Well, I knew it had been a while since I had updated this blog, but I didn't realize it had been THAT long. My apologies to those of you who were willing to try and keep up with our family through this blog! I can't promise anything, but I will definitely try and update more frequently. Thanks for sticking with me. Here are a few things we are experiencing right now...
A few weeks after we arrived, Eli began preschool classes at a local Chinese Preschool called Merryland. After a couple weeks of kicking and screaming and a lot of crying, she is beginning to tolerate it. Some days are great and she is excited to go and other days she is crying before we get to the door of her classroom. Three nights a week she gets one homework paper that she completes at home to help her begin to learn Chinese. She loves this time with her dad (Garett helps her) and she is always very proud of her finished work. So far, her favorite teacher is Teacher Rachel (her Caucasian English teacher), but she is beginning to make friends and talk about some of the other students. When asked why she doesn't like going to school she says that it's because they yell a lot and it's really loud. We find this incredible amusing, because Eli only has one volume and that is LOUD!: Apparently when the noise level is in another language, it's much more disturbing. :)
Our apartment is located directly on Morrison Academy's campus which has been a huge blessing. Garett's commute has gone from 30-60 minutes each way to 30-60 seconds. He is able to come home for lunch every day and any time we want, the kids and I can go down and visit him in his classroom. It is a short walk to the school playground, pool, soccer fields, and gym, all of which we have used on a frequent basis. We are surrounded by an extremely generous community (most of the staff live on campus) that are always offering to help us in any way they can. Several of the families have young children and the kids never have a shortage of playmates.
We have found a great little church that we have begun attending called Dali Faith Baptist Church. It is in an area of Taichung City about 30 minutes from our apartment called Dali. And when I say LITTLE, I mean that literally. We attend the English service and the average attendance is between 20-30 people. Although it is a HUGE change from our previous church, we are really enjoying the opportunity to get to know people and begin to invest in the Lord's work here in Taiwan, outside of Morrison. Each week after the service we all eat lunch together and fellowship and then a smaller, more intimate Bible study is held following lunch. We also work each night as a family to memorize the weekly Bible verse and then try and recite it on Sunday. The girls have done an amazing job with the memorization so far, but we have yet to find a brave enough soul to stand up and recite it in church. I think it's probably because they tend to get candy from the usher whether they say it or not.:)
High up on our prayer list at the moment is a vehicle! When we first arrived in Taiwan, we were able to quickly find the exact type of van we thought we wanted and buy it. But, unfortunately after a recent road trip the van died and the cost to repair it was more than the price of another car. So, we are on the lookout for another vehicle. We have a couple types of vehicles that we are considering and hope to find some good options soon! Taichung is a sprawling city and does not have a subway. Cabs are not too expensive here, but can start to add up quickly depending on the distance traveled. Thankfully, Eli's school, several fruit/vegetable markets, as well as a few other stores and restaurant stalls are all within walking distance. I am quite the spectacle in the village (the nearby grouping of stores next to the school). With the three kids hanging off my double stroller and two of them being blond, we get quite a few stares and smiles any time we venture out. Here in Taiwan, it is almost unheard of to have more than two kids and many only have one. But thankfully, children are very welcome here and never considered a bother to anyone. For that, I am extremely grateful!
