We have arrived!

Hello all from Taipei!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are safely ensconced in a LOVELY 3 floor apt that belongs to TAS teachers and just getting up after a 14.5 hr flight from DTW to Osaka and a 2.5 flight from Osaka to TPE. All went very well. No problems whatsoever. Customs was a breeze through and we were met immediately by TAS representatives and taken to this apt. We will be here for maybe a week or less depending upon how shipment release goes.

The typhoon came over Taiwan just south of Taipei so all we are getting is a lot of wind and not so much rain. It is REALLY weird to look at local TV and see the hurricane symbol passing over where you live. A new experience.

Carol said even Lucille would eat off the floor in the airport restrooms they are so spotless and pleasant smelling. I on the other hand, had the experience of using a clean but interesting looking squat toilet in Osaka…I was successful in the application of the phrase, “We aim to please…etc.” Phweeeww!

Taipei is so lit up with neon, extremely modern, wonderfully clean, and not at all threatening from initial first impressions. We will see more as we have got to go to market today, walk about 10-15 minutes to school to get all sorts of paperwork completed , get a bus/MRT metro type card and just wander around. All is an adventure.

We are very proud of ourselves for getting here since I think there was a lot of internal “gulping” along the way. But we are being cared for by this community and they want us to be successful.

I am still in shock and amazement from the loving send off from the SBHS family… all the kindness and warmth to say NOTHING about the tremendous hard work of Ria, Eric and Lutz Buesing. My god, what did we ever do to deserve their kindness? And Eric and Dorothy going to the airport was a very gentle letting go and transition. They had to wait patiently while all the festivities were taking place in Sturgeon Bay, or as Eric B put it, “I now know what a bus or taxi driver feels like waiting for a party to finish.

We love you all and we will write more later when we are less buzzed and high at the same time. Please share this with anyone who cares.

All our love,
Bill and Carol