The Timing of Typhoons and Other Arrival Adventures

Colour, not realizing I was taking the picture, excited to find what's in his packet.

A calm morning after a good night's sleep is a great way to wake up on our first day here.  Jet lag doesn't really hinder sleep until the second or third nights, given how exhausting it is physically just to get here.  So this morning, there's been at least a little bit of alert time to reflect on our first hours here.

I feel we've had a fair share of wonder already.  For example, the typhoon thing.  But more on that in a second.

Moses and Pakin comparing their packets, both thinking they got the better.

The first evening gathering is always such a reward for any hardships of the journey.  The children, so polite even in their anticipation.  Those first fun songs, and also their very true voices of worship to begin.  I always love introducing the Team, especially those who have not yet been here.  First impressions and shy hellos all around.

Muay, two thumbs up!

And then, the Sponsors' packets!  If you ever doubted the power of simple expressions of love through thoughtful gifts, I dare you to be present for those moments when our kids open the packets prepared for them by their Sponsor.  Priceless.  In a personal blog post over at Bread and Honey I mentioned the telling response of one of our girls to receiving beads.  Kids squealing, showing off their gifts to others, trying on hats and marveling at all the colours of the markers.  

Atom, so very pleased.

Since I mentioned it briefly in the previously-mentioned Bread and Honey blog post, I'll explain a bit here about the typhoon.

It had a name, Kong-Rey, was Taiwan's biggest storm in 30 years, wrecking havoc on Taiwan's east coast, and shutting down the capital city of Taipei, our transfer point, for a duration of time.  See article here.  I'm reading about it this morning feeling rather sobered.  Certainly, I'm glad we didn't know anything about this as we were making our valiant attempts to board in Taipei.  

It was one of those get-in-the-bus-and-be-driven-to-the-plane-where-you-board-climing-those ridiculous-steps boardings.  Driving rains, gusty winds.  We were only outside for the briefest of moments, from the bus to the stairs, but we had to hang on tight to each other, and got really wet just the same.  And some of our luggage arrived still significantly damp, presumably from the cargo transfer.  

I'm personally rejoicing over the fact that, at the time our ignorance of the severity of things meant that my biggest comment about it at the time was that, up until then my hair had managed fairly well during all the travels.  Are you kidding me?  This storm shut down the airport literally hours after we took off!  At least, that's how I'm reading the timelines in the news today.

So...thank you Lord for Your provision of safety!!!  And thank you everyone for your prayers!  

There's a whole lot more to write about on any given day, and more pictures that could be posted.  But we will try to keep everyone updates on all the wonders of our time here now.

On to sorting all the English Learning materials we brought along.

Happy November 1st!

At least it is for us!!