Reflections on a Great 9 Months

Final Blog Post for Stinky Tofu


The following was written right before we left Taiwan: 

We are going back to the States on Saturday and I am trying to put together in my mind everything that has happened these past few months. First of all, I can sigh a big sigh for relief and say, "we made it!" (well, almost... trip back and settling back in could be another blog in itself)! There were many challenges to hurdle during this stay including, the kids' transition, illnesses, the extreme heat, moving in with Steve's parents, mosquitoes, driving and finding parking, making friends and finding community and the difficulty of it all, isolation, language barriers, the extreme cold and not having a heater, Steve's many business trips, bullying at school, and Steve's late night conference calls (10pm -12 am most nights of the week). But these things seem insignificant (now that it's almost over) compared to all of the blessings we have received.

First, my kids' Chinese has improved significantly. Moses can now get along in his preschool class very well and speaks fluently with all his peers. He is just like one of the kids there. He can memorize Chinese poetry, recognize some characters and knows how to communicate. Mission accomplished! He speaks Mandarin exclusively to his grandparents. Seraphine's first language is Chinese. Almost everything she says is in Chinese but she can understand both. 

We have all gotten to know Steve's parents! We rarely get to spend much time with them but now we can really see what they are like. The kids have bonded with them and they have absolutely spoiled us. At our church women's luncheon today Steve's mom said that her strategy for getting along with her daughter in law is to spoil her. Lucky me! I also realized that one day Steve's wish to have four children will come to pass, once our chldren are both married. We will have four children then. 


I continued this posting after returning to the States: 

I have learned form Steve's mom how to be a great mom and a successful woman. It is not about appearances, but it is about having a mother's heart and caring for the people around you. She plays a crucial role in her family's connectedness and well being and I see how she reaches out to her extended family, spends time with friends, works hard to take care of her family and the family business. I am inspired and thankful for her model for how to be a success and wealthy in relationships.  I watched as the kept in touch with relatives and friends and created family cohesiveness. I loved her not caring about what other people thinks attitude. She is such her own person. 

I had a 9month break from my daily routines, housekeeping, cooking, and the busy OC lifestyle: Priceless! God must have pitied us. We were so tired and exhausted from raising our young kids and managing the household and shopping and going to birthday parties and buying things and returning things and rushing around all the time trying to catch up to the endless to dos. I had developed acid reflux and was taking Prilosec due to stress and lack of sleep.  I only took prilosec a few times  in Taiwan when things got rough or kids got sick.

We also thank God for our great renters and the money we saved while living in Taichung. Our expenses were very low and money goes much farther here. We were able to enjoy eating out a few times a week at very low prices. It’s been a financial break for us here, too, for we didn’t have to worry so much about making ends meet. 

With Steve's mom's babysitting, Steve and I were able to enroll in excercise classes twice a week at the YMCA! We did it even though we often did not want to go to our yoga and Pilates classes, we stuck to it to the end and made some great friends. 

The Methodist Church of Taichung was  a huge blessing to us and like a family to us. Across the street from our home, Moses’ preschool is located on this campus. Both the school and the church are a shining bright light of God’s love in our neighborhood. Moses has had an excellent education here and our preschool back home can not even compare in terms of academics or quality of teaching. The teachers put their entire hearts into the work and it is truly a life ministry for them. The only way they can be sustained in this work is through the Holy Spirit; for everyday of school is like vacation Bible Study or a one week missions outreach (except the same passion never ends). When asked by the teacher what he learned this year, Moses explained to his class that he gained friendships, Chinese language, and improved his math skills through the montessori materials. He had a truly amazing year and grew in leaps and bounds. His education was exceptional and the level of commitment and professionalism and care at the school far exceeds anything I have seen in the States. We will miss Wesley Methodist Preschool!

Spiritually, it has been an eye-opening experience for me. I came to Taiwan really hoping I could get involved in some non-profit ministry. But I was never able to make the right connections or find an opportunity. If there was an opportunity such as visiting a convalescent hospital, there was a schedule conflict of some type. I was getting discouraged. I was hoping to get more involved in a small group or church life, but found that having young children really limited my choices in that area, as well. I was lucky to have figured out a way to watch the Sunday sermons on a video screen upstairs from the service with my kids. Our church has Sunday school but Moses did not like to go and I couldn’t hear the TV in the baby room. 

We decided to choose a Chinese speaking church (with some English speakers) to go to and thus the language barrier seemed to limit community-building too.  But about half way into our stay, I decided to stop being frustrated and simply accept our limitations and choose to grow close to God exactly within the constraints of my life as it is. This, I found was not difficult, for God is at work all around me and in me, just not in the ways that I was thinking and spiritual life does not mean church life, although church life is very important. The simple fact of the business being stripped away helped me to connect better with God and to see the state of my own heart. It is so easy when surrounded by Christian people and Bible studies and everything to confuse knowledge with godliness. It is so different. 

In Taiwan I was able to see that the different things that I struggle with (ie. preoccupation with success and respect precisely because I feel I don’t have it; financial security) came to be more than struggles, they became gods in themselves. It is one thing to desire these things, it is another thing to completely orient your life around despairing about not having these things. There is a fine line between struggling with something and worshipping what you wish you had.  I do want to follow and devote myself to God, but I know that so many things get in the way. I desire to be filled by God’s spirit and the attract others to Christ through the LIFE in me. This is my humble request right now. 

We grew very close during this time to my grandfather’s brother and wife. Moses would hold my grand aunt’s hand while they walked. She has severe osteroperosis so she was close to his height. Seraphine called out her name when she saw a white haired woman selling oyster pancakes at the night market. I guess she was thinking of her, too.  Grand aunt let me pray for healing for her after her emergency stomach we had a great chat. For the first time she wasn’t running around serving us. Doctor’s orders, she could not do housework, she could actually talk for the first time during a meal.

As always, our most precious memories are of the dear friends we made during our  short time in Taiwan. At first I was somewhat disappointed that I did not have any great ministries to partake of or start up in Taiwan. I wanted to make a difference, do something Big. But now I can see the wisdom in my not doing “work”but  “just”  being able to reconnect with long lost friends and make new friends in Taichung with some local Taiwanese. God have me some friendships to Enjoy and these will be long term ones because I will be returning to Taiwan and always connected to this island country. God gave me some gifts to enjoy and friendship is a ministry in itself. I am looking long term at my relationships now. With email I do not see why we cannot maintain our friendships. In fact, I have emailed with my friend Pearl more than I have spoken to many of my friends here. I have learned to appreciate and cherish my friendships. This was more important for me to learn than serving. 

We will miss the fellowship of our Christian family here in Taichung. We will miss in particular the Livingston family (Sam, Helen and their four kids). I will never forget meeting up with them at a park about a month into our arrival. We were still raw from the transition. They shared their hardships, and all the little things that they had to get used to. Helen sprayed me down with mosquito repellent and told me all her pioneer stories. I realized how spoiled I was to have a dryer. We were terribly hot. And the kids ran around and played together. What a ministry just to see Moses and Seraphine interact with some kids! 

Beth and Chris Steiner introduced us the SYME and Beth introduced me to the best mango ice place and best steamed dumpling place ever. From Taichung Christian church turn left at the Mitsubishi dealership, park in the structure on the left, then walk past the fruit stands on right and make the first right. You will see a pharmacy and a lot of restaurants. Both are on the left. You will see the shaved ice place first. Absolutely delicious and cheap.  Went with Beth and her friend to the Chinese folk art museum.  They just carried their strollers and sometimes their two boys up stairs, even a wall. I was huffing and puffing with my little light stroller, little Seraphine and the sweat and heat, etc.  I can be such a wimp sometimes. 

The last week in Taiwan was a week of goodbyes. We enjoyed lunch with Steve’s friends from Morrison, lovely Debryn and vivicious Amy; Bonnie took a day off work and came down from Taipei, my small group at TCC took us out to brunch and framed a beautiful photograph for us; Ma’s women’s group at Wesley Methodist took me out to lunch at one of the sister’s Korean restaurant, we had a beautiful going a way party for Moses at school complete with games and  cake with an airplane on it, and Zhou Lao shi and Lin Laoshi’s precious gifts. 

Mom and Dad took us out to eat at a Japanese restaurant and we were given a special room. The kids sang and danced and said goodbye to Taiwan, yes, Moses literally yelled, Taiwan bye bye! 

...............

As I complete this entry, I’ve already been back for over a month. What I still cannot get over is how comfortable life is here in Irvine, CA. I do not feel the discomfort of climate at any time. The weather is so temperate. I would be grateful for any day like his when I was in Taiwan. There were actually few days where the weather felt comfortable, and I would relish those days. Here I can relish every day.  Life is comfortable here. Everything is so clean and parking abundant in most places. 

But we are so separated in our homes and garages and cars here. It is much easier to live an isolated and self-focussed life here. Perhaps this is what we refer to as privacy. But I am surprised at the lack of friendliness around me. I am given very strange looks when I say hello or start up a conversation with people here.  Am I just too excited that I can speak English here and don’t have to speak broken Chinese? Anyway, friends are all so busy. Most people require weeks or moths to set up a playdate.  And there is no eye contact when you go to pick up your kids at school. In Taiwan, you greet each other as so and so’s parents simply because your kids are in the same class you are all quite cordial with each other.  Here they look at me like “what is your problem? We need to get to......, I have this text to respond to, who are You?” Maybe Taiwanese are just super friendly? 

A stupor can fall over my soul because the utter need to God can seem so distant But I do need Him and wish to have a changed quality of relationship with God, a changed tone, like in a painting where the colors become vibrant and three dimensional. And I can appreciate friendships and the simple treasures in life more. The best things in life are truly free.  Thank you, dear God, for giving me time as an adult with young children to return to Taiwan, my home country. Thank you for the fun, the changed environment, the experiences, and new perspectives, the delicious foods, the unbeatable shopping, the new friends, the family bonds, my improved outlook on life.


Patty Tina Wu

Homestretch

I can't believe we're less then three weeks from heading home.  I'm definitely having some mixed feelings about this as Taichung has been our 'home' for the last eight months. For the most part I'm looking forward to going back to our own house, the space, the clean air, our friends, our church etc. etc. At the same time I'll miss my parents, the 'easy life' we have here (no rent/mortgage payments, free use of car, no cooking or doing dishes, etc.), and the new friends I feel like we've barely gotten to know.  My parents have been incredibly generous to us the last few months though I'm sure they've appreciated having the kids (and us?) around for such a long, extended trip.

We've been slowly packing our bags and prepping for the last two weeks by decluttering, giving away stuff, and putting things we don't need away. Tina, Seraphine, and I (Moses wasn't feeling well) had a 'goodbye/thank you' dinner with our pastor and family last week and I think we've got activities lined up for all the weekends and most weekdays we have left.  I'm sure it will be crazy as we get closer to the 21st though.

During this 'homestretch' I've been thinking of making lists of various things. Things I've liked here, things that surprised me about Taiwan, things I'm looking forward to doing when we get back to the States. So here are a few for thought:

Ten Foods I Really Enjoyed In Taiwan and Will Surely Miss

10. The stinky tofu place on Chung Hwa Rd. (of course!)

9. The 'Bei Fang' Jyau Tze (dumpling) stand on CH Rd.

8. The 'Da Lu' jyau tze stand's hot and sour soup

7. Mi Do Bing

6. The '50 Lan' milk tea w/ boba

5. The milk tea at the breakfast place

4. The Shau bing you tiau near Tze You Rd.

3. The Dou Hwa Sisters

2. The tonkatsu lunch in Park Lane

1. My favorite drink place - The Orange Factory

Five Things I WON'T Miss About Taiwan

5. The heat/humidity (especially recently)

4. Polluted air / smells (though, surprisingly, you do get used to it)

3. Noise pollution

2. Lack of parks, greenery where my parents live

1. Mosquitoes! 

More to come ...

Steve

Back Into the Swing of Things--It's April!

Steve's last post was such a kind one and it pretty much sums up the last month.
Now we are realizing we only have a few short weeks left here in Taichung!
Coming back from the States I realize this place is extremely different from Irvine, CA. It is a city, has lots of pollution, mosquitoes, but best of all such convenient food choices. I busy mom does not have to cook in this city, as healthy (and unhealthy) choices abound often for less money than the ingredients separately. And I would not have to shop, prep, cook, clean, and store. I am worried about going back to the States and having to spend large amounts of time on cooking again.

But then how can you nurture a home without good food? Grandma always had food on the table, as does my mom, and that makes a great difference in making family members feels at home and comfortable. At least it does for me.  Everything always kind of falls into place in my mind when someone dies or is diagnosed with an illness. All of a sudden those material things in life are not of such great importance as are all the worries and concerns of everyday. Have faith in the Lord, continue to serve Him, and then have as much fun and love as many people and as much as you can. It's simple, actually, and not difficult when we remember how good God has been to us all these years,  especially during grandma's passing.

I am so thankful for God's grace to our family during grandma's passing. It was hard to lose such a great woman. Her greatness was in her love and care and the way she nourished her relationships with people, especially myself. What an inspiration for me.

The kids have been amazingly well-behaved this past week. Perhaps they are enjoying being together?
Moses is picking up Taiwanese very quickly as he can memorize poems subconsciously. Every week they have a recitation competition at Moses' kindergarten. Kids randomly get chosen to go up on the stage and recite a poem or song in front of the entire school. I am continually blown away at the quality and caliber of education Moses is getting. Each month they have full color progress reports. They are working in small groups and learning to make decisions together and choose leaders, etc. This is only Pre-K.  Seraphine is back to being happy and friendly, especially with Steve's dad. Yesterday he sat down and said, "Gong Gong Ni Hao" like she was starting a conversation. She also has an amazing grip when drawing and can spend many minutes concentrating on her drawings. She is so fun to be around.

Hi Everyone! I am cute!

Both like eating  chicken feet

Moses likes the driving range

We are going to Taichung Christian  Church today--finally after so many weeks and I am sure Pastor Kevin's sermon will be encouraging and it will be great to see our friends. Then we are coming home and driving Steve's parents to a taxation class and Feng Jia University, picking up train tickets,  taking Moses to the driving range, and then going to pick up our parents and go to dinner near Dong Hai University. Somewhere in between we hope to take a nap as I am still jet lagged. Lots of driving but we have to thank God for this car. I need to take a picture of this car for everyone, for it's quite an original. I am sure you've seen nothing like it! It's a jalopy and I get stares and lots of questions about it but hey it runs and I don't worry about scrapes. The pictures don't really do justice. For example, there is no door handle on the right side and the rear view mirror is taped together with black tape. I still can't believe I can manage to drive here. Not easy without a GPS.
  

Next weekend we are visiting Tina's relatives in Banchiao, then more relatives and friends in Taipei, then heading out for two nights three days in Hualien. This will be our second vacation here in Taiwan. Our first was visiting Flora Expo in Taipei.  We are also hoping to visit Sun Moon Lake, Lukang, and Gaoshiong in the next few weeks. The weather has finally warmed up here! Lots of traveling for the Chen family before we begin packing again, and our trek back home. The only thing that I regret is not having found a way to give back to the community or serve in some way.

I had a quick stint as an English teacher at the Teacher college next door, facilitating the English corner for some college students and that was very insightful. I helped with some translations. But with grandma's falling ill and my return to the States I was not able to teach my last two classes. My music classes for toddlers playgroup is also on hold due to the Tomb Sweeping holiday and my own travels. Plus Apple, who hosts our group, has a little girl in the hospital with pneumonia. Poor An-an. Seraphine keeps mentioning her name to me, like she is reminding me to pray for her. She is my little angel.

More later!
Tina

Busy Days/Daze

Poor Blog.  I just realized I haven't written an entry in well over a month.  Let's see, since getting back from the US, I've been sick, visited Korea, cleaned the family grave in Dong Shih, attended my sister's engagement party, and broke the zipper on the back of her dress an hour before the party... that's another story.

Jasmin's engagement banquet

It's been a rough week.  Tina and Seraphine flew back to States just two days after I got back from Korea.  Early last week her grandmother had gotten really listless so Tina's parents took her to the doctors where they found that her bile duct was blocked. Upon further examination they found tumors all over her liver and that she was starting to bleed internally.  As she turned a hundred years old last year, the doctors decided not to operate and sent her to a nursing home / hospice to keep her comfortable. Tina's parent had initially thought she would be OK and told Tina not to come. However, we thought it would be better for her to go asap rather than wait until she was long gone or it was too late. The airfare was exorbitant as this was a last minute flight and Seraphine would be going along too.  I tried to push her to take a flight that flew out a day later but was overruled as 1) the flight would go through Tokyo and, ummm, there's like a nuclear disaster happening near there and 2) time was of the essence.  I'm glad I was overruled.  Tina was able to get there Friday night and spend that evening and most of Saturday with her.  Though mostly unconscious, she would mouth words to some Taiwanese folk songs Tina would sing to her and seemed to know when people were in the room.  

Moses and Mei Mei at the aiport

Tina's grandmother passed away quietly in her sleep on Sunday morning.


We've been trying to Skype each other all week but can only grab a few minutes here and there due to the time difference. I know she's very tired, jetlagged, and stressed about the funeral message she is giving tomorrow but I think she is happy she flew there early and that grandma passed away peacefully. (I hope I can pass in the same way!)


Back here in Taiwan, I've been working and taking care of Moses. Quite honestly he's been a super boy with his mom gone.  It was extremely stressful for him when we were sending Tina off at the airport but his resilience amazes me.  Of course he hasn't been perfect (our night time routine has been shot to pieces and I'm constantly resorting to bribes/threats to get him out of the house in the mornings) but it's been fine overall.  By the way, I have no clue how single parents do this day in and out.  They are real heroes.

Moses helping clean the family grave site in Dong Shih

We've got a busy (keeping Moses busy is a good thing) weekend planned ahead with a trip to the library this afternoon as well as a new stinky tofu shop my mom wants to try, a visit to Taipei tomorrow (in the cold and rain to ride the Mou Kong gondola and visit uncle 'Optimus'), and then it's off to Taoyuan on Monday afternoon where we will spend a night at an airport hotel in order to pick up Mom and mei mei early Tuesday morning.


I've got some sort of cold / allergy thing going on right now. Coupled with lack of sleep from working late my head feels like it's lost in dense fog if that makes any sense.


-- Steve

Getting Sick

Steve came back and before we knew it we had all fallen ill. First, Moses, then Seraphine, then myself and then Steve. So we've been running on empty here. But we are really thankful that Steve's dad is a doctor and we always have medicine when we need it.  And Steve's mom has been taking care of all of us when we need it.  Steve's mom suggested that he get an ultrasound for his liver and his dad suggested Seraphine get some xrays when she was having a lot of stomach pain. We would never take these measures so simply in the states because our insurance would make this difficult, but here in Taiwan, I suppose, these types of services are not unusual and covered by insurance. Plus, Steve's dad has an ultrasound machine on the second floor which makes it very convenient.

Moses is now full of energy, bounding through the house like a monkey, running when he gets picked up from school, etc.  but Seraphine spent half of the day on my lap and in my arms. She has a serious case of constipation.  We had to visit Steve's dad today and she was terrified. We might have to take some more extreme measures tomorrow which I will not elaborate upon here.  She was hit by another little boy today while at the library. I don't know what it is with her and little boys. Either they love her to death and won't stop hugging her (Moses' classmate Howard) or they hit her. So I had to intervene again  and protect her! This little girl is going through a lot here in Taichung.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

A Trip Back "Home"

I just got back from a business trip back to the States yesterday. About four weeks ago, I received an email from another business team we work with that there would be a "face to face" (very unusual at our company these days ... most meetings are done over the phone) meeting in Boise the second week of February and that my presence was requested.  I was quite excited about this both from a work point of view (a rare opportunity to connect with and meet some people I've worked with for years) but also from a personal standpoint as well.  I was a bit apprehensive though as Moses' would still be on winter break and Tina would essentially be flying solo while I'm out there.  Talking it through, she thought it would be OK and this would be an opportunity for us to drop off some stuff back home to lighten our load for the move back.  It would also give us a chance to 'resupply' with home and food stuff as well.


The preparation leading up to the trip went quickly as I also had four days off for Chinese New Year. "Uncle Optimus" (my cousin Andrew) came for a visit which was quite nice as it distracted Moses on his 2nd week of break!  Bags packed I had originally planned to take the high speed rail up to Taoyuan but didn't take into consideration that CNY meant all the trains  were booked!  Luckily I had enough time to catch a 2pm bus to the airport. It was a 3 1/2 hour journey (normally 2 hours) but I made it in plenty of time to check in for my flight, grab dinner, and call home before boarding EVA Airways flight 17 to SFO. 


It's been a few years since I last flew EVA and they had definitely upgraded the seating and AVOD systems. I was quite excited as the flight would be on one of their relatively new Boeing 777-300 birds instead of an older 747.  The economy class seat was comfortable (at first) and relatively wide with good (33") seat pitch.  It felt better than a similar class seat on Singapore Airlines.  The AVOD system also a new brighter touch screen system which also beats out SQ.  However, four hours into the 11 hours flight my bootie was going sore and I was shifting cheeks just to keep from going numb.  The food was also sub-par; I opted to eat the fruit my Mom packed for me instead.  While the staff were helpful and nice, there is just something about SQ that puts it's service level from the "helpful and nice" category to "world class".  (Common courtesy and Hagen Daz ice cream do help.)


Landing in SFO I was surprised to clear immigration and customs in less than 30 min.  Having a five hour layover, I had scheduled time to hang out with some friends from the Bay Area so I went outside and I got my first whiff of clean air in five months.  My friend Eugene and family picked me up and we went to have a snack near SFO.  It was weird being back in the States and to be in somewhere I used to call home.  After a much too short reunion, I was back at SFO and off to Boise Idaho.


From a work perspective, the business trip was great.  I was able to meet a bunch of people and provide input for projects slated for next fiscal year.  However, work trips are usually pretty tiring especially if they go on all day and social time is 'required' at night.  After four days of solid meetings, it was finally off to "home" with a Delta flight down to Orange County via Salt Lake.  (Yet another place I used to call "home".)  My sister met me at John Wayne (I love this aiport as It's extremely easy to fly in/out of) and we she took me to her new place in Irvine.  Her house was pretty much unchanged from five months ago. I was also able to crash on my old futon which was being lent to her.


The next few days were a blur of activity from my 'to do' list: visit Moses future elementary school, check on Kindergarten readiness programs, have lunch with my men's group, get rear ended on the way home (ok, that was not on the list), shop at Trader Joe's, have meeting w/ other men's group, go to Costco, stop by the Garner's (my) house to drop stuff off, have lunch w/ cousin, eat oysters, go to church, visit UC Irvine to take pictures of my sister's wedding place, have dinner w/ Tina's family, get an In N Burger, etc.


Before long, I was at LAX boarding my EVA flight back to Taiwan.  It was a whirlwind trip which I'm sure I'll be paying for in the days ahead.  My main concern now is how to help Tina ... She definitely needs rest after the last 10 days.


- Steve

More Winter Break Adventures

I took the kids to my friend Apple's New Year party yesterday. She invited several families and then served us a delicious home-cooked meal.  She was so hospitable and yet so completely down to earth so we all felt much at home. Her home is on a top floor of a beautiful apartment building with some lovely views of the city. It is an ultra modern pad with each design element an absolute work of art. It's the type of place you don't need to decorate much because the design and materials exude style and elegance. Needless to say, I would love to live in that bright, sunlit modern place with a window seat overlooking the park!

The kids and I visited Moses' school in the afternoon, chatted with his teachers (who had to work), and bought french fries and green beans from our favourite fry shop right before dinner. (Woops.)

Today was also fun. Moses is learning to write his letters  while we played bank teller and postal worker.  We bought another overpriced sippy straw (these things are expensive here) and walked to Orange Factory. They usually do not let us have an extra cup there so sharing the drinks with S and M are always a little tricky. Luckily the kind woman who has a sister who lives in Long Beach broke the rules for me and gave me an extra cup. I think she is the owner, actually, so it was okay. She also told one of the cashiers to wait until we left to set off the fireworks. He was going to do it right in front of Seraphine!
We were able to watch from the sidelines and Moses saw his first Chinese firecrackers.

 By the way, Seraphine was bullied by two boys in the baby store while I was trying to insist on ordering those sippy straw cups with the very frustrating staff at this baby store. (The staff seems to not understand what a mom with a toddler needs when she goes into a baby store. For example, they don't seem to understand that it's hard to go up stairs with a toddler and carry two bags of diapers down the stairs while also carrying the toddler, that running out of supplies is very difficult and can be "life or death", that concentration is compromised when a toddler is pulling all the items off the shelf is difficult, etc., etc.)But back to Seraphine, while I was trying to insist that the shopkeeper get me those refills because that's the only cup I have and I don't want to spend another $5 on a malfunctioning sippy cup, two boys aged 3 and 1 started literally beating up on Seraphine! They were hitting her! I used a very LOUD and stern Mommy Bear voice and said in my very American Accent while shaking my finger, "NO-NO" "NO-NO" And then in Chinese, "This is WRONG!" Then I tried to smile at the children when their mommy pulled them away, but I could not do so. How dare they bully her.  She was okay, just stunned. I gave her a piece of chewy milk candy right in front of the little 1 year old boy.  He stared at me longingly.  I wouldn't have given him one even if I had another piece. Meanwhile Moses is sitting on the slide outside oblivious. Of course I had a talk with him afterwards about protecting his little sister and what he should do if this should ever happen again. If this were to happen again, I would have said even more to those little boys and make it a lesson for all the little children around.

After Orange Factory (Try 3C if you ever get a chance) and the caffeine lift, we walked over to get Moses' haircut and then to the teacher's college. At the college, we explored the buildings and we role played "college student". We pretended we were taking classes and studying.  My persona had great study habits and took her coursework seriously. It's never too early to model the importance of doing well in school! Moses' persona was also a very good student with a heavy workload and boundless work ethic. He is learning so much here in Taichung, you see!

Well, that's all for now. More fun tomorrow. I don't know what has gotten into me. I had a bit of a spiritual awakening a couple weeks ago at church and I have become so POSITIVE. I think it's this incessant sunshine.....

---PTW

Night at the Movies and Afternoon with Family

Steve and I finally went to see a movie at the theaters across the street! It only cost $110NT for two tickets. After the kids went to bed we walked across the street to watch the Social Network. It was a great movie. We especially enjoyed all the Stanford and Palo Alto references.

It was another beautiful sunny day in Taichung, which makes me believe this is certainly the best city to be residing in on the island. After taking Steve to the bus station (he is going to Idaho for a business trip) we strolled through the Sunrise shopping center and found a beautiful dress for Steve's mom to wear to Jasmin's engagement party. We were also able to partake of Moss Burger for the first time (it was yummy) and to enjoy the English magazines in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express. The Express is brand new and very nice. There was a young singer in the restaurant area who played soulful indie sounding ballads accompanied by acoustic guitar --in English.

Lastly, there is an ice cream treat from a place called 美方 that I am absolutely addicted to. It's like ice-cream but thick enough to be molded into small rectangles and with distinctive flavors such as taro, green bean, peanut, red bean, and passion fruit. It is kind of the consistency of a thick popsicle that is all flavor.
I will definitely be eating as much as I can of this while I am still here in Taichung.

--PTW

Chen Family Reunion

We  drove to Chang Hwa today for the annual New Year's lunch with Steve's Dad's uncle's (his dad's younger brother) family. His uncle has six children and they usually all come back and live in their  parents' big four story house on the second day of Chinese New Year.

We lunched at a vegetarian restaurant (the family is I-Guan- Dao) and then visited their home for a short visit. The food was delicious and Taiwanese banquet style (ban do). Steve's grandfather had five sisters and one brother so it was interesting to meet all the family that I never knew I had. They were all kind and hospitable. We promised to join them for the tomb sweeping activity at the end of March.

Our little jalopy made it all the way there and back!

--PTW

Chinese New Year

Went to a SPA yesterday with some friends. It was mix of indoor swimming pool and onsen for families.
Lots of spas in different temperatures and with different characteristics such as rose water, lavendar water, bubbles, massage showers, Chinese herbal medicine, etc. Too bad the kiddie pool was closed.

Today is Chinese New Year. Our family took a road trip to Asia University and we were able to stroll in the sunshine, admire flowers, watch the children run around, and feed the fish. Ma and Ba treated us to delicious dim sum and taro ice cream.  We are so thankful that our family is healthy and able to enjoy such moments together.

Next year I want to start some Chinese New Year traditions for our family: new clothes, cleaning the house, vegetables on New Year morning, hot pot on New Year's Eve, and fa gao and nian gao. I especially enjoy the fact that Chinese New Year gives me a chance to start afresh and throw away the old spiritually, as well. And put on a garment of praise to God. New Year Day is always so close to Christmas that I don't really have a chance to reflect and seek God every year. I'm just trying to recover from the holidays in general. Chinese New Year provides the perfect distance for planning new beginnings.

Our family really wants to devote ourselves more to God this year, not just do the motions of Christianity, which is quite dull. We want God's power to be seen in our lives. But we know that change has to start from within. Taiwan has helped us see the condition of our hearts, something that is easily masked by the daily business of life in Orange County and church life in general.

One thing we have started doing is incorporating repentance in our times of family prayer. Steve and I are still reading the Bible together almost every evening. Last night Steve encouraged me with the thought that if Judas had not taken his life he would have seen Jesus' resurrection. Jesus would have forgiven him and perhaps Judas would have become a powerful witness to Christ like Peter was. How often do we just give up when we mess up? Take things into our own hands? Missed His revelations in our despair? Forgotten that we can bring each place of despair to our Father who cares and wants to heal and repair?

Tonight we discussed faith. Upon Jesus' crucifixon, bodies of believers were raised from the dead and even walked around. The curtain of the temple was rent. There was a earthquake. Darkness for three hours. Some believed in Jesus' deity at that point. Some did not. I have seen miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle and yet my faith still wavers. Why? We thought of two reasons: 1) we don't practice our faith and 2) we forget the miracles (places where we see God clearly at work) because we do not nurture our spirit lives. We are only living in the flesh.  For this reason I am writing this blog. So I don't forget.

--PTW (Tina's new signature)

Visit to Ban Chiao

We had a wonderful visit to Ban Chiao (my dad's hometown) yesterday. The purpose of the trip was to wish my grandfather's younger brother and family a Happy Chinese New Year. I had lived with them for a summer during college and I feel very close to them.  

Upon arriving, I found out that my grand aunt had just been released from the hospital for intestine surgery. She is old, in her eighties! Anyway, she is the type of person who is always so busy hosting I never have a chance to talk to her, but this time, doctor's orders, she resigned herself to sitting and being served. We had a great talk over lunch and shared some precious memories. She even agreed to my praying for her and then told me she would send me my favorite cakes.  What was best about the visit was that the entire family keep calling me ga-te-lang, or close family. For example, we didn't prepare you anything special because you are ga-te-lang. (It was actually a delicious home made meal, but I know what they meant).

I almost cancelled the visit because I felt sick to my stomach that morning and had no sleep the night before, but I am so glad that we decided to go.  

Another plus is that Moses and I spent some much needed mother son time together. Children are free on the HSR and you don't need to pay unless you specifically buy them a seat. I therefore only bought one ticket each way but we were fortunate enough to have an empty seat for Moses on each trip even on a busy Chinese NewYear travel date.  Moses especially enjoyed riding business class and was eager to delineate all its advantages.

A Pleasant Friday

I have had the two kids for over a week now (Moses is on winter break for  3 weeks) and I have managed to survive. Thankfully, Moses is interested in learning to write his numbers so he is happy to trace and draw and Seraphine does not mind copying everything he does. We stayed in for the morning then went out for some afternoon diversions.

We stopped by our favorite fry shop which sells freshly fried french fries sprinkled with salt and pepper, went to pick up High Speed Rail tickets, and then stopped by my favorite dou hua stand for steaming sweet soft tofu with red beans and barley.

On the way home we walked through the Teacher's college. Moses suggested we explore the art building. At first I was not so keen, but he was insistent. And I was glad we decided to go in. We explored the art studios and pretended to be painters and sculptors. I introduced him to the various supplies in the studios. We admired the paintings on the walls, and even got the chance to observe a student producing a huge ink painting. An hour passed quickly and before long we were on our way home in time for dinner.

Except for Seraphine's temper tantrums on the way home (good thing the college is just next door), it was a nice and easy afternoon with the kids.

--Tina

English Playgroup and Engagement Cake Sampling

Joined and English speaking playgroup today and felt so much at ease just speaking English.
Speaking Mandarin all the time has become  tiring and I feel like my Chinese is getting worse. My cousin Andrew gave me his itouch and I now have a program that helps me read and write Chinese. I just draw the character on the screen and I get the translation immediately. Can do the reverse. So now I am suddenly far more literate! I am probably more literate than most of my American born Chinese counterparts, but there are still so many words that I do not know! Anyway found out one of the moms adopted her son from Home of God's love in Luodong! What a small world. Another mom, Beth, who invited me started a unique English immersion student ministry training program in Taichung 4 years ago. Here's a link to their school: www.taiwan.wolsyme.com. Met another mom who also studied at TaiDa many years ago. Her husband is also Morrison graduate, like Steve. My friend Apple joined us with An-An. We had a great morning. I tried so hard to live like a Taiwanese and not have only foreigner friends, but I did miss the connecting in my own language so am glad to join this group.

This afternoon we went sampling cakes for my sister in law Jasmin's engagement party. It was great fun. We were given some tea and asked to sit down. We could then sample all the Chinese cakes we wanted. I have never seen anything quite like this, for the samples were self-serve! So Seraphine, Steve's mom and I tried  (black) sesame mochi, taro mochi, redbead and mung bean mochi,  butter green bean, some other ones, traditional meat, vegetarian, sesame mochi, sesame mochi, and taro mochi, and I guess we like the sesame mochi the best! We were getting so full but needed to try them so we knew which was best! End up buying a couple and bring back for Dad and Steve to try and the resounding favorite was the black sesame mochi! By the way Jasmin and Lawrence are coming to Taiwan end of February for their engagement! This is all Steve's mom talks about all day. It is a lot of fun.

Went to yoga class this evening. I go M and W nights. Some moves are impossible but I do feel improvement and much less pain in neck and shoulders. Best thing was I came back and the kids were all washed and in bed! Nothing is better than a clean smelling child to hug! Stayed up late with Moses to read his history book.  Decided to make an exception to the schedule on my exercise days. Moses prays in Chinese now and I enjoyed those bedtime prayers. Seraphine fell asleep fast. Her new blanket wrap is just wonderful. I need to take a picture of it.

Tomorrow one of my favorite people to hang out with is coming: Susan Chen. She is an Engineer with a computer science degree from Syracuse University who works in Hsin Zhu. She was my bosom buddy years ago when I lived in Taipei. I am going to to go to small group tomorrow and then take Susan somewhere nearby for lunch while Seraphine naps.

--Tina

Schedule a Success

It's 8:31. Both kids are asleep. Pushed through with the schedule and it worked great. I am so proud of myself.

Not Too Different from Days at Home

There are days that are not too different from days at home, except for our location.
For example, wake up, get Moses to school, clean up the rooms, do laundry, change Seraphine because she spilled milk all over her new outfit, try to make an outfit out of the leftover clothes, admire her cute new boots, look for a few lost items, tell Seraphine she may not play with the suitcase, let her cry and then distract her, realize she is hungry and go out to buy lunch, get a call to pick Moses up because he is sick, pick up Moses and take his temperature, ask Steve to buy lunch,  bring the kids back home, feed Seraphine,  put Seraphine down for nap while singing a Chinese song and helping Moses memorize the words, help Moses get into bed for his nap, do more laundry, download some pictures, pick up  and comfort Seraphine from truncated nap (brother woke her up), eat snack, help Moses with setting up his new sorting recycling chore,  let Seraphine go crazy with markers (used to label our recycling boxes, pick up the markers and look for the caps, make snacks for the kids, do poetry homework with Moses, get lessons from Steve's mom so I can help Moses with the homework, draw with Seraphine, resolve a couple of fights, teach Seraphine not to bite, pinch, or pull hair and teach Moses not to push his little sister, watch a few minutes of TV, explain what a chef is to Moses, correct his Chinese ( he was calling chef a piece of toast), eat dinner, clean up Seraphine's huge mess, put away laundry and do laundry as Steve gives baths, pick up laundry (we go to Steve's dad's clinic to do laundry so this takes a lot of time), make hot drinks, clean up mess, talk with Cousin Tony on phone for a few minutes,  threaten Moses with a time out if he doesn't respond to request to go brush his teeth, floss Moses' teeth, put on Seraphine's snugsnug wrap, give Seraphine more milk, wait while she eats apples with grandma, wait some more as she eats duck with grandma while Moses and dad are reading a story, get both kids into bed, sing out family song, pray, let Steve pray some more, because I am too tired to talk, give Seraphine to Steve while she cries for more milk, take her back after she cries for a few minutes, start praying very loud and singing worship songs from college(this usually works), put sleeping Seraphine into her crib, send Moses to his own room to sleep, take a shower and wash my hair (finally!), read book of Matthew and Master Your Money with Steve, try to convince Steve to do the financial goal setting with me, wonder if he is on board,  go away and journal a  little, read the news and look up Tunsia (it's the northernmost country in Africa) on wikipedia, and then make a  couple household schedules and checklists, such as the following: Our NEW and IMPROVED Bedtime routine which I will post for all to see: 6:45 Bath 7:15 PJs and ointments 7:30 Milk and Story 8:00 Family Prayers 8:25 HUGS 8: 30 Lights Out.  I am pooped.  I have to be at school at 8:30 to cut turnip cakes for our big Chinese New Year celebration at school. Hope Moses is well enough to make it. Hope Seraphine sleeps through the night tonight. You see, today the day is just like one at home. For us stay at home moms with very young kids, this is what life is like anywhere I suppose. Good night!

Home of God's Love - An Orphanage in Luodong

I took last Friday off to travel to Luodong for a visit to the "Home of God's Love" orphanage.  Luodong is a city in the northeast of Taiwan in Illan County.  One of my high school classmates grew up there as her parents (Ted and Bev Kiles) are missionaries running the orphanage. Tina and I have an interest in adoption so we thought we'd go up for a visit as we have some 'guan shi' (relationship) there through my classmate. We also had some friends visiting from back home who are quite serious about the adoption process and have been on the wait list for a China adoption for some time now.

In the end, Tina decided not to go as Seraphine had a bad cough and it would involve leaving Taichung quite early. Thus Moses and I got up at 5am and headed out to the HSR station to take the first train to Taipei. It was a smooth trip up there and we met our friends at the Taipei Train Station for a 'normal' train ride down to Luodong. That part of the trip took 1 1/2 hours but time passed by quickly as the boys (our friends have two boys about Moses' age) played and I enjoyed the beautiful scenery despite the gloomy weather. (We traveled through a mountain pass along a river for half the journey and then along the coast.) Arriving in Luodong, we took a 15 min cab ride as the orphanage is actually out in the countryside by a place called "May Hua Hu" (Plum Flower Lake).

The orphanage is on a relatively large plot of land located near the lake and hills and surrounded by rice paddies. I think the orphanage has been developed organically as the Skiles have been serving here for forty years having some here in the late 60's / early 70's and raised their own seven children here as well as countless local kids. The first thing we saw were the seven or so infants that were currently in the orphanage. They ranged in age from 3 months to 10.  We got to 'play' with them and hold and feed the little ones while Mrs. Skiles gave us a tour of the orphanage. The older kids were all in school but we were able to see their desks and play area. The facilities are quite good and the staff (both paid and volunteer) are extremely caring and loving. We learned that actually a small percentage (20%) of the kids at the orphanage are actually available for adoption. Many of the birth parents refuse to relinquish their parental rights though they are not raising the kids themselves thinking that the kids will eventually grow up and be able to provide support for them. ("Yeah, right.", I thought ... But who knows?) Domestic adoption placement is pretty low due to cultural stigmas (unfortunate as domestic takes priority) so most of the adoptions that do happen tend to be international. The Skiles do screen prospective parents closely as they only place children to Christian families. They also do not charge fees makes this easier for parents involved in ministry. Due to the low birthrate in Taiwan and great demand for adoption, this particular orphanage is not taking applications right now.  However, we found out the adoption process in Taiwan, unlike China, is not centralized so other orphanages may be more open. (Like they say ... being at the right place and right time ...)

We spent a few more hours there and had lunch at the orphanage before heading home. I'm glad I went as it was an eye opening experience and I think our friends were encouraged and felt renewed to press on with the adoption process.  Moses liked visiting the orphanage as well and said he wanted to come back a second time and show Mommy. :-)

Steve

Where did December go?

November and December flew by.  What happened? Moses' Mandarin has been rapidly improving and by December he began speaking to us in Mandarin for much of the day. He now goes back and forth between the two languages. He can express himself quite well on a conversational level and was even chosen project leader by his classmates. He was to lead the designing(yes, they are doing this in preschool) of a advertising placard for the breakfast shop that the class was going to open. They designed the pictures, drew, them and then Moses presented it to the class. Pretty good for a four year old in a foreign language!

We attended his school Christmas party which was nothing like what we'd have in the States. The kids stayed after school until 6:00 upon which parents and families arrived for the potluck dinner and performances. There was an opening ceremony drum performance and the school was completely decorated in student work.  Then families joined the students in their classrooms for Bible readings, music performances, and a talent show. We had dinner together and then Santa came to visit and passed out presents. We did not leave until close to 9pm! 

School does not go on holiday for Christmas, but we did. We spend a few days in Taipei going to the big city zoo (we saw pandas), the Flora Expo, and Baby Boss. It was very tiring but fun.  I'll try to post some pictures. 

The weather here has been unusally cold, and grey and just terrible. Finally bought a heater today and that is why I can actually sit down and type without my fingers freezing. I was literally malfunctioning for days and weeks because I was so cold. Darkness enveloped me. 

 Seraphine is up from her short nap. So I must go now. She ran around Carrefour the entire morning in her squeak squeak shoes, but I guess that did not tire her out enough.  Seraphine now says MaMA in a very Taiwanese accent. It is so very cute. And bao bao (for hug).  We bought her a japanese blanket wrap around robe which is working well this winter.  We call it her snug snug. That's all for now. 

--Tina