"Hafa dei!" means hello in Saipan

This was on the "Old Man by the Sea" hike. Old Man by the Sea is an enormous rock formation that looks like the profile of a man's face. Pictures of it to come soon.

Our friends Laura and Josiah- both counselors in the public schools here on the island. They went to college with us, and it was through them that we got the idea to move out here.

In the background is "Bird Island"- I've only seen if from this distance so far, but Brian's been down there to check it out, and said it has some amazing snorkeling places.

Below, making flower leis for the arrival of our friends Elizabeth and Josh a couple weeks ago. We made them out of real plumeria blossoms that we had picked from local trees. They smelled so good.

Here's some things that have happened since we moved to our little island:

- Brian started school this Monday, though his students won't arrive until next Tuesday. He's working with one of his good friends, Josiah, who's also a counselor at that school- Hopwood Jr. High

-I've started my classes for nursing. Right now, I'm just taking the prerequisites that I'll need for the program, which I'm hoping to enter next fall.

- We've moved into the most awesome little one-bedroom apartment. I think I love it so much because of it's convenience... something that our other apartments in Taiwan lacked at times. Also, it's got these great vaulted ceilings which make it look bigger than it really is. We were really lucky because it was fully furnished with everything we needed when we moved in: bed, dining table, couches, washer/dryer, dressers.... even a TV. We can see the ocean from our front door, and it's also the same complex that our 4 friends from college live in. We both have to drive kind of far each day to our schools, but everything else about it makes it totally worth it.

- Truly, it's seemed so much like home coming here. People keep talking about having culture shock living here, but it just seems so "American" compared to living in Asia last year!

- One of the very best parts: We've found a church that we really like: Saipan Community Church. We've met a lot of the people there already through various contacts on the island- and it's been so nice to become involved with a church family again. We've joined one of the church's Small Groups on Monday evenings, and it has a lot of people our age in it. It's really such an answer to prayer, after how hard it was last year to find a church in Taipei. Having a church family is such an important part of our lives, and we're so grateful to have it again this year.

Baby Blue...

This really IS the color of the ocean here in Saipan. Gorgeous!

Two things I really really missed in Taiwan...

Oh Dr. Pepper how I've missed you.

Thank you, Saipan, for all your delicious American foods and drinks!

"It's Baby America!"

Well hello....

We've arrived in Saipan! We've been spending the last few days hanging out with the Kyonka's and the Colaizzi's (four of our friends from college- Janna and Joey Colaizzi were visiting Saipan for a week, and Laura and Josiah live here) and checking out some of the local attractions.

Saipan is beautiful. And I mean gorgeous.

On Wednesday, we all took a ferry ride to a small island called Managaha, about a mile off the coast of Saipan. Here's a picture of it:

We bought some snorkeling masks and water shoes and went snorkeling for a couple hours. It was so breathtaking under the water.

I've been scuba diving once before and snorkeling once on our honeymoon, but I've NEVER seen this many amazing fish! We saw fish of every color possible, as well as two little sharks about two feet long (non- aggressive, so nothing to worry about Mom!), and an octopus. I think the octopus was my favorite part- we were close enough to touch it.

Here are some of the fish we saw (these aren't our pictures, though):

Black and White Damselfish

Parrotfish

Yellow Tangs

Here's some more pics of our first few days here. We've been staying in a hotel, but we've picked out our apartment and will sign our lease/move in tomorrow. We also opted to buy a scooter again instead of a car because gas is super expensive here and also it's just fun. We bought a little blue one today that we're really happy with so far.

Thanks for reading our blog and we hope you enjoy the pictures!

A Blast from the Past

Here is my VERY favorite picture of Brian when he was little.... could this be any cuter??

look at that awesome hair

Sayonara Taipei.... Hola Saipan!

Well hello....

We're here in the Taipei airport waiting for our flight to the Philippines. We said our last goodbyes yesterday :( (more difficult than I even expected!) and now it's time to move once again!

Here's what Brian's eating:

Here's what I'm drinking:

And here's our life in 6 bags... minus one that's under my feet right now

Things I will miss about living in Taipei, Taiwan

- Iced papaya milk

- Talking out loud about anything we want and not worrying about people listening ... though more people probably understand English than we think...

- having my kids tell me "I love you Teacher Rachel" every day

- the Thai restaurant 2 minutes from our house

- beautiful Dahu Park and swimming in Dahu's outdoor Olympic sized swimming pool

- riding trains, but I won't miss the Taipei subway

- Ikea

- Exercise Time every morning at the beginning of the school day with the whole school

- riding my Fever 50 scooter through Taipei City, especially at sunset

- yummy $1.50 coffee every morning from 7 Eleven's "City Cafe."

- incredibly cheap shopping at the Night Markets and cute Asian styles

- hearing about the beliefs and cultural practices of my friends in Taiwan- it's also so interesting to learn about Chinese folklore. Example: You can't whistle during "Ghost Month," the seventh month of the lunar calendar, or ghosts will hear you and follow you straight to your house!

- hearing a foreign language everywhere we go- I'm always caught off guard when I hear someone speaking English in the subway

- Using crazy hand signals and trying to act out things to people that we can't explain in Chinese. When we first got here, Brian would make the animal noise of the food he wanted to order at restaurants: "moooo" for beef... it was so pathetic but it always worked... we quickly learned the food words!

- feeling such a sense of "togetherness" with our fellow foreign friends here- we are all learning to live in this culture together- it's really cool

A new challenge...

via

I found this on someone's blog and love it- It's difficult to uproot yourself from the home you've built for a year and the people you've grown so close to. Taipei feels comfortable now, just like Oklahoma City was before we left. I remember having the same feelings before we left America, but the reward of moving out of our comfort zones and into a foreign culture has been so amazing. Challenging, frustrating at times, and AMAZING!

I also found this and it reminded me of Brian, my honey-

pic via