It’s after weekends like this past one that I realize Emily and I really live here in Taiwan. We are not on vacation or some sort of extended getaway. We live here. We’ve built and continue to build a life here. It makes me wonder what it will be like if and when we leave here.

This past week was midterms. For the past several weeks I had been in sort of a funk. I wasn’t posting on here, I wasn’t really studying or working hard at school. Just sort of coasting. Thankfully the week before midterms I got jerked out  of that whole thing (it had to be God). I was able to sit with my textbooks without my mind wandering and really enjoy getting all the info into my brain and prepare for midterms.

On Friday evening, two days ago, we went out with friends to celebrate one of Emily’s classmate’s birthday. That was after helping our friend, Sandy, do some interviews of Taiwanese college students who want to volunteer to help with English camps during the winter break. Our job was to assess their English ability and make sure no duds got through the vetting process.

Two of our good friends here are an Australian couple who recently became engaged. The woman has Taiwanese roots and Saturday they had a big engagement party. We were very pleased to have been invited. We went up into hoighty-toighty Yang Ming Shan Mountain to a very nice restaurant and spent all afternoon eating a veritable feast. I forget but I think I remember nine courses or so. It was amazing! The food had a definite Japanese feel including steamed egg & scallops, anchovies rolls, chicken stew, a pureed strawberry drink, sushi, and much more. Some of the way the food looked made me wonder if taking a bite would be a big mistake but everything was incredibly tasty! It was one of those restaurants that sets a different menu every day and you don’t get any choices…you just get what they have that day. You know, a restaurant that is so fancy and dedicated to good food that you just show up and basically turn yourself over to the Chef. This restaurant even brewed their own flavors of vinegar that was served to clear our palettes in between courses. Even though the food was magnificent the highlight and really cool part of the day was getting to know our friends’ family and a few of their Australian friends who had flown in for the occasion. It was fun watching newbies to Taiwan react to Taiwanese-style driving on the way up the mountain.

Today, Sunday, we began the day at church finishing the process of becoming formal members of the New Hope group by giving our testimonies. They record them and put them up online so if any of you are interested in hearing what we said let me know and I’ll share the links. Emily doubled-up today and taught children’s church as well.

Several weeks back one of the Taiwanese women at church had asked if we wanted tickets to see a violin recital scheduled for this Sunday. We had said yes and went to it today with, it turned out, several other church folks. Held in the recital hall at the National Concert Hall, the performer turned out to be Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra’s Concert Master. She was excellent and played several pieces including Bach, Schubert, Ravel, and others. For only a $6 USD ticket price we definitely got our money’s worth!

Our pastor and his family are leaving for furlough in America this coming week so today was their last Sunday for somewhere between 1-2 years. They had lots of people over to their house so after the concert we went over. Shortly after we arrived we all went to go out to hot-pot for dinner! It was a wonderful time of visiting and wasn’t at all mired in sadness about their leaving.

After that we went out for coffee with two other church friends (an Australian and a New Zealander) who recently became engaged. They wanted to pick our brains about the whole engagement/wedding planning/wedding/newly married life experience. While I feel like we don’t really know that much and can offer pretty limited assistance it was great to tell them what we did know and be able to share advice that others had given us, which, we had found beneficial. Thinking about the whole thing also helped Emily and I realize that we really have learned a lot in the past two years of marriage.

After this very, very full weekend we came home. Emily went to bed and I realized just how much we really have made a life for ourselves here.

I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal’s daily photos, which are a good way for me to keep on top of world events. And, more interesting (sorry, it’s true) than reading a bunch of newspaper articles. This photo of Taipei drivers was posted yesterday, and I thought it was great.

Motorists crowd at a junction during rush hour in Taipei October 29, 2009. There are around 8.8 million motorcycles and 4.8 million cars on Taiwan’s roads and nearly all motor vehicles and inhabitants are squeezed into a third of the island’s area. This results in high concentrations of polluting emissions in the places where people live and work, according to official reports. A U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen will be held in December.

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I just caught a whiff of cinnamon from the kitchen, because Michael’s baking snickerdoodles. It’s a rainy day and the cat is curled up on my lap for warmth. The dehumidifier is humming and I’ve got some favorite songs playing…it’s a wonderful Sunday afternoon.