"Mama, I think I am ready for Taiwan"

With all the talk about tomorrow's trip, Noah simply cannot wait any longer. In the bathtub tonight, he heard us talking about Taiwan, and he said, "Baba mama, if you keep talking about Taiwan, I will think we are already there!" It's kind of fun seeing how a little kid thinks about future. In fact, it's equally interesting observing how we adults think about future. My emotions are mixed: at times I burst with excitement just thinking about all the food that'll be available--cheap!--at my fingertips, but twice in the middle of the night I woke up worrying about my classes and Benjamin's daycare, and today we are talking together about what we think we may miss about the US and our home in Arlington--a bit of nostagia creeping up. Noah said he already misses his [Buchanan] Street and friends, Paul thinks he'll miss his backyard/garden, and as fo me, it's the luxury of space. I am eager to see whether any of them will hold true.

Now, speaking of space: while I enjoy having more space, not having much of it for a change can be exciting. I heard from my Dad (who is currently in Taiwan) that our apartment is a 2-minute walk to the busy main street, with shops, eateries, a night market, and a 2-minute drive takes us to a Costco-equivalent warehouse store. This is really exciting to us, and makes me realize what a suburbanite I actually am without knowing it! Even though I have lived close to wonderful big cities such as SF and DC, I have never really lived IN a city! I have never walked out of my apartment just to get a bowl of soup at 1am, something common in many parts of Taiwan. I guess this density may be compared to New York City: when someone says they are from a small city or small town in Taiwan, you think about something kind of quiet and even rural, and you are quite wrong: it could be as busy as parts of the Big Apple!

While this convenience will be exciting and novel for us, I know that it'll also make me treasure the space we have in the US. I am not not speaking necessarily of living space, but the parks, playgrounds, sidewalks, just free open space around our community.

Anyway, sorry I am digressing here. I haven't slept much in the last two days.. Just wanted to jot down something before tomorrow's departure.

Farewell, my friends in the US. We'll report on adventures to come. Stay tuned...