The Wedding

I was thinking today about some of the places we've been and the events we've attended since living here. With that in mind, it prompted me to think about the Taiwanese wedding we went to last month. I can't believe I never posted anything on it!!!!!!!
Well the excruciating wait is over.
The wedding was incredibly entertaining though I have to say I was a bit bummed that we only attended the reception.....however not much we could do, being that there  ONLY was a reception. Unlike most Taiwanese weddings as I've come to understand, this reception was held quite a few months after the actual wedding. The reception had vivid colors, was held in a hotel and was reminiscent of my senior prom. The decor in the front of the ballroom had two large hearts and the bride had 2-3 dress changes from her wedding gown. Seriously. (Will and I are SO renewing our vows.) The gowns were big, colorful and again made me feel as though I had traveled back in time to 1996...with the exception of the shark fin and teriyaki eel that we feasted on. The meal was family style and apparently was filled with traditional Taiwanese delicacies, which I tried all of but pig's sinew..... I mean...sinew? Come on. I'm adventurous BUT..... Well OK let's put it into perspective shall we? Merriam- Webster defines sinew as: 

¹sin·ew

 noun \ˈsin-(ˌ)yü also ˈsi-(ˌ)nü\ 1: tendon; especially : one dressed for use as a cord or thread 2obsolete : nerve - SOOOOOO. Yeah. I think not. 

One of the most entertaining parts was a tradition that occurs during the reception. Go with me here. Close your eyes if you will and picture this. The bride and groom are traveling from table to table; greeting guests flanked by their new in-laws. As the bride and groom approach, guests from each table (I think each table, I was just concentrating on ours...) make up dares for the bride and groom to complete 

for the viewing pleasure of those around them. Are you with me? Do we see how this could be traveling down an unsavory & dangerous path?! Yeah- well, eyes still closed?(well duh, I know if you're technically reading this your eyes are not closed.... sorry I KNOW someone was thinking that). Anyhow a lovely female guest at our table dared the groom to take a Golden Fried Glutinous Rice Dumpling Dusted with Ground Peanuts, (I didn't actually remember that, I looked back at the menu) stick it in his lovely bride's bosom and eat it. Classy. NO...did he actually do it you ask as you sharply intake a deep breath?!?!? Surely not with his mother and mother in-law beside him!!!!!! But yes. 

Yes he did.

The remainder of the afternoon was filled with more dress changes, the passing out of soap flowers, photo ops and the "bouquet toss." I put this in quotes, because unlike the tosses that Americans may be used to, the single women here stand on stage with the bride, hold onto one of the ribbons that are connected to the bouquet, and with the cutting of the ribbons from the bride, the bouquet swings to one of the single women. I thought that was quite clever actually and apparently this is a preferable activity advised by the hotel to avoid damage from crazy flying flora?! It really was a sweet feel good reception though. People were having a great time and there was a lot of love and laughter as there should be.... in my humble opinion of course. 
The biggest bummer of the night? Will and I were unable to break out mad air guitar to Starship's We Built This City....but it's OK. What people don't know they're missing can't hurt them. Right?

NOT Will and I......or is it??? : )

Missing Piece....

As I'm looking at the title of this post, I'm a bit struck by the fact that I did literally mean piece when I wrote it, but subconsciously am I thinking peace? Hmmmmm deep.
Let me start by saying how much I love Taiwan. Sarcastic by nature, I mean the previous statement without a shred of sarcasm. Truly, I really really like it here. Statements like that are always followed by big BUTS right? Yeah well, look out here comes MY big but. I feel like something is missing. I love the whole stay at home thing, and I'm certainly not complaining. I mean I know there's an adjustment after having worked, and my greatest joy is being with Wyatt...blah blah blah...I'll spare you all that whole saga again BUT seriously, I feel that something is missing. By something, I mean a big part of me misses my professional life. I miss working with people. I do. Gosh, is that crazy? I  mean - social work is a profession that often has very little feedback but grief most days...BUT the days where there's that glimmer of something sinking in, or a client accepting a resource, or taking small steps towards progress, or utilizing a coping skill.....it's an amazing feeling. It is.

My job made me feel competent but my job as a mom?? Well......much like that of a social worker, a lot of days you get nothing but grief and get very little feedback. This isn't coming out right is it? I'm just kind of in a weird place right now. By weird place, no, I'm NOT talking about Taiwan.. I'm just still in the beginning stages of checking into volunteer opportunities, trying not to over involve while at the same time figuring out what I can actually do right now since Wyatt is with me for most of the day.....And the volunteer opportunities.......well it's completely overwhelming, because I want to do everything. I'm just struck by the amount of social need .... BUT by the same token, I don't want to go and wish my days with Wyatt away so I can volunteer, because he won't be with me a whole lot longer.....Shoot, I'm getting emotional. I just feel torn.
Anyway, how 'bout a change of topic, hmmmm? Today we're off for afternoon tea and cake followed by a late afternoon baking session at home. That's right, how about I eat my emotions. Hey, at least I'm showing evidence of self-awareness......BUT Wyatt is VERY into the show DC cupcakes at the moment and we thought we'd make our own this evening. No school for the rest of the week due to teacher's conferences. Wish me luck....

It's all Good

I just want to thank everyone for the e-mails and calls. The past week has been absolutely devastating to our neighbors in Japan and I am so saddened by the tragic losses and mass amounts of destruction that they are facing. A new friend that I have just begun spending time with is from Japan, has family and friends living  there and I was with her when Will called to tell me what had happened on Friday. It was our second time getting together and I was hesitant about how to tell her as I was unaware of where her family and friends were living.....and we really don't know each other very well. Upon telling her, I could see her eyes well up and she immediately checked her phone to find texts and messages that her loved ones were safe. Though a natural disaster, it feels somewhat similar to the emotions experienced during 911-The terror, the unknown, the devastation, the loss.- The feeling of helplessness and not quite knowing what to say to someone who is experiencing it on a completely different level then someone, like me, who is watching the horrors on the internet or TV. -I spoke with my girlfriend  today and again, I could see the tears in her eyes- and it just felt, unreal. Japan is her home. I'm pretty sure it's where she grew up- and parts of it are now just gone. Towns gone. Tens of thousands of people-gone.
It is so crazy to me to think WE ARE RIGHT HERE. - I mean, not to freak anyone or myself out, but we really aren't that far away.- It's so surreal- You see these images and you want to help, but can't...at least for right now. My thoughts and prayers are certainly with those in Japan and for those who have family that are there- for those with unanswered questions about loved ones.
All I can say is that I consider myself VERY blessed.

Back to the Blog-

Chilis of course.

Sooooo I took some time off but now I'm back. I wouldn't say I'm "better", I mean that sounds incredibly ostentatious, BUUUT I am back and it has been quite a week-quite a good week in fact. A week filled with Kati Kelly : ), a beer float at Taipei 101- which I have to say is an incredible reason other then the view of course-to go to the top, The Taipei Zoo (which gets better each and every time we go) and lots of girlie stuff. If I'm honest I can also admit that this week painted a clearer picture of how hard it is to be away from home...to miss births, weddings, anniversaries, weekend get togethers and just hanging out with friends and family. Shoot, not thinking and subtracting 13 hours before I make a phone call.-It's the heart wrenching trade off of this once in a life-time experience... and at the moment it feels pretty crappy. Kati was incredibly helpful and supportive and for that I am so grateful.....and a bit sad that the week flew by so quickly. *Warning* This may be a bit sentimental.

Brass Monkey

So, having had a friend that I have known since....I don't know, how long has it been?- College- so around 13 years? WO. (or more? NO.....) Well, anyway, a long time- it just further emphasized the work that goes into friendships and the exhaustion that comes from developing new ones. Not necessarily a bad exhaustion, but sometimes it's nice to just have a girlfriend to hang out with that already knows you....with no judgement for better or worse. This "dating" process of cultivating friendships and wondering if she'll call or do I call...getting panicky if our kids get along alright and if I'm being offensive when I think I'm actually being witty(some people just don't get sarcasm)....... ughhh. Sometimes it's just to much. SOOOOO with all that being said it was nice to just BE.

Stinky Tofu Guy. I know the
irony was not lost on me
either.

Beer Float.

Thank you for bearing with my fluid thought process here. I appreciate it.
So back to beer floats?Um. Amazing. Two things that I enjoy very much that I would have never put together. I mean, ingenious. Ok. Done with that topic.- Wyatt and I (and Will as he was able ) brought Kati all around Taipei, showing off our exemplary MRT skills and heading to local night markets, shops, restaurants and bars. We even tried stinky tofu. Yeah, yeah, it completely sucked and tasted WORSE then it smelled, not as if this was a shocking discovery.....I mean, when those who are serving it are laughing while their customers are eating it, surely that can't be a good thing. Right? Kati and I also tried a bit of the night life, attempting a restaurant recommended by our Mandarin teacher (which was quite good) and heading out to the Brass Monkey afterwards to check out where expats and the locals go. What I realized? First of all, I'm old. Secondly, I can still have a good time, despite being old. Just making a couple points- that's all.  Anyhow, Wy-Tuh was an extraordinary tour guide of the zoo, being as he is a master of all things Taipei Zoo.  In fact, Wy-Tuh was extraordinary throughout the entire week. Quite the lovable host. Anyone else up for a visit?

Alice

For the most part it was a pretty non-descript week, just going through the motions. Some weeks are just like that, I mean we can't have fireworks every day. We really wanted to see the lantern lighting, but it's been pouring out. POURING. Did you know that it really does rain cats and dogs here? I mean the sheer amount of random dogs that one sees in any given day is staggering. Now, whether these pups actually have owners, I really can't say. -They just kind of walk around, minding traffic, literally looking both ways before crossing. It's kind of ridiculous. This all being said, let me tell you about Alice. In the spirit of adventure Friday, Alice (unbeknownst to her) WAS our adventure. To clarify, she is a stray dog whisperer and to Wyatt, he could ask for nothing more. We were playing in the park while also searching for CharlietheAndy puppy (refer to Wyatt-isms)whom we had discovered on a previous visit. We came upon an older woman, struck up a conversation and talked about our new furry friend. The woman (whom we later found out was named Alice) told us that CharlietheAndy puppy was just one in a litter of many. Alice works to find homes for the strays that she finds and ensures that her strays are well fed and watered. When she's around, they...well they follow her around like little puppy dogs. Huh. Well that saying makes complete sense now. She told us that she had "relocated"CharlietheAndy and to follow her. Ummmm SURE.  Where else would you follow a random woman down an alleyway well past the park and towards a hospital?! Taiwan. That's where. Wow. I hadn't even known that hospital was there. All I kept thinking was well, I guess being by a hospital is appropriate since this woman may very well chop me up into little pieces. I'm such a responsible mother. In the spirit of adventure..In the spirit of adventure. Clearly she didn't bring any weaponry, hence the titillating recap. We didn't have a CharlietheAndy sighting that afternoon either, but we're still on the hunt.....The rest of the weekend was filled with- MORE rain, an accident and super cool markets. You like how I just snuck that one in there?- We were on the way to the Jade/Flower market and were making a right hand turn, when the guy to our right who we presumed was parked starting moving and well, the rest is visibly documented by looking at the vehicle. Will couldn't have hit a nicer guy. He assured Will that the big show of policemen was just to find an English speaking one, not that they were going to haul him off to jail. Will felt a bit more at ease, though I've been wondering where the jails on this island were since we've gotten here......All went well and Will was again reassured that hitting people/cars here are basically formalities and frequent occurrences, no big deal, everyone's got insurance. Sweet.
We breezed through the markets, though they were incredibly cool and really deserved more time then what we gave them. Wyatt was hell bent on finding a flower for his bathroom, so you know, we had a mission- and we could not become sidetracked from Wyatt's plan. Mission Accomplished.

A Surreal Life

So I'm in Taiwan. My full time job is my son. My part time job is maintaining sanity. One of the sweetest things my husband has said to me-on a day when things were not going well at the part-time job was, Aly, you are not a woman of leisure. He knows. He appreciates me. He loves me. THAT is pretty awesome. Wyatt and I have been here just a little over a month now. Sometimes I'll stop in the middle of what we're doing and look around in complete disbelief. The Lord works in mysterious ways indeed.... I mean, we're in Taiwan. HOLY CRAP.
A month can teach you some pretty crazy things. Let me share some of the things I've learned thus far..... you know, to spare any of you reading any potential stress should you come here upon receiving your tax refunds. I want you to feel prepared.
I've learned that:
*I like watching MacGyver. ALOT. We don't have cable, so a great deal of what we watch is what we order through our apple TV off of iTunes. This being the case, we have started ordering the seasons of MacGyver...and I love him. I do. I confess.
P.S. My husband is privy to this information.
In addition, being that our son is not the most coordinated, my hope is he can pick up some sweet Mac skills. He too is a fan. Great clean family fun right there. (Note: we are NOT giving Wyatt a pocket knife)
*I am not ashamed to say that I go to the McDonald's play-land. It is what it is. If we go there multiple times a week- so be it. I don't have to necessarily buy food every time I'm there, but for months at a time it rains here and the play-land is cheap and guarantees an instantaneous playmate for my kid....and some reading time for me.
* Food here is NOT made to order. What you see is what you get. There is no arguing, no attempts at using persuasive hand gestures or wasting your breath. Wyatt: I want chocolate cream (instead of the vanilla and strawberry that it shows the clown face ice cream having in the picture). We order with two chocolate scoops instead. It comes. Wyatt is crestfallen. It is strawberry and vanilla. Me: We ordered this with chocolate- Waitress: But that doesn't look like the picture.  Chocolate will not be pretty.  SERIOUSLY??? They do NOT make a plain cheese pizza here. But I can't stop trying. I WILL NEVER STOP TRYING!!!!!
* Crosswalks- The little green guys with the seconds underneath that indicate you should go are actually ticking time bombs towards your up and coming demise. Yup. The green men on the signs actually start running faster when the seconds get closer to 0. They're trying to get away as well.
* I need to remain diligent in making/maintaing friendships. This is a lot harder for me than I thought. I'm wayyyyy more anti-social then I had been giving myself credit for.

Oh Sure. DIY.

* I need to embrace my surroundings, the people (not literally), the culture, the food,the language, the environment- otherwise my time here would be completely wasted. What is the point of running all over Taiwan trying to find what I would be using in the United States. (Not to say I won't have a big fat juicy burger at Chili's every now and then, or stop looking for a slice of cheese pizza). Otherwise, I need to give it up. It takes too much energy and is just way to frustrating. Case in point. I wanted to bake little Valentines Day cakes the other night. Now should I pay 3X the amount for a Duncan Hines mix when there is a perfectly good Taiwanese cake mix next to it that said cake powder? LET IT GO. I got the box I couldn't read, got some help from my Mandarin teacher... and guess what? It tasted like cake. This one is going to be a challenge, but I'm determined not to be some kind of ethnocentric egomaniac.
* I really need to lighten up. I believe that Will thinks this is one of the reasons we're here. I'm wound pretty tight- I'm not disillusioned by this aspect of myself either- I've got enough self-awareness to know I should have started taking Xanax a while ago. With the Lord's help, perhaps I can start to loosen up a bit. My schedule's not stressful- at this point I'm not over committed and "yessing" myself into a black hole.- This is a whole new beginning- it's me coming to the full realization that I'M NOT THE ONE IN CONTROL. It's also OK to enjoy myself while I'm here. Time goes fast. I'm not being disloyal to my parents, friends or animals if I actually like it here a little. I can just let go and play with Wyatt. I need to enjoy him while I have him with me...and while he still kinda likes me. WOW. sorry guys. I feel like there's a lot of self- talk here.
*After that big spiel on embracing my surroundings, I think that adjusting to the bathrooms here will never happen. End of story. You will have to visit to know what I'm talking about. Pure GA-Ross-ness. ughhghghgh.
* Ditching the car and walking/biking everywhere is AWESOME. It is amazing the things you miss by driving in a car. Riding on the bike helps you to take it all in, and perhaps another passenger if they don't move out of my way quick enough.
* The sun does come out here!!! Some days you just have to look a little harder for it.

Beaches, Zoos and a Bicycle Built for 2-PART 2

Our boy's 1st beach trip

Making his Christmas list...

The adventures failed to cease as we made our way to the Children's Recreation Center( basically an amusement park for kids). In case you forgot, it was the three of us and our fellow mass of 420,000. We rode the teacups and Wyatt ran around the kids park collecting friends like bottle caps. It was easy to spot him, as he had quite the eclectic entourage in tow. Ahhh the Wyatt and his inescapable charisma. Yeah- that and his hazel eyes, but who am I to quibble over details? He had a great time, running, sliding down the massive concrete slide and then protesting when it was time to go. Normal run of the mill stuff. The rest of the weekend brought forth my "bike for 2" and Wyatt's first trip to the beach. I'll tell you, he has no idea that for his first beach trip he just happened to visit one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. He loved every nano-second of it, which, with Wyatt you have to understand it's all or nothing. Thankfully he chose all and ran completely uninhibited into the waves. It was one of those misty parental moments for sure- the kind where you can see your kid completely "bliss out" and in the moment, it's, well it's just awesome. The day itself was beautiful- Low 70's, clear, warm, bright. The drive was spectacular as well- the mountains- all the views actually, were just breathtaking. The three overly white Americans on the beach were the crazy ones in the water as those native to Taiwan strolled the beaches, buttoned up in their parkas. It was a perfect day.
The drive along the coast was surprisingly very similar to the shore, or your standard run of the mill beach community. You know, the kind without fist pumping and tattoo piercing parlors. Even the lack of these fine establishments didn't dampen my spirits. The pictures really don't do it any justice. Once I get a handle on the bus routes Wyatt and I could conceivably spend a great deal of time at this beach. Awesome. I use this word a lot, I know, but it's completely warranted.
The bike. Yeah. The picture pretty much speaks for itself. Biking seemed like a pretty smart way to get around-and a bit more expedient way to travel (though I questioned this upon my first incline.) The bike is wickedly cool. It's got a seat, handlebars and pegs for Wyatt. As a woman from Wyatt's school told me today- your bike is very Taiwanese. Well CHYA.- Of course. When Wyatt and I both got on the bike he could not stop giggling- too cute. Really, when it comes down to it, is there any better bonding than a mother and son uh, biking together? Yeah, well, I'll keep you posted on all that.