A Day in Taipei

       We spent our first day learning more about Taiwanese culture and exploring the city.  Our first venture was to Tapei 101, the second largest skyscraper in the world.  It's design was inspired by bamboo and it is an architectural wonder. The elevator to the top is the world's fastest (and smoothest).  We took in all the views from the top. It's amazing to be in another country, yet still feel as though you could be at home. It reminded me of looking off the Empire State Building. Taipei is like Taiwan's New York City. From the top we could see buildings that went on forever.

      Lunch in Taipei was a new experience. Within the mall attached to Taipei 101 was a restaurant called Wasabi.  We could tell that it was nice, and it featured a lunch buffet. Most importantly, we could recognize some of the food on people's plates!  We realized it was a little more upscale after we went in, but it was well worth it. We tried many new foods-Greg even ate sushi.  My favorites were fried green beans, pork on a stick and the shrimp sushi.  On the list of what not to get again-some little doughy ball thing with spicy seasoning.  We still don't know what it was.

Let the scooter race begin!



My lunch was looking at me.



      We enjoyed a walk to Sun Yat Sen's Memorial.  This is a big gathering place where people fly kites, play with their children and just enjoy being outside. We did some major people watching during this part of the day and marveled at the Taiwanese lifestyle. Motor scooters are everywhere, and it's not uncommon to see a little child standing on the bike as it zooms down the road. There are lots of children, and they do seem to look at us curiously.  Several times today we realized we were the only Americans around.

       The most impressive site today was at  Longshan Temple. People from all over come to see the temple and pray.  We were amidst hundreds of mostly Chinese/Taiwanese worshipers.  We watched and listened, observing and respecting their rituals. Typically they buy food or flowers to place at the alters of the various gods they worship. They carry incense sticks to the gods and wave them and say prayers.  The sound of hundreds of people chanting was absolutely mesmerizing. 

       We're having a quiet night at the hotel and preparing for an early morning tomorrow. We will be  flying to Taitung, checking in to the Naruwan hotel, and then........... off to Hannah's Hope to get our little boy! We are so excited (and a little nervous) to get to meet our son.

Touchdown in Taipei

        We made it!!!  It was a long day of flying, but by Sunday, 8:00 am, U.S.A time, we had successfully completed our approximately 20 or so hours of flying.  The longest leg, from Detroit to Toyko ended up being only 12 1/2 hours long. We did wait on the runway for them to de-ice the plane, but after that, it was a pretty smooth flight.  After 4 movies (our favorite, Life as We Know It, reminded us of how to put an infant carrier on correctly) , 2 meals and a snack, a few naps and games of Angry Birds, Greg and I were thankful when we heard it was time to land in Tokyo.  The Toyko to Taipei flight was a much more tolerable three hours.
       From that point on we entered a different world. I've never wanted to know how to speak a different language as much as I do now.  We went through customs without a problem and exchanged some currency.  One U.S. dollar equals 29.4 Taiwanese dollars, so it's odd to be carrying money with 1000 written on the bills!
        I'm sure the locals are saying "Look at that stupid American couple with all those bags!".  We packed for ourselves, Nathan, and the orphanage, so our 4 large suitcases and multiple little bags caused the airport taxi manager in Taipei to move his arms around in a big circle and point to the street. I'm assuming he was telling us to wait for a bigger cab, because as everyone moved ahead of us, we just stood there and pointed to our itinery saying "Royal Seasons?"
       We arrived at the hotel by 11:00 Taiwan time, so while we were thinking it was Sunday morning, it was dark. In fact, it was the first time we had seen darkness. We were beat!  It was off to bed. 
       We just had breakfast at the hotel. We both looked at each other when there was salad on the table, then saw the other table around the corner had Miso soup, steamed vegetables, other things that looked like vegetables I could not identify, and then.........American food.  So, now after some delicious ham and cheese bread and coffee, we're going to spend today doing a little exploring and resting.    Hopefully we'll get to post some pictures tonight! Zai jian- goodbye!
     

Our "Labor"

          Nathan's room is ready, our paperwork is in order, our bags are almost packed.  You could say we're in labor!  It's been pretty busy around our house, but it's the best type of busy we've ever

seen.

         Our flight leaves Cincinnati at 9:30 on Saturday.  We're headed to Detroit, then Toyko, then Taipei.  We'll be in the air for about 20 hours, but with some short layovers, it will be 9:30 Taipei time when arrive. For someone who gets antsy during a 3 hour car ride, I have to say I wish time travel was possible!

         We were unable to get a flight from Taipei to Taitung on Monday, so getting Nathan has been postphoned just a day.  That will give us time to recuperate from our long flight.  So, March 1st will end up being Gotcha Day, the adoption term for the day we have our baby in our arms. Nathan will be 9 1/2 months old by then, and I'm sure just as cute as can be.

         We started this blog to capture all the moments in this journey abroad. A journey that's been five years in the making. So many of you have rode along with us, we thought it would only be fair for you to see "the light at the end of the tunnel."    We are so glad to have such great family and friends and can't wait to introduce you to Nathan Wei Homoelle.