Flight Itinerary

Sunday morning at 6:30am we will be boarding a plane destined for Taipei, Taiwan.

We have almost finished packing after an emergency trip back to the crating company. As it seems we had slightly more things coming back with us than we had on our return trip. After assuring Jeff multiple times over the course of the last few weeks that I was a master packer, knew exactly how much stuff we had and was positive that it would all fit in our alloted 8 suitcases- last night around 6:00pm, I learned that I cannot get it all to fit in our suitcases and therefore Jeff took more items back to the crate company this morning on his way to say goodbye to my family in OKC. Sorry Jeff

Anyways,

Here is our flight itinerary:

6:35 am Tulsa to Chicago 8:20am arrival
11:20 am Chicago to Seoul, South Korea arriving in Seoul at 4:10 pm Korea time
5:30 pm Seoul to Taipe, Taiwan arriving at 7:10 pm Taiwan Time and 5:10 am OKC time on Monday, Nov. 1.

For a total trip time of almost 23 hours. Not too bad it took us almost 40 hours to get to Chiang Mai, Thailand the first time.

I will try to post again as soon as possible after arriving.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

We finally received word that our visa has been approved. We are hoping to be able to leave within the next week. We are just waiting on our actual physical passports to come back from the Taiwanese government. As soon as that happens we will hop the next flight out of Tulsa- probably this Sunday.

Thank you so much for your support the last few months. We will miss everyone. Feel free to come visit us. We always have room.

Taiwan At A Glance

Land Area: 32,260 Sq Kilometers (less than 1/5 the size of Oklahoma)

Population: 22.9 Million (More than 6 times as many people as the state of Oklahoma)

Perspective: Divide the state of Oklahoma by 5 and multiple the entire state population by 6 and you still don't have quite as many people crammed into a single area as Taiwan does.

Climate:

On average, Taipei, Taiwan is 11 degrees warmer than Tulsa, OK and receives 25.1 more inches of rain than Tulsa.

Language:

Mandarin Chinese

Life Expectancy:

Taiwan- 77.96

USA- 78.11

Literacy:

96% of people age 15 and over can read and write in Taiwan as compared to 99% of Americans.

Religion:

93% of people in Taiwan are Buddhist and Taoist.

51% of people in the US are protestant Christian.

Economy:

Purchasing Power Parity in Taiwan: $31, 100 per person

Purchasing Power Parity in the US: $46,900 per person

Purchasing Power Parity in Thailand: $8,400 per person

Taipei, Taiwan is currently home to the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101. (The United Arab Emirates has completed a building with a really tall spire on top that technically makes it taller. However, Taipei 101 is the highest structural element)

The Waiting Game

Well, we are still waiting on our visa (the stamp in our passports that allows us entry into Taiwan). The paperwork has been turned in and now it just has to go through a variety of government agencies. We had hoped to leave next Saturday the 24th. But, I don't think that will happen. We will keep you updated when we know an exact departure date.

Please remember our visa during your quiet time.

Ava Walking

We finally got some video of Ava walking. She just turned 9 mos old today.

Do you have the time to listen to me whine?

Yesterday we packed our crate and got a phone call.

The crate was the easy part. We loaded all of our earthly posessions in a crate bound for Taiwan. The crate will be stored in a warehouse until we leave for Taiwan and then shipped over the ocean. It will arrive about 3-6 weeks after we do. Until it gets to our new home, we will be staying in furnished- temporary housing.

The phone call was from the Taiwan economic office in Houston saying that they must send our application to a different government agency in order to be approved for a resident visa. So, while we and all our earthly possessions await the blessed "resident visa" we ask for you to remember us. We have an itinerary set for us to leave on October 24 but the closer we get to that date without a visa the less likely it is that we will leave as scheduled.

Jeff will be traveling for two weeks in early December. The longer we are delayed, the less chance there is that our crate will have arrived and we will be set up in our home before Jeff is gone. This can be a little more difficult in a new foreign country than it might be in a more familar setting. New language, new home, new surroundings, new places to find groceries- a whole new way of life. It takes an adult several months to adjust to all that change let alone two little kids. It would just be really nice if we were already setup in our permanent, stable dwelling before we were minus one integral member of the family.

But, regardless of how it all works out, we are going to have a grand adventure anyways.

Word Wednesday (on Thursday)

Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more people than any other language in the world including English. It is spoken throughout China and Taiwan. Our family has the privilege and burden of learning this complex language over the next three years.

Here is your first lesson in the language:

"Nee Hao" pronounced "knee how"
This is the standard greeting in Mandarin meaning "Hello"