Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Ni Hao......Hello!!


Hello everyone, we are alive and well. We have made it to the other side of the universe. And believe me when you fly for that far and that long (14 hours from LA) you really feel like you have taken the plunge. We arrived here Saturday night our time and Saturday morning your time. We are 13 hours ahead of your time, so for your calculations. Sunday, Daniel Ray took us around Taipei, which the weather was kind of glumy rainy and sort of cool but not cold. I don't think it will ever be cold in this country. We went to a buddhist temple, Taipei 101 (tallest building at the moment) actaully doesn't look that tall because all the other building are not that tall. Taipei actaully doesn't seem that huge, the bus and subway systems are great and very easy to use, we have already mastered that...... EXCEPT for the fact that we can't ready absolutely anything. CHINESE/MAnderine is something that is beyond Jay and I at the moment and probably for the rest of our lives, but we sure plan on taking classes and learning as much as possible. Which we have learned Beer already Pi Ju. Sunday and Tuesday night we went to the famous night market in Taipei, we got awesome food. And they sell anything and everything imaginable, I mean seriously ANYTHING. The fashion here is different that anything I have seen. I think the guys here take about and hour longer than the girls to get ready because of fixing their hair in basically looking like they were just in a typhoon. But I plan on trying to buy some cute clothes and shoes. (When Jays not looking) We started our training on Monday and it goes until next Wednesday. It is very internsive training and we haven't really had much time for anything else. We finally found an internet cafe to have some contact with the outside world. We are going to move to our location next Thursday which is about 2 hours south of Taipei on the western side called Taichung. It is the 3rd largest city but more spread out than Taipei. It is a mountain city with lots of hiking and close to the beaches, probably about 45 minutes or so. We are going to have to buy a scooter which I am excited and a little scared about because the driving here is a little erratic. We are very excited to find an apartment and get settled and not live out of our suitcase. Food here is amazing and you can't really go wrong. Squid on a stick, whole fish (eyeballs and everything), chicken intestines, Stinky tofu (which I can't even discribe how bad it smells, you will just have to come visit) So actually maybe you can go wrong with the food BUT there is a ton of wonderful things as well. The people are amazing and are very helpful, even if they don't understand you they really try to help you out. So far we are falling in love with this country. I will write more later when we have pictures to go with our stories. so keep looking and we will try not to go so long without getting in contact. Oh and please wrtie on our guestbook, since we are so far away if you read this please take the time to let us know what you think or if you have any questions, it would be great to have contact from home. Relaly anyone, because I know some random people read this and pass it along if you think people would be interested. IF you want to email us as well it is akeever42@hotmail.com of Jay hustead@gmail.com Love all of you BYE BYE

4 comments:

Julie said...

Ni Hao - mmmmm sounds like a really interesting place - you've caught my interest. Keep the blog going - Love, MOM & DAD

Anna said...

Hey Guys! Happy Thanksgiving! I am glad you guys are safe and doing well. The country sounds awesome, gotta love squid. I am glad that the first words you mastered are the important ones... Hello and BEER! Be very careful when riding the scooter.. or just let Jay drive! ;) Things here are well. Jay will get a kick out of the fact that James just purchased a rather large plasma tv! I hate it, but oh well. I can not wait to come visit you guys. I have been telling everyone that I am coming for spring break. I looked up the skype thing, but I am going to have to purchase a little microphone. Have a blast and I will talk to you soon! Love ya both!

Unknown said...

I was the first to vote on where you should go for the new years!! Your first note sounds great. I know you two are having a fantastic time and things will just keep getting more and more fun and interesting. Love it!! Best wishes,
Paul

Luke said...

Hello,

Everyone missed you on Thanksgiving. We are glad that you two made it over there safe and are doing well. We all had a great time on Thanksgiving. We all ate too much. Henry fell asleep on the couch as usual. I made a cornhole game and it seems that David and Eddie are the champs with Ben and Matt a close second. All in all a great day. Grandma loves reading the blog. - Luke, Amy & Grandma