Family Time | 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.

Fatness & Family

Michael's Posts, USA 5 Responses »

Mar 232010

Well we’re back in Michigan at the moment. Emily’s brother is getting married this coming Saturday and we are skipping classes to be a part of the celebration.

It’s fun to be back here in March. It’s cold and gray and a good reminder of what Michigan is like apart from summertime. That sounds negative but actually it is kind of having a soothing, homey affect on me. It’s like I look around and think “I know this, this is familiar” and it’s rather nostalgically satisfying.

Yesterday Emily and I, and Emily’s little brother, ran around doing errands. We got a phone number for our cell phone to use now and later this summer, we deposited money in our MSUFCU account, we had lunch at Qdoba (blissful), we shopped at Horrocks for hard-to-find food that Emily’s wants to take back with us and we went to sell plasma but left without doing so because it would have taken too long and made us late for family dinner at the Muffett home.

It was fun to be driving around Lansing again. I found myself noticing all the fat people; I’m talking about the fat people so fat that they had to lean on things and walk slowly. It was weird. I don’t think I’ve seen more than five people like that in Taiwan in the past two and a half years I’ve lived there and yesterday it seemed like those folks were a huge percentage of the mid-Michigan population. I guess culture-shock comes in many forms.

Another wonderful part of yesterday was all the great conversations we had with our family here. Being with loved-ones is incredible. I think since we live overseas and only have a limited amount of time with our family it might even add to our ability to have QT with them because when we are home there is a sense of urgency and a real desire to connect. When I lived here in Michigan all the time the same was not true. Interesting isn’t it. However, we do spend the summers here. I wonder how my feelings would differ if we never saw family for years on end. I’m almost positive I’d feel very differently and talking to folks back in Taiwan who’ve made a life of it makes me feel like long-term separation can have a negative connection affect with family. Once again I’m led to conclude that Emily and I truly have a great deal in this time in our lives. Thank you Jesus for your blessing!

Today I woke up at 6:50am. Jet lag always gives me the false impression that I’ve turned over a new leaf and I’m now an extremely motivated, go-getter kind of person. Once I’m over jet lag I always remember that I’m just as good at sleeping in as I ever was. Hooray for personal insights right?