Of course seeing family and friends is the best part. Emily and I have been able to spend time with all of the immediate family members now and visit with several friends. There are still a ton more to hang with too. Seeing friends and chilling out after a long absence is one of the sweetest things about being home in the summer.

A big highlight so far has been the opportunity to make a presentation at my mom and dad’s church this past Sunday about the Our Friends Orphanage organization in Cambodia and our experience there. It felt great to share about Samnang and all our friends there in the small villages around Takeo. After the service we talked to a lot of people and shared stories with other people who had traveled to various parts of the world to help with at-risk-children, most notably folks who had helped organizations in Uganda and China. It was a great day and we are really looking forward to more opportunities to share Our Friends with others.

Another big highlight has been seeing how wonderfully amazing my family members are. I was able to visit my sister at the coffee shop she and my parent’s bought earlier this year and seeing her killing it with her customers. My brother also let me sit in on the staff meeting of his company the past Monday and dang, he’s killing it too. I also got to stop by my father-in-law’s organization and visit with all my old friends there. I’ve got to get on the ball and make something of myself.

I’d like to end this post with an FYI. Bell’s beer is no longer my favorite Michigan microbrew…in case anyone cares. I’d venture to say that Bell’s beer isn’t even worth the microbrew price anymore and should only be consumed when someone else buys, or if the company lowers the price. I used to love Oberon and Two Hearted, but honestly they taste kind of gross now. My new favorite Michigan microbrewery is Short’s because of their Huma Lupa Licious, not to mention the tastiness of their Bellaire Brown. Me and the guy behind the counter at Oades Big Ten chatted for a while about this subject. It was fantastic to realize I was in a store and could speak the same language as the folks behind the counter. We could chat for as long as either of us cared to without running out of vocabulary words. Being home is great!

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.