We had a romantic honeymoon in Costa Rica combining rainforest, ocean and mountainside all in one quiet and secluded location at Villa Caletas. Here we were able to relax amidst the wildlife and spend lazy days by the pool and on the beach, as well as take walks in the mountain. Karri even managed to overcome, briefly anyway, her dread of spiders which were both ever present and large (even John admits this).
After Costa Rica and a few hectic days back in Washington, we made the move to Taiwan. We are thrilled for the opportunity to be here and John loves his job at Academia Sinica in the Institute of Statistics. We moved into a spacious 4 bedroom apartment near the Sinica campus and were able to furnish it (with lots of help from John's colleagues) in just a few weeks. It was a little overwhelming to land in a new country and be buying our first refridgerator, washing machine, bed etc within 24 hours. The place feels very much like home now, and we are so grateful to everyone who has helped to make it that way.
Life is very exciting here. We are studying Chinese - with a tutor and more informally on the streets where we are muddling through grocery shopping, ordering at restaurants, buying stamps and getting haircuts. We enjoy the challenge and everyday is an adventure, be it large or small. We started exploring the delights of true Chinese cuisine, and thanks to our new friends, are becoming acquianted with delicacies such as "Stinky" Tofu, Duck's blood, strange looking fruits such as Longan and Shijia, chicken feet kimchi, as well as tasting some of the freshest seafood ever, we even got to tickle it before it became lunch. Having said all this, the food is delicious and while we cook a little Chinese food at home we are hoping to learn a lot more.
We've been able to take some day trips around Taipei. One of our favourites was to the north shore of Taiwan, during a Typhoon, with our intrepid friends. They introduced us to seafood we had never seen or tasted before (it was a real treat), and to the rocky scenery of the Taiwanese coastline.
We are looking forward to sharing our adventures with you and would love the chance to show any friends who would like to visit around our new town. We'd love to hear from you.
