Good morning. Today I am feeling so rested and ready for the day. Yesterday was a busy day! We went to Danshui on the metro/train (called the MRT) which is all the way north in Taiwan. Got to see the ocean and a very lively town and night market. I had some popcorn squid ( I call it that because it looks very similar to popcorn chicken), and some tofu and fish noodle stuff. The food is good to try but after the first few bites thats enouph for me. During the Chinese New Years eve meal a few days ago, our hostess asked me how I learned to use chopsticks so well. I am so thankful for the many Asian exchange students we hosted at our house while I was growing up. While they lived with us I remember using chopsticks for about everything just for fun. We ate cereal, rice, chicken, french fries.. anything. haha. Now I am so glad we did that!

The sun is almost shining today, which has put me in a great mood. And having Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast was almost just as helpful for starting the day right. Megan and I are heading our now to plan for our English camps next week in Taoyuen. Bye!

Hot pot
Chicken wings, Squid balls, Tofu, and some other stuff I'm not sure about :)

Emily making breakfast!! French toast, eggs and coffee.
The kitchen.
Balcony off the kitchen at Michael and Emily's. Overlooks the street.
Bubble tea from the night market. mmm!

Bubble tea, night market and scrabble...

Today I had my first Chinese lesson with Emily. She is a fantastic teacher. For a few hours we sat together in the kitchen making various noises that are apparently words. I enjoy learning though. For the Chinese new year there is a greeting that everyone says that congratulates the person you are talking to for not being eaten by the devils. After this I decided I needed a nap and fell asleep for the next 6 hours.
Everything is so different here in every way. At my home in Michigan the lights are out and everyone is in bed by 10pm. Today we decided to head out to the night market for dinner and it was already 9 at night. The night market is super fun. Lots to look at and people are everywhere. We ate at a pasta shop and then I got a bubble tea. A bubble tea is black tea with milk and these tapioca balls in it. You can have it cold or warm. It tastes sweet and you drink it with a thick straw so you can drink up the tapioca balls, which are kinda chewy-ish and look like fish eggs or something :) I very much enjoyed this drink. After walking around we headed back to the apartment and Michael, Emily and I started a scrabble game during which I learned that snafu means a badly confused or ridiculously muddled situation. Now it is 2 in the morning and I think I should go to bed. My clock is all off. Goodnight!

Touchdown in Taiwan

Wow I have never sat still for so long in my entire life... Thursday morning we headed to the Kalamazoo airport at 5 am. Unfortunately our plane had mechanical problems so our 29 minute flight to Chicago was delayed 2 hours. From Chicago we had a 13 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan (which was also 2 hours delayed). Most of the time I slept or watched the movies provided. 13 hours is a long time to sit still. Felt like forever.. but the trip was not over yet. After another 3 1/2 hour flight to Taiwan Megan found us a bus and we rode into Taipei city. With the help of a nice bus driver, Megan's Chinese skills, a fantastic taxi driver and a random woman who knew where some foreigners lived we came to Michael and Emily's apartment around 2 in the morning. A grand total of 21 plus hours of travel.
This morning Emily, Drew, Megan and I went out to breakfast. We had something like a breakfast burrito at a shop on the street. I am trying to adjust and now fully understand the meaning of "culture shock". Ya.. I'm there. This week we will be staying with Michael and Emily in Taipei. The following week the English camps will begin and school starts February 2nd. More about that later. Thanks for all your prayers!

Miracles

God has worked so amazingly this week! A major prayer request has been for the processing of my visitor visa. I had hoped to get it all sent in before Christmas, however, that never happened. After finally taking all the paperwork to the post office I realized, 3 hours later, that I had forgotten to put the passport pictures in the package. Miraculously, the package had not been shipped yet and I was able to add the pictures. All this to say, that 5 days later I recieved my Passport with my visitor visa to Taiwan. :) My brother's visa took three weeks to proccess. Only God could have arranged this so perfectly. I leave in eleven days!

Preparations

In 21 days I leave for Taiwan! I'm so grateful that God opened up this amazing opportunity for me. Since October I had been praying for a more long term mission trip. Just to show you how differently God and I think, I had been praying for a medical trip to Brazil where i would give people shots, draw blood, I could learn Portuguese and experience South American culture ... Well instead he is stretching me and sending me to Taiwan to teach English to elementary school kids for 6 months! WOW! I'm excited because I want to be stretched. And i'm positive this is going to stretch me more than I know. Already God has provided amazingly for me and this trip. My travel expenses are all covered as well as my living expenses. I hope to keep you all updated as much as possible while I am gone. You have no idea how much it would mean to me to hear from you every once in a while too! A few prayer requests:

1. That my visa would come in time
2. That I would be flexible
3. Somehow I would pack what I need for 6 months in one suitcase

Thanks!