Our Home in the East

Funny Friday: When you need something just a little bit stronger...

2012-02-03T18:38:00.000+08:00

...give this local cough medicine a try:

A little closer...

"Liquid Brown Mixture (With Opium)"

That's some strong medicine right there.

This was prescribed for our 4-year-old son when he had the flu a couple weeks ago.

Yeah...I elected not to give it to him after taking a closer look at the bottle after we got home.

What do you do when the sun comes out in Taiwan?

2012-01-31T10:17:00.002+08:00

You rush outside to enjoy every last second of it.

Lucas played hooky from school on that rare sunny day so he could soak up some rays. We decided a dose of Vitamin D was in order.

Cliffs at Long Dong...one of our favorite places.

Climbing the steps in Mordor...I mean, to the beach.

Fisherman enjoying a rare sunny morning.

One of the beautiful fish they caught while we were there. This one went straight into a portable tank to be sold at a nearby fish market.

It's 2012, but this picture could have been taken decades or even centuries ago. Not much has changed.

Walking back along the rocky coast to climb the stairs up the cliff face again.

Sea and stone.

Climbing the steep steps leading back to the land of rain and clouds.

Lucas, double-oh-penguin

2012-01-29T13:48:00.003+08:00

Recently Lucas has really gotten into spy games with his brother. He loves sneaking around and spying on his family members, then running off giggling to report whatever he has observed to another family member. He's even decided that he's going to be a spy when he grows up (in addition to--not instead of--his previous career choices: airplane captain and rock star). But not just any spy. No, he's going to be a spy penguin. That way he can slide across surfaces quickly, dive under water, and, well, do whatever else penguins can do well. He's even taken to walking like a penguin at times and speaking "penguin" (which, according to him, sounds like "squaggle squaggle").

This afternoon he merged his loves of penguins, espionage, and rock music and composed a series of songs about being a spy penguin. He called us into his bedroom to listen to his performance. Before he started, he said, "We need to pray first."

"Okay," I said, bowing my head.

"Mom. No," he said, waving his hands around casually. "It's just a fake prayer." Then he proceeded, "Dear Jesus, help me to sing my spy penguin songs well. Amen."

"Okay," he continued as we all tried not to laugh, "you all need to sit nicely on my bed." We did. "And you need to clap for me." We obliged. "And Mom? You're gonna want to get the camera for this."

After I stopped laughing, I prodded him to just sing already, and he finally started singing...

Oh I want to be a penguin spy!
Oh I want to be a penguin spy!
Oh I want to be a penguin spy!
Oh yeah...uh huh...oh yeah...uh huh...oh yeah.

And if I see a dinosaur I will shoot it!
And if I see a dinosaur from my plane, I will shoot it!
And if I see a dinosaur I will shoot it!
Oh yeah...squaggle squaggle...oh YEAH!

All of this was sung at the top of his lungs while hanging from his bunk bed by one hand with the other arm outstretched in dramatic fashion.

I wish I'd had the camera out.

He tried to warn me.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-21T21:25:00.000+08:00

Goodbye, Year of the Rabbit!

Hello, Year of the Dragon!

Image credit here.

新年快樂!

"The Face of Free China"

2012-01-07T17:05:00.002+08:00

Mike found this amazing CIA Film Library video about Taiwan the other day. It's from the days when Taiwan was considered by the US and most other countries to be the "real" China, and the government here to be the "real" Chinese government (in exile, with hopes of returning to the Mainland someday).

The video is almost 30 minutes long, but if you have an interest in Taiwan, it's well worth the watch. It covers daily life, industry, education, religion, and infrastructure in Taiwan in the 1960s, and is full of amazing shots from around the island half a century ago. We especially enjoyed watching the bits filmed in Taipei--it's hard to believe that the huge, modern, bustling city we live in today and the dusty, laid-back town seen on the video are the same place, yet we did see many landmarks that we recognized (including a round-about with an old city gate in the middle that we drive through every week). The views in the city sure were different back then without all of the huge buildings.

Transport yourself to the Taiwan of 1960 and enjoy!

Taiwan: The Face of Free China, 1960 from SE14 on Vimeo.

You Know It's Winter in Taipei When...

2012-01-04T14:00:00.000+08:00

Photo credit

1. Your balcony plants are so wet all the time they start to mold.

2. The sun comes out for 5 minutes and everyone rushes to post about it on Facebook.

3. You overhear your children commenting "What a nice day it is!" when it's merely darkly overcast instead of pouring down rain.

4. You wistfully look back on November as "that time when we saw the sun for 2 straight hours one day."

5. Your concrete-box apartment has cooled to a balmy 287 degrees Kelvin.

6. You start converting temperatures into Kelvin in an attempt to fool yourself that it's warmer than it feels.

7. The tile floors in your flat are roughly the same temperature as, say, the Arctic.

8. When you finally manage, through a combination of space heaters, towels under doors, and dehumidifiers, to bring the temperature in your living room up to 17 degrees C, you feel a ridiculous sense of accomplishment.

9. Your shoes start growing fuzzy green sweaters in an attempt to stay warm.

10. You start measuring the rain accumulation for the month in feet rather than inches.

11. You have to stop using the phrase "Save it for a rainy day" because it has lost all of its meaning.

12. The neighborhood car wash starts handing out sun-checks.

13. A vacation in the Sahara begins to sound positively delightful.

14. You start counting days of consecutive rain and mist in days...then weeks...then months as time passes.

15. If you stand still too long you start growing moss on your north-facing side.

Baby Boss

2011-12-29T17:00:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, I took Aidan and met up with several of his friends at Baby Boss, a sort of indoor career-themed theme park for young children. There are a couple dozen areas where children can try out all kinds of different careers ranging from soy sauce maker to video game designer to talk show host to hotel manager to archaeologist. They earn Baby Bucks for each job they perform and can trade in their hard-earned cash for toys or food at the end of the day. The boys had a lot of fun!

Baby Boss is located in the Core Pacific City Mall (also known as the Living Mall). It's a weird place--the mall is built around an 11-story granite sphere.

Amazing Race fans might recognize Core Pacific City from the last season (season 19)--the bungee jump challenge that Kaylani and Lisa completed on the Taipei leg was located here!

The ceiling of the mall, which is built around the HUGE (11-stories!!) granite sphere on the left. The catwalk to the bungee jump area is at the top.

If you look closely at the pic above, you can see a bunch of balloons dangling from the catwalk--that's the jumping off point.

Aidan's favorite "job" by far was being an airline pilot for TransAsia Airlines. The kids changed into their pilot uniforms and received a short lesson on how to be a pilot. Then it was onto the plane below and off they went.

Boarding the jet.

Inside the cockpit. Aidan's on the bottom left, receiving instructions from one of the adult pilots.

Flight's over!

Three proud TransAsia pilots. (And yes, they are wearing hairnets under their captain's hats. They are all about the hygiene at Baby Boss.)

Another fun job was learning how to be a crane operator.

Learning hand signals from the professional crane operator.

Moving boxes off the dock.

He also really loved being a Dunkin Donuts employee (mostly because they got to eat the donuts they decorated).

Looking through the windows of the Dunkin Donuts shop.

Listening to instructions.

Learning the history of Dunkin Donuts so they can be informed employees.

Decorating their donuts.

Sneaking a little taste under his face mask.

Bagged up and ready to go!

Aidan thought the coolest job was being a security transport guard. They learned how to safely move money from the vault to the bank and back.

Taking the money from the vault to the security van.

Inside the van and ready to go!

Driving off to the bank.

The guards showing how tough they are.

Unloading the money at the bank.

Transferring the goods to the bank's vault.

It's an interesting place to go on, especially on a rainy day, although I would avoid it on a weekend or holiday because it would quickly become crazy crowded. It's all in Chinese, so younger kids without Chinese skills mightn't find it as fun, but our kids were able to manage and enjoy the experience, even with their very basic Chinese skills. Parents should bring a book, as you spend a lot of time waiting for your child during each 30-40 minute activity. :)

Christmas in Taipei

2011-12-26T12:22:00.000+08:00

A (totally weird!) Christmas tree (with legs sticking out of it!) in the shadow of Taipei 101.

We had a lovely, fairly low-key Christmas Day here in Taiwan. We started the day by heading to church for the Christmas service. At first, the boys weren't too sure about starting Christmas morning with church instead of unwrapping presents first thing (we had to leave by 7:30, so we saved the presents until the afternoon), but I really loved it. I loved celebrating Jesus's birthday first thing in the morning with our church family here, and it reminded us all that Christmas is not about the tree and gifts--it's about the greatest Gift man has ever received. We all enjoyed the time of carols and reflection on Christ's birth, and the boys were excited about the birthday cake for Jesus after the service.

We came home, ate a quick lunch, and finally let the boys open their gifts.

New fleece pajamas from Aunt Erin and Uncle Michael.

Aidan's favorite gift: Pharoah's Quest Legos from Mimi and Pop.

Lucas with his favorite gift: Space shuttle Legos from Mimi and Pop.

Mike was happy about the gift below: an original (1966) English printing of Mao's Little Red Book that the boys and I found in an antique store in Hong Kong. He's a history buff and was excited to have a little piece of modern Chinese history in his hands.

We spent the rest of the day playing with new toys, reading new books, drinking apple cider and eating Christmas cookies. That evening, we got together for a Christmas feast with our next-door neighbors and some other friends. After dinner, we finished our Advent readings, sang some Christmas carols, and lit our luminarias one last time. I'm thankful that no matter where we are, the joy of Christmas is still the same.

Christmas in the sub-tropics = palm trees wrapped with Christmas lights.

Merry Christmas from Taipei!

Christmas in Hong Kong

2011-12-25T15:12:00.001+08:00

Last week, Aidan and Lucas had to go to Hong Kong to see their speech therapist. Aidan has been making good progress and has moved on to some new exercises that will strengthen his jaw muscles (they are a little underdeveloped, which is contributing to some of his pronunciation issues). We found out that Lucas has quite a few speech issues (articulation issues only--he has very good language development for his age), and we will be working on those in the coming months. We're very thankful that we are able to get the medical care we need, even if it means taking a short plane ride to another country.

Between appointments and therapy sessions we got to enjoy the Christmas season in Hong Kong. Christmas in Hong Kong is pretty spectacular, with amazing light displays, trees, and performances all over the city. The first day, we took the subway...

...down to Central to check out the Christmas displays.

A and L in Statue Square in front of the huge Tiffany's tree.

More trees and giant gifts framing HK's skyscrapers.

When it got dark, we took the ferry from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui so we could check out the lights from Central from the other side of the harbor.

A and L in front of HK's iconic skyline.

A closer shot of some of the Christmas displays on the skyscrapers of HK Island.

A dragon wishing us Season's Greetings.

We then walked along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront for a bit, taking in the lights at the various hotels and malls on the harbor.

A huge display of toys and lights at Ocean Terminal Mall.

The beautiful hanging lights at the Peninsula Hotel.

One of Aidan and Lucas's Christmas gifts was a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland between appointments. The boys were super excited because a new area--Toy Story Land--had just opened a few weeks before.

They also enjoyed all of the more traditional Disneyland attractions...

Lucas trying his hand at the Sword in the Stone.

Teacups...

At Snow White's Wishing Well.

The highlight for them was the Christmas parade each day. They loved the dancing toys and gingerbread men, and they especially enjoyed the SNOW that fell during the parade!

Snow during the Christmas parade on Main Street Disney.

This photo is a bit blurry, but I love Lucas's face in this shot!

Trying to catch the snow.

Twin Christmas babies enjoying the parade.

Night and more snow fall on Main Street.

One last shot with Mickey and Minnie before heading home.

At the musical fountain on the way out of the park.

After 4 days of hard work and fun, it was time to fly back to Taipei, just in time to spend Christmas with Daddy and Noah.

Watching planes take off as the sun sets at Hong Kong airport.

A Real Conversation: Going Postal

2011-12-19T11:16:00.000+08:00

The other day I (finally!) went to the post office to mail our Christmas cards. I meant to do it earlier, but honestly just couldn't psyche myself up to drag the kids to the post office in the pouring rain we've had for days (and days, and days). I finally just did it (in the pouring rain, with a child attached to me, but I digress) so that they have some hope of arriving before Valentine's Day. After pulling a number and waiting my turn, I had this conversation with the postal worker behind the counter.

Postal Worker: Hello!
Me: Hello! I need to mail these cards (handing her a pile) to America, and these (handing her another pile) to New Zealand, and this one (handing her one) to Ireland.
PW: Where?
Me, wondering if I said it wrong: Ireland?
PW: Ireland? Is that the same as England?
Me: No, it's...uh...Ireland?
PW, turning to a co-worker: Is Ireland the same as England?
Co-worker: Yes, it's the same.
Me: No, it's not the same. They're next to each other (indicating with my hands as best I can), but they are definitely different places.
PW, looking confused while holding the card: I think I can just send this to England...
Me: No, they are different places!
PW, finally acquiescing: Okay, you say they are different places. But...Ireland is really far away.

I nod, wondering where this is going...

PW: So, it will take a long time to get there. Maybe 6 months.
Me, thinking I misunderstood: Uh, 6 MONTHS?!
PW: Yes, about 6 months.
Me: Well, I want to send it by airplane!
PW: Still, about 6 months. You know, Chinese New Year is coming, so the mail there is slow.
Me, really confused about how Chinese New Year (which is still well over a month away) is going to affect mail to Ireland: Um, really?
PW: Well...(she taps something into her computer)...I guess maybe shorter. Like in January. But definitely after January 1st.
Me, wondering how the mail just got 6 months faster: Well, that's okay.

We finish the transaction somehow (apparently mailing cards to the US and New Zealand is much more straight-forward), but as I leave, I see her turning the card to Ireland over in her hand as she puzzled over it.

Seth and Jen, if you don't get a card from us by June, it's probably lost in a post office somewhere in England. :)

Ho ho ho

2011-12-18T05:22:00.000+08:00

The boys and I had fun in the kitchen the other day, making and putting together gifts for Aidan's teachers. We had decided to make a white chocolate party mix, but after seeing this recipe on Pinterest (my new love), I decided to make the party mix a little more special by making Santa hats to go in it!

It turned out so cute. It was a little time consuming, but it was worth it. The boys had a blast putting it together (and eating it along the way).

Secondary Christmas Concert

2011-12-17T03:00:00.000+08:00

Two weeks ago, Aidan sang in the elementary Christmas concert, and last week, he got to be part of the secondary Christmas concert! He played violin with the "big kids" and was so proud of himself. We were proud of him too. He worked really hard this semester to get Pachelbel's Canon in D down so he could be part of the secondary orchestra for this concert, and he did a great job. All of the kids did! There were SIX second graders this year (out of only 23 second graders!) who got to play with the secondary orchestra, which I think is totally amazing. They did great, and the older kids did too. It's hard for me to believe that the oldest child out there was only about 14, because they were really all so talented and sounded beautiful.

Tuning his instrument before the concert.

Warming up.

One last practice. How cute is Aidan's classmate Sandi with her little cello?!

Aidan and his buddy Joseph hanging out before the concert.

A and J.

Getting a little silly while waiting for things to get started.

And sillier (the other kids behind him are all fellow second grade violinists).

Getting a little more serious as he decides to practice a tricky bit one more time.

Feeling a little nervous...

Bows up!

Lucas and I waiting for the music.

Intro to Pachelbel's Canon:

Great job, Aidan!

Funny Friday: Bath Guidelines

2011-12-16T06:33:00.000+08:00

Mike snapped this photo at a hotel in a nearby country a few weeks ago:

Oddly, this sign was posted in the lobby of the hotel (not in the bathrooms).

Apparently:

a. This hotel has had issues with guests with dysentery, typhoid, viral hepatitis, active tuberculosis, epidemic diseases, skin diseases, trachoma, suppurative (?) disease, otitis, venereal disease, and infectious diseases using and contaminating their bath facilities.
b. This hotel believes that psychosis is a communicable disease and that it can be transmitted through dirty bath facilities.
c. This hotel doesn't clean their bath facilities, and instead relies upon its guests to determine whether or not they are "clean" enough to use the bath.
d. This hotel has not thought of the...um...welcoming effect this sign has upon its guests, and the impression it gives of the cleanliness of its bathrooms.

P.S. I love that, after giving a terrifying list of possibly deadly diseases which may or may not be transmitted through their baths, the hotel signs off with a cheery "Have a nice experience!" :)

Funny Friday: Poo Zoo, Redux

2011-12-09T03:00:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday was a gorgeous, cool, DRY day. Mike was still out of town, so I took the 3 boys to the zoo for the day.

We had lots of fun checking out the animals, including Aidan's favorite: Sad Monkey. Sad Monkey has lived in a cage by himself ever since we moved here over 3 years ago. He truly does have the saddest face and looks really lonely in his enclosure, and Aidan views it as his personal responsibility to pay a visit to Sad Monkey and check on him every time we go.

I saw a few monkeys of my own.

The other main attraction of the zoo (other than the animals, of course), is the poo. If you've read past blog posts, you know that the Taipei Zoo has an odd fascination with poo.

As the sign says, the Taipei Zoo is "All about Feces."

There are poo signs like the one above everywhere, poo displays, models of poo, etc., etc. The boys always get a huge kick out of it.

We were excited to see the return of the poo wall! It was under renovation last time we were there, but there it was again, looking all fresh (?) and colorful.

The boys also took heed of this sign...

...and climbed into the giant poo replica to "see what a maggot's life is like," as the signs suggests.

There were a few new poo signs around (including a couple that were just too gross to post!).

Above, that's a local-style squattie potty (with a computer display?) with a cartoon poo in it listening to music...yeah...don't get it.

There also seemed to be a new mascot...

Super Poo!

But, even Super Poo sometimes has to, well, you know...

I am very confused by the above image.

You can all see why we're regular visitors to the Taipei Zoo. (Pun intended.)

Aidan's Christmas Concert

2011-12-04T14:16:00.001+08:00

A post for the grandparents. :)

Aidan had his school Christmas concert last week. The kids did a great job singing and looked so cute in their costumes.

The second grade dressed as lambs.

Second grade all ready to go! (Aidan's on the upper right side.)

They sang so loudly! The top of Aidan's head is visible in this video on the upper right hand side. :)

Lucas watching intently.

The kindergarten were dressed as Christmas trees and did a cool black-light/neon effect.

All of the elementary classes singing together.

After the concert hanging out with buddies.

It was a great start to the Christmas season!

Erin's wedding

2011-12-02T14:30:00.000+08:00

It was a busy, busy November. Mike and I were in the same city for about a week ALL MONTH! He's been traveling a lot (he's still gone!), and of course, I went back to the US for Erin's wedding.

I am so thankful I got to go. When I found out that she and Michael were getting married only 3 months after our last trip to Texas (for Jamie's wedding), I thought there was no way I would be able to attend. But my sweet parents decided to make it happen, and it was a really special week.

There was lots of fun sister time involved...

Being silly with Jamie (our default mode together) at World Market.

Doing nails with the bride-to-be.

At Erin and Michael's rehearsal dinner.

Jamie with her pet snake (or something) at the salon on wedding day.

I don't know why, but she didn't let the stylist leave her hair like this for the ceremony...

Sissies at the reception.

Teaching Jamie's third grade class about Taiwan.

...time with old friends...

Roswell girls! Mom, Erin, and Jamie with Tara and Lauren, old friends from New Mexico.

...and family...

With Mike's parents at the reception.

My Mom and incredibly young-looking grandmother.

Jamie and Blue--married for 3 months now!

...and, of course, the main event: the wedding!

Gorgeous bride showing off our grandmother's brooch on her bouquet.

Vogue bride.

They hadn't seen each other yet...

First look!

Ready to get married.

The bride and groom with our parents.

Mom with all of her daughters.

Whole bridal party.

The wedding was beautiful, the time with family was sweet, the weather was gorgeous (fall! colored leaves! seeing my breath on cold mornings! actually needing a coat!). So glad I got to go! Congrats again, Erin and Michael!

Lucas-isms

2011-11-11T10:09:00.000+08:00

After dinner with some friends for his birthday, the waitress brought Lucas a giant brownie with 2 scoops of ice cream for a birthday treat. He ate a large portion of it, and then I told him he'd had enough sugar for one night. He replied, "That's right, if you eat too much, you'll get fat. Like you," he said, turning to our next door neighbor, Jim. He poked Jim in the stomach and continued, "You are fat because you ate too much."
Yeah. I almost died of embarrassment. (Jim, if you're reading this...sorry again!)

While watching the Rangers beat the Cardinals one morning, Lucas exclaimed, "Mommy! Are the Rangers going to win the World SERIOUS?!"

The other day I mentioned to Lucas that he will be getting a couple of vaccines at his next check-up. He replied, "I have to get a shot? Is that so I won't get mumps and weasles?"

Oveheard: "Aidan, do you know what happened to that bird in the movie? He got electro-tooted!"

Kai threw up his breakfast this morning, and Lucas immediately ran over to his chair, knelt on it facing away from me, and prayed quietly, "God, please help Kai not to throw up any more."
"Lucas," I said as I cleaned the floor, "are you praying for Kai?"
"No, I'm not praying," Lucas replied. His eyes lit up as he added, "I'm talking to God in real life!"
I will remember that for a long time, and I hope I always think about praying in that way--not sending up requests to a far-away, unseen God, but to God in real life.

Fall Fun

2011-11-03T17:13:00.003+08:00

Last week Aidan's school held its annual Storybook parade. It's always so fun to see the kids dressed up in their costumes. There were a couple of super creative ones this year: one boy was even dressed as a quadratic equation (a character from his algebra textbook). Hilarious!

Some of the younger siblings came along for the fun as well. I caught this group of lovely princesses (Belle, a couple of Cinderellas, and Sleeping Beauty) reading up on their fairy tales before the parade started.

Aidan's class up on stage. Aidan is Robin Hood, third from the left.

Aidan with Moses, a martial artist, and Jasmine (also known as his table mates) in front of their classroom door.

A few days later, they all got a chance to dress up again when we held a fall festival for the children in our building. As you can see below, Spiderman was a popular costume choice (Aidan's the middle left, then Lucas, then their friend Caleb). Indiana Jones (left) made an appearance as well. (Kai was a baby dragon, and he was adorable. You will just have to take my word for it since I can't show you!)

We did all the traditional activities, like bobbing for apples. I ran into our Taiwanese neighbor's son in the elevator on the way down and told him we were having a fall party and he was welcome to come join us. He asked me, "Are you going to be doing that thing where you pick apples out of water with your mouth?" I laughed and said, "Bobbing for apples? Yes!" He turned to his mom and said with wonder, "Wow! It's just like in the stories!" Haha.

This Spiderman was able to snag an apple, despite missing a large number of teeth.

Even the princesses gave it a try.

The littlest Spiderman was a big fan of the cookie

decorating.

Eating huge quantities of sugar was also on his agenda for the afternoon.

The kids also enjoyed listening to a pumpkin story read by Miss Bethany while Miss Leah carved up a special, very-hard-to-find-in-Taiwan pumpkin.

The kids had a blast!

Hiatus

2011-11-01T14:00:00.001+08:00

You may have noticed that my blogging has majorly slowed down lately. If you know what's been going on at our home, you can probably guess why!

1. Kai is with us full time now!
This is a huge blessing and we really LOVE having him here all the time. He has made a great transition to being in our home all the time, and we've loved seeing him blossom and grow and change on a daily basis (he's become a walking, talking toddler over the past few weeks). But, of course, it means that what little free time I had during the day is (happily) booked pretty solid these days.

2. Mike's travel schedule has been super crazy lately.
He was gone several days in September, almost half of October, and will be gone about half of November (with more travels coming up in January, February, etc.). When Mike is away, I go into survival mode caring for the three boys, and things like blogging (and exercising, and sleeping, and eating meals at normal hours...) just don't get done.

3. I have recently taken on a new writing project for our company.
I love doing it, and am so thankful for an opportunity to write and to contribute to a project I care deeply about. But, it means that afternoon naptimes (those rare occasions when both Kai and Lucas miraculously are sleeping simultaneously!) are reserved for doing research and tapping out text.

4. Aidan is in speech therapy.
With an in-home "therapist." Me. :) He was recently evaluated by a speech therapist who recommended daily therapy for a couple of speech issues. Since there are no native English-speaking therapists near us, the therapist in Hong Kong taught me how to do his daily articulation exercises. We're spending close to an hour a day on this, on top of violin practice, homework, dinner, etc. I'm hopeful this will be a short-term thing as it makes evenings a little more stressful, especially when Mike's gone and I'm balancing all of that with meeting Kai and Lucas's needs. It's going well so far and Aidan is really working hard at it.

I hope to be back to more frequent posting in the near future. But if you don't see me around here much, you'll know why.

Child Psychology 101

2011-10-20T22:04:00.000+08:00

Lucas, Kai, and I were eating lunch together today when Lucas dropped a raisin on the floor. After stooping down under the table to look for it, he popped up and said, "It's not there!"

Me, "You can't find it? Maybe a little mouse ran by and scooped it up!"
Lucas, "It wasn't a mouse. It was a RAT!"
Me, "Really? We have a rat in the house?"
Lucas, "Yep!"

A series of questions followed, through which Lucas informed me that the rat was red, very small, lived under the couch, and was named Sheriff.

Then Lucas said, "Yes, he lives here in our house because his mommy and daddy went away to America and left him all by himself in Taiwan."
Thinking that this might be his way of processing Kai's situation (which he's been asking a lot of questions about), I said, "I'm sure his mommy and daddy love and miss him very much."
Lucas replied, "Yes. But they will never come and see him again. Ever." He dropped his head down.
"Poor Sheriff," I said. "I'm glad that he has you to help take care of him."
Lucas perked up a little. "Yes, he can be my pet!"

I thought our little imaginary story had come to an end, but I heard Lucas talking to himself a little bit (I was cleaning up from lunch), and a little while later, Lucas exclaimed, "Sheriff's mommy and daddy are here! They decided they want him after all! He's going back to America with them!"
"Oh!" I replied. "Did you say goodbye to him before he leaves?"
"Yes, I did," Lucas said. Then his eyes filled with tears, "But I'm really going to miss him when he goes to America." His chin started to quiver.
"Lucas," I said, walking over to him, "Sheriff's just pretend, remember?"
Lucas suddenly burst into tears, "I miss my daddy!" he wailed. "I want him to come back from America right now! I don't think he's ever coming back to me in Taiwan!"

Ah. So that's what that was about.

I finally got him calmed down and reassured of his daddy's love and promised return (he's been in the US for several days, and returns next week). Isn't it fascinating how small children process and express their emotions? And it all started out with a dropped raisin and a seemingly silly story about a rat.

Lucas's birthday interview

2011-10-17T04:24:00.000+08:00

Lucas, how old are you today? Four!
How does it feel to be 4? Bad.
BAD?! Why!? Because I really like to be three.
I think you will like being four, don't you? I'd rather just be five. And then stay five. Forever.
What do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned in life so far? How to exercise.
How do you think you’re different from a year ago? I'm sillier. I can make you laugh. Hahaha!
What’s your favorite thing about having a birthday? Getting measured on the wall.
What are your nicknames? Luke Skywalker and Applejuice Head.
What do you think of your school? It's good. I like doing exercises.
Who’s your best friend? Zach. (Side note: Zach is about twenty years old.)
What do you like learning about? Lions.
What's your favorite Bible story? About Jesus. (Safe answer, buddy.)
Who's your favorite person in the Bible? God. (And another!)
What do you want to be when you grow up? A racecar driver and a motorcycle racer.
Tell me about our family. God, Daddy, and Mommy. Oh, and Aidan, and me, and Kai.
What do you like about having a brother? Um, I don't like throwing stuff at him? And because I like to snuggle with him.
What is something Mommy always says to you? I love you.
And Daddy? Good night.
What is your favorite toy? Francesco (from Cars 2)
What is your favorite place to go? The museum.
What do you love to do? Play games, like Ice Breaker.
What's your favorite book? Cars.
What would be the best thing someone could give you? Presents!! Trains!!
If you had a whole day to do anything you wanted, what would you do? Watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Do you think you’ll ever get married? No!
How old do you think you’ll be if you do get married? I don't know. Seven?
What’s your favorite food? Airplane food. (Uh, REALLY?!)
Anything you’re scared of? (small voice) Monsters.
What makes you happy? You. (Be still, my heart!)
Anything else you’d like to say? I love you.
Can you think of any questions I should have asked but didn’t? Yes, you should have asked me about cars.
Anything else? No. I mean yes, m'am. I mean no.

Thanks for the interview, Lucas!

You're welcome!

See you here again next year when you finally get to be five.

Huh?

Never mind.

(Sigh) I need some rest now.

Happy birthday, Lucas!

Hong Kong with Aidan

2011-10-15T08:15:00.000+08:00

Aidan had to see a speech therapist in Hong Kong this week (for lisping related to his previous tongue-tie issues), and we got to enjoy some fun Mommy-Son time in one of our favorite cities between appointments.

We hit up the harbor and rode the Star Ferry our first day...

...indulged in self-portraiture on the Hong Kong Island tram...

...and later rode the Mickey train to Hong Kong Disneyland...

...with this guy and his little friend.

We spent two days at Hong Kong Disneyland (while waiting for the therapist to develop her treatment plan for Aidan after his evaluation), and usually it was just the 2 of us enjoying the park on our own.

The rainy weather meant that we didn't have to wait in a single line, so we had plenty of time to ride all of our favorite rides, practice driving skills...

...work on our Tarzan moves...

...hang out on enchanted toadstools...

...and meet up with some cool people...er...creatures...er...celebrities.

(Notice Pluto's Chinese outfit?)

We capped off each day by being appropriately awed by the incredible 5th Anniversary fireworks over Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

I had a great time with my biggest little boy--I don't think we've had so much concentrated time together since Lucas was born. We had so much fun, and I caught a glimpse of the young man Aidan is already starting to become. He's starting to leave the total innocence of early childhood behind now: he wanted to believe that Goofy and Pooh and Pluto are real, that Tarzan is a true story, and that Sleeping Beauty really lives in the castle, but deep down he knows it was all a facade, that it's all pretend. He's growing up so quickly, and I just want to snatch up and enjoy these last little bits of make-believe and fantasy before he decides he's too old to even pretend to believe it anymore. Aidan is reaching the edge of the 100-Acre Wood and will soon leave Pooh Corner for good, bound for big, real adventures. But I treasure these times with my big boy who still has a tiny bit of little boy left in him.

Traveling again

2011-10-08T23:10:00.001+08:00

I get to go here tomorrow!

Aidan and I are headed to Hong Kong bright and early tomorrow morning (he needs to see a speech therapist there while he's on fall break). Super excited to be headed back to one of my favorite cities, and I'm looking forward to the one-on-one time with my biggest little.

Be back in a few days!

Miscommunication

2011-10-04T13:48:00.000+08:00

I recently took Kai to the doctor because he had a cold, and had a funny little conversation with the doctor.

Doctor (after taking his height measurement): You know, he's a little short for his age.
Me: Yes, we know. We hope he'll grow more!
Doctor: Well, what about his father? Is he tall?
Me: Well, I don't really know.
Doctor: What? You don't know? Well, if you had to guess, how many centimeters is he?
Me: Sorry, but I'm not sure.
Doctor and nurse together, giggling: Huh? How can you not know?
Doctor: Well, is he taller than you?
Me: Sorry, but I really don't know. I don't really know him.
Doctor: Don't KNOW him? You mean, you don't see him much?
Me: No, I mean, I don't KNOW him.
Doctor and nurse: WHAT?!
Doctor: What do you mean, you don't know his father?
Me: Well, I don't know who he is...
Doctor: You don't know who the FATHER of your own CHILD is?!

And then it slowly dawned on me...she thought Kai was my biological son. And that I had had him with a total stranger whose name I couldn't remember. And that I was just totally nonchalant about the whole thing.

Me: Oh, wait, I didn't give birth to him myself!

Doctor and nurse start to laugh uncontrollably.

Doctor (who is about 60 and was clearly scandalized by my brazen immorality): Well, that's good. I was very worried that you didn't know who the father of your own baby is! I'm relieved now!

Funny Friday: Potty Talk

2011-09-30T17:23:00.001+08:00

We discovered these delightful signs in the bathroom of one of our favorite restaurants the other night.

View.

Laugh.

Repeat.

This concept? More confusing than you might think to many people. In a land of squatty potties (which you do stand on), this sign is here for a reason.

A lot of restrooms here have similar signs. Generally, you can't flush anything (including toilet paper) down the public toilets here. But I've never seen such an exhaustive list of prohibited items.
I guess I'll have to find a new place to flush my toothbrushes, combs, pencils, and pens.

And just in case the previous sign wasn't totally clear...

There is also another, more graphic sign detailing exactly how to clean and then use the toilets (with drawings). I decided to leave that one off for decency's sake!

(As an aside, I'm realizing that I do a lot of posts that have to do with toilets/toilet humor. Apparently I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy.)

Lucas-isms

2011-09-29T08:07:00.000+08:00

Lucas: Mommy, can we bring a snack? Please?

Mommy: You just had lunch! We don't need to bring a snack.

Lucas: But, Mommy, we NEED to! That way, if the food that's from lunch that's in my tummy leaves and goes (indicating with his hands on his abdomen) down...down...down...and then turns to poo, then I can have some food to fill it back up again. (Switching to Cookie Monster voice.) And then what will my empty tummy need? COOKIES!!

Two of Lucas's favorite songs are "Lord, Rain on Me" (Lord, Reign in Me) and "It's So Exciting to Follow Jesus" (I Have Decided to Follow Jesus).

Lucas calls toenails "feetnails," as in, "Mommy, my feetnails are getting long!"

Every time I call Lucas my sweet little boy, he replies, "And you're my sweet little gwuhl (girl)."

I told Lucas the other night that his Aunt Erin is getting married. "But WHY?!" he asked. "Because she and Michael love each other and they're old enough to get married," I said (keeping it simple for the preschool crowd!). His eyes got big. "You mean they're really old? Like, they're going to DIE?! And they want to get married first before they die?!" Um...no. Not what I meant, silly boy.

Spotted...

2011-09-20T12:59:00.001+08:00

...at a mall in Kaohsiung (a city in Southern Taiwan).

The New Girl in Town

2011-09-14T07:51:00.005+08:00

Mike: So, Aidan has to tell you something.

Morgan: What, Aidan?

Aidan: No! I don't want anyone to know!

Morgan: Aidan, what is it?

(A little guessing goes on, and then finally...)

Aidan: I have a girlfriend.

Morgan: Uh, really?! Who?!

Aidan: Jillian.

Morgan: Jillian? Is she the new girl?

Aidan: Yes, her first day was today.

Morgan: So...what does it mean when you say she's your girlfriend? Did you ask her to be?

Aidan: No.

Morgan: Well, did she ask you to be her boyfriend?

Aidan: No.

Morgan: Did you talk to her today at school at all?

Aidan: Yes, of course!...Well...I said hi.

Morgan: Well, then how is she your girlfriend?

Aidan: Oh, I just decided she was.

Morgan: Uh...did you tell her?

Aidan: NO!...(long pause)...Do I have to tell her?

(A little while later...)

Morgan: So, why do you want Jillian to be your girlfriend?

Aidan: I don't know. I just think she's nice.

Morgan: Is she American? Taiwanese?

Aidan: I don't know. She speaks English really well. (I love that--still not much concept of race at all!)

Morgan: Is she cute?
Aidan, burying his face in the pillows: Um, Mom, I don't feel totally comfortable talking about that.

__________________________________________________________

This morning, I thought he had forgotten all about it, but then he insisted on wearing his nicest collared shirt to school. Normally he refuses to wear anything but t-shirts and soccer jerseys. Hmmm....

Mid-Autumn Festival

2011-09-13T11:16:00.011+08:00

The boys were off school for the Mid-Autumn Festival yesterday. Despite its misleading name, the Mid-Autumn Festival isn't in the middle of autumn--in fact, this year it was not during the fall at all, but in the summer! It's a popular holiday determined by the lunar calendar (the 15th day of the 8th lunar month) and is an important festival in Chinese culture. Traditionally a harvest moon festival, it's now a time for families to spent time together.

Common activities associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival are moon-gazing (as the holiday falls on a full moon), barbecuing, eating mooncakes (a sweet or savory pastry often filled with bean paste),

eating youzi (a giant, grapefruit-like citrus fruit in season at this time of year),

and making hats out of the thick youzi peels.

(Photo credits here, here, and here.)

The boys and I moon gazed the night before the festival because, although the moon was just shy of complete fullness, the forecast for the night of the festival called for clouds. We went to the roof of our building and enjoyed the incredible brightness of the rising moon and, as is traditional, thought about loved ones far away from us who were also looking at the same moon. (Anyone else humming "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail? No? Just me?)

The day of the festival we met up with some friends and headed to a new-to-us beach on the northern tip of the island.

Nearby Baishawan (a very popular beach near Taipei) was packed with crowds, but Kite Beach (bigger, cleaner, more stuff to explore) was nearly deserted. The boys spent a delightful few hours swimming, collecting shells, building sand castles, and making a pile of dead puffer fish. (Ew.)

Aidan loved body surfing the waves (which were pretty big for Taiwan that day).

Paddling out to catch a wave...

Turning in time to jump on...

Riding in to shore...

Super proud.

There were some really neat rocks that were uncovered as the tide went out.

Aidan and Lucas and their friend Justin had fun hopping from rock to rock and checking out what was hiding between them.

"Let's go look at those rocks over there, mama."

In order to do the outing as the locals would, we should have stayed at the beach in the evening and barbecued as we watched the moon over the water, but we knew traffic would be crazy and it was a school night, after all.

Happy Mid-Autumn (or rather, Beginning-of-Autumn) Festival, everyone!

What is it #5--Answer

2011-09-12T19:50:00.002+08:00

Wow, I loved the guesses on this last one! Some of them were: a mummy, a paralytic, a burn victim, Zebraman, zombies, Egyptians, someone headed to an insane asylum (in a straight-jacket, I'm guessing?).

So, this...

...is meant to represent this.

Way to go, Seth and Kristie, for guessing correctly! Yes, the image is that of a Buddhist monk. About 95% of Thais are Buddhist, and monks in Thailand are very highly respected. In addition to special, reserved seats, they often have their own reserved waiting rooms in airports or other public places. There's a practical side to this too, though: monks are not supposed to have any physical contact with women (not even an accidental brush of the arm or hand) or even sit next to them, so a reserved seat or waiting room in a crowded area helps prevent inadvertent contact.

What is it? #5

2011-09-10T02:50:00.000+08:00

While waiting for a flight back to Taipei a few weeks ago, we came across this seat.

It's a Priority Seat near the gate for people who are elderly, handicapped, pregnant, or have small children.

But what's that on the left?

Do you know what that is? What special need is represented by that image on the far left?

Leave your guesses in the comments! (And if you know the answer, don't spoil the fun for everyone else!)

It's a small world after all...

2011-09-08T10:19:00.000+08:00

Our last afternoon in China, we had about 2 hours to kill before we had to leave for the airport, so we decided to visit Gulangyu one last time. We instinctively wandered over to our old friend Yogi's shop. Yogi is a talented painter who does everything from huge modern wall murals to traditional scrolls to delicate paintings inside fragile glass bottles. When we arrived, we noticed another foreigner and his wife sitting with Yogi and chatting--after a few seconds of staring, we realized it was our old friend Shannon, who we haven't seen in years!

Shannon was in our youth group when we lived in XM years and years ago. He has since grown up (obviously!) and now lives and works in another city. He and his wife were only in town for a few days and we had no idea they were there; our meeting was totally random and a huge blessing! We're so glad we just happened to drop by Yogi's before leaving town.

Gulangyu

2011-09-07T05:12:00.002+08:00

My very favorite place in all of China is a small village called Gulangyu.

A teeny-tiny island (only 2 square kilometers) off the coast of Fujian, Gulangyu is a real anomaly in a rapidly-changing China: a sleepy little community full of old houses, ancient trees, and narrow stone alleys, where the only mode of transport is your own feet and the only background noise consists of birdcalls, waves lapping, and pianos tinkling in nearby homes. Gulangyu (which means "drum wave islet" in Chinese) is a former foreign concession. After the Opium Wars, XM (formerly known as Amoy) was designated a treaty port in 1842, and the island of Gulangyu became the site of foreign consulates, churches, and hospitals. The foreigners are long gone now, and it is now home to about 15,000 residents and hundreds of Victorian-era homes and buildings in various stages of disrepair and decay. The island is only reachable by a 5-minute ferry from XM; it is free to travel to Gulangyu, though it will cost you about 8 RMB ($1.25 USD) to get back.

Once-grand verandas with ornate carvings are now crumbling away.

Twin girls play with their cat in the courtyard of a rundown mansion.

A formerly grand Victorian-era home is now a government office.

Gulangyu is also known locally as Piano Island: when foreigners first settled there in the mid-1800s, they often brought pianos with them. The community has a tradition of producing fine pianists, some of them world-renowned. There are over 200 pianos on Gulangyu, and you can often hear the sounds of pianos playing as you wander the narrow lanes.

A stone stairway winding up between historic homes.

I so wanted to sneak into this 100-year-old courtyard to listen to the piano music coming from within.

No cars and trucks means goods must be hauled around the island by handcarts, pulled by super-strong men.

A man hauls a handcart stacked with boxes up a steep road lined with faded mansions.

Have you ever felt nostalgia for a place in which you've never lived, a time period you've never experienced? That's how I feel when I visit Gulangyu. The air is full of the atmosphere of days long past; at any moment, I expect to see a group of bustled and corseted diplomat's wives exit a nearby gate, a rangy pedicab driver pedal by, a tiny lady with lotus feet tottering slowly under the trees in the distance. I could spend days exploring the island and enjoying the blend of past and present, Western and Chinese, new and old.

There is some interesting church history on Gulangyu as well, and there are several lovely old church buildings around the island, some still in use today.

Gulangyu's government-run Trinity Church

Trinity Church, pictured above, was planted in the 1920s because the churches on the mainland were too inconvenient for Gulangyu Christians to reach (especially during bad weather, when the trip by ferry or sampan could be dangerous). Originally built to hold 300 people, the building was redesigned to hold over 1000. It is always packed. Like all other churches in China, Trinity Church was confiscated in the Cultural Revolution and shut down for many years. It was used as a government building for over a decade, but in 1979 the old pastor was contacted and told he could hold services the next day. Pastor Chen was excited but wondered if anyone would turn up after a 13-year hiatus in services. How would the word get out fast enough? Well, that Sunday morning, over 1000 people filled the sanctuary and a crowd of 800 filled the streets outside. Today, Trinity Church has a congregation of over 2000 people.*

There are many old consulate buildings scattered around the island, including that of the American government, which was built from red bricks shipped all the way from America.

The last time we were here, the old consulate building was being used as a hotel, but now, sadly, it appears to have been abandoned. The gates were locked and chained, the paint was peeling, and the garden was shockingly overgrown--ivy has almost taken over some of the steps on the grand front staircase. It was impossible to get a good photo because the bushes and trees almost obscured the building, but you can see it and its staircase peeking through above.

A stone marker at the front gate of the former American consulate. The last diplomats were recalled in 1948, and the building was first used by the Philippine government, then as a sanatorium, then as a research office, and finally as a hotel* before its apparent abandonment.

With a few minutes left before we needed to head to the airport, we took one last walk along the waterfront. Loads of food, drinks, paper supplies, books, and even a massive teak bedroom suit were being unloaded from a bright blue wooden boat at one of the piers.

The fishermen had just pulled in their colorful old wooden boats and were emptying their nets of shrimp and other tiny fish.

Each boat carried a man and his wife, working quickly in tandem to empty and untangle the nets before heading back out.

Headed back to the ferry, we smiled at the juxtaposition of old fishing boats bobbing in green water in front of high-rises. Some things never change.

*Discover Gulangyu, by William Brown.

The March of Progress

2011-09-05T10:48:00.000+08:00

One of the most interesting parts of our trip was seeing how much XM has changed in the last 7 years since we moved away. You always hear stories of how much and how fast China is developing, and everything you've heard is true. When we lived in XM, we knew only one family with a car. Now, not only are there lots and lots and lots of people with personal vehicles, but there are luxury cars galore: XM's waterfront boasts both Maserati and Lamborghini dealerships. In addition to new car dealerships, the harbor front has lots of big, flashy buildings; new roads; swanky hotels such as the Wyndham; new malls with high-end designer shops; fancy restaurants; and even a 4-story Starbucks (the largest in China) with prices that are much higher than in the US. It was incredible to see how much had changed in just a few years.

XM in 2004, with it's 3 big buildings on the waterfront.

XM in 2011. Please excuse the fogginess--due to a typhoon in the area, the weather looked like this all week.

As you can see in the second pic, there are way more building and high-rises now. But at least one thing has remained the same: the old wooden fishing boats are still in use.

Know what I love about China?

2011-08-31T20:22:00.002+08:00

It is possible to eat an awesome lunch of dumplings while watching ancient fishing boats glide by...

...visit a noisy market selling everything from bootleg DVDs to neon-colored umbrellas to Converse sneakers to hand-painted fans to Michael Bolton CDs...

...almost get killed when your taxi decides to drive on the wrong side of the road and tries to squeeze between two oncoming buses...

...enjoy the modern convenience of an ice-cold Coke while strolling past a Tang dynasty era temple...

...walk along the South China Sea with only the sounds of waves, birds, and fog horns in your ears...

...and ride a mechanical bull at a Texas barbecue restaurant...

...all on the same day.

Funny Friday: World Tour Edition

2011-08-26T01:20:00.000+08:00

Okay, so maybe "World Tour" is a bit of an overstatement, but we did manage to hit 4 countries in 3 days!

First up...

America

You mean you don't have a tornado shelter in your local airport?

Okay, so maybe that's not that funny, but it made me smile in light of the next sign...

Taiwan

At the international airport in Taipei:

The dangers are obviously a bit different in Taiwan than they are in Texas! We may not have tornadoes (usually), but we do have the threat of war with China. :) Does your local airport have a basement with an air-raid shelter?

Thailand

This sign totally made me giggle.

The company behind this sign well comes you to take advantage of their many services: air ticket, trian tickets, sightseeing... and translations? ;)

They also offer marriage, it seems. That's a pretty comprehensive package right there.

Japan

I loved the package on this sandwich...

"We have made the sandwiches one by one with our heart." How touching, right?

A sign at a Narita airport bathroom with a VERY thorough description of how to use their toilets.

I love Japanese public bathrooms and the variety of...um...relief options they offer. I especially love the fancy toilets that play music and fake flushing sounds to "muffle toilet sound" (see above). The armrest looking thing on the left side of the photo below contains the controls for the seat warmer, "buttocks cleanser" (with the option of warm or cool water, and various choices of spray strength), dryer, musical interludes, etc. We refer to these toilets as First Class.

You can also choose Business Class...

...or Coach.

Getting catty

2011-08-23T05:51:00.000+08:00

So, back in the spring we learned about a community (a tiny village, really) in northeastern Taiwan that has become a bit of a tourist site.

Because of cats. Lots of cats.

It seems that the village of Houdong--which used to be a thriving coal mining town but slipped into decline when the mine closed years ago--has been taken over by a plethora of cats. There are less than 200 people living in tiny Houdong now, but while the streets have emptied of people in recent years, they have been filling with dozens and dozens of stray cats (over 100 at last count). The local residents (the human ones, that is) decided to capitalize on the uniqueness of herds of cats roaming the alleys and stairs carved into their mountainside, and have marketed their little village as a cat-lover's paradise. When we realized Houdong was only about 45 minutes from our house, there was no pussyfooting around: we knew we would be making a visit soon.

Upon arrival, the first thing you see is the old coal processing plant; it is falling down now, a symbol of a bygone era.

Then it's off to see the real draw. First, though, there are a few rules (of course--there are always lots of rules):

Cat-tangoing: An idea whose time has come?

We were pretty excited to partake of the joyful activities of cat watching and picture taking.

Beware: the cats in Houdong are quite organized and will deport outsiders.

One of many cool cats we saw, eyeing a cat tickler (see below).

Cat art peeking through rows of drying laundry.

In addition to exploring the silent streets, looking for cats, and buying cat souvenirs (cat postcard or bar of soap, anyone?), for a mere 50NT (less than $2 USD) you can purchase your very own cat tickler--a stick with a feather on the end that you can use to safely and gently tickle, prod, and pet the cats.

A tourist tickles a kitty.

Aidan tickles an amenable cat.

Lucas grinning like a cheshire...well...you know...while feeding his new-found friend.

A tourist from Taipei tickles a trying-to-nap cat while grandpa catches a cat-nap.

A view through a glass-less window pane: a row of wooden kitty houses complete with freshly-laundered pink curtains (even street cats need privacy sometimes).

After we finished exploring, we headed back down to the town square where we came upon a hip-hop group dancing to "Rhythm Nation" in front of abandoned coal mine buildings.

Because well, you know, this is East Asia, where incongruity reigns.

While watching the dancers, who were followed by a hard-rocking, caterwauling high school garage band (why not?),

...we were told that next weekend an even bigger event is planned, complete with dancing dragons and a huge drum show. The cat's out of the bag about Houdong, it seems, and artists and musical acts on the weekends are becoming more common. So, as unlikely as it sounds, I think we will probably be making a return visit to Cat Town soon.

Before heading back to Taipei, we drove for awhile along the amazingly beautiful northeast coast, marveling in the green, green grass; the blue, blue sky; the white, white clouds; the brilliantly turquoise water.

Our island has an awesomely-odd cat town located 5 minutes' drive from this view?

This is a pretty super place.

The Land of Smiles

2011-08-21T02:53:00.000+08:00

For those who have lost track, we were in the US for the month of July, traveled back to Taipei for 36 hours, and then left immediately for Bangkok for meetings. After our time in Bangkok, we used some frequent flier miles to head up to Chiang Mai, where we lived from 2006 to 2008. Chiang Mai is a special place for us: Lucas was born there, we made great friendships there, and we truly enjoyed our little home in the Land of Smiles.

We spent most of our time with our old friends, the Tidwells, who we've known for almost 10 years.

Jeremy and Mike after dinner one night. (Jeremy had to change his shirt before we went out that night as he and Mike were wearing the same outfit when we arrived: Superman shirt and khaki shorts. Great minds, right?)

Patti and I at Starbucks on the moat in Chiang Mai.

One of the highlights for the kids (outside of getting to play with old friends, of course) was our visit to Huay Kaew Waterfall. It was super hot and we all enjoyed the fresh coolness of the water (which I later read is usually full of raw sewage from villages upstream--ignorance is bliss, eh?)

The kids had a blast sliding down the waterfall and over the natural rock slide.

Brody was a little nervous about the falls, so he hung out on the side and dangled his feet in the surprisingly cold water.

My boys heading up the falls to do some exploring.

Aidan and Keelan had so much fun together. They have been friends since they were babies and have lived in the same city twice, once in Thailand and once in Texas.

Obligatory family shot before leaving the falls.

One last shot of the kids (minus Keelan, who was at school) before heading back to Taiwan.

I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to head back to Chiang Mai for a few days. And it's such a blessing to reconnect with friends we've known for so long. Hoping we don't have to wait 3 more years before our next visit.

Even though...

2011-08-20T00:49:00.000+08:00

...it's good...

...to be back home in Taipei,

...it sure was hard...

...to say goodbye...

...to these people.

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-18T14:43:00.002+08:00

There never was a cuter second grader.

Er...I mean there never was a more HANDSOME second grader.

Now that he's gone all "big boy" on me, he hates it when I call him "cute."

Those are his new big boy wheels that he's posing with above. He's pretty proud of how fast he can ride now. Leaves me in the dust sometimes.

We're looking forward to a great school year this year!

(In case you're wondering, Lucas follows the Taiwanese school schedule and doesn't start back for about two more weeks.)

Ride 'em, cowboy!

2011-08-02T07:57:00.006+08:00

We are leaving America tomorrow. It's been a super special time with family and friends. It's the first time we've ever stayed with my parents on a trip to the US, and I've really enjoyed the extra time with my parents and sisters. It will be nice to be back in our own home and resettled, but it's hard to say goodbye! Thankfully, we're only saying goodbye for about 9 months, as we'll be back next summer.

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit last week to the Fort Worth Stockyards. Even though we lived in Fort Worth from 2002-2006, we never went down there to check it out. We thought the boys would enjoy learning a little about Western culture, so we headed out there one day when the forecast was a little cooler (only 102 F vs. the usual 106 F).

Arriving at the stockyards in Fort Worth. It is said that Fort Worth is where the West begins.

An historic district just north of downtown, the Fort Worth Stockyards are a former livestock market that operated from 1866 as a central location for the trading and slaughter of cattle, sheep, and hogs. By 1907, the stockyards sold over 1 million head of cattle a year. The Fort Worth Stockyards are the last remaining stockyards in the US today.

While there we visited the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Among other various cowboy memorabilia (including saddles, various carriages and chuck wagons, and displays of famous cowboys), we saw a "surrey with the fringe on top." :)

The boys in front of the old coliseum, which opened in 1908 and which still hosts weekly rodeos today.
The old Fort Worth Livestock Exchange Building.
Every day, volunteer cowboys and cowgirls drive a herd of longhorns through the streets of the stockyard area.

Aidan and Lucas checking out the longhorns moseying down the old brick-paved streets.

Meeting a real-live cowgirl, who has been volunteering at the stockyards since she retired 10years ago.

Another shot of the old coliseum.
Aidan in front of the coliseum.
It was fun to share some Texas culture with the boys and to hear their reaction to the things they saw and experienced. There are no cowboys or longhorns where we live, so I'm glad we could introduce them to some things that featured heavily in my childhood.

Jamie and Blue

2011-07-31T08:00:00.014+08:00

Jamie and Blue got married Friday night at the Maple Manor Hotel, a historic home in uptown Dallas, and what a lovely ceremony it was! The service was held in the courtyard, and Mike married them as quickly as he could so everyone could get out of the Texas heat and into the reception area as soon as possible. (Total service time from the opening of the doors until the recessional: 19 minutes.) Our cousin Donese played the harp as waterfalls cascaded in the background and 150 fans waved across the courtyard, and in a manner of minutes, Jamie and Blue were Mr. and Mrs. Zertuche!

First, we started off the day with a bridesmaids' brunch at Breadwinners, where we ate an awesome meal that included a cinnamon roll as big as Megan's head. Note to self: one cinnamon roll at Breadwinners feeds 8 people.

Then it was off to do hair and makeup at the salon, where Jamie tried on a hairpiece and got us in trouble for laughing too hard.

The finished product.

Off to the hotel to get dressed! We took one last sister pic while Jamie was still a Britton girl.

Jamie peaking through the window at the crowd gathering in the courtyard below.

So lovely.

After the ceremony: a bridesmaid, the ringbearers, and the officiant. :)

Aidan and Lucas, the ringbearers, who accomplished their duty with distinction.

Mike's mom and dad at dinner.

The Zertuches cutting the cake after dinner.

Lucas dancing with the beautiful bride.

Erin and I giving our toast. Looks like we were pretty funny. ;)

Jamie and Blue's first dance to "I Love You Just the Way You Are."

Jamie and Mike sharing a dance.

The sisters and Lucas dancing the night away. I love Lucas's little grin at his Aunt Jamie--he said she was "so beautiful" and asked to dance with her several times throughout the night.

Aidan and Lucas throwing down some yummy wedding cake.

Erin and her boyfriend, Michael.

The Michaels.

Mike and I.

Cutting a rug with Lucas. He was quite the dancer that night.

Mike and Blue.

Garter time. Michael, Erin's boyfriend, caught it. No pressure, Michael.

Sharing a giggle.

Doing the "Mom Dance" with fingers upheld.

One last sister pic before the bride and groom departed for the evening. We won't see each other again until next summer.

Congrats again, Jamie and Blue--we love you!

Rehearsal Dinner

2011-07-29T22:06:00.004+08:00

We had an awesome dinner last night at the clubhouse in my parents' neighborhood. It was so fun to reconnect with family and friends we rarely see, as well as to meet some of Blue's family and friends.

The bride-to-be with the boys.

Aunt Erin with the boys.

The Britton girls with Mom.

Sisters, sisters.

Dinner was provided by family friend Grady Spears of Grady's Restaurant in Fort Worth, and it was amazing.

Erin and her boyfriend Michael enjoying the meal.

After dinner, some speeches, and a round of the Newlywed Game, it was time to turn in in anticipation of the big day. Today's the wedding day! Congrats Jamie and Blue!

In America

2011-07-26T21:58:00.010+08:00

Long time, no post. That's what happens when you go home for the first time in two years and spend every waking moment with much-missed family and friends. We've had a wonderful three weeks so far, with only one week left to go. Jamie's wedding is this Friday (!), and then we head back to Taiwan next Wednesday (en route to Thailand).

So, what have we been doing?

Reconnecting with multiple generations of family.

Hanging out with favorite uncles and aunts and cousins.

Celebrating Mike's grandmother's 90th birthday.

Enjoying super messy red velvet cupcakes with cousins.

Watching the tortilla machines at Rosa's Cafe.

Eating lots of locally-made chocolate ice cream.

Swimming every. single. day.

Making lots of memories to carry us through the next year away from Texas.

Funny Friday--Confusion or fusion?

2011-07-08T04:43:00.000+08:00

Lucas and I were out walking the other day and came across this new restaurant.

Is it British food? Is it Thai food? Is it a pancake place? A cafe?

Why choose when you can have it all?

I'm pretty sure there is nowhere else on earth where you can get authentic kao phat gai, a side of pancakes topped with maple syrup, and a flat white coffee, all at a place called Paddington.

I'm thinking we might have to check it out when they're open. I mean, really. Thai food? Good. Coffee? Good. Pancakes. Gooood.

What's not to love?

We're leeaavin' on a jet plane...

2011-07-04T06:57:00.000+08:00

...this one, to be precise.

An American Airlines 777 at Narita Airport in Tokyo

Photo credit

We're headed to Dallas early on Wednesday morning, our time (Tuesday night, Texas time). Looking forward to Tex Mex, copious amounts of air-conditioning, Blue Bell ice cream, and lots of English.

And, oh yeah, we're looking forward to seeing some pretty special people as well. :)

It's been 2 years since our last trip to the States; Aidan was only 4 then, and Lucas was little more than a baby, so he doesn't remember America at all. We can't wait to reintroduce them to family, friends, and the land of big lawns that you can run around barefoot on. We'll post again on the other side in a few days!

Lucas's end-of-year program

2011-06-30T21:58:00.008+08:00

Local schools run to the end of June, so Lucas had his last day of school this week. His school's end-of-year program was Thursday night and it was so cute! The beginning of the evening was a graduation ceremony for the oldest students, and then all of the classes took turns performing songs, reciting verses, and acting out skits. Lucas goes to a church-run preschool right by our house, and it was great to hear him reciting Bible verses and singing praise songs in Chinese.

Handing out certificates to the graduating students, who will go on to first grade next year at other schools.

After the kids had "graduated," the pastor of the church asked several parents to lay hands on the students and pray for them. Mike is 4th from the right in the front, in the black shirt and blue jeans.

Lucas acting out his part of the school day--sports and physical education--in a little skit.

Taking a break from the Bible verse recitation (he started getting tired as the evening wore on--it didn't start until around his usual bedtime, and ran until after 9!).

Looking all angelic (looks can be deceiving).
Below are a couple of videos of Lucas's performances. :)

After-program shot with Mommy (who was so proud that Lucas actually stayed on stage with his class the whole time instead of running off like he did during every rehearsal).

We are so thankful to have such a great option for preschool for Lucas while I'm studying Chinese in the mornings. He really has wonderful teachers, and it's a caring, warm environment. Looking forward to moving up to the next class in the fall!

Famous breakfast spot with (not quite) famous people

2011-06-19T19:35:00.011+08:00

A couple weeks ago we went out one last time with our friends Dave and Jianni before they moved to the US. They knew about a yummy breakfast spot in Taipei that is really famous, so we headed over there on the MRT one morning to meet up with them and another friend.

It's a totally hole-in-the-wall, cafeteria-looking restaurant, tucked up some stairs above a market near Shandao Temple, but word is out about this place (which has been serving up breakfast for about 50 years) and there was a long line to get in. While we waited, we watched the cooks work their culinary magic.

Preparing and rolling out the dough for the fried bread.

Frying some of the dough in giant woks filled with oil.

The finished products: piles of youtiao (literally translated, it means "oil sticks") on the left, and shaobing (a flaky, flat, sesame-crusted bread) on the right. In the background are machines for soy milk. This restaurant only serves combinations of those three items (with the occasional addition of egg).

And here's breakfast: basically flat bread (shaobing) wrapped around fried bread (youtiao), served up with a cup of icy cold, sweetened soy milk. Despite all the frying, it really wasn't greasy and it had a light, savory flavor...slightly nutty from the sesame seeds on the outer bread.

Digging in.

Dave and Jianni (who managed to look a lot more dignified while eating than I did).

So, this place is so popular that there was even a film crew there from Formosa TV (http://www.ftv.com.tw/) doing a segment for an evening television show.

Setting up the lights for the host to take a few bites for the camera.

We noticed the cameraman eyeing us, and our friend said, "I bet he wants to come interview the white people." Haha. Sure enough, he came over and did a short interview with us. When they realized that we could speak some Chinese, they sent the host of the show over to do a slightly longer interview, and they took some video of us eating, exclaiming grandly about how awesome it was, and doing big cheesy thumbs-up's toward the camera. The show was supposed to be on TV on June 8th, but it was preempted by some breaking news and we never did find the show or see our interview. Ah well.

Seven

2011-06-17T13:46:00.006+08:00

This guy...

...is seven today!

Aidan at seven is:

Passionate about life

A voracious reader

Incredibly active

Set on being a paleontologist and explorer when he grows up

A fiercely loyal brother and friend

A determined musician

A deep thinker

Always faithful

Occasionally obstinate...

...yet still anxious to please

Brave in the face of uncertainty

A lot of fun

We actually celebrated his birthday last week and had a little party with his buddy, Caleb, before he left for the summer. Aidan wanted a pirate cake, so I did my best to oblige his request:

His favorite gift was a set of Nerf guns from his grandparents. We quickly had to set a few ground rules (don't shoot your or anyone else's eyes out; no shooting mom unless she's actively participating in the game), but they have been a big hit.

I watched him sleep for awhile this evening, praying over him and thinking about how quickly the years are slipping by. Seven is an age of wonder. These are the years of make-believe and dragons, knights in shining armor and secret hideouts. The years when magic is real. The years when daddy is the toughest man in the world and mommy is "so, so beautiful" (how I love to hear those words!) and they both know everything about everything. I pray that I don't let these years slip away. When Aidan and Lucas were babies and toddlers, I used to look forward to the years when things would be "easier." But the early childhood years are waning for Aidan and oh, how I want to hold on to them a little bit longer. Don't grow up too fast, buddy.

Latest Lucas-isms

2011-06-12T05:38:00.000+08:00

It's time for something a little more light-hearted around here...

I put Lucas down for a nap one afternoon, but an hour later I could still hear him chatting to himself. I went into his room to check on him and found him sitting upright in his bed, pretending like he was driving a car.

"Lucas," I said, "why aren't you sleeping?"

Lucas replied, "Mommy, I couldn't sleep here. This isn't a bed. It's actually a race car and I have to drive it or it will crash. I'm saving lives."

Smiling to myself, I said, "Well, since your bed is now a race car, would you like to sleep in my bed for your nap?" (Normally I wouldn't offer this option, but I had a lot of things to get done and really needed him to take a nap--and I didn't care where!)

Lucas hopped up and said, "Sure!"

We walked down the hall and tucked him into my bed. As I kissed him night-night, though, Lucas spoke up quietly, "Mommy, I can't sleep here either."

"Oh?" I responded. "And why not?"

Lucas said in a whisper, "Because. This isn't a bed either. It's a speedboat."

Instead of hide-and-seek, Lucas likes to play "exciting-seek."

While playing a round of make-believe the other day, Lucas ran into the room exclaiming, "I'm a crap! I'm a crap! I'm a big crap!" (Translation for those who don't speak 3-year-old-ese: crap = crab.)

We were pretending the couch was an airplane one day and Lucas was the pilot (flying us to China, New Zealand, and Texas, among other destinations). I asked if he was ready for take-off, and he replied, "Let's see...I got the guns, the bubble gum, some chocolate lollipops, and Toy Story. Yes, I'm aaaaallllll ready!" (It's important to bring along all the imaginary essentials on a long, imaginary journey, right?)

During a recent discussion about the movie Cars: "And then, Mr. The King crashed his car at Jericho!" (He means Dinoco.) "And the wall came down! And...wait, that's not right. Is it?"

Overheard at dinner the other day:

Lucas, "Oh, I love Kai Kai. So much." Short pause. "And also? I tooted."

At dinner last night:

Lucas: "Hey mommy, does Kai Kai have a god?"

Me: "A what?"

Lucas: "Does Kai Kai have a god?"

Me: "I'm not sure I understand what you're asking me, Lucas. What do you mean exactly?"

Lucas: "Mommy! Does Kai Kai have a GOD?! In his HEART?!"

I finally "got" what he was asking, and we had a little chat again about what it means to have God in your heart.

Lucas got kind of pensive, and then said, "Oh. Okay. Well...Kai Kai definitely DOES have BONES in him though, right?"

On locusts and new life

2011-06-03T19:58:00.008+08:00

So speaking of hospitals (see last post)...yeah...I'm in one right now. Again. The second time in a month.

This probably comes as no surprise to those of you who know me well. Weird ailments and I seem to go hand in hand. The culprit this time? Cellulitis, brought on by either a pimple or a spider bite on my cheek. (PSA: Girls, listen to your mamas, and don't try to pop your zits. Trust me.) When this is all said and done with, I will probably have a nice, big scar on my cheek. Aidan's eyes lit up when I told him that tonight; his response was, "Wow! You mean like a samurai warrior with ceremonial scarring? You will look fierce!" Trust my children to come up with a silver lining that had never occurred to me.

I rarely post about health issues on the blog, partly because it feels too personal, partly because I don't like to dwell on it, and partly because, well, honestly, if I posted every time something serious or even possibly life-threatening happened to me, this would become a medical blog in a hurry, and no one wants to read that. A small sampling of things I have had the joy to suffer through in the last 3-4 years:

-A knee through a glass door, requiring an ER visit in Thailand, 7 sutures, and over 30 stitches
-An ulcerated esophagus
-Preterm labor and weeks of bedrest
-Major post-partum infection that necessitated a week of IV antibiotics
-Possibly dangerous heart issues after childbirth (something I still deal with occasionally--I have heart meds for palpitations that I take as needed)
-Dengue fever
-A fall which resulted in broken toes and torn ligaments in my right foot
-Migraines
-A hospitalization for extreme dizziness, during which time the doctors told me I probably had a brain tumor or blood clot--thankfully it was only an inner ear problem
-The discovery of a fist-sized, extremely painful mass in my abdomen, which thankfully turned out to be a dislocated kidney (Seriously? Who gets a dislocated kidney?!)
-A bulging disc in my lower back
-A hospitalization for acute tonsillitis, which turned out to be mononucleosis
-And now, this hospitalization for cellulitis

I can pinpoint when my weird medical issues began: a mission trip to Honduras in college. On that trip, in the middle of the jungle, I woke up to a weird and incredibly loud buzzing sound in the room. Then I realized it was in my EAR. DEEP in my ear. We could not get what was causing the buzzing out (couldn't even see it!); a trip on the back of a coffee farmer's truck to the nearest doctor 3 hours away revealed a dead cockroach in my ear. As soon as I returned from that trip, I came down with a weird tropical illness that I can't remember the name of anymore. And seriously, almost every time I have left the US since then, I have been plagued by various and sundry, and often unusual, medical issues.

Poisonous spider bite in Australia? Check.
Severe infection in China, leading to a visit to the scariest hospital I have ever seen? Check.
Major allergic reaction to a mosquito bite in Thailand, causing my face to balloon and my eyes to swell shut? Check.
Pneumonia in Taiwan? Check.

I really do try not to dwell on the often scary and usually painful issues I've had over the last few years. I try not to think about the fact that the nurses at the doctor's office recognize my voice as soon as I say hello, and I laugh when people joke that the hospital should name a room after me after all of the business I have brought them. I've never really searched for any deeper meaning in all of this, other than recognizing that we live in a fallen world and well, these things will happen--and sometimes all of them and more will happen to the same person.

But this time, I've been thinking a little more deeply about it all. When I look at the time I've lost because of illness--time away from my children, my husband, my friends, language study, ministry--it's a more than a little disheartening. And I honestly started to get discouraged this week. I feel bad for making my husband shoulder such a large load while I'm sick. I hate that I'm not able to do the things I need to do for my family and our work. I have a hard time accepting help from our friends and neighbors (who are wonderful, by the way), and I don't like the feeling of missing out on life while I convalesce in a hospital bed or at home. I want to be moving, doing, and creating with those I love; I have more important things to do than be sick. When I look back, it feels like locusts--of fear, pain, sickness, uncertainty--have swept through over and over through the last few years, eating away time, precious time, time that could have been used for beauty and purpose.

Photo credit

But this morning, as I read in the Word and was quiet before my God, I was reminded of His promises. I know my Father loves me, has a purpose for me. And I know He loves my family even more than I do, and that His vision for them is broader than anything I can see with my earth-bound eyes and heart. And I know that, even when I feel weak and barren, below the surface, there is life. The locusts may strip away what is visible, but the roots...the roots grow deep.

Something is going to grow. Our Father promises that. He causes the grasslands of even the desert to overflow. He does not leave His children's lives empty, dry, barren. Though it may seem that way for a season, He always causes something to spring forth. It may not be what I expect, or what I want, or in my timing, but He will cause streams to flow in the desert, and trees that seem dead to flower in a creative and beautiful way.

And until He does, I can wait. With a peaceful spirit, a heart seeking His, and eyes searching out His beauty. Because it's everywhere--even in a barren field. A barren field is clothed in the beauty of the hope of what is to come.

Going to the doctor in Taiwan

2011-05-30T19:17:00.009+08:00

Going to the doctor in Taiwan differs quite a bit from my experiences in the US, but in general, it's easier, faster, cheaper, and more convenient here in Taiwan.

Another bonus...check out the gorgeous hospital where I go to see the ENT. (Disclaimer: Most hospitals are not this pretty. But this old building is super beautiful.)

This is National Taiwan University Hospital. This building, known as the "old building" is where most of the out-patient clinics are held. There is another, newer, more modern, and less lovely building where in-patient services are located.

There is a lot of loveliness inside as well, with little courtyards full of trees and koi ponds tucked here and there.

Most of the time, when we visit the doctor, we go to a hospital. There are a couple of small clinics near our home where we might take the boys for a minor illness, but for everything else we visit the doctors at Taiwan Adventist (general practitioner), Zhongshan (pediatrics), or National Taiwan University (specialists) hospitals.

Assuming you want to use National Health Insurance (and you do, since it's so, so much cheaper), you will need to register and get a number when you arrive. There is a registration desk in the lobby where you present your insurance card and other information and tell the receptionist what kind of doctor you want to see. No need for a referral--just ask! She will then give you a number and direct you to the right department and room. If you don't want to wait too long, you can call ahead and reserve a place in line, or you can sometimes register for a number online. You will still have to wait, but probably not as long.

After you have your number, you proceed to the correct department and wait for your number to pop up. Each door has a display board next to it (see to the right below); when it's your turn, your number will light up. You usually don't need to wait too long. I usually don't reserve a number before going to the hospital, and rarely have had to wait longer than 10 minutes.

Before you go in, you will usually need to stop by a little desk to get your blood pressure and weight taken by a volunteer; they will record the information on a paper for you to give the doctor.

The doctor visit is much like the US, with the added issue of occasional communication problems, of course. Most doctors at major hospitals in Taiwan speak English, but not all speak well. Doctors at smaller clinics (like the pediatrician near our home) usually don't speak English, and nurses usually don't speak English, either. It's great language practice, as long as you're not stressed about a pressing medical need or so sick that you can't think straight. Doctors and nurses in Taiwan are well-trained, and the level of care is similar to what you would expect in the US, especially at the larger hospitals. Hospitals are clean and modern and all of the latest tests and equipment are available.

After the exam, the doctor will key into the computer any tests or medications you might need. But before you do the further testing or pick up medicine, you need to go here:

You have to pay at the cashier before doing any blood work or any other testing. But if you're using National Health Insurance, it's usually quite cheap. For example, Lucas's last check-up, which included a CBC and other blood testing, cost about $500 NTD, or about $17 USD. To pay, draw a number and wait your turn--it should only take a few minutes for your number to be called.

After paying, you will get a receipt to present to the lab for your bloodwork. Take it to the registration counter there and wait in line to receive a number (are you seeing a trend here?).

Then you wait for THAT number to be called. Your number will light up above the counter you need to go to.

After that, if you were prescribed medicine, you need to go pick it up. That's right--you don't take a prescription to an outside pharmacy here to have it filled. You pick medicines up from the hospital pharmacy on your way out--and you usually have to take a number there as well. FYI, you have to be careful with prescriptions here sometimes--if you have a cold, the doctor will prescribe Tylenol and Robitussin and all kinds of over-the-counter medications if you don't ask him or her not to.

After you've finished all of your medical business, feel free to stop by the "Snopping Arcade" in the basement.

To, you know, do your snopping before you go home. ;)

And that's it! We're usually in and out in 30 minutes to an hour.

Funny Friday: Green Donuts

2011-05-27T15:12:00.007+08:00

I was at Dunkin' Donuts the other day picking up a treat for the boys, and noticed a new flavor:

If you put seaweed and sesame seeds all over a donut, it becomes health food, right?

The real question is: would you eat it?

A Walk on a Wednesday

2011-05-25T05:31:00.000+08:00

Every now and then, I like to take a walk in our neighborhood and try to see my surroundings with fresh eyes. It doesn't take long for the things we see around us to become familiar, and we forget that we ever found them odd or fascinating or exotic. It's often not until we have guests from the US come visit that we see something and remember, "Oh yeah, I guess that's not normal where we come from."

So a couple weeks ago (before my little mononucleosis detour), I took a little walk after dropping Lucas and Aidan at school. And this is what I saw.

This is Tai Shun Street, a busy side street near our house. No sidewalks, so be careful you don't get run down by a car or scooter. The shop on the left is a "chop shop"--you can get a chop made there with your name so you can stamp your papers and make all your documents official.

Another angle of Tai Shun Street. Stores on the first floor, apartments above.

A window at a little mom-and-pop shop that sells a little of everything: banners, cleaning supplies, house shoes, trophies, incense, ghost money (joss paper). See the pile of fake US money in the middle? That's ghost money, too, used for burning offerings for ancestors and ghosts. This shop sells $500 bills--I had no idea Ben Franklin was on the $500 bill, did you? :) (He's really not, of course.)

Fresh vegetables and fruit for sale right on the street--I don't even have to get off my bike to purchase what I need for dinner.

I love the neat rows of herb pots and the old wooden cabinets in the Chinese medicine shops.

A little barbershop--with the same striped poles as at home.

A repairman hauling off an old refrigerator, a vacuum, and a fan to be fixed.

Flower sellers setting up on the side of the road.

A young man at a street-side table rolling out piles of dough for dumplings and buns and onion pancakes.

A woman washing mountains of leafy greens for the day's stir-fries and soups, at an outdoor kitchen behind a restaurant.

The butcher at our fresh market, chopping up early morning orders (while cages of nervous chickens look on in the background).

Some of the chickens and ducks ended up here, in the restaurant down the street.

The ramen noodle stands were piling up their noodles and veggies, preparing for the day's hungry hordes. Noodles of all kinds, leafy greens, broccoli, giant brown mushrooms, tofu skin, bell peppers, onions...yum.

I was surprised to see a new See's Candies store on my walk. Hmmmm...looks a little different from the ones I've seen in the US--think it's authentic? ;)

Before I turned back home, I came across this new restaurant: NineTing (not Nineteen) American Deli.

They were closed, but had a menu posted in the window. It looked pretty much like regular deli fare until I got to the appetizers.

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks? Pretty normal.

Onion Rings? But of course.

Buffalo Wings? Standard.

But Salt & Pepper Squid? Can't say I've ever seen that served at an American deli before.
Honestly, though? I'd eat the squid before any of the other appetizers on the list. :)

Hope you enjoyed the walk through our neighborhood.

Aidan's end-of-year recital

2011-05-19T19:51:00.006+08:00

Last weekend, Aidan had his final violin recital until next school year. Wish I could have seen it, but unfortunately I was in the hospital that day waiting for blood tests to confirm that I had mono. :( But, Mike recorded it so I could enjoy it, and so you can too!

Aidan performing 'O Come Little Children':

It was also his last ever recital with his teacher for the last year, Jianni Song (appropriate last name, eh?). She and her family are moving back to the US this summer, and we're very sorry to see them go! She has been a wonderful teacher for Aidan, and Aidan is friends with her son. We will miss them!

Aidan and some of his fellow violin students receiving their rewards.

All of the students and teachers at the end of the recital (can you pick Aidan out of the crowd? ;)).

It's been fun watching Aidan grow in violin this year. It's not always easy, and he doesn't always love it--he's a perfectionist, and learning to play the violin has been a good lesson in sticking with something that doesn't come easily. But despite the difficulty, he's adamant about continuing to play, and when he masters a new piece it's a thrill for him (and the rest of us too!). We're thankful that we have found another teacher for Aidan to continue with next year, and look forward to seeing him progress, both in skill and enjoyment.

Kai Kai, Part Two

2011-05-13T19:36:00.005+08:00

Sorry to leave you all hanging there. :) I was sick and then Blogger was down for quite awhile, so I had to wait to post this. (FYI: The formatting on this is kind of weird, and I can't seem to fix it. I'm guessing it's a bug on Blogger's side.)

_______________________________________________________

Kai Kai's birth mother lives a few hours south of Taipei, and hadn't seen him since he was a newborn. Throughout the time we have been fostering Kai Kai, she had made various plans to come see him, but it never worked out. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I found out that she was definitely coming to visit, that she didn't feel like she could care for him after all, and that she was probably going to sign the paperwork relinquishing him to the orphanage. She was also going to bring Kai Kai's 2-year-old sister.

When I found out she was coming for sure, I decided that I had to meet her. If things worked out for us to adopt Kai Kai, I knew that I wanted to be able to tell him about her someday: what she looked like, whether or not they had the same eyes and mouth, her mannerisms. Many of our friends have adopted internationally, and I know most or all of them would give almost anything to have this kind of information to share with their children. I knew it would be a gift to have photos of Kai Kai with his birth mother, to have stories about her to share with him someday.

I also, as a mom, felt a strong need to meet the woman who had given birth to Kai Kai. I wanted to talk with her, to share some of my heart with her, to listen to her if she had anything to say to me. I wanted to let her know how much our family loved her son, and to reassure her that, if he joined our family, we would always love and treasure him.

I emailed the social worker, and she arranged for me to meet with them on a Monday afternoon. I nervously took Kai Kai back to the orphanage that day, rehearsing in my mind what I might say to her if I had the chance, trying to imagine what she looked like, wondering what she would think of me. A few minutes after we arrived, the social worker called out, "Kai Kai de mama lai le!" (Kai Kai's mother has arrived!), and I carried Kai Kai to the office next door.

I first saw her from behind. She was tossing her long, luxuriant hair over her back. She spun around and I noticed her eyes—they are just like Kai Kai's. Same shape, same lovely long eyelashes. She came toward me, and the social worker introduced us. After a few short comments, I passed Kai Kai to her. She was happy to see him. She remarked on how heavy he is, how strong he is, how fat his thighs are. “Isn’t he beautiful?” she said over and over, looking to us for confirmation. “Oh yes,” we answered her, “he’s a beautiful baby.”

We entered the conference room together, where Kai Kai's sister, step-grandmother, and some others* were sitting. We all posed together against the windows of the conference room as the social worker took several photos of us all. Then Kai Kai's mother handed him back to me, and we all sat together around the table, making small talk for awhile. I had so many questions for her, so many things I wanted to know about her and her background so that I could share them with him one day, and so many things I wanted to tell her, but she wasn’t interested in talking too much. She mostly just observed Kai Kai with a faraway look in her eyes, as if she knew him, but didn’t; wanted him to be pleased with her, but didn’t know how to make him laugh; wanted to love him, but didn’t know how to start. She frequently commented, “He keeps looking at you. He continually looks at you.” At first I thought it bothered her, that he was looking at me and not her, but then I realized she was just making an observation, commenting on a phenomenon that hadn’t occurred to her—that he would be bonded to a woman who hadn’t given birth to him, who, to her, was quite different from him. She at one point said, as if the thought had just occurred to her and struck her as funny, “He will grow up speaking English!”

Her hair is thick and long and black and beautiful, and she frequently tossed it over her shoulders behind her. She has high cheekbones and warm, dark eyes. She cares about fashion, and was wearing cropped jeans, a nice patterned blouse, and high-heeled sandals. She had dressed Kai Kai's sister in a pretty red dress with small white dots and a white collar, and had arranged her hair elaborately into a pile of glitter-sprayed curls on her head. I handed Kai Kai back to her after we had been sitting for awhile, and she warmed up to him quickly, holding him over her head to make him smile, giving him kisses on his chubby cheeks, and nuzzling his sweet neck. I showed her photos of Aidan and Lucas and Mike, and she commented on how handsome they all were. I told her that they all loved her son very much, that we all did, and that Aidan especially enjoyed taking care of him and making him laugh, and that seemed to make her happy. The whole time she was holding Kai Kai, I took photo after photo after photo, knowing that it was likely the only time he would ever see her, and wanting desperately to give him as much family history as I could in those few moments.

After a few more minutes, the social worker said that Kai Kai needed to go take a nap while they discussed paperwork. His mother handed him back to me and looked away as I took him from the room. As I left the conference room, I couldn't stop the tears. The enormity of what had just happened, and so casually, shook me. She had just given me a human being, a living soul. She had given me her son. I couldn't take it in. I went to the crib room and cuddled him and prayed over him before laying him in his crib, thanking God for this child, thanking Him that I got to meet the woman who had given birth to him, praying that He would bless her and Kai Kai throughout their lives, whatever His plans for them may be.

I went back into the conference room to say goodbye. Kai Kai's birth mother and step-grandmother called to me, “Thank you for taking care of Kai Kai!” as I stood in the doorway. It was time for me to go, but I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving without a proper goodbye. Actually, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving at all, knowing that Kai Kai's mother would likely never see her son again. As a mother, my heart broke at the thought of her walking out the door and never knowing what would happen to him as he grew up. I hurriedly went to the social worker and choked out, “Please let Kai Kai’s birth mother know that if she ever wants to see him, we can send photos, letters, videos, whatever she wants.” I was emotional and wasn't expressing myself clearly at the time, but I persisted until she said she would tell her. And with that, I said goodbye, thanking his birth mother over and over again, reassuring her that we all love Kai Kai and would always care for him. I walked out the door, blinded by tears.

After I left, I thought of so many more questions for her: Where did she grow up? Where is her family from? Who named Kai Kai? What is her daily life like? I wanted to tell her that God loves her and has a plan for her life, that God loves Kai Kai and has a plan for his life, that He can make beauty from ashes. But it was too late. I know that our Father loves her and desires to know her, and that He can redeem this situation for His glory and because of His love for each person involved in it. All we can do is pray.

And now...we wait. After I left, Kai Kai's mother did sign the paperwork to make him adoptable, so we will soon begin the process of trying to adopt him into our family. We pray that it will go smoothly, and that this time next year he will be the fifth member of the Everett family. Please pray with us as we start this journey.

*Some names and personal details have been omitted for the sake of privacy.

Kai Kai, Part One

2011-05-06T03:31:00.001+08:00

Some of you know that for the past several months, our family has been fostering a baby boy, Kai Kai. I haven't shared much for privacy reasons and because, honestly, I've been guarding my heart quite a bit through the whole process. It was just too hard to write about him, not knowing if he would be a permanent part of our family or not. But some things have changed recently leading me to want to share with you what's been going on.

For years, Mike and I have thought about fostering and adoption. When we lived in China we had the opportunity to visit the orphanage in our city a few times, and those visits had a profound impact on our hearts. We would have loved to have brought home one of the dozens of the babies we saw there, but of course that wasn't possible (due to the rigid adoption process there and our ages at the time--Chinese law requires adoptive parents to be aged 30 or over). Since then, we had thought about it and planned on adopting at some point in the future, but those plans got pushed aside over the years as we welcomed two sons into our family and dealt with several moves and other changes in our lives.

Last winter, we both read the book Radical, by David Platt (which I highly recommend). He touches on the duty of the church to care for orphans, and our desire to provide a home for a child in need of one was refreshed. We had friends who had fostered babies from an orphanage not far from our home here, and last December one of them took us to meet the social worker there and find out what their current needs were. We learned that they had had a sudden influx of new babies and were in desperate need of more families for the weekend foster care program. Every weekend, each baby goes home with a family in order to give the baby a sense of family life and love (and to give the orphanage workers a much-needed rest), and because there were so many new babies, there were several who did not have foster families and had nowhere to go on the weekends. We indicated that we would be willing to be a weekend foster family and arranged a home study for the following week.

After the social worker completed the home visit, she surprised us by asking if we would be willing to start caring for a new baby that very weekend, just a couple days away. We had prayed about the decision and were committed, so even though the time frame wasn't what we expected, we stepped out in obedience and agreed. We had very few baby items at the time (having passed off most of Lucas's things, as he was already 3), so we put out an urgent appeal for baby items, especially an infant carseat (which can be hard to find--or very expensive if you do find them--in Taiwan). Within HOURS, friends and acquaintances had met our every need: a carseat and stroller system, play mat, toys, bottles, burp cloths, blankets, bibs, and other items were given from several corners. A beautiful crib from a neighbor followed soon after. No one would accept payment from us. The Lord was so good to provide what would be needed, and this experience was huge confirmation to us that we were walking in the right direction.

During the home visit, the social worker had asked if we had a preference for a boy or a girl baby. Honestly, we really didn't. I had thought I would want a girl, but when it came right down to it, I realized it really didn't matter to me at all. We were happy to take whoever needed a home, or whoever might be more a little more difficult to place. (For various reasons, girls are often preferred by prospective foster or adoptive families here.) She showed us a photo of an adorably chunky little boy*, just 3 months old, and we immediately agreed to take him, although we still were only committed to fostering at this point.

Our boys fell in love with Kai Kai the moment they saw him. (Kai Kai is his nickname, short for a longer name I won't share here right now. Kai means victorious in Chinese.) That first weekend we learned so much about him--how he yearns to be constantly held, that he loves to coo and babble, that he smiles easily. We could tell he was smart--at three months, he was already starting to roll over, and he was super alert and curious about the world around him, intently holding the gaze of anyone who looked into his face. He loved his bottles, and like Aidan and Lucas as babies, he was a constant spitter-upper. He was not, however, a good sleeper, and I struggled at the beginning with the lack of sleep that a new baby brings. I spent many a Monday morning drinking coffee and trying not to fall asleep in Chinese class after spending 3 straight nights up for hours with a screaming baby. I found it difficult at times to balance my other responsibilities with the needs of this new little one. But we never wavered in our commitment to care for and love him, as long as he had need of us.

Chinese New Year was the most difficult time. I was sick with pneumonia, and because the orphanage closed for the 2-week new year holiday, Kai Kai was with us for almost 3 weeks and both boys were out of school. I was sick and exhausted for days and occasionally brought to tears by the demands on me. One evening, Mike had taken Aidan and Lucas to run some errands and Kai Kai and I were at home together. I was feverish and tired and wanted to sleep, but Kai Kai was upset and needed to be held. I put on some music and started dancing with him slowly, shuffling my feet around with as little energy as possible in an attempt to calm him. At one point, I caught a glimpse of us dancing, reflected in the window, and it was at that moment that I fell in love with him: cuddled in my arms, wailing, tiny and helpless and needing to be loved fully and unconditionally, as we all do. I knew then that if the path was made clear for us to adopt him, my heart was ready.

However, at the time, Kai Kai was not available for adoption. His birth mother, who had brought him to the orphanage as a newborn, had not made a final decision and had not signed the adoption paperwork. So we waited, and prayed for His will to be done in Kai Kai's life.

To be continued in part two, where I meet Kai Kai's birth mother...

*I'd love to share photos so you can see just how gorgeous he is, but protocol does not allow that at this time.

921 Earthquake Museum

2011-04-28T01:05:00.001+08:00

On our way home from Chingjing Farm last week, we stopped by a place I had wanted to visit for a long time: the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan. Opened in 2001, this museum stands as a record and monument to the loss caused by the shallow 7.3 earthquake that struck Central Taiwan (and affected the entire island) on September 21, 1999. The quake, which struck at 1:47 am, caused significant destruction and loss of life: 2,415 people were killed, over 11,000 were severely injured, and over 100,000 buildings were either damaged or completely destroyed. The Cross-Island Highway was seriously damaged and, in fact, was never reopened after the quake. Even as far away as Taipei, a large building collapsed, killing 87 people inside. Whole towns were decimated; one small community lost 95% of its buildings, and hundreds of its residents perished.

A railroad track bent along the fault line.

One affected property was the Kuangfu Junior High School, located right on the fault line of the quake near Taizhong. It was far too badly damaged to be repaired, and the school was rebuilt on another site. Instead of leveling the damaged former campus, the government of Taiwan stabilized and preserved the broken buildings of the school, and created a museum dedicated to the 921 Earthquake on the site. I had heard about the museum on a Discovery Channel show years ago and had always wanted to visit; I'm so glad we got to visit.

The school's old front entrance. You can see the roof that has been placed above the property to protect it, and some of the poles stabilizing the damaged buildings.

One of the first things you see when you enter is the school's track.

The fault line runs directly across the track, which led to an uplift of over 2.6 meters (over 8 feet).

After viewing the track, we came across the first damaged buildings.

The white poles are holding the building up.

Some of the former classrooms have been stabilized, and you can walk through several of them (you can see the clear plastic stabilizers in the background).

The lesson from the day before the earthquake is still visible on this chalkboard.

This entire three-story building pancaked. It's such a blessing that the quake didn't occur during school hours.

This is what that building used to look like.

As we walked through the destruction, the school chimes began to toll at the hour the children would have been dismissed for lunch. I found that oddly moving, knowing the some of the students were surely injured and killed in the earthquake and never returned to the school.

After touring the school, we went into a newer building that hosts an image gallery of the quake's destruction, a timeline of events, and screens showing breaking news of the quake from around the world. There is also an Earthquake Experience Room, where you sit on a padded floor and experience what a 7.3 quake would feel like (it feels pretty terrifying...I can't imagine waking up to that kind of movement and waiting to see if my concrete building was going to collapse on my head).

If you're ever in the Taizhong area, I highly recommend the visit. And it's a bargain too (less than $2 USD per adult).

Aidan's Baptism

2011-04-26T10:31:00.004+08:00

Our friend Jianni made this video of Aidan's baptism for us. I'm so thankful to her for doing that because our own camera malfunctioned and I only captured about 2 seconds of the baptism on video!

Near the end, you can hear Lucas's little voice calling out, "Aidan got BAPTIZED!", which is why everyone laughed. :)

The tomb is empty...

2011-04-24T06:31:00.004+08:00

...in our Resurrection Day garden this beautiful morning.

He is Risen! Oh, glorious day!

It Was the Best Birthday Ever...

2011-04-22T05:27:00.001+08:00

...with the possible exception of my 11th birthday, when my mom let me have a co-ed swimming party at the Godfrey Center in Roswell, which I thought was just THE height of coolness...

...but I digress.

It's Aidan's spring break this week, and we decided to take a couple of days and drive to Chingjing Farm.

Photo credit

Chingjing Farm, located in the mountains in central Taiwan, was founded back in the 1960s by military veterans (actually, they were guerrillas who had been keeping up a resistance against the Communist government in China and were finally recalled in 1961, years after the war had ended...fascinating story!). The veterans and their families farmed and raised sheep, but the sheep-rearing was never very profitable until the farm opened to visitors. Now it is a popular destination spot for tourists, especially in the brutal summer months: the weather in Chingjing, which is situated at about 6,000 feet, is pleasant even in July. The high mountain scenery is beautiful, and it's a short (though somewhat harrowing) drive to Hehuan Mountain, a breath-taking peak in a row of many other breath-taking peaks. Another draw in Chingjing is the architecture; most of the bed and breakfasts and hotels are built in European style, evoking thoughts of country homes in the English countryside or chalets in the Alps.

Windmill at Chingjing Farm

With all that in mind, we drove up Monday, arriving at our bed and breakfast (run by a sweet retired couple who have a daughter living in Dallas, and who, last year, toured the American West and visited my hometown of Roswell, and spent a long time one afternoon sharing their photos and stories about their trip to Carlsbad Caverns...but I digress...again...) late in the afternoon in shroud of clouds.

However, we woke up Tuesday morning, my birthday, to this view:

And it was all uphill (literally and figuratively) from there.

We spent most of the morning at almost 11,000 feet at the top of Hehuan Mountain.

The often-photographed road across the mountain pass at Hehuan.

While there, our two tropical boys got to see real ice in the wild for the very first time. Touching an icicle was a highlight for Aidan, who had never seen one, of course.

It was highly exciting, and as Aidan said, it was the coldest he's ever been in his whole life. (It was in the 30s F--the coldest temps I've felt in over 5 years!)

The sky? Yeah, the bluest I've seen since our last visit to New Mexico.

After winding our way back down to Chingjing, we ate a quick lunch and then headed to the sheep farm.

I could not stop taking pictures of the lush, green grass.

Grass! Everywhere! Such a novelty!

The boys got to feed sheep...

...watch a sheep shearing show performed by a real, live New Zealander...

...and ride horses.

Then, while I read a lovely book under a lovely tree for a few minutes...

...the boys played in the grass to their hearts' content.

After our afternoon at the farm, we enjoyed a delicious Yunnan-style dinner of mountain vegetables, pickled veggies with beef, and fried tofu, followed by hot chocolate, all enjoyed while overlooking the incredible mountain scenery before the sunlight died away.

And that? Was the perfect way to spend the first day of my 33rd year.

This boy...

2011-04-17T01:03:00.002+08:00

...loves Jesus...and was baptized today!

Said that he really wanted to be baptized because he wanted to be obedient to his Lord--and he invited all of his school friends to be there for the big event.

Is wild and adventurous and full of all kinds of ideas.

Harbors deep and abiding loves for the beach, all animals, and jelly beans.

Loves to be helpful.

Is passionately loyal to his family and friends.

Hates disappointing people.

Is a super speller.

Is learning hard lessons about respect, self-control, and kindness this year.

Has a fierce attachment to fairness, but is willing to share almost anything with his best friend: his little brother.

Is fascinated by the world around him and never stops asking questions until his eyes close at night.

Says lots of intelligent-sounding things like, "With respect to..." and "Actually, I find that rather inappropriate..." and "It's quite radiant today..." and "All things considered..."

Has the agility of a monkey, the strength of an ox, and wishes he could run like a cheetah.

Loves to read. Loves to read so much that he wants to have a reading theme for his birthday, inviting all of his friends over to sit around and read together. (Not sure how that would go over.)

Wishes desperately that he lived in a world of castles and dragons and superheroes and light sabers and ninjas.

Stretches me and challenges me and forces me to be a better mom every day.

Loves his foster brother, and can make him laugh harder than anyone else in the family.

Thinks that going on a hot chocolate date with his mom is a pretty great way to end a day.

Is smart.

Is curious.

Is stubborn.

Is special.

Is my boy.