Halfway There

I debated naming this post "Living on a Prayer", because that's where my mind went when I thought "halfway there": Bon Jovi.

Yup.

But then, I thought that "Living on a Prayer" sounded pretty dramatic, and that's not what this is. So we'll just stick with "Halfway There" because that IS what this is... A celebration of being just a little over halfway through this summer with Ray being in California and me being in Germany.

Woohoo!

I have been back in Deutschland for just about a week now. Going to California (my first time back to the states in 2 years!) was so much fun, and exactly what I needed; time with Ray, vacation from work, opportunity to meet and spend time with family, and Mexican food.

I got there just in time for our 3rd anniversary. Ray planned the perfect day and I won't mind a bit if all of our anniversaries from here on out play out in a similar manner. Ray took me shopping for a new dress. Then we had lunch together and then headed home so I could finish unpacking. We got ready and went to do a session at the Newport Beach LDS Temple, which is Ray's favorite. He's been telling me about it for 3 years and I was so glad I finally got to go and see why he loves it so much. It really was beautiful and I was so glad to be there with him. Afterwards, Ray had made reservations for dinner at a fancy restaurant that overlooked the ocean in Newport Beach. We were seated on the patio and enjoyed some of the best seafood as we watched the sunset. Seriously, the perfect day with my man.

During the rest of my time there, Ray had to continue working, so I spent my days going to the beach, shopping a bit more, spending time with my sister-in-law, and anything else to keep me busy until Ray got home.

The first weekend I was there, we (Ray, his brother, our sister-in-law, and myself) all drove up to the Bay Area where we spent the night with Ray's oldest brother and his family. It was so much fun to be back in the area where we lived as a brand new married couple. And seeing how much our nephews and niece had grown was crazy! Only one day with them was cruelly short, but absolutely worth sitting still for 2 hours in California traffic.

Ray's dad also drove down to Orange County to spend some time with us. We all got to go to dinner with him, my sister-in-law and I went to lunch with him, and then I got to spend some time with him at the happiest place on Earth... or close to it, Downtown Disney!

I was also in town for the 4th of July (yay for celebrating Independence Day actually in America!) Ray had to work for a half day, but when he was done I drove out and picked him up. We then went to Downtown Disney (again) because it's just too much fun. We went to the kiosk selling pearls that are pried out of the oyster you pick. This was another memory of Ray's from his childhood but since I had never done it, he spoiled me. I got a beautiful pearl necklace that I love wearing now.

It was all over too soon and my sunburns have already faded and I fear my skin is being bleached by the dreary weather of Germany already. It has literally rained every day since I have been back, and I'm listening to distant thunder now. It's a stark difference between here and there, but I won't let it dampen my spirits. Because as I said, we're halfway through this, and I can't wait for Ray to be back!

Bring on 2014!

And a Happy New Year to you, friend!

Alright, without gilding the lily... London was absolutely AMAZING! We had such a grand time there, and even Ray wants to go back. The city's charm is just too alluring.

Our bus ride there was long and tedious, full of inconsiderate people, but ultimately it got us there in one piece. It also gave us the opportunity to ride the ferry from Calais, France to Dover, UK. The wind was blowing like crazy over the Channel so the small ferry was tossed everywhere and more than one person was seasick- but we managed to sit in the center of the boat and make it through unscathed. It was fun waking up Monday morning and looking out the window to see the White Cliffs of Dover.

Once we landed, it was another 2 hour drive in the rain to London. This time when I woke up we were crossing the London Bridge! I wish every nap had such marvelous endings... We picked up our tour guide who gave us a tour of the city from the bus, which thankfully kept us out of the rain. He dropped us off at our hotel where Ray and I crashed for a few hours. We'd slept very fitfully on the bus and wanted to have energy to stay up through midnight on NYE.

When we woke up we went out to explore Piccadilly Circus by night. We had a good time seeing the signs of all the shows that were playing; we even tried for Phantom of the Opera tickets, but they were sold out. No night in London would be complete without fish, chips and mushy peas, so we of course indulged in that. Delicious! That was really the extent of our first night.

On Tuesday morning we woke up early to eat breakfast, and get to the British Museum just as it opened. We spent about 2.5 hours walking around the museum looking at mummies, ancient texts, and famous sculptures. I love that most of the big museums in London are free, I think that added even more excitement to the visit.

Super windy in front of the British Museum.

Ray looks so great in this picture. I love it. 

Here we are with the Rosetta Stone replica that encourages visitors to touch and feel the amazing etchings.



After the museum, we took the Underground to Victoria Station where the Apollo Victoria Theater is so we could pick up our tickets for Wicked! We then had some extra time to walk to Big Ben and back.

It had started raining, obviously, and my lack of sleep caught up with me. Here I am in all my glory of grumpiness. Note to self: in 2014, be happier! Life is good, even when it rains.

Of course, nothing can darken Ray's spirit. Good grief I love this man.

Now, I may be biased, but I think the next part of our trip was the best. It was most certainly my favorite. After nearly a decade of listening to the music and wishing and waiting, I finally saw Wicked! Words don't describe how happy I was. I cried every other song for the entire first act. Again, lack of sleep may also have played a part in those tears.

After the show, it was time for dinner, a walk through the Winter Market in Hyde Park, and then spot finding for fireworks! We showed up at Westminster around 8:15, and it was already swarming with people. Waterloo bridge was full and closed. We began walking towards Embankment to get a spot along the Thames so we could see the full show on the London Eye. Unfortunately, the security police kept pushing people further and further down and then began telling people there were no river seats left. So we made it back to Westminster and stationed ourselves in front of Big Ben and a big screen that would show the fireworks. It was fun hearing the new year rung in by Big Ben, and then watching the fireworks explode over the buildings and the full show on the screen. It was a marvelous firework show. We were both very impressed.

Maybe even more impressive, is that this felt like the least pushy, hassle free New Years we have done. Disneyland was worse, and Taipei felt intensely more crowded. I'm not sure of numbers for London, but it really didn't seem bad.

It started raining again right at Midnight, so we could only take a few pictures before putting away our new camera to avoid damaging it. Yup, whether you could tell by the pictures or not, we did finally get a nice camera. We got the Canon T3i Rebel as a Christmas present to ourselves. We love it so far!

2013 was an incredibly fun and challenging year, we look forward to what 2014 holds. More travelling, more learning, perhaps more school, maybe even another move? We're feeling that anything is possible this year! So bring it on, 2014!!!

Chocolate, Family & Cannibas... Oh my!

Last weekend, we had the awesome privilege of being visited by some family from the states! Ray's brother was going to be in London for some work, bringing his wife and new baby, so they said "Hey, we know people in Germany, let's visit them."

So they did. And we are so happy they did!

Jon & Amy flew in on Thursday, so when Ray and I got off work we all went to dinner at the Berg Lichtenburg Castle Restaurant. We had been to the castle before, but never had eaten at the restaurant. I must say, probably the best schnitzel and noodles I've had here in Germany thus far! It was so fun to relax and catch up with them over a delicious meal. We got to do some socializing with our new little niece too. Just look how adorable!

 On Friday, we all piled in the car and drove to Brussels, Belgium. This was quite arguably my favorite excursion in Europe yet. And for one good reason: Belgian Chocolate.

Oh. My. Goodness.

For reals, guys. You don't know what chocolate is until you've had chocolate from a little boutique in Brussels. Not even Toblerone compares. Just, no. You have to put it on your bucket list to get there and gorge yourself on chocolate. We decided to do our own "tour" so each time we passed a chocolate shop we all went in, and each picked out one piece. We'd then stand outside the shop giggling and swooning as we bit into our morsels of heaven. My favorite piece was white chocolate covered fresh cream that was violet (as in the flower) flavored. Sounds bizarre, but seriously, it was the best piece of chocolate I've ever had in my entire life. And that's saying something... I eat a lot of chocolate. 

Here's the little walkway we perused sampling chocolates.

Just one example of the beautiful sweets we tried!

All of our hands look like this because the chocolate melts the second you touch it- no wax preservatives!

Our family chocolate :)

After eating a meal to counterbalance the sugar rush we just had, we meandered over to Brussels' Grand Place to observe some remarkable architecture.. and some human nature comedy passed down for centuries.

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The Mannequin Pis. Apparently little boys peeing into a pool made great subject matter for some sculptor years ago. Today it draws hundreds of tourists for its comedic qualities.

The Mannequin Pis x 3

Then it was back in the car to get to Antwerp for an overnight stay. Saturday morning we drove to Amsterdam for some sightseeing there. It rained for most of the day, which was a little bit of a wet blanket on our activities, but we still loved being with family and just walking around the city with them. My SIL and I found these fabulous swim caps. I'm so glad she could share my swimming affinity and was more than eager to pose clandestinely with the caps!

Of course you can't go to Amsterdam without seeing some of the classics: Marijuana and Flowers. We visited the lobby of the marijuana museum, but didn't want to pay the 9Euro to get in. We also visited the street Flower market, which was full of tempting bulbs and cute Dutch and flower souvenirs. Made me wish I didn't have such a black thumb! Ray and I also visited the Anne Frank House, which was incredibly powerful. I haven't read the diary in years, but after walking through the 4 small rooms the 8 hiders shared, Ray and I have set a goal to read the book together. If you're ever in Amsterdam, I highly recommend this piece of world history be added to your list of things to see and do.

This flower especially made me wish I had a garden!

When we left the city, we shared one final dinner, and then dropped our family off at the airport. Ray and I then headed to a small hotel outside the city we had booked in honor of our 2 year anniversary! It was nice this year actually having a day to celebrate (technically on Monday) since last year we lost the whole day in an international flight. On our drive to the hotel we saw this absolutely amazing double rainbow. We couldn't get over how bright the first one was and then all the sudden another appeared! Two rainbows, for our two beautiful years of marriage.

Our 2nd anniversary also marked our one year mark living outside of the U.S. This means Ray and I have now spent more time together as a married couple outside of the U.S. than in. What a crazy, blessed life we live.

This weekend was eventful and exciting. We're looking forward to a little down time here at home before our next adventures begin in July when my friend comes to visit. It's a little weird when going to work is a welcome idea as opposed to going on another whirlwind tour of Europe over the weekend!

Confucius say...

... don't judge us for disappearing from the blog scene too harshly. Here are our most recent diversions to appease your ceaseless hounding for more dramatic tales.

Below you will see us in front of a lovely back drop of Changhua. You can actually see our apartment building in this picture! We had decided to try out a nice bike trail that day, but we got a little lost on the way there. So we explored Baguashan Mountain for a while before eventually making it to the trail. Usually rain would ruin a bike ride, but this blessing brought in a glorious cloud cover that saved our foreigner skin and took the temperature down enough to not kill us too.

The bike trail we took meandered through a graveyard, which was eerily beautiful. The graves sprawl over the hills in a disorganized manner, but you know that each family knows exactly where their loved one is. The silence on top of the mountain was gorgeous, only punctuated by the ice-cream van quality version of Fur Elise from the garbage truck in the city far below us. I'd have to say riding through this cemetery is one of the more beautiful and enlightening things we've done in Taiwan.

Our next adventure was to make it to the Saturday Night Market on our own, with no firm directions or any guides. We hopped onto the street we knew would take us near the market, and went to town. Eight miles and some lost confusion later, we arrived; and rewarded ourselves with some high quality Night Market deliciousness. I shall call it: Explosion Changhua Corn Dog. It was love.

Then it was time to take our "Super Students" to McDonald's for some food and fun! Every two months we pick our top two students in each class for this night out that Maryland School sponsors. We play games with the kids and practice English with them until our food comes. It's good publicity for our school, and hey- we get a free American meal, I shan't say no to that!

This little treasure is Mickey, behind her is Flora. Mickey is so smart, and is one of our favorite students. Flora is in my 2A class and I just love her to pieces. She's the kind of student who walks into class, immediately informs me she wasn't able to complete her homework, and the she understands she has to use her break time to finish that homework. Then she heads to her desk to start writing in her planner. She's adorable, smart and just the sweetest student I could ask for.


At the end of September we got our first and only 3 day weekend- our school took Sept. 28 (Teacher's Day) off. We had planned a big trip to Green Island off the East coast of Taiwan. It was going to be beautiful: hot springs, snorkeling, small local population. Unfortunately a huge typhoon came through that weekend and we had to cancel the trip. Fortunately full refunds are given for typhoons! Since that weekend was also Moon Festival, we weren't too bummed since there were plenty of other things to do. For instance: here we see Ray attempting to BBQ some corn on our $3 USD grill. Our apartment complex called in a KTV (karaoke) vehicle and invited everyone out to the common area to BBQ and karaoke 'til they dropped! Because of the typhoon, it was pretty windy, hence Ray holding up the box to try and keep the wind from blowing out our coals. They also didn't have any songs in English for us to sing, but nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed our corn, BBQ chicken and watching several 60+ year old Taiwanese men and women stand up and belt their hearts out with varying levels of success. Good times.

July 25, 2012 Blogpost by Ray

I don't have a cute title for this post, Kailin's the cute one.

It's hard to believe that we've already been in Taiwan for a month. It is going by incredibly fast, pretty soon we'll be hopping on a plane to head home (wherever that is).

On to the stories:

It rains here fairly often, and when it starts I tell my students, "Oh man, I forgot my boat. Looks like I'll be swimming home tonight." Usually it's just intense rain lasting only 10-15 minutes, and if we wait it out we can avoid getting soaked. It's a good plan, except for last night, when the rain won the waiting game and we had to ride our bikes home in the deluge.

It was about halfway into the 10 minute ride home that I started feeling like I was drowning. Maybe it was the water streaming down my face from my somehow saturated poncho, or maybe it was the waves washing over us as cars passed by. More than likely however, it was a both of these things added to the weight of Kailin's purse hanging from my neck, underneath my poncho, feeling heavier and heavier.

But when we turned into the back alley leading to our apartment the deafening explosion of the rain pounding the brick and metal buildings all around us and echoing down the the narrow row was a beautiful sound. Kailin says she had never been on a bike ride like that before, but I imagine it won't be our last during our time here.

 



Today I named my first child.

In Taiwan, people who learn English have an English name in addition to their Chinese name. (Ever heard of "Jackie" Chan before?) I've asked my students how they chose their names and the ones whose parents speak English often choose a name, but if their parents don't speak English, it seems their first English teacher chooses the name. What an incredible and terrifying responsibility I thought. Choosing the name by which this person will be known for the rest of their English lives. It seemed to me too much to believe.

So when I walked into class this morning and one of the school administers introduced me to a new student and her mother, I wasn't expecting the answer to "what's her name?" to be "She doesn't have one." It was my job to give the little girl an English name right there on the spot. I would have preferred to have taken some time to get to know the family, walk them through a few name books, and maybe let the girl choose a name she felt appropriate to her personality. But I wasn't so lucky. So instead, a dozen names flashed through my head and I felt overwhelmed.

But when I looked at the child I was happy with the name that stuck in my mind. Kira. Everyone thought it was a beautiful name (and easy to spell) and the mother was very pleased. The administrator later told us that she wants to name a daughter Kira.

Kira

As I mentioned earlier we have been here a month already and I think a conversation Kailin had while Skyping her mother sums up my feelings pretty well. Her mother asked her how I was enjoying the experience and Kailin said, "We get to spend all of our time together, so I think he is happy." And that is the truth. It turns out that for me, home is wherever I'm with her.