Settling in

So we have officially been here for a month and have applied for resident visas that we will pick up on September 4th. We also both have jobs, scooters, awesome (and safer) new helmets, and have made our first trip to costco. I think it is safe to say that Ben and I officially live in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. We are really happy. We miss convenience and familiarity some days, but overall we are excited to be here and to be finally settling in.




Ben and I chatting amidst the rocks down by the beach. Check out Ben's new shades!!

A temple down by the beach. Very beautiful. These are everywhere!

Yes. This is how parents carry their children around the city. These tiny chairs are usually attached to a scooter, but this little kid gets a slower ride.

Nice. This is the face of a man who wants to get things done!

A better picture of the shades.


Anna's friend Cooper came to visit last weekend. Seems that he is taking to Asian culture.

a dog........a dog in a backpack...............a dog in a backpack at a night market. why not?


silly kids.

anna was REALLY excited to go to the beach.

How cute is my new helmet?!!! I smile every time I put it on.
In a few moments, this setting sun will be rising over the east coast. What a small world we live in.

Sandra being a little girl while climbing over the brush left on the beach from the typhoon.
A product of Ben's creative eye. Kinda feels like South America.
Anybody home?

New scoots!

hey everyone this is Ben. I bought a scooter today...oh wait...i mean luxury cruiser! Some Australian friends of ours were moving out of Taiwan and selling their stuff. Among the for sale items was a scooter. they wanted 8,000NT originally but I waited it out and purchased the thing today for 4,000NT, which when converted to USD equates to about $120! not too shabby. Its a pain to start but a joy to ride. court says that riding on the back of this scooter is like "gliding down the street on a Lazy Boy couch" - a great improvement from the previous uncomfortable, rattling, rock hard seat of our past scooters.

a saturday in Kaohsiung City

our videos and pictures of the typhoon are on a friend's computer so you will have to wait to see what a real typhoon can do!

here is what our saturday was like this weekend. all over the place. enjoy. i uploaded them in reverse so you start at the end of the day as you scroll down


lotus pond at sunset. pollution may be harmful, but it makes for a pretty cool sunset! jk

golden toes. . . . . . . delicious!
bridge over the pond that leads to the enormous and colorful statue of Confucius.........the statue was so big it could like cover the roof of a house (for JO)
monkey mountain and lotus pond at dusk. a beautiful and scenic oasis in this crazy, hectic city.
self explanatory. beautiful (says Ben).
Ben and Confucius bonded today.
this is a prayer thing much like the catholic candles
we are so thoughtful and peaceful and reflective and serene and happy and......alright, enough.
this makes me laugh!
this too
pony in the park? i guess its normal
the beloved awkward peace sign!
i steal from the rich and give to the needy. just call me robin hood
Ferris wheel on the 9th floor of the dream mall
i traded Courtney in for a new model. jk
quite the mannequin eh?

Maolin for the Weekend

Maolin= river flowin down a mountain with hiking trails, waterfalls, and beatiful lookouts
paradise for the weekend

how cool is that?!
boyish men and menish boys
and the ladies
southwest coast of taiwan outside our city. overcast is nice sometimes. soon after this picture was taken a torrential downpour ensued. buckets of fun for the 6 of us on scooters...yep, soaked to the bone for the entire 45min drive back home.
can you see the monkey?

I am happy to report that as of last Tuesday, everyone of us have secure jobs teaching English as a second language!




just an observation:

in the states, when you hear playful jingles coming from a truck down the street your spirits are lifted and a smile crosses your face because you know who is coming around the bend. running to the corner, money in hand, you see...the ice cream man!! it is with this same fervor and excitement that the people of Kaohsiung City take out their trash. yep, thats right, when THEY hear playful jingles and see flashing lights down the road they hurry to the trash cans to court the past few days waste to the yellow truck of happiness. People crowd the cluttered back streets waiting for their turn to personally hand their trash to the garbage men of Kaohsiung City who go home every night with a sense of accomplishment and belonging. Its an event and a site to be seen for all ages.

Filbert made it to Taiwan!

So here we are. After three weeks of traveling the world, we have finally landed at our home for the next year. We have only been here a few days, but it has been a whirlwind of a ride. Here are a couple pics and a few tales of getting settled in Taiwan.

-Let me just start by saying, don't ever judge our shiny and sometimes sweat soaked faces. It is so humid here. I can't even begin to tell you. So just pretend we have the "Taiwan glow" and everything will be beautiful.

-The first night we were here, we went with our other friends (Anna, Sandra, Danielle, and Anthony) to a night market here in Kaohsiung City. Basically its a huge farmer's market, but at night and in the middle of the city buildings. We were definitely attracting attention by our so obviously American looks and a couple of little Taiwanese girls actually took a picture with us. Another man asked where we are from and when Ben told him Texas, the Taiwanese man proceeded to do his best impression of a country twang while saying, "I'm an American!". Oh good times

-I just want to give a quick shout out to Danielle and Anthony. We would be SO lost if not for them. They did an amazing job getting the apartment together and cooking for us while we have been in limbo. Thanks you guys, for everything!

-You know when you go to a furniture store and you sit on a display thinking that there is a mattress under the comfy, fluffy comforter, but actually it is a huge board that is merely demonstrating the size of the bed? Well, that is what my bed feels like. A giant flat board. I bought a mattress pad and all is well, but interestingly enough, I found this tag on the mattress while making up my bed:


If you are having trouble reading it, it says, "Super-hard mattress suitable for the eastern people". Seriously, enough said.

-Between interviewing and job searching, we have been spending a lot of time shopping and getting settled. Don't worry, there is an Ikea out here so I was able to make my room really cute and homey (that's for you Steph). But probably the most fun and scariest part of the moving in process is realizing that we must get a scooter. It is nearly impossible to get around the city without one, especially because we do not live near a train station. This has been great fun for Ben, but an unerving experience for me. Ben learned in a day and is a pro. He is a great driver, very smooth. I, on the other hand, (as Ben would say) seem to be a little "spacially unaware". I tend to cut people off and get a little shaky when having to make turns, especially with people next to me. I am slowly getting used to it so we'll see.........

Ben's got this and at least I get to wear a cute helmet!

Anthony and Danielle on our night ride.



HERE WE GO!!

headed home

So our last day in Hong Kong, we finally ventured out to see some of the city. After having to come back to the hotel to change in to more weather appropriate clothing (we all thought Texas humidity was killer, please. That is the driest heat I have ever experienced compared to the stifling humidity in Hong Kong), Ben and I walked through Victoria Park and on to the Harbour to watch the light show. Enjoy these few moments.

Walking through the subway station and......what is that? The Little Prince musical?!!!!! WHAT?!!! So good to know this exists! And I don't care what anyone says - Hong Kong metros take the prize. Efficient, super clean, extremely easy to use, they got it going on. Wonderfully well rounded. Hey, and if you ever want to escape the heat, just head underground and you be shivering by the time you get to Tsung Tei Suen!
Ben being artsy with my camera. Kinda cool.
From the mainland looking south on the Hong Kong Island skyline. Ben and I ate "Mr. Softee" ice cream cones and watched the light show.
We are REALLY excited to see this light show!! By the way, can I just comment how cool the fog looks in the background? It is covering the mountain tops that are just behind all the buildings. Hong Kong is very green and lush outside the city. Very beautiful.


Victoria Park in Hong Kong. You can not imagine Ben's excitement when we stumbled upon this Chinese man and his electric boat. Double click on the picture - it's a video. Yes, that's right, Ben wanted to take video. I had to hold him back from jumping across the pool and grabbing the remote out of the man's hand!

This day concludes our trip around the world. Thanks for following with us. Tomorrow we head home - to our new home in Taiwan. Our posts will be fewer and more far between, but please keep up with our adventure as we hope to keep up with yours, wherever you may be.

Typhoons and Cabin Fever

From: Ben
To: The rest of the Thayer clan

Ben: "Ive got it...ive got the madness...ive got cabin feeeveerrrrrr!!!"
Court: "I've got it toooooooo!!"

P.S. all the love in the world.

-----------------------------------------

although we have been in asia for almost two full days we have no pictures yet to share. We have become shut ins in order to recover from severe jet lag and to avoid being swept up in the typhoon that is apparently engulfing the city as we speak. heres a timeline to give you a point of reference.

arrive in Hong Kong: 3:30pm
sleep: 4:30pm until ?; wait, whats today?
break from sleeping: ? until 2 or 3 hrs later
sleep: 2 or 3 hrs later until 2:30pm...the next day

so as you can see we have had little time to explore the outside world and more time to develop small but growing cases of cabin fever. this is evident by this blog/cry for help and our incessant laughter while writing it. however, there is one thing that will awaken any warm blooded mammal out of hibernation...FOOD! Experience with us our half hour outside in the middle of hong kong as you read our anecdotes below. we promise to take pictures and experience something else worth telling in the following few days.

-when in hong kong, dont open the windows to let in fresh air. simply live with what air is in the room b/c however bad it may be, its not near as bad as the "fresh" air you will receive if you open the windows!

-there are some things that are universally funny...like a blood hound running around in circles in order to avoid being mounted by another blood hound. all the while three chinese ladies and two americans standing around a fruit stand laughing, pointing, and mimicking the gesture. the french would never do such a thing.

ben follows the internet signal to the 21st floor of the city gardens hotel; no hes not crazy, hes just laughing at the music coming from the cleaning guys cart down the hall....what you ask?...thats right, its a techno version of the birthday song followed by chariots of fire and home on the range.

-packing tip #67
when minimizing luggage wieght in order to meet airline standards, be sure to prioritize the entertainment pocket of your suitcase. after all, you never know when you might find yourself in the epicenter of an asian typhoon.