At Last

We've arrived in Montreal! Home sweet home, and how sweet it is... it's taken us a while to settle into our new place located in the neighbourhood of Hampstead. Our church is but a mere four blocks away, and there are amazing places to walk to from our home. Trendy shopping streets and quaint parks. Not to mention downtown is only a ten minute metro ride away. Jordan seems like she's journeyed with us through the wilderness, arriving in Montreal no longer a tiny four month old but now at six and a half months, eating solids and trying to vocalize all of her thoughts with "Ah" "Bah" "Ghee." Our time in the wilderness was marked with much uncertainty and restlessness, you can imagine how hard it is for us to now relax and chill... Drew and I will often look at each other and say, "Now what?" Jordan also finds it strange to not be on the go and struggles with maintaining a routine, but we're working on it. Right now, Grandma and Grandpa Shih are visiting so they are keeping us busy. At the same time, we are excited to start ministry at Montreal Chinese Alliance Church. We're overwhelmed by their hospitality and their love for us from the get go. When we arrived from the airport, many were already at the house ready to lend us a helping hand, stocking up our fridge and putting our bed together. We're so grateful for the open welcome and it seems like the beginnings of a beautiful friendship ;)

However, we still miss our friends in Vancouver and Dallas. I miss my family, my brothers, Regent College, my colleagues and my girlfriends (this includes you Brian)... I miss the fog... watching late night tv with Stephan, eating dried squid with my parents, the mountains and the cold ocean air in the autumn after a rainfall. I miss the soggy streets, getting the hem of my pants wet, the feeling of warmth when I come home, take off my wet socks and put on thick plush ones... I miss my mother's soup, her shabu-shabu, I miss her voice calling me, telling me all the things I need to remember to be a good wife, a good mother, a good daughter... her calling me at work for a random thought she had. I miss my father's presence, his profile when he watches Korean videos... for all the things I've left behind I am sad, but here is home now and happily so.