...we are moving. Again. And not just across town. To another country.
Where? Taipei, Taiwan.
When? Probably around August 1st though with the surprise of this news to us, life could continue to surprise us and it could get moved back. However, that is the date we are working towards!
Why could it get moved back? First life just happens! But from the vantage point I have at the moment -- we may just get bogged down by the events coming up in the next few months and we just might not be ready! Several of you who read our blog live or use to live in Taiwan and know all about this -- but the visa includes LOTS of steps and paperwork and authentications. (You should see the flow chart the girls' original Thai birth certificates have to go through to get authenticated!) Jacob was just in the States, he will be going back in a week, we have Keely's end of school concert and party, and we have more than 40 students coming in to town for orientation or debriefing! Those events might bog us down! :-)
Why are we moving? Our company owns many apartments here in Hong Kong and they feel it would be better financially to start selling them. It has been decided by leadership what people need to be here and who doesn't. Those of us they feel don't need to be here to do our jobs need to move somewhere else. It has been decided that we don't need to be here to do our job. We personally feel there are good reasons for us to be here, but we strongly feel Father telling us to be submissive and not fight the decision. Even if we did fight and won the fight -- it would only give us a year or two more then we would have to move. This is hard for us because we felt we were released from Thailand and expected that to happen when it was time for us to move from here and that has not been the case. The news took us by complete surprise. However, after lots of PR and searching we have realized that in this phase of our lives we have been called to a job and it really can be done in a multitude of places and not just here. We absolutely love Hong Kong and will miss it greatly. This will be a very hard move on Jacob and I and possibly Keely too. Keely is at a school that continues with 4-year-olds and would have been with all of the same kids next school year. They are also talking a lot about next year and that type of thing preparing them. Some days it hits Keely and it bothers her, but other days she is really excited. She did tell me one day that she didn't want to grow up and get big any more. Not sure if that had to do with the move or not!
So that is what has been going on with us the past couple weeks. Jacob met with his supervisors during his time in the States, and that is why we were waiting to let you know the news. We wanted to make sure it was pretty official --especially since this came as quite a surprise to us!
Many of you had questions for us when we moved here, so any questions? Feel free to post them in the comments section!
Any advice from those of you who live or used to live in Taiwan? Please post anything you think we should know in the comments section too!
We are really sad you have to move--I would be really sad to leave HK too if I ever got to live there. It's my favorite city in Asia by far. But we are excited you guys are coming and look forward to having you as neighbors. I hope you will enjoy Taipei and grow to love Taiwan as much as we have. It's an incredibly beautiful place, it's a great place to raise children, there are lots of good opportunities here, and the support network is really nice.
ReplyDeleteAidan had a really hard time with the move here (he was about the age Keely is now) and he cried and cried when he said goodbye to friends...for days. But now he totally loves Taipei and his friends here and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Father gave him some special relationships here that eased the transition. Well, actually, He did that for all of us. He's good like that. :)
We will fill Jacob in as much as possible, and are pr-ing for a smooth, easy transition for all 4 of you.
Tip for today: think 110 volts.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to y'all being on the island with us. Just holler if you have any questions.
I am so excited for you. Taiwan is the greatest! I am little biased, but I think it is wonderful and isn't as busy as HK. Plus in Taiwan they (as Jackie mentioned) use 110 volts and drive on the right side of the road. HK is just a quick flight if you want to get away.
ReplyDeleteI loved my 2 years in Taiwan! And we really enjoyed our recent trip back there--there are so many fun things to do and eat! Tea stands are AMAZING! That's all superficial I know! Our move here to our new city was something we were asked to do--same thing as you. Its ok, but its tough when you really liked the place you lived before. We'll be thinking about you guys as you get ready to move. We're (selfishly) sad about it since we've really enjoyed getting to know you guys better on our trips through HK. We rarely go to Taiwan. We'll look forward to hopefully seeing you and the girls just before July 4th and brian will be there that whole next week.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what you should know - but we're lifting you guys up!!!
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