Laundry and Bathrooms

First, I want to THANK EVERYONE for their feedback on this blog. Honestly, I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate hearing encouragement from everyone. I love reading the comments, especially as it helps me to feel connected to everyone. I remain in awe of how truly small the world can be and what a blessing it is to live in a modern society where I can remain updated on my friends and family’s lives in such a real-time way.

Tomorrow is the girls’ first day of school and Terry’s first day of work. Some may look at 6 hours alone in a foreign country with sheer terror; however, honestly I am soooooo looking forward to it! It has been quite difficult to obtain all of the small necessities for the apartment, and our pantry is still bare. Terry and I still have half of our closet on the floor as we did not purchase enough hangers, and I still have 3 loads of laundry to do as I have only been able to do one a day.

The units here in Taipei (and, as I’ve discovered, in many parts of Europe) are a washer/dryer combo. So, after the laundry is done being washed, it is then put through a drier cycle. As of yet, I’ve been too timid to try the dryer…I’ve heard from many that the heat is so high that the clothes shrink or become too worn. So, I’m limited to my very small wash-type room and whatever hangers I’ve been able to spare to hang things up to dry. Did I say dry? Oh yes, being that we’re living in a tropical climate, the humidity is quite high. Back home, I would be able to hang my clothes out for 2-4 hours and have them mostly dry…here, it takes a FULL 24 hours, I’m finding. So, yes, one load a day…and small loads at that. This is just another adjustment I will get used to in time…and be able to manage appropriately.

We had our first encounter with a Japanese toilet today. For those of you like me who had NO idea that Asian countries are REALLY into their toilets, let me enlighten you. They take moving their bowels very seriously here, and also take the cleanliness part very serious. We were eating breakfast and Elaine explained that she had to 'go'. So, upon going upstairs to the restroom, I had discovered that the restaurant had only the Japanese-style toilets. So, I had to help Elaine gingerly position herself to urinate...without urinating on her shoes. I am happy to report that we were 'mostly' successful, and that no extraordinary washing/germ-proofing was necessary from the result. As a matter of fact, Elaine thought it so novel and fun that she proudly announced to Brianna that she should try it, a proposal which Brianna gleefully accepted. When I went to then help Brianna as well, Elaine was quite disappointed that she could not 'watch'. I'll give it until they have to do it on their own before the novelty wears off!

I ventured out for my first lengthy solo trip today. I had to go to the girls’ school to purchase their uniforms (see yesterday’s post) and to pay for their school lunches. I had 2 glorious hours alone…well, alone with 1 million friendly people very close by. I grabbed some discreet headphones and headed out, very thankful for the blessed solitude that the music would provide. I wasn’t disappointed. By the time I entered the subway, even though I initially got on the subway headed the wrong direction, I was soooo relaxed. I quietly got off at the next station and changed directions. It didn’t take long to get to where I needed to go and do what I needed to do; however, having those 2 hours by myself…in my own time, without 3 other people to negotiate with…ahhhhh heaven! I headed for home, noting how hot it had become, and stopped along the way for a latte as I knew I’d need the caffeine pick-me-up to face what was inevitably waiting for me at home.

This afternoon, although still stressful with our furniture (Ikea) delivery and more immigration details to take care of, was by far the least stressful. While Terry tackled the task of scanning and emailing our immigration docs, the girls and I gave him such MUCH needed space and headed to the park across the street from our home. At first, there were a few kids about Brianna’s age playing at the park (mostly monopolizing the slides the girls were salivating over); however, Bri and Elaine were definitely NOT feeling brave enough to slide over to say hi. So, we occupied ourselves with the par course just outside the park. As an aside, I have to say that I’ve tried to find other children around our neighborhood, or families in general, to see what it is that they do. I must say that I find either high-school aged students, or very young children…there aren’t that many families with kids Bri and Elaine’s ages running around. HOWEVER, around 5pm or so, they started coming out. It took about 15 minutes; however, it seemed that 3-4 other families and their children (ages 5-10) came out and the energy level picked up about 10-fold. Even though the weather was arguably the hottest we’ve experienced yet, you wouldn’t have known it to see these kids play. They were jumping, running, playing games…I felt so relieved to see the community come out and just…hang out. Once Terry came out for a few minutes, Bri felt brave enough to ask one girl to play with her on a piece of equipment which required 2 people. Even though the interaction was small, and Terry did 90% of the talking…I was quite proud of Brianna for coming out of her shell and realizing that the language of play transcends all cultures J.

Which reminds me…as an update to Brianna’s determination from yesterday…I am quite pleased to announce that Brianna ordered breakfast for our entire family this morning. She beautifully spoke her Mandarin and ordered exactly what we needed. Terry helped her with a few small points; however, she completed the task we asked of her…and now I must find a way to call the Hello Kitty restaurant to reserve space for us. While Brianna was very disappointed that we wouldn’t be going there for dinner tonight, she seemed appeased at the 7-day window we promised her. Unfortunately, even though I remembered to bring the camera with me, I absent-mindedly left it in my pocket while I concentrated on observing her first monumental accomplishment here.

So, tomorrow is my first day alone here, and I must say I’m quite exhilarated thinking about it. My mind is full of lists of things I need to purchase, and places I have to go to find them…I have a feeling that my mental checklists far exceed the number of hours I have available tomorrow. Oh well, I have the comfort of knowing that no matter how much I have to tackle, it will be infinitely easier without the entire family being dragged all over the Shilin area of Taipei with me.

Thank you all again for your encouragement. It’s been very unexpected and so very much appreciated. It really helps motivate me to remember to bring the camera EVERYWHERE, and also to make the time to document our journey.