My mistake - I had thought it was being shipped from Germany. Yes I have used DHL in the past and have been vey satisfied with it.
In any event, it does not appear to be DHL - and unfortunately, I have no tracking information, Xavier told me the ship date (12/19) after I had queried him, but provided no further info. I would not be surprised if it were indeed due to USPS speed. It was shipped standard, if that is the same as parcel post then that would explain it, as PP can be excruciatingly slow. I will say that he did state in the FAQs sections that shipments to the US could take 1 to 3 weeks, and I am not quite at the 3 week point... yet.