Life of a Seminarian Family

Having arrived at our apartment late yesterday morning, we are just finishing up our first full day in Toronto.  So far our adventure has entailed the trials of international travels with an eight-month old, a fascinating exploration of the university area of downtown Toronto, chipping away at the daunting task of unpacking three peoples' and eight months' worth of luggage, familiarizing ourselves with Wycliffe College's living spaces, being pleasantly surprised at finding our apartment already semi-furnished with some very workable pieces, a couple of not so pleasantly surprising nervous breakdowns, and a lot of excitement for what is to come.

Toronto is going to be a really fun place to spend a few years.  It seems like every other person is speaking a language other than English.  Daniel was very happy to learn that there are over 50,000 Koreans living in the city.  He fits right in on the streets; in fact he has already been stopped and asked for directions to Chinatown--luckily he had studied his map earlier that day and was able to help!

We have done a lot of walking to the store and back in order to stock our kitchen.  The grocery store is about 1.3 km away.  We have been there and back at least three times since we have gotten here.  Ella has so much fun watching all of the people walking around.  People seem to do a lot of walking; they are very noticeably fit.  The grocery store is nice and not as expensive as we had expected.  We have decided that it is a cross between Fresh and Easy and Whole Foods.  

The only thing that gets in our way on our little treks is the humidity.  We did not pack for such heat!  Even Ella is sweating by the time we get back home.  Luckily, our apartment has a lot of windows that open and allow enough cool air to breeze through and keep our area very comfortable.  We are still trying to figure out how to work our dehumidifier, which also helps keep the room cool.  The dehumidifier does make a pretty loud whirring sound which requires us to speak quite loudly to hear each other.  We hope the other residents don't think we have marital problems!

Our apartment is in a secluded little nook, so we have not met any of the other residents yet.  We are excited for our lunch date tomorrow afternoon with a seminary couple from Fr. Chuck and Bernice's church in Burbank.  The college will also be hosting both a barbecue and a potluck next week.  We look forward to meeting some people.  We know that there is at least one other family with a baby, because its sweet little cries are carried right into the bedroom through the pipes.  

Even with all of the excitement of getting situated, we already miss our Saint James family very much.  We often reflect on how much love we have received from the college group's hard work at their fundraiser on our behalf, the congregation's very generous donations, and the steady flow of prayer and encouragement from which we have benefited.  You make us feel so loved and we hope that you know how much our family loves you and will miss you in the months ahead.  Please keep us updated with the developments in your lives as we attempt to regularly inform you of what is going on in ours.  We will see you next summer!