A Walk Around the Neighborhood

After I got home from work and picked up the baby on Friday, Noelle and I went for a walk around our neighborhood. We thought it might be fun for everyone to be able to see a candid look at what life is like where we live. So we gave the stroller a "Bill Miller Special" (after a few attempts and failed ended up using a bungee to strap the iPad to the stroller at Noelle's level) and headed out on our adventure!

The video is shown at 8x actual speed. It's still a little long and I apologize in advance if some of the amateur camera work makes you dizzy and/or seasick (Be forewarned!). Some of the sights you can glimpse in the video include our nanny's apartment building, my favorite tea shop, the food street next to us, the discount movie theater, and the local baby store. I hope you enjoy #NoelleCam!

Celebrating Moon Festival

This weekend we celebrated Moon Festival! You may be wondering "what's a moon festival?" so please allow me to fill you in.

Moon Festival or more properly Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) is one of the two biggest festivals in Asian culture. It is a time for family, thankfulness, and prayers. Some say it is the Asian equivalent to Thanksgiving in America. Moon Festival is a lunar holiday which is held each year on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month during a full moon.

There are many different stories and traditions which surround Moon Festival. I am going to focus on the ones we participated in this year.

Traditional Stories:

In my class, we watched the story of The Ten Suns. It was one of the easier stories for my young students to understand. If you would like to hear more of the traditional stories you can visit my Moon Festival Playlist on Youtube.com.

Pomelos:

Other popular Moon Festival traditions center around the Pomelo. Pomelos are a citrus fruit which can range in size from a grapefruit to as large as a human head! The majority of Pomelos are harvested around Moon Festival and are very, very common. This is part of the reason that they are used to symbolize good luck/good fortune, bountifulness, family/fertility, and more. According to China Post, this is how you know you are picking a good pomelo: "Old farmers say choosing a delicious pomelo is like finding a good wife - it should be cute, not too big, have an oval face and round bottom."

Two of the most common pomelo traditions are decorating the pomelos with faces and wearing the pomelo rind as a hat. The pomelo hats are so much fun that we did this in class and I did it at home with Noelle!

Mooncakes:

Mooncakes are very common gifts to give and receive during Moon Festival. They symbolize family unity and togetherness. Traditionally, mooncakes were made by you in your home and then given to friends. This tradition has given way to commercialism and most mooncakes are now purchased but the meaning is still the same.

My students and I made a very simplified version of mooncakes (more like cookies) in class this week. It was a fun activity for them, and according to one of the Taiwanese teachers it is a unique experience that they may never have again. If you watch the making of a traditional mooncake video on my playlist, you will know why we did a simplified version in my kindergarten class! If you are interested in making mooncakes with your children, you can find the recipe we used on DLTK.

Lanterns:

Lanterns play a minor role in Moon Festival versus their major role during Lantern Festival. However, you can see lanterns and lantern parades during Moon Festival. One of the traditions is to write a riddle on a paper lantern, go around, and try to have people solve your riddle. My class made lanterns but skipped the riddles :)

BBQ!:

Moon Festival is a major BBQ holiday in Taiwan! Families and friends get together, eat, and enjoy one another's company. It's not like BBQ in the United States but it is definitely delicious--plus it's lots of fun! This is our family's favorite part of Moon Festival because we love nothing more than spending time with all the friends we have made and love here in Taiwan.

What I'm Thankful for this Moon Festival:
This is a tradition that I have carried over from my family back home. I wanted to stop for a moment and remember to be thankful on a holiday that was originally designated to that purpose. So before digging in I want to share what I am thankful for this year...

#1 My Family - Jimmy and I are so blessed to have Noelle. We waited for her and prayed for her for a long, long time before she actually came into our lives. Now we don't know what we would do without her. We are also thankful for our family back home who support us as we live and teach in Taiwan.

#2 New Opportunities - Jimmy and I both started at a new school this fall. So far we love it! It's nice to see Jimmy actually be happy at his school and not miserable. It's really nice that he has finally found a good fit.

#3 A Bright Future - We don't know what the future holds for us but we know it is full of endless possibilities and we look forward to each and every one of them!

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!

Well, Taiwan. It's been a Year!

It's officially been a over a year since we moved to Taichung, Taiwan. There are so many things that we have seen, done, and experienced! Some of them have been amazing--like having a baby--and others have been depressing--like having a horrible boss, but they have all been a part of our ramblings.

In the last year we have...

Had a baby.

Noelle is the most amazing addition to our lives! We tried and tried to get pregnant in the USA and our first week in Taiwan, we unknowingly made a baby. Go figure!

Moved to a new country.

Ok so this one was obvious. We moved to Taiwan. Rented a new to us apartment in a new neighborhood. We were surrounded by strange and unfamiliar people and culture. We had to learn a new money system and had no clue what people were saying to us.

Started new jobs.

When we first came to Taiwan, we didn't have jobs. It was highly recommended to us that we would find the best jobs for us by looking for them once we had arrived and were settled. For me, this was true. I worked at an awesome school with good management and super co-workers! For Jimmy, he had a really bad experience at the first bushiban where he worked and ended up changing jobs at semester. His second job was better but still not great.

Made new friends.

We have met so many amazing people in the last year that I can't even list them all! Taiwan is full of people from all over the world and we now have the most diverse group of friends we could ever imagine! We love them all and we look forward to meeting many more people in the next year.

Re-learned how to drive.

Yes, it's been over a year since either of us has driven a car! Our main modes of transport here are the buses, taxis, or our scooters.We were totally intimidated by the traffic at first, and there are times (like when it's rainy) that driving can still be really, really stressful. Overall we enjoy it and their actually is a flow to all this madness--even if it can be a little like playing Frogger!

So what's next for year two...

Starting Chinese lessons.

Although we have learned some "survival" Chinese in our day to day lives and work, we haven't actually had any Chinese lessons yet. That's all changed now. On Sunday, we officially started studying Mandarin with our Chinese tutor. We are looking forward to learning more words and phrases soon!

Working at new schools.

As I said, I loved my school but I was offered a really sweet new contract with a new school. After some prayer and discussion, Jimmy and I decided that I should make a switch. Jimmy has also been offered a contract with a new school which we believe will be even better than the last school so we have both started new jobs.

Traveling to new places.

Now that Noelle is here and we are more financially stable, we are looking forward to a little travelling. I was able to go on some adventures while my parents were here visiting us but now we are planning some family outings too!

Making new friends.

We hope to continue to make new friends and meet lots more interesting people. We have already started down that road with all our new co-workers!

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Year two in Taiwan has gotten off to a great start and we hope to share lots more joy with you!

Until next time,
Jimmy, Christiana, and Noelle out!

Baby! Baby! Baby! Oh!

COMING SOON!!! In approximately 113 days, Christiana and I will be welcoming our baby girl into this world. We are excited beyond words for this exciting adventure in 2014! Things here progressing smoothly with both the pregnancy and the ministry God has called us to here in Taiwan.

However, none of this would be possible without your friendships, continued prayers, and the support we have received from all of you! Thank you so much for helping us embark on this life changing calling in 2013 and for continuing to follow us into 2013. We appreciate you!

Some of you have asked how you can help with the baby since we are far, far away. Obviously, we won't have the opportunity to have a traditional baby shower. If you could pray for Christiana's spirits to be lifted about this that would be great. We have been waiting so long for God to bless us with a child and we have so looked forward to sharing the baby with all of our friends and family that being far from home and not being able to celebrate the baby in some of the more traditional ways has been hard for Christiana.

So that's what this post is mostly about.

We are so thankful for the overwhelming love we have received from you all. We hope you have been enjoying our baby posts and pictures on Facebook and that you feel like you are a part of Baby Girl's coming. Can't wait for April!

Anyway, if you would like to send actual gifts we have registered at Babies R Us, Walmart, and Amazon. If gifts are ordered online they will be sent to Christiana's mom (Janice) and she will send them in a few large packages. Or if you would like to send items directly to us or Chrisitiana's mom just email or message us for the address you need. Please keep in mind that shipping things here is VERY EXPENSIVE so we do ask that you not order any large items for her mom to ship.

If you would rather send a financial gift there are a couple of options. #1 We have Ikea here and we can use gift cards purchased in the US. #2 We can use prepaid Mastercard or Visa giftcards also. #3 you can send money to Christiana's mom (please email or Facebook us for the address). Or #4 You can send money through Paypal. If you choose to send money it can also be used to help ship other gifts too.

Pic from our 23 Week Ultrasound

Thank you all again for all you have already done for our family. We are excited to welcome Baby Girl in April/May and we are beyond blessed by anything you may choose to do to help us celebrate this pure blessing in our lives. Please check below for direct links to our registries.

Jimmy!

Amazon.com	http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/3GV11PHW8G7GC
Walmart.com	http://www.walmart.com/giftregistry/gr_detail.do?registryId=26773403111	Or find us in-store by name
Babiesrus.com	Registry #: 51175993	Or find us in-store by name

Halfway There! Pregnancy Week 20

Hello, friends! Thanks for coming back to visit us on Taiwan Ramblings. It's been a while since we last posted and a lot has been going on here. I hope you have been following us on Facebook! This post is about one of the biggest things happening in our lives right now--Mustion Baby Girl!

Today we hit the halfway point in this pregnancy and we are SUPER excited about welcoming Baby Girl to our family in April/May! So in honor of this pregnancy milestone, I recorded a vlog for you talking about some of the things I like about being pregnant in Taiwan, some of the interesting Chinese/Taiwanese pregnancy traditions and taboos, and some of the things I don't like or will miss about not being pregnant in the USA.

Please bear with me and my pregnancy brain as this vlog got a little longer than I intended but I hope you will enjoy!

Meet the People of Taiwan #1

Meet Jamie and Alian aka Linus.

Jamie and Linus with Kendall and Megan at LAX Burger.

I would like to take time throughout this journey and blog and introduce to some of the awesome and amazing people that God has given us the privilege of meeting. I mean privilege in the highest honor. Some of the greatest and nicest people we have ever had in our lives we have met in the past three months of Taiwan. If you read my previous blog (of course you did!) then you understand the fact that we feel none of these meetings are by accident. Enough. More about Jamie and Linus.

THE STORY:
When we moved to Taiwan we had nothing. People are always leaving and selling off all their belongings. One day we found a post about a couple leaving the country and selling off stuff we needed. Plates, silverware, q tips etc. Their name were Kendall and Megan (another great couple) we messaged back and forth and set up a time to come and get the stuff. I inquired about places to eat by them so we could eat before we met them. That is when LAX BURGER entered our lives. L.A.X. Burger like the airport code for LA. LAX Burger is owned by Jamie and Alian aka Linus. Seriously one of the best burgers I have ever eaten in my life.

THE PEOPLE:

Jimmy and Lily at Lily's birthday BBQ.

Jamie and Linus are a young couple. Both 30 yrs old. Boyfriend and Girlfriend. Two great and wonderful people. Jamie, her mother (my taiwan mother), Jamie's sister, Linus and Lily (Linus' niece) all live above LAX. They are a close knit family that have had a rough past year. Jamie's father passed away, and they moved locations because of it. Jamie and Linus have taken in Lily to live them and help her get back on the right path. She has been getting trouble at her old school so they put her to work all summer and then kept her. Lily is still trying their patience. Pray for that. We do daily. But what a wonderful thing they are doing.

THE MEMORIES:
OK. The food at LAX is great. I love it. We go once if not twice a week. SO that will always be with me.

Jamie and Linus invited us to our first Taiwanese BBQ. It was a great night of getting to know more locals and experience the great tradition.

We went to dinner one night with Jamie, Linus and Lily. Man it was fun. ITs great to go out with Taiwanese people. They love to each get a different meal and pass them around letting everyone try the dishes. While us americans horde our beloved meal. In fact this would be a great way to enjoy Lambers or Dennys. Especially Dennys. Mmmmm Dennys. Whoa got distracted there.

Emergency Room. Not a fun place to visit in the US. Imagine not knowing the language and going to the ER? but Jamie came right over to help us translate and take care of us. Amazing. She is such wonderful person.

WRAP UP:
We both love Jamie and Linus to death. We love their family. We love their food. We love that God as brought them into our lives. We hope that we will build many more memories with them both here and in the states. If you are living in Taichung or ever visit Taichung please take the time to come and not only eat at LAX but get to know this awesome owners and family. They are just so-so....kidding! They are great!

How to pray for Jamie and Linus:

• Pray for them taking care of Lily
• Pray for success of their business
• Pray for Spiritual health.

Bye for now,

Jimmy

WHAT IS THE FOCUS?

We have in our new home of Taiwan for 2 months now! I cant believe it. Going from the mindset of thinking there is no way I could ever live in a foreign country (pre surgery) to actually living, working and acclimating to a different land is still mind blowing.  Very thankful to The Lord and everyone who helped us get here. Blessed we truly are (a little yoda for ya)

So what is the focus of these past two months? Well coming in we knew that three was a three part focus for the first 6 months.  I will write about each one in depth a little later but now I can give you a quick overview of what we are up to.  

1. Getting settled and finding work. 
HA? Are we settled? Settled in the sense of having a place to live, cell phones and jobs. Settled in the sense of relaxed and comfortable. Not quite there yet.  We both have jobs which we are extremely grateful.  There are pros and cons to each of our schools and work but overall we are pleased. Still yet to get paid but still pleased.  We are slowly still learning our way around Taichung. We know at least around neighborhood now.  I think. 

2. Building relationships and learning culture. 
This is my favorite part about the move here. We have met the most amazing people.  Not just locals but amazing helpful foreigners that dont know us at all but have lent an helpful ear and hand to us.  This is the most important aspect to me.  I am people person and i think its very important that when we do find or start a ministry we have already built a support system.  We have found people here that we already feel will be life long friends. Just stunning and amazing that God brought us here. 

3. Find a ministry. 
After 13yrs of working in the local church it is very freeing and scary to be wide open in what God wants and can do.  Seriously, just going to church as a regular church attender is a very foreign experience (ha, see what I did there!). So we feel that God is going to show exactly where and what to do. Is it a drama ministry? Is it concert ministry? Youth? Children? Teaching a bible study? Dont know that is the scary and great part about it. 

So that is and was the main focus of the past two months. Please continue to pray for us.  

Jimmy and Christiana

First Week of School

Hello! The first week of teaching has command gone and things continue to progress here in Taiwan. Today I have some pictures for you and a little update about each of our schools.

Jimmy's School

Jimmy is teaching at a buxiban (after school program) in a suburb of Taichung called Fungyuen (which we lovingly refer to as Funyun). He has several different age groups over the span of his classes and so far he especially enjoys his second grade class. Jimmy is working on getting to know all his students and his co-teachers, Sugar and Albee. He is doing very well at the school but it can be overwhelming at times. Pray for Jimmy that he will continue to build relationships, have safe travels everyday, and have fun teaching English at his school.

Christiana's School

This was also my first week of teaching. I am working for a well established, private school brand. I am enjoying my young learners but I sometimes feel out of my depth because of their limited English and high energy. At first I was intimidated because the school oversold my teaching experience to the students' parents to compensate for the teacher they had to fire after only one month (long story), but now I feel like I am starting to settle in. Pray for me that I will have patience and lots of love for my students and that I will continue to improve in my classroom management techniques. I am very thankful for my co-teacher, Connie, who is a certified Taiwanese teacher. I hope to learn a lot from here and to build a strong bond with her. She is very sweet.

Our First Month

Things have been crazy her in Taiwan over out first month! It's been one wild ride of trying to get in and settled, make friends, and find jobs. Still I don't think there is much I would consider changing.

One of the most interesting cultural things we have encountered so far is Ghost Month. Typically no one moves in or out of their place  but we did (silly Westerners). So there are no doubt neighbors around us who believe e moved the ghosts in with us. If that wasn't enough, I often forget to bring the laundry in off the line on our balcony before dark so once again I am bringing ghosts in who have gotten into our clothes. We have also seen many people burning paper money to support the needs of their loved ones in the after life. I know there have also been parades and fireworks because I have heard them but haven't seen them myself.

Also, Jimmy and I have both been successful in finding jobs this month. We start classes on Sept. 2nd.  We are both excited and nervous. Jimmy is working in a cram school (buxiban) and I am working in a private elementary school. We are both still in the process of getting our paperwork processed so pray that goes through smoothly.

We have also been blessed to start making some pretty amazing friends here too. Some of them are expats like us but many of them are Taiwanese. We have enjoyed spending time with Jamie, Lily, Simon Lewis, and Jamie's mom at L.A.X Burger (Jamie's Restaurant). We have also gotten to know Jessie, a sweet server at one of our other favorite restaurants. Keep Jessie's family in your prayers as her father is very ill. One of our new friends was an unexpected house guest. We always want our house to be open and used for God's glory so when Kyle asked if Jed could come and stay with us while he looked for a job we said of course! I think it was probably harder for him than it was for us since Kyle and Jimmy were always ready with some brotherly ribbing. Still he survived and has just started his school year in Taipei.

Well, I guess that's really all for now. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to seek out a church where we feel we can worship and ministries we can partner in. We also want to get a routine schedule hammered out so we can start adding in some language learning activities. So many things to do! Thank you for all the prayers and support which have already been offered up on our behalf. We couldn't have made it through without your support!

Grace and Peace,

Christiana

Hitting the Ground Running

We've been in Taichung (our new city) since Friday. This vlog is a general update of what we have been doing the past few days.

Time with Tate #7 What About Healthcare

Six More Days

Jimmy and Tate talk about what health care is like in Taiwan.

Grace and Peace,

Christiana


To learn more about Jimmy's weight loss surgery visit Jimmy Goes Gastric.