December 11, 2008

It is not length of life, but depth of life.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today was our final day in Taipei, and we were busy. First stop of the morning was the Martyrs Shrine, which honors China/Taiwan’s fallen soldiers. The building and grounds were beautiful, but the truly amazing part was the changing of the guards. There were two sets of guards on the grounds who stood still like you may envision the ones at Buckingham Palace. It was very warm out today, and their supervisor would come wipe the sweat of their faces, still no flinching. Too difficult to describe, but the process of changing shifts was quite precise and impressive. The crowd was in awe during this 20 minute display…the only noise that of Amelia. Go figure. These positions are held by young military guys and are considered a high honor.

After that we went to the Shilin official residence. This was the summer home of Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. The grounds and gardens were landscaped to the nines. This man certainly didn’t live in poverty during the revolution. We have found both in China and Taiwan that the people are very meticulous about their parks. The landscaping is exceptional, and you never so much as see a piece of paper on the ground. They are used by young and old alike, as exercise for people of all ages is part of their daily routine. I should learn from them. They are up early and doing Tai-Chi and then appear to be quite relaxed. Everyone seems to be quite friendly, and there are many smiling faces!

Here’s my “friendly” story of the day. (Maybe it was more of a curious of the American story.) I was walking to meet Tom and Grandma at the park for a quick play date when I was stopped by a light, a rather long light. There was a crowd of 20 people or so when a man with very beginning English skills starts a conversation with me.

Man: Hello
Me: Hi
Man: Hello
Me: (oops, he doesn’t understand the less formal greeting) Hello
Man: How are you?
Me: Fine, how are you?
Man: Hello
Me: Hello
Man: How are you?
Me: Nod and smile at him and thankful I have sunglasses on as I’m sure it would show in my eyes how amused I was. He had no idea the “How are you?” is a question.

Still waiting to cross and people around me have been listening to the man practice English. Following my polite nod at him, a women steps closer and says “Hello!” I just laughed and said “Hello”!

After a quick lunch in our room, Fion dropped Tom, Amelia and Grandma off to do some souvenir shopping and then took Alayna and I to her friend’s jewelry shop. I wanted a nice piece of jade for her when she is older like I did for Amelia in China. I bought a beautiful jade cross that I will either give her at her confirmation or wedding.

Amelia hit the wall again; it is just too much for her. I really feel badly that she is struggling. Oh well, our final day in Taipei was fun filled, and we will be home shortly to settle into a routine as a family of 5! I have that same feeling I did when we were getting ready to leave China. Alayna is leaving her birth country with all its beauty behind. Her heritage and birth family are here. We are proud of our daughter’s Taiwanese heritage, but sad for so many losses in her short life. I pray that we can give her the life she deserves in the United States with our family.

We leave for the airport tomorrow at 6:30 am. Please pray that I don’t oversleep! Nick, we can’t wait to see you on Friday.

Hugs, kisses and love to all from Taipei!