What happened this month?

This past month has been a hectic one.

My husband was preparing for his dissertation proposal (this is not the defense, but the proposal for the topic of the defense), we were packing/moving out, Christmas was coming, and I got sick. So many of my plans for packing were changed, and while other people were preparing their cozy Christmas celebrations I was taking apart my home piece by piece. (That's what it felt like, anyway.)

Our flight left on Christmas day and we spent four days with some friends of ours near Vancouver, Canada. Taking those four days was helpful considering how exhausted we had both become. After I recovered from my illness, Rex also got sick with a cold. I then caught his cold and then caught another bug, probably a stomach flu or food poisoning because I ended up in bed with a fever which was followed by some unusual bowel movements. However, I am feeling much better now and am back to my normal self.

After flying to Taipei we went to my in-law's apartment and we have been staying with them while we get things figured out about where we will be posted for Rex's military service. Once we know his location we will know where to look for an apartment and in which area I should look for work, although I'm considering online work right now since this coming month and a half is quite an unusual one.

Our two main goals in this trip are for us to develop the relationships with Rex's family, and for me to learn Chinese. There are other important things that need to happen during this year in Taiwan, but those two things are our highest priorities since we have unique opportunities in those areas.

I must say that since arriving in Taiwan, it feels like vacation compared to all the demands we had to meet before leaving. Regardless, almost every day we have been running errands, meeting with people, and now we are even planning a wedding banquet for February. For this last reason I feel I'm living in a reality show or like I could write a story. It would probably be called "My Big Fat Greek Chinese Wedding."

I also could write a very classic sounding Christmas story because of our packing and travelling experiences during the Christmas season. You might see that story in a future blog post.