Home at Last

Our final days in Taipei were wonderful and for the most part leisurely -- we slept in, strolled around, saw a few sites, swam, ate noodles, went up and down the glass elevators, headed out for some souvenir shopping and even, believe it or not, had some half-decent Mexican food. (We just happened on a little taiwanese-taqueria near the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial.) Oh, and Sheri, Grandpa Dave, Maya and Olivia all went to see a Chinese opera, acrobatics and kung fu at Taiwan Eye -- Sheri says that it was one of the highlights of the trip and would recommend it to everyone. I had the honor of hanging out with a cool little toddler in our hotel room.

For those who were with us through Maya's Chinese adoption, you know that it was days and days of paperwork, running from one office to another, getting something notarized and then the same thing authenticated at another office. In Taiwan, the process couldn't be easier. We showed up at the American consulate (AIT) at around 8:00 (I forgot visa photos at the hotel so had to quick head back for that -- if anything was about to complicate things, I wanted to be sure that that anything was me). Then we waited about 15 minutes for our names to be called, filled out a bit of paperwork, went downstairs to pay the visa fee, headed back upstairs and waited about 45 minutes, raised our right hand to swear something about something, and that was it. Our interviewer even had the time to tell us how great Taipei is, complete with Costco, TGI Friday's and Outback Steakhouse, and still have us out the door by 9:30. That's it! Oh, I guess I had to walk the three blocks from our hotel the next morning at 11:30 to pick up the visa, but that was just a nice stroll, so it doesn't count.

And, fitting with the easy immigration process (and contrasting the difficult court process), our journey home was relatively effortless -- or at least not as traumatic as we had convinced ourselves it would be. Two miserable parts of the trip: 1) the taxi ride to the airport, dispatch radio on full blast, Chinese pop station blasting on the radio, Hello Kitty cell phone continually going off, while Lu-Yu was restless the whole time; 2) and then the check-in at LAX this morning. It's been a long time since I've traveled domestically with paper tickets, which means you have to wait forever in a long line, and there had to be a gauntlet of five or six security checks to pass through (at 6:00 a.m.) in order to make it to the plane. But the 45 minute sunrise flight into San Diego was spectacular -- made leaving beautiful Taiwan a little easier.

I have to thank Sheri's family for showing up at the airport this morning. We flew into the commuter terminal, so it was quiet, and we all hung out, Lu-Yu running around with his cousins, happy to go into everyone's arms. Thanks -- Terry, Carole, Joanna, Dave, Jake, Sam, Anna, Shannon, Steve and Shelley -- for the bagels, coffee and mimosas in the parking lot, a well-stocked fridge, an industrial-strength highchair, for the Frida care and for all the cool toys for new little brother!

So many other people we need to thank, and if this was the Oscars they'd start the music right about now, because our list is endless. We honestly appreciate the enthusiasm and ongoing support of all the readers and commenters on this blog, the Yahoo Taiwan group, our friends and family, that one great friend of mine who doesn't need to be named but whose financial support helped make this happen, our pet-keepers and tireless Frida-sitters, and especially Grandpa Dave for being a vagabond traveler with us, and for picking up the lion's share of the hotel bills. Thanks for the prayers, the encouragement, and from refraining from questioning our sanity in going through with all this.

By the way, can you tell from this long post today that everyone's jet lagged and sound asleep? Sheri's been out for two hours, Lu-Yu for three hours, and Maya for six hours. Olivia is a zombie but a great playmate for Frida right now.

I consider this journey complete. You'll get some photos in the coming days, a bit of baby update, but then that's it, I promise! As the title of this blog reads, our journey to Taiwan and back is now finished. Lots of other journeys ahead, yes of course.

Don't think, though, that I'd end without revealing Lu-Yu's name -- something that Sheri and I worked very hard on deciding. Naming a toddler is difficult, because he's had the chance to grow into his name: Lu (blessed) Yu (cosmos). He will continue to be "Louie" for us during this transition, but officially I'd like to introduce you to our son:

Seth David Luyu Martin-Spisak

A big name, but a big boy. Seth, because he was chosen for us, and us for him; David, because of his grandfather, complete with his giant-slaying confidence and gentle heart; Luyu, because that links him to St. Lucy's ("Lu" for all the children born that year) and to his birth mother, Yu-Jou, a brave young girl, who we pray can rise above her circumstances and flourish; and Martin-Spisak because, sure, what's bred in the bone outs in the flesh, but at the end of the day it's nurture over nature, baby: he'll have us to blame and thank for the life that lies ahead of him.

Taipei Photos

All continues to go well. He's a happy and crazy little guy, and we're doing our best to keep up with him. Thank goodness that he has two fellow playmates, thanks to Olivia and Maya. Otherwise, I'd be flat on my back with exhaustion by now. Only so many times you can run the hotel corridors.

Out the window of TAIPEI 101 (world's tallest building):


At the foot of TAIPEI 101:

In our hotel room. (Geez I love these robes.)

Howard Plaza swimming pool:

Wandering the hotel with grandpa Dave:

Sweet little Lu-Yu:

Tainan Photos

Lu-Yu's in the next room snoring like a soldier, so I thought I'd try to post a few of the photos again. It was an effortless night -- he lay between Sheri and I staring at the ceiling a while, and then fell asleep around 9:00. Other than taking up half of the king-sized bed, he did great.




With Timothy and Lynne in Willy's Second Base, a pub owned by a former major leaguer who retired to Tainan. (Guiness on draught!)



I love this picture because we've seen the two-happy-parents-and-three-cute-kids-background in dozens of other photos, as families pose with their new children. Take note of the contrast. (And note that he's not crying because Dave's holding him. He's "fake crying", as his nannies call it, because he wants to keep moving.)

And this last photo I'll leave up to interpretation. Two ways to look at it: his crib is now emptied, as he leaves Taiwan behind for his forever family in California; his crib is now emptied because he's dashing off for the party of his life!

Difficult Pregnancy, Easy Delivery

I was going to post a few photos but are experiencing some kind of server proxy error. Oh well. You'll have to trust me that Lu-Yu is a beautiful and unique little soul. I'll try with the photos again later tonight.

Where to begin?

How about waking at 4:00 this morning and not being able to get back to sleep. So, I donned my runners, slipped out of the room without waking anyone, and headed to St. Lucy's. The lights weren't on (good sign), so I just hung out a while, and then ran the sweaty Tainan streets for an hour or so. For me, it was the perfect end to my pregnancy -- and I was ready to deliver.

Sheri's preparations were more pragmatic: woke, showered, ate, packed. (I'm quoting her verbatim, but let it be known that I was the one who did the packing.)

We arrived at St. Lucy's at around 9:30, got to meet the wonderful staff and some of the volunteers who have been with him for all these months, and took our place with our fellow waiting parents, Lynne and Timothy. Dave got ready to take some photos, and Olivia and Maya slouched on the couch bored. Suffice it to say, that was the last little bit of boredom I suspect that anyone will see for quite a while in our family.

Trumpets sounded, and out came Chien-Lu (13 months) and Lu-Yu. As a bit of comparison, Lynne and Timothy were handed their beautiful, quiet boy, and he settled comfortably into their arms. Lu-Yu? Holy smoke. When I say that he is energetic, I'm not using the right word. Frenetic maybe? Like a runaway locomotive on a steep downhill run? That's pretty close.

He marched down the hall, the nannies saying that he was going to see his baba and mama, and meanwhile he quickly sized up everyone -- caregivers, parents, children -- and without hesitating, he grabbed Olivia's hand and continued on towards the door to the outside. Maya quickly caught up and grabbed his hand too, and we all trailed after them. No snuggling on the sofa, no time for sentimental tears. It was play time! Within fifteen minutes my shirt was soaked with sweat, up and down the three flights of stairs, in and out of the chapel, through the parking lot, out to see the scooters on Shengli Road, into the nursery, climbing trees, balancing on walls, back flips off parked cars (okay, the final three were just visions of the future ahead of us).

I thought that the transition would be difficult. I imagined that he would cry and reach for his nannies, that he would have a fit in the taxi, and sob the whole plane ride. Umm, didn't happen. Until he passed out around 4:30, he was nonstop action, giggles, jumping, chasing, rolling on the floor, eating bananas on the fly, running the hotel hall with his sisters, pulling toys in and out of his backpack, flipping through his board book, driving his plastic truck, fitting the paper cups together, and on and on.

He's most definitely a boy, and most definitely a toddler, and I'm proud to say that he feels like both a Martin and a Spisak. Gosh, what a lot of work we've got ahead of us!

He's now out of the bath, kind of mellow, and looks like he could fall asleep again any minute. It's been a long day for him -- and he's got a whole new world to explore tomorrow...

A few travel-ish photos

Posing in Jiji:
Scootering in Jiji:
Fried seafood balls and coconut milk:

Giggly girls in Tainan:
Why God created the video iPod:

Drinking blue gin across the street from St. Lucy's:

Early Morning in the Cambridge Hotel

Our weirdly wired brains are a wonder. You know how it is. You’ll be sitting in your office, reading some memo about logo usage, or in the grocery store, trying to decide whether it’s worth it to pay the extra two dollars for organic milk, or maybe (oh the excitement) waiting in line to renew your driver’s license, when in a synaptic flash you remember that horizon of rice fields outside Wuhan, or that banana vendor in Koh Samet, or punching that donkey cart driver kid in Kashgar. I think it’s a defense mechanism – out of the monotony of our daily lives those moments come as bits of salvation: life is way more than this. And this trip has been like that. In line at Whole Foods, sitting in traffic on the 8 at College, or ironing my grey trousers, I might be blessed with one of the following:

• Riding at breakneck speed (exaggeration) on a motorcycle (exaggeration) down a winding highway outside of Jiji, Maya standing on the floor board in front of me, giggling while she gets to open up the accelerator. (And knowing that Maya will never forget this moment as long as she lives.)
  
• Olivia crying when we tell her that she can’t take the wild kitten with her that she found on Bagushan, near the giant Buddha, in Changhua. (And, knowing that Olivia will never forget this moment as long as she lives.)
  
• Watching Dave on the train from Ershui to Tainan, proudly sharing photos of his family and California with a young social worker who works with the elderly. (Like me, he laughs. No, no. You look very young.) (And knowing that he will remember this moment as long as he lives.)

And this, one that I’ll forever share with Sheri. Sitting in that odd little café, drinking blue gin-and-tonics out of hermetically sealed plastic cups, eating tiny sandwiches, staring across Shengli Road at Number 85, where our son lay asleep. We really didn’t plan on ending up there, but once there I knew that all along it’s all that I wanted to do in Tainan. I may have thought that we were going out for dinner and to explore a bit, but I should have known that the unsettled feeling in my stomach was simply the urge to be as close to Luyu as possible, as soon as possible. And I felt three things while eating my tiny sandwich: that my son was real, that I was blessed to have a wife and friend to share these journeys with, that life is damn good.

To Frida

Hello Frida!!!
I am thinking so much about you and miss you. Are you having fun with your gramma and aunts and cousins? We rode a motocycle and a train today. I bougtht you three gifts today and can't wait to give them to you along with a hug and kiss. We will get LuYu in one day! And I am going to tell him all about you and bring him home. 6 more nights sweetie and we will be home. We love you. Mommy and Daddy

Trains, bicycles, scooters and noodles

My first post ever. Thought I should come up with a catchy title. Did I succeed? Here is a little of what we have done since our last post. But I need to preface that without Luke we would not be enjoying this as we are. He is amazing to watch communicate with the locals, buying us tickets and ordering us food. He says he is having difficulty with the language and that some people arne't understanding his chinese. But from where dad and I sit, it is very successful and impressive. And thank goodness he is in shape, be ahs carried this suitcase up and down the train stairs and carried sleeping girls back to the hotel and up stairs and into bed. So I have to thank him for maing this all go very smoothly. We have travelled to Changhua (100 foot high Buddah, stray kitten Olivia cried over, and maya slurping noodles while Olivia fell asleep in hers). Then we went to Ershur (bicycle ride searching for a monkey preserve that was always just up the road and we never reached and an interesting lunch of soy beans topped with shaved ice and an assortment of sweet syrups.) Dad made a couple friends while sipping coffee and we had our first really yummy meal for all of us= $7. Olivia is becoming more adventurous everyday, but am expecting her to loose weight like our time in china. She biked a good 5 miles and we are walking everywhere, I know she is so hungry. Maya is so happy here and loves the nooodles and the "fancy hotels". We took a short train ride to JiJi. Woke up to a beautiful morning: quiet town, birds singing and beautiful mountains and a temple roof all from our balcony as we sipped tea from paper cups and threw peanut shells at dad as he took his morning walk. There are many wonderful details to write about but the real new experience is to share this all with the girls. It is really an honor to see them in this totally new strange place. They are taking it in and at the same time playing their endless games of pet dog, fairies,... They are really having a great time.
It was here in JiJi that Luke and I both felt the magnetic like pull to the south. Time to get close to where LuYu is living and get a sense of his home. So after our incredibly fun fun fun scooter ride around JiJi and an attempt to climb a mountain on them we set off for Tainan. Dad met a woman on the train and shared photos from home and talked with her. It was neat listening to him. As we approached Tainan the emotions started to grow in me. Added to this was a woman in front of me with a small boy, of course LuYu's age (I had been playing a bit with) was just slapping him and just being rough. It was so stressful. I was happy to leave them. But when that train stopped I was flooded with tears. The same feeling i had when I landed in Guangzhou. When that plane touched ground I knew that I would never be as far as I was from Maya again But now that I am older I cry more and pulling in to Tainan I am confident in my purpose, just alot sappier about it. I read the court papers for the first time at the hotel. And learned some things that I didn't know ( like the judges name grrrr) but I also found out that LuYu's birth mother named him! Her name is Yu-jou. So it is a very important bit of information for me, so meaningful that she named him. Then to top off our day Luke and I in search of a Pub (which doesn't exsist) migrated to St. Lucy's. This is where Luke fell apart. So close, a dark parking lot not knowing which building he is in. We ate across the street. Strange.
So I need to go to bed, it has been a long day. We have great photos of the girls in their many hats that they have bought and new wood shoes and them riding scooters and bikes but we just can't figure out this system to post.
Signing off. Thanks for keeping us all in your thoughts.
Sheri

Sleeping Pills, Eva, Lotsa Water

Those are Sheri's three recommendations for all those traveling to Taipei. She partly took her own advice: sleeping pills worked wonders for her and she woke without jetlag. She drank some water, but not lotsa water. And, our one failure, we didn't fly Eva. (That's a long story, and we really did try to get the Evergreen premium economy, but in the moments between checking rates and booking seats, prices went up by $1,000 USD per ticket. We ended up flying sardine class on China Airlines. They pack you in, hook you up intravenously to the nonstop video at each seat, and hope that keeps you comatose enough not to realize that the food is bad, that you can't sit normally if you're over 5'10".)

Anyway, we are so very happy to be here, finally. I got to go out for a morning run and ended up, just by chance, at the Sun-Yat Sen Memorial, where hundreds of early morning tai-chi, kung-fu and ballroom dancers were waiting to greet me. There's nothing in the world like an early morning in a Chinese city.

We're staying at the Howard Plaza, a nice choice if you're looking for places. Breakfast buffet was good, rooms roomy, service smiley. We spent some time this morning trying to see if we could get something cheaper for our final three days in Taipei, but all the hotels seem to be about the same amount of money -- $150 for singles, $200-$250 for suites. Or all the hotels that I'm allowed to look at. Cockroaches not allowed on this trip.

From here we're going to hop on a train this afternoon and probably head to Changhua, maybe to Chiayi. From Changhua we'll either head to Lugang or up into the mountains on the Jiji scenic railway. From Chiayi, if we decide on that route, we'll head up to Alishan. That little excursion will take up the next three days, and then we'll be heading to Tainan on the 17th, with a 9:30 a.m. pick-up at St. Lucy's.

Okay, Sheri's saying that we've got to pack up and go. Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and prayers -- they're working well so far. (Except for our camera -- didn't find out until getting here that our lovely Frida broke it. Alas. But Sheri's dad brought his, so that should suffice.)

Our Bags Are Packed

Or mostly. We've got little things here and there, little things that I'm questioning whether we even need -- that looks like a menu to Sheri's favourite coffee shop over there in the going-to-Taiwan pile. Or maybe I've got the piles mixed up.

Travel-wise we're just overnighting in Taipei and then heading south to Changhua. From there we'll maybe hop to Lugang for a day trip, and then up to Jiji for some mountain views and hopefully some monkey sightings -- the girls are hoping to catch one and bring it home with them.

Oh, I wanted to thank Val again for all the wonderful photos she took of Lu-Yu while she was at St. Lucy's a few weeks back. And, even more, for taking the time to play with him. Photos are one thing -- playtime is so much more. You can see some of Val's photos at http://luyuforyou.blogspot.com

Short of Kim Jong Il lobbing a nuclear bomb in our general direction, you'll be hearing from us from Taiwan shortly...

Apologies!

We had thought that once we got the referral we were no longer worth reading -- not a single comment. We wondered whether it was the drama that everyone loved.

Alas, somehow I messed around with the settings and comments needed to be approved by me, the moderator.

Thanks to all who have wished us love and celebrated along with us. And I'm sorry that we didn't see your comments immediately!

September Photos

Looking back over the past months, I'm thinking that we're going to have more photos of Lu-Yu than we do of our other kids. (Except that first year with our oldest, Olivia. The first child always gets photo-spoiled.)

And I'm overjoyed that these are the last pre-with us photos that we're going to get.

• Height = 32.87"
• Weight = 27.56" (over a pound this past month!)
• Head = 19.09"

From Val and her husband, Kevin, we hear that he is a "crazy man" and the favorite of the nursery -- which makes sense because he's the oldest and has had the longest bonding time. Though I like to think it's because he's particularly wonderful. Kevin also told me that he's the nannies' little helper and has the run of the place. I know that on one hand it'll be traumatic for him to be uprooted from a place where he's become something of a Little Emperor, and that we'll in turn have to hold him through some inevitable tantrums; but on the other hand I know that because he has been so well cared for, so loved, and understands what it means to attach, after wrestling with him through a tough transition time, his attachment/bonding to us might be easier than with some. (Plus, that's why God invented lollypops -- stop crying and there's more of these where this one came from...)

One thing I love about all these photos is the quirky details. Notice the fashionable baby blue shoes in the first two shots.