A little info about Taiwan

General Information

TAIWAN
REPUBLIC OF CHINAArea : 36,000 square kilometers
Population : 22 million
Capital : Taipei City
People : Chinese
Language : Mandarin/Taiwanese/Hakka
Religion : Buddhism/Taoism/Christian
President : Chen Shui-bian



Taiwan's total land area is only about 3,6000 square kilometers; it is shaped like a tobacco leaf that is narrow at both ends. It lies off the southeastern coast of mainland Asia, across the Taiwan Straits from Mainland China-- a solitary island on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. To the north lies Japan and Okinawa, to the south is the Philippines. Many airlines fly to Taiwan, helping make it the perfect travel destination.

Taiwan lies on the western edge of the Pacific "rim of fire," and continuous tectonic movements have created majestic peaks, rolling hills and plains, basins, coastlines, and other wonders. Taiwan sees climates of many types: tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate, providing clear differentiation between the different seasons. There are about 18,400 species of wildlife on the island, with more than 20% belonging to rare or endangered species; among these are the land-locked salmon, Taiwan mountain goat, Formosan rock monkey, Formosan black bear, blue magpie, Mikado pheasant, Hsuehshan grass lizard, and many more.

The government has established 6 national parks and 11 national scenic areas to preserve Taiwan's best natural ecological environment and cultural sites. Take in the splendor and sheer heights of the cliffs at Taroko Gorge; take a ride on the Alishan train--one of only three mountain railways in the world--and experience the breathtaking sunset and sea of clouds; hike up to the summit of Northeast Asia's highest peak, Jade Mountain. You can also soak up the sun in Kending, Asia's version of Hawaii; stand at the edge of Sun Moon Lake; traipse through the East Rift Valley; or visit the offshore islands of Kinmen and Penghu. It's fun in capital letters as well as an awesome journey of natural discovery!

The cultural aspects also not to be missed. The blending of Hakka, Taiwanese, and mainland Chinese cultures has produced a rich plethora of cultural and social color. Whether it is religion, architecture, language, living habits, or food, it's just one big exciting melting pot! Food is the best representative of this cultural mixing and matching. Aside from cuisines from different parts of the mainland such as Zhejiang, Hunan, Guangdong, Yunnan, Shanghai, Beijing, Sichuan, and others, there is also the local Taiwanese cuisine as well as the local delicacies of each area.

Some brag time

As some of you know our son Kyle is an aspiring Journalist. He does write for various newspapers already. He has started his own blog so I will put the link here and then permanently on my favorite blog site. It contains his current news stories.

Lunar New Year (CHINESE NEW YEAR)

We will be celebrating the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) with our dear friends. All three of our families will come together for this special celebration. Each of us will cook something Chinese to bring. Why? you ask are you celebrating the Chinese New Year? Throughout all of our ups and downs on of the adoption rollercoaster, we have had to do some reading and research. It has been found that it is very important to children who are adopted internationally to learn some of the culture of their birth mothers'. Of course we are not Chinese but our daughters are (will be) and out of respect to them, and their birth mothers' we will try to bring in some of the culture as they grow up. This is such an important holiday in China and Taiwan, that it will be one of those festivities we will always celebrate and make a family tradition as our daughter grows up. We are just so glad that we can do this with friends and that our daughters will have each other as they grow up.

Here is a link to this holiday and how it is celebrated in Taiwan.
http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/culture/lunar-NY

It is official!!

Ok everyone. Here is the news I have promised. We are now officially adopting from TAIWAN. The terminology is slightly different than China. We had a log in date for China...for Taiwan we have a date on the Wait list. It goes in order and we will know (sort of) if we are next for a referral. Hopefully we will have a referral in 6 months. When we get a referral, we get a picture of her (usually newborn). At 2 months of age she goes to a foster family in Taiwan. Then we wait for the several court hearings(posted below.) We will be able to travel usually within 4-6 months after referral..depending how quick the judge is in Taiwan. The trip to Taiwan is only around 3-4 days long to pick our daughter up. EXCITING.....

Here is the court hearing:

1. District Court Process-
> a. The family court office reviews the case/petition and a Judge is
> assigned to the case.
> b. Judge reviews and considers the case and schedules a "hearing".
> Hearings are handled differently depending on the birth family's
> situation, the judge's schedule, persons representing the birth
> family
> and those representing the adoptive family. The time involved in
> getting a hearingscheduled depends on the judge's calendar/schedule
> and that of everyone else required to attend. Hearings can result
> in--The immediate decision to finalize the adoption (though this is
> rarelythe case) or - Result in the judge's request for more
> information (in one case wesaw the judge request additional
> counseling
> for the birth mother and hescheduled a follow-up hearing. Again,
this
> is rare).
> -Most often, the hearing just provides a judge with more information
> about the case and allows him/her to rule on the adoption with
> confidence. Most often, the judge's decision (final ruling) happens
> weeks or even as long as months after the hearing. The
responsibility
> of the District Court is to make sure that every issue related to
the
> best interest of the child has been considered. Though lengthy &
> frustrating at times, the District Court process protects the child,
> the birth parent, the organization caring for the child, AND in the
> end protects us as adoptive parents. When the District Court
> decisions
> have beenmade, adoptive families can be confident that the process
> was
> handled with consideration and in the best interest of the child.
>
> 2. Part I of Final Decree(first decree). Once the District Court
> hearing has been completed and the judge has had time to make a
> decision to finalize the adoption, he/she issues the firstpart of
the
> Final Decree. This is a short statement signed by the judge that is
> forwarded to the parties involved (social services organization on
> behalf of the adoptive family and the birth family) notifying
> everyone
> of his/her decision to finalize the adoption. This first part of the
> Final Decree must go to each party and there is a waiting period of
> 10
> days before any more can happen to ensure that everyone has been
> notified of the judge's decision.
>
> 3. Part II of Final Decree. Once the 10 day waiting period is up
(and
> the court staff finds time!), the second part of the Final Decree is
> forwarded to all parties. When the second part of the decree is
> received by your child's social service organization,the court
> process
> is DONE!
>
> 4. Household registration change and immigration requirements.
Before
> adoptive family travels, a lot must be accomplished by the child's
> social service organization. All court documents and background info
> on the child must be officially translated to English and submitted
> with certain paperwork to AIT. Also, the child must have his/her
Visa
> medical exam which is forwarded directly (unopened) to AIT's
> immigrant
> visa office. At some point the child's guardian must file for a
> household registration change. The household registration is a file
> located at local government offices in Taiwan that contains
> certificates and information about each person in Taiwan. Your
> child's
> household registration is attached to is/herguardian's file until
the
> adoption has been finalized by the Taiwan courts. Once the child has
> been legally adopted in Taiwan, the guardian files with the
> government
> office to remove the file from theirs and create a new file showing
> that the adoptive parent(s) are the new legal guardians. The
> household
> registration change takes a day or two or a week depending on the
> placing organization and the local government office.
>
> 5. New family receives a travel date. Each organization in Taiwan is
> different in when and how they schedule a travel date. Some wait
> until
> all of the above paperwork is filed and then give the family notice
> to
> travel quickly. Some schedule the travel in advance, while they work
> at preparing the above documents, giving a couple of weeks notice
> before
> travel.
>

OFF TO THE SUPERBOWL

APPROVED!!!

Yea our homestudy has been approved from our new agency. Our social worker here, has sent it to get Notarized.... then on Monday it will be mailed to my agency. I believe this is the week that I will be sharing the official news of our new program. I haven't shared it yet so that I didn't jinx us. I hope this will be the year that we see our daughter!!!!!

Can you believe it??

My life is anything but boring. As my friends will tell you there is always a story behind everything I do. Well I have a few stories today. First, the finger printing story. We started out at 7:00am for a drive that is about 60 miles..if that far. Of course it was during rush hour, and it was drizzling. We figured an hour and a half to get there would be sufficient. Our appointment was at 9:00am. Well 3 hours later and we finally got there. Yup 3 hours. First we took the expressway which was anything but, then the Southern State....way backed up, then once on the Meadowbrook Pkwy 1 hour to go 3 exits. UGGGGGH. Then we get lost because my dear husband wanted to take the car without the GPS, and the map quest was all wrong. John and I were definately at each other's throats. I was telling him that it was his fault...yayaydyddududuauuaudua..... Bad news. Needless to say when we arrived they were very nice to us and didnt bat an eye about being late. I had the same gentlemen doing my fingerprints as last time. He is an adoptive parent himself and always tells me stories about his adoption. The rest of the day turned out quit nice from there. We went out to lunch, just the two of us, and did a little shopping.

Story 2: Football. Not sure if I mentioned but my little guy has been playing arena indoor football. He loves it,although this team he is on is not at all like his regular season team. They have not won a game yet.. Oh well, there is something to be said about learning to lose graciously. Anyway, tonight he had a game. They played against a team that was from a neighborhood where it is known for its high crime.....

Well, the parents were extremely agressive.. not sure that is the right word. They were very loud... ok cheer for your kids.... but they were obnoxious to the point that they were screaming things like pull his mask, do what it takes... etc. Our team parents pretty much stayed away, but then some words were exchanged between a few parents because the other parents were being very inappropriate. We all rushed downstairs for our kids after the game. But what happened was that we bottlenecked in the middle and the parents from both teams were having serious words. I pretty much just asked the other moms not to do this in front of the kids. Well, then our coach came out and ushered all the families out quickly. We all ran to our cars, because we didnt want our kids to be near them at all. Ugggh. Thank goodnes we wont be playing them again although I am sure we will meet up with them on the regular field at some point.


Kyle got accepted to NYIT today... yeah college #3...........

Oh yea I forgot the most important story..... My homstudy has been emailed to my social worker, so tomorrow I will find out if it is set to go or has to be changed. Hopefully she will be in the office tomorrow or I am out of luck for the weekend. It seems like things will start to move here. I can't wait to post all the info I have on this new program and share the journey with everyone.


In addition to this..... because of the crazy football game, and the email when we got home about our homestudy....... I actually FORGOT to go to bookclub... so sorry girls if you read this. I look forward to bookclub each month, and it totally slipped my daily shrinking mind.....

It must be my Karma

OK I should have warned everyone that was going to this agency,(my new program) that once I signed up everything would just slow down.... or stop. HMMMM. My homestudy is in over 5 weeks now, when it usually only takes 3 weeks. Now they are telling me that the person, the only person, that can approve is OUT OF THE COUNTRY...yup....just my Karma. They are working on this they tell me....

Tomorrow we go to the local USCIS office for our fingerprint renewals. Yes fingerprints actually expire... We sent in the renewal form during Christmas week, and viola..a January 9th appointment. Not bad for USCIS. Hopefully this will be the last time that we have to renew...

Kyle got his second acceptance to Marshal University in West Virginia...

Little Meaghan Grace whom I adore....turned 2 yesterday!!!! If you havent checked out how cute she is click on the link on the right to see her in her full PRINCESS BIRTHDAY glory. Mia is next to turn 2... another cutie whom I adore.. Hopefully they won't get too much older before we bring "Paige" home. Even still it will be nice for her to have these 2 as older "sisters".

Domestic Adoption Decision

Well, we still haven't been approved for the other program that I will share info on once we are put on the official list. With the holidays there were key people going on vacation, and agencies closing. So it is taking longer than expected.. yet with adoption we should always expect the unexpected.

We made a decision this week to not continue with our domestic adoption plans. The cost of advertising, and the stress of being in all different programs is proving to be tooooo much. I told our adoption conselor that we are just putting it on hold for now, and we can always go back to it if something should happen with this new program. We haven't had a call since October, and felt we could be applying the funds used for advertising to other things.

So nothing has changed yet... but I have so many posts that I want to share regarding this new program. I will share them once we are approved. I am getting nervous though because it seems that in the last 2 weeks, tons of people have been jumping over to this program. Hopefully we got in before the rush...

As for the China adoptions.... ugggggh. They only referred 4 days of dossiers this month. That is terrible. I used to think there would be a speed up and then everything would get back to a normal time frame.. but now, even if it did speed up a bit, they are so far behind that with our February 07 log in date, we are still looking at another 2 years of waiting. However we are going to keep our documents in and play a wait and see attitude.

There you have it.

Kyle got his first acceptance letter to a school. It is not his first choice, but it is a good school to at least start with. Of course it is still early, and havent recieved any other letters yet. Hmmmm College........poopy diapers. Yes we may be a bit insane. But ya gotta love it.