Weeeee're Off!!

In the minute left before the airport internet guy kicks me off the computer, let me just say:
I'm off!! in 15+ hours I will be in Italia and in a couple days going to school. Aaaaaaaa... (help?)

A New Home for the Jameses

My family's found a house! It's huge: 3 stories and lots of rooms. They have no idea how they'll fill it all, it doesn't have much furniture, and what it does have is not fully functional. But it's a lot better than the other options, and it has lots of potential for future coolness. They're moving in today, after the cleaners come and make it spick&span, and the first thing they're installing is an air conditioner, closely followed by a fridge. (it's blue! I helped choose it. :) ) And beds. But the rest is going to come from Ikea (there are 4 in Taipei, the capital, (yay!!) so we'll get stuff there and drive it down with their new car) It's so hard to write they instead of we. I still can't believe I'm not really part of this all. That I don't have to make every appliance blue because I won't be able to see them... But it's fun to watch and help and I'm glad I know where they're staying. We're checking out of the hotel now, so I've got to go, and there's no internet for a while. Oh well.

The Voyage Begins

I'm sitting in a hotel in Taitung, Taiwan, having left my home for good. Yesterday (sort of - it's all so complicated with time zones...) we flew up and away from Vermont through cotton-candy clouds that peppered the sky, making the departure almost magical in its perfection. We fulfilled our family description once again and got to the plain in the nick of time: 30 minutes before the flight left. (I hope to cure this addiction to lateness, but I'm not sure how much success I'll have) After that, though, most things went well.
Have I gone over the general plan yet? It's this: I'm going to Taiwan for 10 days with my family, who are spending the year there to give my 8-year-old sister, McKinley an international experience (their blog: adventurejames.blogspot.com). I'm helping them find a house and make it a home and see their schools (my dad's a teacher and teaching English in 5 schools in Taitung) and get a car, etc. Then my mother is flying with me to Italy for a few days to do the same (minus the car part...sigh)
I'll write more later, I'm really tired.