Week Two - Reflections

We've been 'on island' for a little over two weeks now.  As Tina mentioned, we're starting an 'adjustment' phase now that the initial shock/novelty of being here is wearing off.  (Read her 'Adjustments' blog entry for more details.)  It's been an interesting second week here in Taichung. Here are some highlights:



Dusk over West Taichung after Fanapi



1. Typhoon - We experienced our first typhoon (Typhoon Fanapi) last Sunday. (What's a trip to Taiwan without a typhoon?)  There was a lot of wind (no surprise) but very little rain (big surprise) here in Taichung.  In fact, after blowing all morning the typhoon kind of died out and we had a very nice afternoon.  It's strange as other parts of the island (Kaohsiung down south) got hit with A LOT of rain and there was some serious flooding as well.  The weather has cooled down considerably after the typhoon which has been a blessing.

2. Mid Autumn Festival - We celebrated 'Chong Chio Jie' this week. I didn't realize this but this is the second biggest Chinese holiday next to Lunar New Year.  You could hear fireworks going off all night and smell burning charcoal as having a BBQ while watching the moon has become a big tradition. (Taiwanese charcoal is particularly sweet smelling. I don't know what they use (endangered hard woods?) but it smells tons better than normal American 'briquettes' or even 'lump' charcoal.)  Both my dad and I took the day off work so we took Moses for a 'Chen men' trip to Taichung Park to go on a row boat.  We were the first people there and it was a hot day and my dad had problems getting in and out of the boat.  Still it was a pretty memorable experience. (By the way, Taichung Park has had a makeover ... It's actually quite pleasant and no longer the seedy vendor filled backlot I used to remember from my high school days.  That said,  I'm not quite sure what to make of this giant goat statue ... It gives me the creeps!)

3. Family Time - The four of us got to have a little family time by going shopping for swim goggles over by Taichung First High School. It took us a while but we found the little swim shop near the stadium crammed full of swimsuits, goggles, earplugs etc.  We picked up some goggles and earplugs and plan to go to the Morrison (my old high school) pool this weekend. (Swimming is one activity we all really miss ... Our house back in Irvine is less than a block away from the community pool complex. We checked out one of the city pools last weekend ... Not very appealing.) We then went to the Chung Yo Department store food court for dinner.  While there, two Mormon missionaries sat next to us while we were drinking our apple juices. Now I have a lot of respect for LDS (Latter Day Saint = Mormon) missionaries.  They take two years out of their lives to serve and evangelize in a foreign country far away from family and friends. I was surprised by how much Chinese (and Taiwanese!) they should speak and read even though they'd only been in the country for one and two years respectively. I think I surprised them in that they had sat next to a ('disguised') fellow American.  Even though they were at Chung Yo to grab some McDonalds (which tastes 'especially good' after eating 'bien dan' (Chinese box lunches) all week according to one missionary) they were non-stop in engaging me.  I was again impressed with their zeal and fervor (True Believers); turned off by how scripted it all was. They are probably trained this way but it just seems so artificial in that they ask a ton of questions about me (making me vulnerable) but give out very little of themselves on a personal level. Anyway, it came down to them asking if I had read the Book of Mormon and if I believed it. I had read it and told them flat out I didn't believe in it. I also had a ton of Christian apologetic reasons why but my mind went blank at that point. Tina saved me by swinging by and telling us we had to go get dinner.

4. Community - It's interesting to note how very different the cultural idea of space and community are different here. While getting dinner at Chung Yo department store, a sales lady sat down in an empty seat in our table and began to engage us in conversation (She did ask permission as most of the other tables were full.)  While there she went on auntie/grandma mode and tried to get Moses to eat his noodles.  While eating 'dou hua' (a sweet tofu dessert) yesterday a lady in my mom's Bible study saw Tina and paid for our 'dou hua'. Another lady (a 'bien dan' lady) began talking to us and telling us how awesome the 'dou hua' is at this stand. (It is very good. And cheap.)  I walked into the 'Hi Life' convenient store the other day and the lady there asked me where my wife and kids were.  Back in States this might be considered 'nosey' behavior but out here it's very much the norm. 

--- Steve

Adjustments

After the first week week thought things were going really well. Then some difficult adjustments started setting in and we are starting to realize that we have only been here two weeks after all.

First, Moses is exhibiting subconcious stress about school. He has started wetting his pullups and had a couple of accidents already. He wants me to hold him all the time when he is home and complains of not enough time with me. He speaks in a whisper and does not answer questions much of the time. His English is mumbled and he is completely lethargic.

We are all lethargic. First Steve is totally "malfunctioning" (his mom's words). This is usually what happens when he goes home, so I'm not sure if this is "normal." He has stopped helping with setting the table, helping with the kids without being asked, moving unless completely necessary. I am really tired all the time, I am not sure why.  I think it is city stress.   I go outside and have to make sure Seraphine doesn't get knocked down by a car or motorcyle and don't really know where I am most of the time. I try to do some housework, but am so hot after a few minutes. I just give up. The kids and I are sick, that may account for the lethargy, too.

Seraphine found one of Auntie Jasmin's old Barbies.

Seraphine seems to be doing fine, however. She is roaming around the house scattering her toys all over. We forget to pick them up at the end of the day. Need to organize a play space of some kind.

I can't quite figure out where I am most of the time. I used to get lost in Irvine and needed my GPS to drive around. Now I haven't started driving here yet (the car is broken) and there is no bus access.  It seems too hot to walk. So unless I call a taxi I am pretty much confined to a small radius of shops and things around our house...an old movie theatre, a handful of convenience stores (thank God for these) and a bunch of tea shops and food carts with questionable sanitation (we've been okay so far, though).

I am trying to get used to not being in charge of the household. I haven't had to cook and that has been wonderful. I am very thankful for this. On the other hand, I am not in charge of food gathering, so I am not sure what we are eating all the time and I have yet figured out where to get food. I need to go with the flow and that has not been easy.

Really feeling the need for some fellowship and to make some friends to hang out with. Especially since I am with Seraphine all day.

This all being said, I realize that we have only been here two weeks and this moving in transition is simply going to take a while.

More later.

--Tina

Moses Starts Pre-K in Taichung!

First day of school!

Our son, Moses, is finishing his first week of preschool in Taiwan.  He is the only overseas student in the entire school and he is taking it in stride. We were concerned at first because he had a disgusted, pained look on his face when we first went to buy his uniforms. Maybe it was his first realization that he could not speak the language and was no longer in America. Anyway,  he seems to like it now. He has been amazingly adaptable and has begun to make friends.

About the School

Li-An (Moses' Chinese Name) attends Wesley Preschool,  on the Taichung Methodist Church campus right across the street from our home. It is a well-established 50 year-old preschool with three stories, about 300 children ages 3-5. Kindergarten in Taiwan is also considered preschool. So the classes are xiao ban, zhong ban, and da ban. (small (age 3), medium(age 4), and large (age 5)"class".

There are 16 children in his class and two teachers, who are very kind and qualified. Daily activities include Montessori time, language arts, music (twice a week, including violin), PE (twice a week with a PE teacher), English, library, arts and crafts, Christian life, recess, a two hour nap, and lunch and two snacks. The food is prepared in the church kitchen and there is a set menu for each month. A sample daily menu is soymilk and biscuits for snack, shrimp and eggs over rice with bamboo shoot soup for lunch, and noodles or porridge for afternoon snack.  Our son definitely sleeps and eats well at this school! School starts anytime after 7:30 and ends at 4:00 but you are not charged extra until 5:00. After school (4:00-5:00) activities include clay, roller blading, chess,  and violin. Li-An wants to do clay.

Changing into 'indoor' shoes.

Students wear uniforms four days a week and have separate indoor shoes to keep the classrooms clean. They are very clean and air-conditioned. There is no grassy play area but there is a large "green top", a play structure, a garden on the third floor, and two basement play areas.
 b
Our tuition is very reasonable. It comes out to $7800 NT  ($275) a month for five days a week, full time. (There's also a $16,700 NT ($521) registration fee per semester. -- Steve)
This includes an hour of after school clay play! So much more affordable than California.

Personal Observations

Lining up for school assembly / flag raising.

There is definitely a greater group focus vs. individual focus in the school. MTW there is a half and hour long flag raising, calisthenics, singing and dance segment at the beginning of the school day. The children all seem to play together as opposed to small groups, and the whole group assemblies are much longer. Imagine our preschoolers in California sitting for 1.5 hours in a church auditorium practicing songs, celebrating birthdays, praying, and watching a short video. This is what they did this morning.

Moses used to bring home stacks of art and craft projects last year. As of yet they haven't done any art in the classroom yet. I wonder when and if they do crafts at this school. There is also no mention of mathematics in the curriculum, which is surprising. And no writing until kindergarten.

We do have homework: reading and recognizing characters from Tang poetry and English homework on a weekly basis. Moses rocks in English class. I'll use the workbook to teach him the corresponding words and patterns in Chinese--perfect!

This is definitely a family-oriented school with a strong presence in the community. It is amazing how much of an impact a church preschool can have! The teachers and administrators are really friendly and passionate about teaching and about sharing God's love with the children and families. The school even offers a parenting class once a month. We are reading Po Bronson's "Nurture Shock". I downloaded the kindle version onto my mac and am ready to discuss. How do I manage to get along in Chinese? I find that by mixing my Mandarin and Taiwanese I can usually get my point across. I don't really care if I make mistakes. I figure I'm here to learn and get the most of this experience so I just jump in wherever I am.

We are glad we have chosen this school, love the location, and can't think of a better place for our son to pick up Chinese!

-- Tina

Settling In

MOVING IN: I can finally think clearly after about 5 hours of sleep in an air-conditioned room. We need to clean out all the clutter in our room, the kids' room, the living room (there is no place to walk) and create some baby safe zones. Seraphine is excited about all the little things she can pull down around the house all at her level. She is very attached to me right now and doesn't like to leave my arms. Many things to babyproof, including the stairs with the big holes between the railings. Moses loves playing in his dad's old room with his old airplanes and cars. Steve's mom spent months cleaning it out for him and Seraphine. Seraphine has a bamboo crib which she sleeps fine in until she wakes up and yells at the top of her lungs, "Where am I?" She carries around her security blanket which is a thick, furry blanket.  A bit of a seasonal mismatch. Am I ever going to emerge from the air-conditioned room? Will I have the energy to get everything done in this heat? Why are we here again? 

MOSES' SCHOOL: Went to pick up the uniforms today. Only a picture is adequate to describe them and I will post once I get him to wear it.  It's a nice school, literally across the street with two very  friendly and nurturing teachers. But Moses was shocked upon realizing the language barrier. His had "tongku lien" or painful face akin to being offered something unsavory to eat. He completely went limp and tuned out when we got there. He was attracted to some of the toys in the classroom, though, and the other children kind of gathered around him in curiosity looking like they wanted to play. He's starting on Monday, and Parent Night is this Friday. I'm going to ask his Uncle Optimus (Steve's cousin who he loves to play with) to encourage him, for Moses is completely enamored of him lately. 

Visiting the Preschool

Prayer Requests: Thank God for an easy journey over here! And good health thus far! For air-condintioning in our room and Steve's mom's delicious foods! Uncle Optimus' taking Moses under his wing. Please pray that we can get settled in quickly and that our children will feel comfortable  and cozy in their new home. Pray for Moses' transition to his Chinese preschool, that he will make friends quickly and enjoy going to school. I would like to make some friends with his classmates' families to ease that transition. Pray for finding a support community and good relationships with our family here. Please pray for Seraphine to bond with her grandparents and be more comfortable away from mom, and that Steve can be well-rested, he looks so tired. Please pray for spiritual protection and also that our spirits will continue to seek God and listen to His voice.  

Thanks for reading! 

Tina

The Move

We did it! We arrived in Taichung, Taiwan at exactly 8am this morning exhausted but in good spirits.  The last 24+ hours are blur of activity as we finalized cleaning up our house, packing our bags, and getting ourselves ready for the trip. Below is a break down of the events leading up to our arrival ...

So much stuff!

Cleaning House - I worked all the way until the end of August and started my time off from on on Wednesday Sept 1.  The following days were a tornado of activity as we packed up the rest of our house, moved our furniture into my sister's place, and packed our own bags for the trip. We planned on using half our garage for storage but I thought with our furniture gone and all the stuff we sold/got rid of we'd only use a portion of that. We ended up using the entire half!


Packing Worries - My sister and cousin Andrew graciously offered us one luggage check-in allowance for us. This gave us the option of bringing a total of nine pieces of checked luggage. However, according to the Malaysian Air website strollers count as a check in and the dimensions of your checked luggage cannot exceed some ridiculously small amount akin to a toaster oven. It turns out that the Malaysian Air check in peole were really quite relaxed about the stroller policy (we brought two) and didn't care about your baggage dimension though they were a stickler for weight.

Finally! Checked in at LAX!

The Flight - Our original project plan involved getting everything ready by Saturday night so we could enjoy Sunday and Labor Day relaxing with friends. In reality, I was scrubbing the sink at 8:15pm on Monday night. Lucky for us, our roomate Daniel bought dinner for us and help us stow away the last of our boxes, laundry, etc. Our good friend Scott and family came a bit early to wish us well and to drive us to the airport. That was also a blessing as we were coming down to the wire with packing and cleaning the house and Kyoko offered to watch the kids for us. Despite the frenzy getting out the door, the trip itself was remarkably smooth.  Scott dropped us off at LAX at 9:30, we we're checked-in by 10, went through security at 10:30 and were on the plane and down the runway by 1:00am. The only real 'issue' was when we realized the gate agent had changed our seat assignment and split my sister apart from us as she had checked in separately. Again this was a hidden blessing as they gave us four seats in the middle along with a bassinet. The seat next to my sister turned out to be empty so we essentially had six seats to ourselves along with the bassinet!  Seraphine slept most of the flight and Moses had conked out before take off and did not wake up until we were halfway through.

On Island - We arrived almost two hours early at 4:51am. The airport is one quiet place at that hour but one cannot mistake the heat and humidity upon arrival. There's also that distinct Taiwan airport 'smell/aroma' as we had arrived in the old Terminal 1 building.  It looks like they've been rehabing Terminal 1 as the arrival area was quite nice though the ceilings felt really low. Going through immigration and customs was a breeze and one of the customs officers (a pistol packing 5 ft tall Taiwanese lady who couldn't have weighed more than 90 pounds) even helped us push one of our luggage carts to the waiting area. Can you imagine an immigration officer at LAX doing that? My mom had arranged a driver to pick us up in a minivan. This was a good thing as, between the four adults and two kids, we had 8 checked in pieces of luggage, 11 carry on items, and two strollers. It was a tight squeeze (Moses and I shared a seat) but we were all in and in front of my parent's house in 90 minutes.

We made it!

It's 8pm local time as I write this.  I'm still doing well after having a shower, nap, and coffee this afternoon.  Tina and the kids have conked out and will hopefully be able to sleep in a bit today. I'm going to have a bowl a chilled tofu dessert ("do hua") and will see if cousin Andrew is up for some stinky tofu later.  Tomorrow begins our first full day of our Taiwan adventure.

-- Steve