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Tonight we dined at a Mexican restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan owned by a Cambodian who grew up in America. Now there's a new twist on the idea of international eating.
The food was good.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
June Update
It's hard to believe we have passed the 6 month mark in our new home across the big pond. The weeks keep ticking off and we enjoy Taipei more every week. We stay busy with language study, our day jobs, the girls as well as building relationships with new friends. Life is becoming more normal and routine and I find fewer things of great fascination like when we first arrived.
Here are a few little updates from each of our lives:
Ava's new favorite pasttimes are climbing on the furniture and pestering Chloe. I cannot count the number of times I have to rescue her from bookcases, ladders, tops of furniture or the table. She can get up but she can't get down. She also tries to get Chloe's attention by stealing whatever book, game or toy Chloe is quietly playing with. Ava then runs away and when Chloe catches her, Ava dogpiles Chloe. Both are laughing hysterically the whole time.
Chloe is enrolled in the local school to begin attending half-days in August. She will go to school while Jeff and I are in language study. Chloe is becoming such a sweet little girl who is extremely concerned when one of us doesn't feel well or if Ava gets hurt (usually falling off something she has just climbed). As I write this Chloe has just misplaced a little toy McDonald's credit card thing she calls her "ticket." She is yelling from her room "Ticket! Where are you? Ticket! Ticket! You Okay?"
Jeff's job, school and language study is coming along. He really enjoys Taipei and loves going on exploratory adventures on the weekends. We got tired of getting lost all the time so for his birthday present he got a new iphone with GPS. A major perk of Asia is that the iphone is WAAYY cheaper here. He is also doing well conversing in Chinese and I am really proud of his progress.
As for me (Heather) I have been having some medical problems lately that the docs originally thought were linked with kidney stones. However, tests have shown that I don't have kidney stones and so more tests are needed. Please remember me and the docs during your quiet times. Please ask that the docs have wisdom to know where the problem lies and that it will be a quick and easy fix.
Here are a few little updates from each of our lives:
Ava's new favorite pasttimes are climbing on the furniture and pestering Chloe. I cannot count the number of times I have to rescue her from bookcases, ladders, tops of furniture or the table. She can get up but she can't get down. She also tries to get Chloe's attention by stealing whatever book, game or toy Chloe is quietly playing with. Ava then runs away and when Chloe catches her, Ava dogpiles Chloe. Both are laughing hysterically the whole time.
Chloe is enrolled in the local school to begin attending half-days in August. She will go to school while Jeff and I are in language study. Chloe is becoming such a sweet little girl who is extremely concerned when one of us doesn't feel well or if Ava gets hurt (usually falling off something she has just climbed). As I write this Chloe has just misplaced a little toy McDonald's credit card thing she calls her "ticket." She is yelling from her room "Ticket! Where are you? Ticket! Ticket! You Okay?"
Jeff's job, school and language study is coming along. He really enjoys Taipei and loves going on exploratory adventures on the weekends. We got tired of getting lost all the time so for his birthday present he got a new iphone with GPS. A major perk of Asia is that the iphone is WAAYY cheaper here. He is also doing well conversing in Chinese and I am really proud of his progress.
As for me (Heather) I have been having some medical problems lately that the docs originally thought were linked with kidney stones. However, tests have shown that I don't have kidney stones and so more tests are needed. Please remember me and the docs during your quiet times. Please ask that the docs have wisdom to know where the problem lies and that it will be a quick and easy fix.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
What's your chop?
A chop is a stamp of someone's name and is used in China similarly to a signature or social security number in America. With someone's chop (stamp) you can open and close bank accounts, buy property and complete most business or legal transactions. It's akin to the King's seal used long ago.
Recently, a friend of ours gave Jeff and I new Chinese names. With the help of my language tutor, Chloe and Ava have also received Chinese names and I have learned to write them all in chinese characters as well as understand most of the meanings. Which means that we can now each get a chop and be real Taiwanese people.
I'm not sure how to type Chinese characters on an English Language Keyboard so you can't see what they look like in Chinese. But, here is what they are translated into English phonetics:
Jeff: Wei Jei-Fu (I think it means something like "great man." It was a little difficult to follow the meaning)
Heather: Wei Hai-Le (Sea of Happiness)
Chloe: Wei Ke-Yi (Happy and Comfortable)
Ava: Wei E-Wan (Hope for tender mercy)
Our last name is "Wei" and always come before the first name when saying both last and given names. And of course, Chinese is a tonal language so you have to say our names with the proper tone or it won't mean anything near the same thing.
Recently, a friend of ours gave Jeff and I new Chinese names. With the help of my language tutor, Chloe and Ava have also received Chinese names and I have learned to write them all in chinese characters as well as understand most of the meanings. Which means that we can now each get a chop and be real Taiwanese people.
I'm not sure how to type Chinese characters on an English Language Keyboard so you can't see what they look like in Chinese. But, here is what they are translated into English phonetics:
Jeff: Wei Jei-Fu (I think it means something like "great man." It was a little difficult to follow the meaning)
Heather: Wei Hai-Le (Sea of Happiness)
Chloe: Wei Ke-Yi (Happy and Comfortable)
Ava: Wei E-Wan (Hope for tender mercy)
Our last name is "Wei" and always come before the first name when saying both last and given names. And of course, Chinese is a tonal language so you have to say our names with the proper tone or it won't mean anything near the same thing.
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