Taiwaneers

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This is what I miss.
Summer.
Emerald fields, effortless in their expanse.
Clear blue skies with the fluffiest, most brilliantly white and fabulously carefree clouds you’ll ever see.

I miss the confidence that comes from knowing a place so well, you can notice the slightest change, the tiniest shift. This is also beauty.

I miss driving a car, but specifically, driving in a car with the windows down, blasting oldies and singing at the top of my lungs. Genuine sadness overtakes me upon thinking about any person who has not had the chance to feel such freedom and abandon!

I miss my mother’s cooking, the familiar tastes and being able to guess what’s for dinner from the aroma wafting its way up the stairs.

I miss drifting to sleep to the sound of crickets at night, singing their love songs to each other and in turn to me.

I miss the summer rain – both the sweet, warm showers and the angered, fierce thunderstorms. Each are awe-inspiring in their own right, always reminding me of the God I serve, at once tender and all-powerful.

So to remedy this homesickness, I have booked our tickets home for the summer!

We arrive July 3rd, and will head back to Taiwan September 10th. The six weeks at home will, we hope, be enough time to see everyone, pass around hugs and babies, work to pay for the tickets, see family and go camping at least once!

Can’t wait to give you all your own smile, and catch up on what the last year has brought in changes to our lives, dreams, opinions, musical tastes and of course, most importantly, relationships with God.

Please pray for us! as we finish these last weeks of school. Things are getting busy.

Love

Emily

Michael and I took a long summer walk on Thursday, which we have dubbed “Family Night.”

The weather these days is absolutely perfect, and nighttime especially is a treat. Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall is quite near our home, and at night the big, open space and gardens are hushed and softly illuminated. The city noises are blotted, and the wind rustles the leaves just right.

A perfect night for a lover’s stroll.

…because when things are broken, I can fix them!
This week it was our bathroom sink – standing water and no sign of drainage. So, I applied all the home remedies and when that didn’t solve the problem entirely, I took the whole thing apart, cleaned it and put it back together. One word: gross. Not recommended for the faint of heart.
Mostly, I’m just happy that I get to do this sort of thing, because I love the problem-solving aspect of it! And Michael’s not fighting me for the rights to fix-it person, so I feel free to get ‘er done without feeling like I’m stepping on his (manly) toes.
Life is good

Big & exciting news people: In PE class a few weeks ago we all had to take a test. There were several parts to this test:
1. Do as many sit-ups as you can in a minute
2. Do a flat-footed long-jump from a stand-still
3. Reach forward as far as you can sitting on your bottom with your legs out-stretched in front of you
4. Measure your heart-rate after 1 minute of stairs with 1 minute to rest
The results were written on a little paper with my name on it along with my age, weight, height, and BMI, calculated from height and weight. Everyone’s results were then fed into a computer program which calculated the bottom fifty-percent of my class and the top fifty-percent in terms of “physical fitness.” Those in the bottom will have to take a third year of physical education but I won’t BECAUSE I’M IN THE TOP HALF AND WILL BE DONE WITH PE IN A FEW SHORT WEEKS!!!!!! It truly is the simple things in life.

Everyone here in Taiwan boils their water (we do too) or has a water filtration machine. I always assumed it was because the water was not safe. However, this week in Environmental Dynamics class I learned that this is done because of historical habit and for better taste due to the water’s high chlorination. We’ve been living in Taiwan for over twenty months now and I just learned its safe to drink the tap water.

Its been a while since I posted about the cab-driver who pee’d on the side of the road outside our apartment while traffic zoomed by so how about a little culture shock for all of you. I just learned it is a common practice at Taiwanese weddings (not Chinese so this is common in the south of Taiwan but not here in Taipei) to hire strippers as entertainment for weddings. Not the night-before party or anything like that but for the actual wedding party dinner. CULTURE SHOCK!

And finally the Nonsense Shirts Store is still a blast. 2 months after opening we’ve had our first, non-friend (as in stranger to us) customer, schwing! Additionally with the help of friends here I’ve expanded the business to also include custom t-shirt printing service and bulk ordering of our own products.

Jenna, Megan and Emily set out on a Saturday morning in May to hunt for waterfalls along Taipei County’s San Siao Ling trail.
What they found along the way was a gorgeous wooded trail, dotted with freshly fallen, fragrant flowers and patches of sunshine. 
Look closely to see the traditional farmer, who was out with his wife burning brush.
When we met him, he wanted to know if his hunch was right – yep We’re Americans!

Only the second fall of seven (or more?) along the San Diao Ling Trail, the guidebook described this place as something out of the Last of the Mohicans. Us three girls climbed up into the cave behind the falls for a thrill

All alone, or so we thought…!
This picture was snapped by one of the 10 or so hikers that so conveniently happened upon us while climbing in the waterfall!
They all ended up getting out their own cameras and hollering down to us while we slipped, slided and squealed our way up. What we missed on film was the waterfall changing its course and dousing us thoroughly!