Hello from Taiwan!

Hello Friends,

First of all, I want to happily say that we made it! It was a long journey, and yes, there were times when it was hard to keep going, but we persevered and now are safe and sound at Bethesda. I want to say a big thank you to those who prayed for us during our trip; it means a lot to us.

We left for the airport at 6:30pm even though our flight didn’t take off until 9:50pm. We wanted to get there early enough so that Kajsa and I could get seats together, which we were able to do. Since we had some time to kill, we found a Tim Hortons and were able to spend some time with our families. All too soon it was time to say goodbye. We gathered together, had one last prayer time, and hugged each family member. One of the things I feared most was going through security. I don’t know why, but all those people with the serious faces watching you and those who sit behind computers looking at the stuff in your carry-ons scare me. Thankfully we were able to go with basically no issue, although Kajsa did get questioned by a security man about the shoehorn and eyelash curler in her purse haha.

The trip from Edmonton to Vancouver was uneventful; after all, it was only a 1½ hour flight. After landing, we wanted to find our gate right away so we could relax a bit. Good thing we did because we had to basically walk through the entire Vancouver airport, which is huge! And before we could even board, I needed to find someone who could print me a boarding pass because for some reason or the other they were unable to do it in Edmonton. A lady from the information desk at West Jet told us we needed to talk to a person with China Air in order to do that, which meant we’d have to do more walking and not in the direction we needed to go. She also said that if we had checked baggage, which I did, they might let us pass without showing the boarding pass, just the checked baggage sticker, but that it depended on the security person there. The latter meant walking in the direction of our gate, so that’s the route we took. We both prayed for favour as we made our way to the boarding pass security gate, and once we were there, I explained to the guy there our situation, and he was so understanding and told us we looked like nice people, so he’d let us pass. Praise the Lord! I was then able to get a boarding pass printed for me at our gate.

Our 1:30am flight from Vancouver to Taiwan was also uneventful except for the fact it was really hard to get the much-needed rest because we couldn’t get comfy. The seats were hard and made your body ache after sitting for a long time in them. I managed to doze on and off during our flight and watch 3 movies, but all without sound, just subtitles, since I may have not taken a pair of earbuds they were handing out and was too chicken to ask for a set. Poor Kajsa, she had a much harder time sleeping; the seats were definitely not built for tall people, and she had an even harder time finding comfort. She told me she was crying silently for most of the flight. It was a really long flight—13 hours total, and we were so glad when it was over. It was also exciting to see grass on the ground rather than cold, white snow.

It was arranged beforehand that a missionary living near the airport would come pick us up and drive us to the train station, where it would get to Mirjam. Having someone waiting for us when we landed was a huge relief, so thank you, Karl! Karl took us to the train station and gave us our tickets. In the station, Kajsa and I were lost and clueless. It was a bit stressful navigating and finding out exactly where to go. After an inquiry with an information lady, who did not speak English, I may add, I found out we needed to go down, which was super fun, especially trying to haul down 6 bags of luggage. Thankfully, a nice man saw our great struggle and offered to help us.

To make a long story short, we almost missed our train as we frantically went to the train car that had our seats and thought we were trapped in a small space between the cars and couldn’t go to the place where our seats were, and the only option was that spot. I sat down on the floor by my luggage since there was nothing left to do, and Kajsa followed my actions, and she was crying. I told her it’s okay, and we’d be laughing about this later. A few stops later, a security guard came to the section we were in and looked super puzzled. I was scared that he might think we were on the train without a ticket, so I gave him my ticket when he came to inquire about what we were doing. He was slightly irritated at us, and his main concern was that our baggage was blocking the entrance. With my limited Mandarin and his choppy English, we were able to figure it all out. The rest of the train ride was good, and Kajsa and I were greatly admiring the green, lush mountains on one side of the train and the blue ocean on the other.

Mirjam picked us up at the train station; it was so nice to see her again :) We went out for Subway, which Kajsa and I greatly appreciated, especially since we hadn’t eaten any “real food,” besides fruit snacks/bars, for at least 26 hours.

We were able to meet the other short-termers here, Tian Tian and Esther, who we will be working and hanging out with while we are here. They are super friendly and are fluent in English, Mandarin, and German. It is so nice that they are here when we are, as they have been here for half a year now and will be able to answer any questions we may have and show us around the best parts of Taiwan and take us to the many coffee places they have discovered.

As a welcome for our first day here, Mirjam took us to this Japanese restaurant, and we had an amazing meal. Kajsa was determined to learn how to use chopsticks for the first time and is now basically a pro.

In conclusion, it’s been nice so far; we’re really exhausted but hope it won’t last as we will be in a routine soon. Tomorrow will be another pretty chill day, and then on Monday we’ll get into the thick of things, see how Bethesda is run, and see how we are going to serve those who live here. Looking forward to that. :)

Soli Deo Gloria!

Hosanna

The beginning of our adventure!

On the plane to Taiwan.

A view of Taiwan from the sky.

The best meal we’ve had in about 26 hours.

We both ordered this dish: Pork Teriyaki.