"Gotcha" Day!

For whatever reason, it has been hard for me to sleep through the night here in Taiwan.  I keep waking up around 3 or 4 a.m., and that's all the sleep I can get.  Maybe God's preparing me for a lack of sleep with our little Sophia, whose current sleep schedule leaves little to be desired!  Right now it is almost 5:30 p.m. and she has been--FINALLY!--napping for about an hour or so.  She fights sleep just like her brother Nathaniel.  We will be working on a schedule for her ASAP when we get home!

Dave and I had a leisurely morning this morning.  We knew that our social worker would be bringing Sophia to us around 11 a.m. or so.  We went to breakfast and I organized all of our stuff to make it more manageable.  I also haven't been feeling well with a cough, sore throat, and congestion, so it was nice to have a little calm before the storm!

Sophia arrived all dressed up around 11 or so with not only our social worker, but also the foster family's social worker.  Apparently it was a teary goodbye, and while she went to Dave right away, she was very quiet and pensive.  She seemed sad.  We were told that the foster mother had said that it felt as though she was giving her daughter away in marriage, so that's why she was all dressed up.  I tried to take a photo, but she was walking around by this time and didn't want to comply.  I'll post the best I could get!

Along with Sophia came more clothes and photos and an umbrella stroller that the foster family insisted on buying for us.  We decided that our plans for today would include a trip to a local mall to buy another suitcase for all of Miss Sophia's things!  The social workers didn't stay long, and we were finally alone with our little girl.  I think the emotions of the last few days got to me, and poor Dave had to deal with a blubbering wife and antsy little girl all at the same time!  He's my rock!

We changed Sophia into something much more comfortable and cool, fed her a bottle, and took a cab to one of the local malls.  The malls in Taiwan are vertical, not horizontal, and this particular one had three 15+ story buildings to it, which were attached via catwalks on most floors.  We found an English map and guessed at the floor where they might have suitcases.  We guessed right.  Now we were pushing a little girl in a stroller, who didn't always want to be in a stroller, and pulling a suitcase.  Two big Americans with a strong-willed little Taiwanese girl...you get the picture.  We went down to the food court, walked all the way around, and decided on Dunkin Donuts--which tasted nothing like Dunkin Donuts.  That was lunch.

We went back to the hotel and have since been playing with Sophia while watching television and resting.  She seems to finally be warming up to me a little more.  She loves music, and I had seen the foster mother doing some hand motions to music with Sophia, so I did the same and she really liked it.  We have no idea what goes through her little mind, but if she wants something, she will figure out how to communicate it.  For example, when I stopped humming, she moved closer and touched my mouth.  She's no dummy!

I'm not sure how tonight is going to go.  I think we will have to wake her up soon, but even so, she may not go back to sleep until really late.  Pray for us in that regard, as we are both very tired.  We leave Taichung tomorrow around 1 p.m. our time.  We will have a day on Thursday to just bum around, and then our AIT appointment is Friday.  I'm a little concerned about what we are going to do each day with Sophia.  She won't eat anything solid for us yet--just her bottle--so it's hard to gauge meal times and such with her, and our hotels here and in Taipei do not have restaurants in them for quick and easy meals.  We have to go somewhere to eat, and nothing is really close.  We have also been told that she doesn't do well in restaurants, which I can imagine, especially if there isn't a high chair to restrain her.  So, we are in a conundrum there, but we'll figure it out, or lose a lot of weight!

On a side note, I'm really missing my kids right about now.  I didn't realize how much I would miss them, and now that we have Sophia, we are really ready to get her home and get on with life with all five of our kids.  Pray for strength and resolve as we continue to adapt to our daughter, and she adapts to us.  It's a delicate balancing act!  Enjoy the new photos!

With our daughter Sophia at long last in our arms...



What A Day! Part Three

When the foster parents left the room, the two social workers, ours and the foster family's, and us were there with Sophia.  The foster parents had kind of snuck out of the room, but even when Sophia realized they were gone, she didn't fuss or cry.  We talked with her from a distance for a bit, trying not to smother her or anything, then came over to her and tried to engage her now and then.  Dave had a big break through when he got her laughing hysterically as he walked her around and around the seating area...check this out!

We were served lunch--Chinese take out (ha!)--while hanging out for awhile, waiting for the time we could check into our hotel.  Finally we packed everything up--including the duffel bag and big box--hailed a cab, and headed to our hotel.  Sophia loved riding in the car.  She loves to observe what is going on around her, and she thought the beeping of the cab's meter was especially entertaining!

Our hotel, called Le Parker, is a small boutique hotel.  Our room is definitely not conducive to a small child not too steady on her feet!  It has two levels with the main bed up a step on a wooden platform.  Sophia loves to walk around, so it was up and down the step, on and off the beds, always with an adult close by holding her hand.  She never cried with us, was very comfortable, and even took another bottle for me (her foster mother wasn't sure I would make it right, but Sophia took it right away!).  She is especially fond of Dave, which I was prepared for, and I figure when he goes back to work, we will have to get better acquainted!  She isn't totally snubbing me, though, which is good.  Our social worker was amazed at how well she adjusted to us, and when we told her that we had been praying and we had lots of people praying, she said she had been praying, too.  God answers prayer!

Siophia got very tired, but never slept.  Apparently she is not used to long naps, and only would nap for an hour at school.  She typically doesn't go to bed until 11 or 12 at night, either--we have some work to do!!  We believe that her foster parents loved her very much, but they might have also given in to her strong will just a tad...her strong will and determination will be a blessing to her as she grows and matures, but she will also have to learn that her way is not always the best way!

Around 5:45 p.m. we took a cab back to the Foundation where we met the foster family's children.  Sophia has had a 16 year old sister and a 15 year old brother, who are both very attached to her.  Our social worker explained to the family that this was their goodbye to us, and that tomorrow (which is actually today here!) they will say their goodbyes to Sophia and the social worker will then bring her to us.  The social worker doesn't want us to have to be there when they say goodbye to her.  The foster parents were a little surprised, I think, that Sophia had done so well with us and that we were transitioning so quickly.  In fact, we were a bit surprised in that we will be leaving Taichung a day earlier than anticipated.  We will have to pay for a day that we had reserved here at this hotel as it was a no cancellation type of reservation, but God made room at our previous hotel for an extra day, so we are taken care of.

Sophia went back to her foster father, but you could tell that she was a bit confused, not to mention very tired.  I just pray that they had a wonderful night with her, and that God will comfort them in this time of loss.  I am so thankful for all they have done, and pray God's richest blessing on them.  I gave the foster mother a hug when I said goodbye and hope that we conveyed our gratitude in spite of the language barrier.

Needless to say we were quite tired by the end of all of this.  We couldn't find a restaurant nearby for supper, so we hit the local "Family Mart" convenience store where we picked up Ritz crackers with cheese, Lays potato chips (Dave had seaweed flavor!), and oreo cookies.  In debriefing our day, we both commented on how tenacious and smart our little girl is, in spite of her special needs.  She's going to fit right in with her big brothers...let the games begin!

One more day and she is with us forever...



What A Day! Part Two

The train ride to Taichung was very quick.  We figured the train was traveling at speeds upwards of 100 mph at times.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful.  Taiwan is such a green, gorgeous island, and it was nice to get out of the city and see some of the country.

When we arrived in Taichung, we were met by a government social worker who drove us to the Foundation building.  Sophia is basically a ward of the state, so her case has been managed by the Taiwanese equivalent of Children and Youth.  Sophia has been in care since she was a few months old, and is with her second foster family.  We met her first social worker who filled us in on her history from about six months on, including a little about her first foster family and why she was switched to her current foster family.  Her first foster family was an older couple, who nurtured and cared for her through some significant emotional issues early on in her life.  However, as she reached the age where she needed more physical therapy and educational type therapies, they could no longer care for her adequately.  Her current foster family, who have cared for Sophia for two years, have done a fantastic job in that department.  Her foster mother is actually a teacher, and developed many of the therapy toys that we have seen in photos.  In fact, her inventive toys are now on exhibit somewhere for their ingenuity and creativity with special needs kids.  Pretty cool!

But I digress...when we arrived at the Foundation, we only waited a couple of minutes and the foster family walked up, pushing Sophia in a stroller.  It was an emotional moment, seeing our daughter in person for the first time.  Right away the foster father pulled out laminated 5x7 blown up photos of our faces, and showed Sophia that now her "mother" and "father" from the photos were standing in front of her.  You could see that she was trying to process this information in the midst of the greetings going on around her.  Immediately we could see that this little girl was quite savvy--a thinker.

We were all ushered up to the third floor of the building where we found a room that was probably used for visitations with children and families.  It contained some chairs for sitting on one end, and then a round area with wooden floors and more child-friendly seating, surrounded by books and toys.  For the next couple of hours, Sophia roamed around, mostly accompanied by her foster father, while Dave and I let her get used to us.  It didn't take long for us--especially Dave!--to elicit some smiles from her, but she was definitely wary.  During this time I was able to interview the foster mother and take some more notes on routines, etc., and she showed me all of the things she had brought for us to take with us...a big box and a big duffel bag full!  Sophia was the sweetheart of her school, and her teachers has sent gifts for her, as well as some of her schoolwork which will be treasured.  The foster family had gifts for our entire family, and new clothes for Sophia.  We found out how to make Sophia's bottle, which consists of some sort of rice powder and grain powder, both of which the foster family and the school teachers gave us an ample supply to take home.  We will definitely be needing another suitcase!!

In the midst of all of this, I noted that Sophia has a very close relationship with her foster father.  He was very attentive, but very quiet.  The love that he has for her is so evident.  I didn't let myself dwell on that too much, as I didn't want to make a scene!  But I know that this is very hard for them.  In fact, the foster mother told me that she had already cried a lot the night before, but upon seeing us, she just had a peace that we would take care of their Sophia and love her the way that they did.  Of course, that made me cry.  What an answer to prayer to have a foster family who loved our daughter as their own, and yet prepared her for us.  What a blessing!

After a couple of hours, it was decided that the foster family should leave and we would have Sophia to ourselves for awhile.  The plan was to eat lunch there, then check in to our hotel with Sophia and our social worker and allow her to acclimate there.  We then were going to come back to the Foundation around 6 p.m. to meet the foster family's children, and give Sophia back to them for one last night.  I really think that Sophia's foster parents fully expected her to break down and cry when they left, but that did not happen...

More to come...

What A Day! Part One

I'm not even sure how to begin processing the events of yesterday, here in Taichung, Taiwan.  For posterity (and especially for Sophia) I want to chronicle the days happenings, but if it's a bit random and rambling, please forgive me!

I couldn't sleep Sunday night very well.  We had had issues with the alarm not going off at the right time the day before, and I was half afraid we wouldn't get up on time and would miss meeting our orphanage contact at the train station on time, but I was also very unsure of the days events and what was going to happen, so sleep was elusive.  I eventually got out of bed around 5 a.m. and got myself ready.  We were able to leave two pieces of luggage at our hotel in Taipei, but the piece we brought to Taichung was our largest, and was quite heavy.  It contained all of our foster family gifts, clothes and toys for Sophia, and all of our clothes and necessities for three days away.

We weren't sure we were going to eat breakfast at the hotel as they hadn't given us our tickets for that day.  I thought maybe since it was our check-out day you didn't get to eat, but as it turned out, the receptionist handed them to us as we came down to inquire about where to leave our luggage.  So we quickly ate, checked out, and were on our way.  We had received instructions to meet our orphanage contact, Bernadette, at the 3 East entrance to Taipei Main Station.  The taxi driver dropped us off on the west side, so we walked through the station and waited at the correct entrance.  We had no idea who we were waiting for, but a little after 8:30 a.m. a woman came toward us smiling.  Bernadette has been a social worker with Cathwel for two years now, but worked for the hospital as a medical social worker prior to Cathwel.  Her English is pretty good, although I have to strain to understand sometimes.  She had already purchased our tickets, so we went to the waiting area.  She told us that we were going to meet Sophia upon arriving in Taichung.  We were going to go to the "Foundation" building and meet her foster parents and kind of hang out for awhile so that Sophia could get used to us.  From there, we would play it by ear, depending on how Sophia adjusted to us.

We didn't have to wait long for the train.  I am so impressed at the transportation system in Taiwan!  We rode the HSR--High Speed Rail--to Taichung.  The whole trip took less than an hour.  On the train, Bernadette gave me a document that Cathwel had translated that was basically a questionnaire that the foster mother had answered regarding Sophia and some of her needs and routines.  It was quite thorough, as all of the foster mother's reports have been.  Bernadette commented several times on that fact, because it was a lot to translate each month.  However, it showed how much the foster mother loved Sophia.  At the end of this document it says:

"At last we want to tell you:  Our family are very grateful of you, and respect your loving heart and courage, to willing to give our Sophia a happily and joyous life and future.  Me (FM) and FF are very sad, but when we think of your attention love and care for her and all the lovely presents you have sent for her, all in which moved us and make us resting assure.  All our family is wishing your family always health and happiness!"

I could tell it was going to be quite a day!

More to come...

Introducing....

Sophia Elizabeth Chia-Lin Fisher

Day #2!

We had another good day here in hot and humid Taipei!  We left a little after noon from our hotel and took a cab to the National Palace Museum.  This reminded us a lot of our Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.  It is a museum that contains Chinese artifacts that used to be housed in the Forbidden City in Beijing, but were brought to Taiwan for protection in the early 20th century.  Since we have visited China before, a lot of the things we saw were not new to us.  However, the museum is very well laid out and the exhibits were pretty interesting.  There was an especially fascinating exhibit that took a well-known Chinese painting, and with the help of technology, brought it to life.  Very cool!

After leaving the museum, we hopped another cab to the Miramar Entertainment Park.  This was another huge, vertical mall that also contains an IMAX movie theater with the largest commercial screen in all of Asia.  At the top of the mall there is a huge ferris wheel.  Each car is air-conditioned and plays music for your entertainment pleasure.  When you reached the top of the ferris wheel, you could see pretty far...we got some good pictures, but it was cloudy again, so they are not as good as they could have been.

From the Miramar, we took the subway back into town.  Using our handy map, we made our way to the Eslite Bookstore where we picked up a children's book and some children's CD's in Chinese.  It's a HUGE store!  We then walked back to Din Tai Fung for dinner.  It was much more crowded tonight, but we got in pretty quickly.  This time I took photos!  Enjoy!

We arrived back at our hotel hot and sticky and tired.  Tonight we pack up and get ready for the real reason we came to Taiwan--to meet our daughter Sophia!  When you are sleeping on Sunday night, we will meet her for the very first time.  I'll post photos as soon as I'm able!  Thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes...keep them coming!

One more day until we see her face to face...

Our First Day in Taiwan

It is Sunday morning here in Taiwan.  We have had the privilege of speaking with our three children who are at my parent's house in Delaware, as well as one of my sisters in Chile, South America, this morning.  Isn't technology wonderful?  As we get ready to head out for our second day of adventures in Taipei, I want to let you know about yesterday's happenings...

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After arriving at our hotel and getting cleaned up and acclimated, we decided to head out and see what we could see.  It looked like rain, so we ditched the idea of going to the open air flower and jade markets and decided instead to head down towards Taipei 101 and that area of town.  The subway was pretty easy to figure out, although I'm pretty sure we looked stupid at first, trying to figure out how to get the card we needed.  But, we figured it out on our own, so I'm pretty proud of us!  The subway itself reminds me a lot of the metro in Chile--clean and efficient.  It was Saturday here, so I guess we were seeing the weekend crowds and not necessarily the business crowds.  We made it to the station where we were to get off for Taipei 101, but we had to walk quite a distance to actually get to the building itself.  We managed to make it before the rain, but by the time we got to the observation deck on the 89th floor, it was raining below.  We still got some photos, which I will post, but I'm sure the vista would have been much more stunning without the rain! 

Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world from 2004-2010.  To the tip of the needle at the top it is 1610 feet tall.  The basement floor is filled with a large food court and some shops, while floors 1-4 contain some very prestigious stores like Tiffany's and Coco Chanel (no shopping there for us!).  You catch the elevator to the 89th floor on the 5th floor.  It takes 45 seconds to get there--amazing!--and once you reach the observation floor, you can observe the entire city all the way around you.  The mountains in the distance are just breathtaking!  Taiwan is truly a beautiful island.

A street view of Taipei 101 as we walked towards it.

 

Looking up from one of the bottom floors of the mall

One view from the observatory



This is the counterbalance...check out the cables!



By the time we finished observing, we were feeling a bit tired and hungry.  We decided to hop a cab to the Din Tai Fung restaurant since it was still raining.  We weren't quite sure how to hail a taxi in Taiwan, but waving your hand and yelling taxi did the trick!  Dave always climbs into the front seat--which I'm not sure is kosher, but he does it anyway--so the drivers always have to throw the seat way back in order for his large frame to fit.  This taxi driver was a hoot.  He didn't speak much English but he communicated his family history and the history of Korea and China and Taiwan to us via hand motions and doodles on his notepad, all while driving through rush hour traffic!  I may have to take back my thoughts about the driving here after that ride!  He used his horn well and we made it in one piece, thankfully.  I'm sure we made his day!

Din Tai Fung is a world-renown chain known for its dumplings and stuffed buns.  We had been forewarned about how you ordered at this restaurant, but what we weren't aware of was the size of their helpings!  We were pretty hungry, so everything looked good, and I think we ordered too much, to the humorous delight of the young couple sitting next to us!  To order, you look at the menu to decide what you want, and then you fill out this order form with how many of each menu item you want.  As the items are prepared, they bring them out to you, so your food comes in shifts.  Dave LOVES Chinese dumplings and stuffed buns, and these were outstanding!  The prices were very reasonable, and we are planning on going back again.  I'll take some photos next time!

After dining we attempted to find our way back to a subway station.  I think we took a wrong turn and missed the closer station, but along the way I found a cool little stationery store and bought a couple of things.  (Tiffany, if you are reading this, tell Amy Grace I have a neat Hello Kitty item for her!)  We eventually found a station and made our way back to our hotel.  The rain had stopped by now, but the humidity was quite oppressive.  We exited the station near our hotel at a different exit than where we had entered, so we were a bit turned around at first, but with our handy map we made it back in one piece.  The corner 7-Eleven was our last stop for an ice cream bar, and then we basically collapsed into bed.

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This afternoon we are heading out again to see what we can see.  Stay tuned...and one more thing...the humorous event of the day yesterday was when we were getting on an elevator in Taipei 101 and the door closed on me.  Now it was a little startling to me, but the 10 year old kid on the elevator thought it was hilarious!  His mom tried to shush him, but then gave up and told him to say "Hello" instead.  Glad we could be the comedy relief!!

Another day closer to meeting Sophia...