiful Carolina day. and was taken to a very special place soon after landing...

Chick Fil-A!  But this was no ordinary Chick Fil-A (as if the "normal" Chick Fil-A isn't wonderful enough), no, this was the World's only two story Chick Fil-A!  It had some pretty sweet amenities.

Like the second story outdoor patio,

the magical elevator that carries food to the second floor,  (you don't even have to wait downstairs for your food, it comes to you...)

the AstroTurf lawn outfitted with corn-hole, 

and the conveyor belt that carries food out to the drive thru windows.  I love NYC...but it could really use a Chick-Fil-A.

Thank you so much for taking me here Marilyn!  It was a great surprise and great way to start the weekend!  I miss you...(you Marilyn, not Chick-Fil-A...well actually both, but you more :))

Sure...Why Not?

I think I covered in my last post that I love New York City, but I think I can expand that to say that I just love big cities.  Yes, NYC is special and truly, one of the, if not the greatest city in the world.  However, I think I enjoy just big cities in general because it expands the array of people watching possibilities and chances of bizarre sightings.  If you followed my blog while I lived in China you may have noticed that I'm an avid seeker of the bizarre.  Well, New York is in no short supply of the bizarre sights, and has be constantly saying...sure why not? 

Like having four story tall indoor Ferris Wheels when space is at a premium...

a city of ten foot tall buildings made of Lego's,

 or a "life size" T-Rex that moves and roars.  

Those things are all probably more cool than bizarre, but I have definitely had some bizarre occurrences...

like finding "Beowulf," "Gladiator," "300," and "Troy" in the "Religious" section of the movie store.

I wonder what makes these eyebrows so special?

I'm sorry what?

Speaking of "Adult Day Care," by parents came into the city to visit for a night.  It was a lot of fun having them visit.  It was especially fun seeing them sleeping on bunk beds!  

It was great to have you guys.  I hope we get to do it again soon.

The Big Apple: Intro

Okay friends, my time of living in China is over (at least for now) and my time living in New York City has begun.  I went from one giant city to another!  I'll let Wikipedia provide you with a few statistics to help compare where I was, to where I am now.

My Chinese City (still not sure if I can share the name publicly or not...)

-City population: 14,047,625

-Density: 2,998.9/sq mi

New York City

-City population: 18,897,109

-Density: 27,532/sq mi

You may have noticed a slight difference between the two cities, the density!  This place is packed!  I pay over five times as much to live in a place less than a fifth the size of my apartment in China.  However, I love it!  I love the city, I love the diversity, I love the food, I love my co-workers, and I love what I'm doing here.

This post is just an introduction to many that will follow on my life here in city and how things are different.  I hope you will follow along and leave comments to let me know your still in this with me.  Every post needs pictures, so I'll provide a couple from my first days in the city.

I couldn't resist...my very first meal in New York City.  Gray's Papaya hot dogs, 2 dogs and a drink (one of their homemade juices) for $4.95.  It's hard to beat.

It is weird that this is the third time that escalators have made my blog, but I had no idea they had them for your grocery cart. 

This was a beautiful sighting!  This lady was wearing boats in the subway like Lloyd's from "Dumb and Dumber."

A shot of my first NYC snow fall from the roof

Reverse Culture Shock

During my time in China, I did experience some instances of culture shock (culture stress), but they were pretty few and far between.  The most difficult of these was certainly the language barrier.  I have visited multiple countries where English is not prominent, but these trips were a week or two and spent primarily with other English speakers.  Therefore, spending most of my day alone in China where nearly no one speaks English was quite an adjustment.  However, it is one thing to experience culture shock in a different culture...it's another to experience it in your own.

Upon being picked up from the airport I had a bag of Chick-fil-A placed in my lap (which was weird enough since I was in New York) and was rushed to the bakery of bakeries,  Rockland Bakery in Nanuet, New York.  Now I had heard of this place before and had even read about it on my oldest sister Keri's blog, but seeing is believing.  That place is massive, and coming from a country that doesn't really do bakeries...it was a  shock.

I've seen Asian 10 year olds smaller than this loaf of bread...

Back to the land of refrigerated milk...

and bulk packaging (27 packs of crackers!)

and apples the size of your head covered in chocolate, caramel, and nuts.  (Thanks Thomas and Marge) 

There is even so much food that people in America make it into art work...

The Return

 Sorry to my few readers who have been missing my blog posts the past month.  I have gotten your emails, texts, and Facebook messages requesting more posts and have responded.  I planned to continue blogging upon my return, but have just been living on the road or transitioning from one thing to another since my return.  I have now been in New York City a full week today...but we'll get there.

First, I'll briefly fill you in on what has been going on since my last post in late December.

I flew out of China December 29th and headed for my company debrief in Taipei, Taiwan.  This picture documents my final moment on Chinese soil.

After two days of meetings our group of thirty headed to the Taipei 101 building on New Years Eve to see their big firework show.  A few facts for you, the Taipei 101 building is the second tallest in the world standing at 1,670 feet.  It is over 200 feet taller than the Empire State Building and was the tallest until 2010 when the Burj Khalifa building was finished in Dubai.  That building (which appeared in the new Mission Impossible movie)...is 2,723 feet tall!

Anyways, we joined the millions crowded into the streets to watch one of the most impressive sights I have ever seen!  It literally looked like the building was exploding as fireworks shot off it in every direction.

My time in Taipei was a blast and it was great to see all the friends I had made at training six months earlier and hear about all the Lord had done in and through them during their time in Asia.

I'll conclude this post and my Asia chapter by adding the last few bizarre sightings/signs pictures I took over there.

Some of my devoted followers may remember in my I Love Hong Kong post that I included a picture of a few of my friends at the bottom of the longest escalator/travelator system in the world.  Well, I think I may have also found the shortest escalator in the world portrayed in this picture.  If you notice it is nine, NINE steps tall...REALLY people?  I understand knee problems (I've had five surgeries), but if you can't handle climbing nine steps you might better stay at home.

.....does this sign need an explanation?  Yes!  Do I have one?  No!  It was legitimately BILLBOARD size in one of the airports I flew through...I mean what is being advertised here?  (That isn't rhetorical I would really love to know.)

I can't look at this sign without laughing!  Can you?  This may be my new favorite.  I found it while in Taipei.

After four days of debrief I arrived at Newark Airport the night of January 2nd.  Thank you so much for all of your prayers and willingness to be apart of what the Lord did in my life while abroad.

I hope you will continue to follow along as the Father now uses me in New York City.  There are some good stories to follow.