What's a Bǎomǔ?

I've gotten this question a lot lately... "What did you do with the baby when you went back to work?"

The awesome thing was I got to leave Noelle with Grandma (my mom) for the first seven weeks that I went back to work! It was such a blessing to know that someone I love and trust was watching over my sweet eight week old baby girl. As mom got closer and closer to going home, Jimmy and I had to buckle down and decide what we were going to do.

What do you do for infant care in Taiwan?

If we were Taiwanese, we would probably have family members available to take care of her. However, we are foreigners in a strange land. We have no family here permanently. So what were our options?

Number 1: Baby Center
A baby center is similar to daycare in the USA. They often have a lot of babies, a lot of sickness, and rarely speak English. On the plus side, the workers do activities with the babies. They send you pictures of things your baby is doing or has done. They fill out a communication book for you so you know how your baby's day was. If you are really, really fortunate there might even be another foreign baby there.

Number 2: Bǎomǔ (保姆) / Nanny
So what's a bǎomǔ? Basically a bǎomǔ is a nanny or a private childcare provider. You can find one that will either come to your home and only care for your child (uber expensive) or for about the same price as the baby center you can send your child to their home where they care for a few children. Just like any child care provider, a nanny can be good or bad. The nannies here almost never speak English. Also, you should make sure to use a registered nanny so they have some accountability on their standards and the number of children they are able to care for at one time. On the plus side, a registered nanny will often fill out a communication book for you. Their schedule is more flexible when it comes to pick up and drop off times. They might live really close to you, and they also do activities with your child!

After lots of research, interviews, and visiting baby centers, we decided that a bǎomǔ would be the best for us and for Noelle. We love Mrs.Wu! She is a really sweet Taiwanese lady who lives right around the corner from us. She doesn't speak much English but she is teaching us lots of new Chinese words and she goes the extra mile to make sure she gets important information translated for us so that we can understand it. Noelle is one of three kids she looks after and they all play well together. If you are considering your childcare options in Taiwan, do what works for you and your baby. But we love our Bǎomǔ!

Paid (by the hour) in full!

I have a new perspective on work life. Where to start? Last week I had a bad Sinus infection. One of those knock you down fever, sinuses, cough, sore throat, tired, achy basically everything from the Nyquil commercial. But unlike any previous time in the past 15 yrs I didn't have the option of a "sick day" Having a job that pays hourly is a new thing to me. Therefore I have such a new found respect for the hourly worker. It hit me on Wednesday: We are having a baby, we have to pay for visa papers, if I don't work I don't get paid.

So i get up. Fever is 101. Ok, Ok! I get it. Don't go to a school with a bunch of little children when you have a fever. But that is not very Taiwanese of me now is it? Besides those little carrier monkeys are the reason for the sickness anyway! So like I said, 101 fever. I walk to the bus in a daze. I ride the bus in a daze. I ride the train in a daze. I teach my classes (Wednesday of all days is my longest and hardest days), I go home in a daze. Go to sleep. It was not exactly fun.

So I learned this. Man, how I have taken my nice little salary jobs for granted. I haven't had an hourly wage job since Johnston's Paint Store in Boonville, MO the summer of '94. Always had the luxury off sick days, vacation days, etc. If anyone who is reading this knows me very well they will know how much of a baby I am when I am sick. I did enjoy it. But it granted me a new respect and perspective on the working life of many people. I also realize now why so many Taiwanese people fall asleep on public transportation. If I was so afraid of missing my stop I would have joined them in dreamland on the way there and home.

FOCUS #1: Getting settled and finding work

As I type focus number 1 is going good. Christiana and I have both found jobs that fit our schedule and its going good.  I know that a lot of people were nervous because we came over with no jobs.  Just to stress again. All the people that we talked about this venture stated that is way better and easier to find job (at a good school) once you are here.  The alternative is signing a contract with a big school and being stuck in a bad situation. It was a leap of faith. God provided.  It is still an adjustment to be a english teacher but the kids are great.

Getting settled? I pose the question: What does settled mean?  We have a place to live, to work, made some friends, have cell phones.  So if that is the case then yes, we are settled.  If settled is feeling comfortable, relaxed, knowledgable, and routine? Then No way are we "settled".  When you rely on taxis, walking and buses to go everywhere you never really know how you got there. Right now i am typing this in one of our favorite new places, L.A.X Burger, and i couldnt even tell you how to get here or get back to our house. LOL.  But we like it here. We are friends with the owners and we feel comfortable here. Oh and the burgers are flippin awesome.

So as far as FOCUS 1 goes. We have jobs. We are on the way to being settled.  This is one of the main reasons we committed to staying 2 yrs.  I feel we wont even really feel settled until the first year is done! So continue to pray for us.  We are trying hard to adjust (i am having trouble with the local food, surprise i know) and trying to find our place in this lovely, hot, crazy, busy, noisy, fun, interesting, place.  For someone who has never been out of the country its like jumping into the deep end of the pool having just learn to swim.  But its a great adventure!

Time with Tate #2: What Ministry Opportunities Are Available?

Today Tate and Jimmy talk about what ministry opportunities are available to us in Taiwan and whether or not we will going through a missions organization to get to Taiwan. Enjoy! Grace and Peace, Christiana