Emily Taiwan | Taiwaneers

Secret Agents on a Bumpy Ride

Apr 032010

“Oh my gosh” is how I feel about our ride back to Taiwan.

The wedding turned out great. Emily spear-headed the programs, favors, and kicked butt in general being the sister leading up to the big event. She was literally awesome and I’m not just saying that because I’m her husband. I was a gofer. I think the job suited me. My favorite jobs were the ones to help Chris. Being a recent groom myself I remembered a few things that, if remembered, add a lot to the day. It was also great to see and hang out with extended family all the way up from TN and FL in addition to the usual suspects. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families and it’s so wonderful to be able to be with them.

After the wedding day we had a great time at church and then a few days down visiting with my family. I can’t say how great it was to hang with my littlest sister, even if it was just a few days. Emily and I were even able to go to The Strutt for open mic night and hear the ghost of Johnny Cash. It was rad!

I must also mention the goodness of beer in the USA as compared to Taiwan. While in Michigan I was able to enjoy Bell’s Two Hearted (Thank you Chris) and Short’s Huma Lupa Licious (Thank you Dan). Is it wrong for me to enjoy good beer so much that I include it in blog posts but leave out how good it was to have ‘future plans’ conversations with my dad, mom, and sister? Anyways, those are two great beers and I thoroughly enjoyed each sip! If you have never had a good IPA then I suggest these two.

So Wednesday we went to DTW to fly away. No problems. We sat next to Brent, a very interesting and interested guy. We had quite a good conversation on our flight to DFW and I hope he enjoyed it as much as we did. It’s not everyday that you sit next to the guy who wrote the code for Alltel’s cellular instant-messaging service.

Dallas is where the trouble started. We took off okay but Emily and I both started to feel gross as we flew to LAX. When we landed we were tired and pretty much zombies. However, we woke up as we walked to the international terminal. Why it was freezing in SoCal but not in Michigan is something we should all be pondering. We got all checked in and to our gate. However, it was freezing there too as one of the other departure gates had their door to the outside open forever. I’m sure the two of us freezing, gross, and zombie-like, sitting and waiting for our departure time made for the ideal picture. Unfortunately we didn’t take any.

Now is where the story gets strange. The “boarding” started for our Malaysian Airlines flight. We walk out the boarding door onto the tarmac level and got put onto a bus. Bear in mind it’s the middle of the night and we had already been flying for five hours. They drove us along the tarmac way out into the fields of the airport and pulled up at this little “one-gate” terminal building. Our airplane was parked at it and all the normal service vehicles were scurrying around it. We walked into the the building at the ground level and trudge up the ramp, which accounts for the entire building, up to the airplane walkway thing. We boarded and it started to feel like a normal flight. It was so weird though. We were already really whacked out and then we rode a bus into the fields of LAX to an airplane parked at a tiny little building? I wish there was a function to get incredulity written into these words. If I was a conspiracy theorist I would start thinking they were loading the plane with weird, secret stuff and wanted to do it way far away from the normal planes or something.

So we settled in for the fifteen hour flight and Emily and I both pretty much just zonk out. I woke up as the steward was serving a meal. He kindly asked me which choice I’d like and I just stared up at him in a daze not comprehending what was happening or what I should do. After waiting a moment he moved on and I went back to sleep without a meal. Emily never even stirred. And then, the turbulence. Oi vei it was the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced on a flight. It would come on and the captain would hastily squawk over the PA for the “cabin crew to be seated” and then the plane would start doing crazy stuff. It felt like we were diving sometimes and other times like we were being pushed back and forth by giants. At one point Emily and I heard something crash in the galley. And it would only stop for a little bit and then come on again. It seemed to go on like that forever and I became glad I hadn’t eaten dinner. Nausea with an empty stomach is better than with a full one right. During the turbulence it also got extremely warm in the plane. I would be all bundled up in my blanket and hat and sweatshirt and then shed them all during those bouts of craziness. Finally, it let up and Emily and I were able to enjoy the next meal and a few movies before landing at TPE.

Our friend, Wally, was so kind to pick us up. He drove Emily to her school for her test (yes, Emily went to class for a test straight from over 20 hours of transport) and then took me to our apartment in Taipei. We were so grateful.

Now? Now we have to deal with jet lag and homework before classes on Tuesday. It’s good to be home.

Summer’s Twilight

Michael's Posts, USA 1 Response »

Sep 012009

Well at the beginning of the summer I meant to make a point of doing more blog posts about our summer break than I did last year but alas, September is at hand and I did not make that point a reality. Another thing I wanted to spend time doing this summer was studying Chinese. ‘I’ll have so much time’ I thought. No tests or other classes to distract me from adding a ton of verbs and nouns to my Chinese vocabulary was what I envisioned my summer months to hold beforehand. Now in summer’s twilight I must again say alas. Alas, alas, I am an ass. I have not opened my Chinese book let alone taken steps to actually imprint any Chinese onto my brain.

We are back from our road trip and we had a wonderful time. In total our odometer clicked over 2300 new miles before we arrived back at the house in Lansing. After Florida our trip to Chattanooga, TN was great. I got additional chances to get to know more about members of Emily’s extended family and burrow my way deeper into their clan. My days as the new kid on the block are also numbered as one of Emily’s cousins recently became engaged. Before I know it I’ll be the ‘ole fart member of a whole hoard of ‘in-laws’…that’ll be weird come to think of it.

Owensboro, KY was next on the agenda and it proved to be a very good visit as well. Sadly, Emily’s grandma had been injured and was in an assisted living facility while she recovered while we were in Owensboro. However, this proved to be a blessing in disguise as it provided Emily and I a chance to sit and visit with her grandma, who still was not able to walk, for several hours at a time without the normal bustle of visits with everyone in perfect health. Emily said it was one of the best times she’s ever had with her grandma just getting the chance to talk and talk and also to listen and listen. I really enjoyed it as well. Not only that but we got some great time in with Emily’s grandpa and Aunt Winnie at the house too! Driving around Owensboro I got the impression that its probably a really nice place to live. It just has this feeling of goodness about it.

After that it was back up to Lansing where we are now enjoying a few weeks of work-free visiting before we go back to being Taiwaneers.

Corn One Day & Road Trips the Next

Michael's Posts, USA 2 Responses »

Aug 182009

“The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord.” -Proverbs 18:22 courtesy of www.BibleGateway.com. I am one of those lucky guys who found a treasure. Emily and I just marked our two year wedding anniversary and I am remembering how much more fun it is to be on this side of that day. Not only that but getting the chance to think again about how crazy it is a bum like me ended up with a babe like her.

Sunday, August 9th, I led the Bible discussion at the church meeting in Sturgis on John 9:1-5. It had been a while since I’d done any Bible research and I had a blast diving into it. For some reason, up until now, I’ve never used Bible commentaries but I saw The Matthew Henry Commentary on the bookshelf in my parents’ house and read what it had to say on the passage. It was great! The actual leading of the discussion was interesting and fun as well. I like Jesus!

This past Friday we pulled our last corn tassels of the summer. It was a good summer job but its nice to be done with the six-o’clock mornings for a while. That evening we also got to spend some time with my brother, his wife, and their girls! If anyone is ever in Kalamazoo I recommend Schwarma King…you won’t be sorry. Over the rest of the weekend we were able to have a wonderful visit with one of my best friends, John, and his wife and daughter. John introduced me to mountain biking. I can see why people get into it! Emily and I had a great time chilling out with them, eating lots of good food and catching up on life….one of those things ya gotta do when you leave for a year at a time and when you come back your friend has a one year-old that you’ve never even met.

Yesterday evening we took off to head down to Florida where one of my other best friends, Marty, is stationed with the Navy for a visit. After sleeping in a parking lot for a few hours south of Nashville we hit the road again this morning and arrived safe and sound to his Huckleberry Finn paradise right outside of Pensacola this afternoon. So far we’ve kayaked around his bayou, shot bottles out of the water with a .22 and toured the area complete with Marty warning us of where the cops hang out and stories of his escapades talking his way out of tickets. Can’t wait to see whats next.

Its crazy how fast the summer is wrapping up. I’m a little bummed I wasn’t able to go camping up in Ludington with my 2nd family but I guess that’s life. After we’re done here in Florida we’ll swing through Tennessee and Kentucky for visits with Emily’s extended family. It has been a while since I’ve had a good, long road-trip and so far its been awesome!