About Us
We are Michael and Emily Jefferies, an American married couple from Michigan who have found ourselves on a wonderful adventure abroad. We met as teenage volunteers on a political campaign, became good friends a few years later working together for the same non-profit organization, and started dating. After about three years of an eventful and sometimes very long-distance courting, we came up with a brilliant idea: marriage! Michael proposed, we decided to chase our dreams in Taiwan, tied the knot in August 2007 and three weeks later moved to the small town of GuiShan to begin our careers as students. Our first year living together was spent in a small studio apartment, just down the hill from Emily’s Chinese classes but a full hour by bus, train and MRT from Michael’s school, the Taipei campus of Ming Chuan University. Because of his commute and our desire to live in the big city, Emily switched to the Taipei-based National Taiwan Normal University, and in June 2008 we moved into an apartment with two other housemates.
Michael studies International Business and Management, Emily studies Mandarin Chinese. We both are surrounded on a daily basis by our classmates who hail from all corners of the world, from whom we are learning about different cultures and languages on the most personal level: friendship.
To the commonly asked question “Are you missionaries?” we answer that we are listening for God’s voice and committed to following it. He has led us here, and continues to present us with evidence that being here is no accident. We can do no more than obey Him, the ultimate joy!
We enjoy adventures of any kind, good conversations with friends, our cat Lottie, great food and letting people crash on our couch. If you’d like to travel some of Asia or see Taiwan specifically, we can help with advice and lodging. Let us know!
Below is an interview of us on what its like to be married while in college. Some friends of ours studying Mass Communication did it as a class project.
So, that’s us in a nutshell. Don’t be shy to read as much as you want, look at all of our pictures and comment, even if we weren’t acquainted before. We won’t mind even a tad 
Love to you!
Michael and Emily
Hi, I am a British university student graduating this year!
kush | January 26, 2009Hi,
I am a British university student graduating this year! With the world depression I am finding it hard to find a job next year in the UK!
So i was thinking of heading to Taiwan to teach english for a whole year!
Could you tell me what its like living in Tiapei and how much an apartment in the city center would cost?
Also how did you cope with the language barrier
Thanks!!!
thanks for you missionary adventure we would love to host
nandi | May 4, 2009thanks for you missionary adventure we would love to host you and preach with you in kenya you are most welcome.
God bless you.
I didn't know you guys had a website. How cool!
Hannah | May 19, 2009I didn’t know you guys had a website. How cool! Love you both! Oh and I was wondering if you wanted to check out a jazz bar this friday night, at around 8.30pm, it’s called Blue Note, have you been? its on the corner of Shi Da and Roosolvelt (wow never knew I couldn’t spell that word! Oh well what can I say he isn’t an Australian prime minister!)
Much Love
Hannah
Hi, my name is Jennie and I'm 21, from the
Jennie | October 23, 2009Hi, my name is Jennie and I’m 21, from the UK. I’m a Christian and I’ve felt for ages God is calling me to East Asia and to learn Mandarin. He’s led me on this crazy path, and next month I’ll be moving to Taipei (Wanhua district) to intern with a mission group. Yeah, I’m pretty nervous.
I’m really excited to see your blog – I randomly searched for some info on Taiwan and the only 2 pages I ended up looking at were 2 blogs by Christians living and studying in Taipei! God is good, and he obviously controls google.
So I’d love to chat sometime. I know you must be busy, so I don’t want to intrude on the busy-ness. I’m just really excited to find out there are other Christians doing awesome things for God and attempting the insanity that is Mandarin. I’m assuming since you run this blog you now have my email but if not, its jennifer.nicola@hotmail.co.uk. It would be so great to maybe just hear a bit about how you settled in and how you are doing.
I’m in Thailand right now, visiting some friends old and new, then next month I’ll be in Singapore, but I move November 21st. So good to read your blog.
Love in Christ
Jennie
Hi Jennie! It's so amazing you found our blog. We'd be
Michael | October 28, 2009Hi Jennie!
It’s so amazing you found our blog. We’d be happy to tell you about how we settled and all that stuff. One thing you can do right off the bat is read our early posts from when we first arrived.
Fortunately we had some friends in Taiwan when we arrived here and they were huge in helping us settle and take care of all the little things that come along with moving to a new place. Hopefully you have someone similar to that.
What mission organization are you working with?
hi, my name is ivonne and i've been reading ur
ivonne | January 31, 2010hi, my name is ivonne and i’ve been reading ur blog for a couple of months, i live in the US and my boyfriend is there in taiwan in the same school you are studying, that is why i was interested in your blog! well my question right now is when is the best time to book flights to come here in your summer break? and approximately how much do u guys pay for it? i would really appreciate any tips you can give me! =)
Ivonne, Is your boyfriend at Ming Chuan or Shi Da? Michael
Emily | February 22, 2010Ivonne,
Is your boyfriend at Ming Chuan or Shi Da? Michael and I go to two different universities
We were told that airlines release their international airfare prices about 3 months ahead of time, so for a late June or early July ticket we look online for the first big deals around mid-to-late March. I’ve found round-trip tickets to LA for $700, all the way to MI for $900. The normal going rate is $1100-$1500.
The most helpful websites I’ve found include:
http://www.sidestep.com/buzz
http://www.bing.com/travel
http://www.farecompare.com
http://www.kayak.com
Have fun searching and good luck!
Emily