“Welcome to
Taipei!” was the title of the email I received last spring with information
regarding my Taipei move. Despite going
through all the paperwork, consultations, training, planning, packing etc,
actually moving to Taipei hardly seemed real until Lee, his mom, Sharron, and
Sherman dropped me off at the airport.
It certainly did not seem real that Lee would actually move with me
until I hugged him at Taipei International Airport.
I think it’s still
a little surreal. A
friend who has lived here a few years told us the other night that she was
jealous of us being just arrived, with everything still new and exciting. It is exciting. Things are different, interesting and, obviously,
a little overwhelming! It's clearly a massive change from Wyoming or
Vermont. But there are other things are more familiar – the place that
serves western brunch, English in the metro, excellent coffee. We’re getting more and more comfortable and
are excited not only for all the things new and different, but also for all of
those things more familiar – a job, a car, maybe a dog!?
The language
barrier is just that, a pretty solid barrier. Taking two months off to
vacation in Wyoming, Africa and the Pacific Northwest didn’t exactly help my
Mandarin. But, my day-to-day skills are
improving and Lee is also making progress! He has, on many occasions,
ordered coffee, he can accurately identify the Chinese characters for
"exit," and now knows three Chinese words - hello, thank you, and cheers
(i.e. finish your glass)! Good progress.
