I spent two years studying (9/88 to 7/90) and then a bit over four years living and working (9/93 to 2/98) in Taiwan. In the summer of 1989 I met Sandy, and we married in March of 1995 (but were not allowed to live together until after the wedding banquet in October). Sandy visits at once a year, and make the trip every couple years. We may even move back some day. Sandy's family includes parents, 3 brothers, 2 nieces and Grandma. Scroll down for more information on each person, or just click on them in the picture below. This picture was taken in the fall of 1997.

Mom (b. 1940) Mom is great! She is kind, generous, and a great cook. She spends her days either watching the grandchildren, taking care of her giant vegetable garden, or working on the small rice paddy down in Yangmei that the family owns. She is a very practical woman. I once asked her why she didn't grow any flowers in her garden. Mom replied, "what good are flowers? You can't eat flowers." She's also the only person in the family who can hold her liquor. Everyone else turns red-faced and giggly after one drink. Luckily, they rarely drink.

Dad (b. 1938) Dad comes from a family of construction workers. He, two of his brothers, Mom, and all of their sons have done work laying concrete. If you have been to Taiwan, you will know that there is a lot of work in that field, and the family has prospered. Dad is also very kind and generous, though much more soft-spoken than Mom.

Grandma Grandma, Dad's Mom, is the last of Sandy's grandparents. She has 5 sons, and they each take turns taking care of her for a month at a time. She never went to school and only speaks the Hakka dialect, which I can't understand at all and Sandy only understands marginally, so I've never had much of a talk with Grandma.

Kirk (Keyi, b. 1973), Sandy's youngest brother Kirk also worked as a mason for a while, but decided to go back to school and get certified in construction engineering. He now works for a large construction firm as a manager/inspector at construction sites. The building the family lives in now was built mostly by family and is occupied entirely by family. The floors were distributed by age, which meant that Kirk got the top floor.

Yujie, Kirk's former girlfriend. Kirk is now in other long-term relationships, dog & girlfriend, picture below.

Chuck (Kechiang, b. 1968), the middle brother Chuck's passion has long been fishing, and he works on a fishing ship during the season and in construction the rest of the year. He finally got married in March of 2003, pictures below.

Roger (Kechin, b. 1964), the oldest brother Roger suffered a concussion as a boy in a motorcycle accident, and we still keep thinking that "there's something about the boy that ain't right." He makes a good living in construction but spends way too much money on gambling and video games. Roger is talkative and friendly to newcomers, which was a big relief when I was the newcomer.

Yinlan, Roger's former wife Roger and Yinlan got married just one month after meeting. Roger is a bit of a push-over, and she is quite pushy, so it could have been either the best or worst of possible matches. Turned out to be a bad match. They divorced Fall of 2001. Sandy's parents are now taking care of both of Roger's and Yinlan's girls.

Yahuei, Roger and Yinlan's first daughter (b. 1992) Both girls have changed a lot over the years--picture below.

Yaru, Roger and Yinlan's second daughter (b. 1994) Both girls have changed a lot over the years--picture below.

Sandy (Paoling, b. 1966) Sandy was the 2nd child in the family, is the only daughter, and is the only one to attend and graduate from a university. She got her bachelors degree in Business with an emphasis in Tourism. She realized during the first year that this major did not suit her, but stayed with it because changing her major would have required taking the university entrance exam again (and in Taiwan passing the entrance exam is harder than anything else you do to graduate).

Little White Little White, the beloved family dog, passed away in July of 2000 at the ripe old age of 11.

Chris (aka "Big White," b. 1965) That's me, head and shoulders above the crowd! I now work as a network and software testing engineer in Colorado Springs.

	Sandy's family lives in the port city of Chilung (also spelled "Keelong"), which is about 35 miles north-east of Taipei. The last two years in Taiwan we lived with them in Chilung. This is a picture of Keelong harbor from the hills not too far from their house.
	Kirk with significant others, Lihsuei (Beautiful Snow) and Aboogi (Japanese for "Fatso"), and our little Clara at 19 months of age. This picture was taken during Sandy's visit in March of 2003. Note the super-cute pig shoes Clara is wearing.
	The two little demons (Roger's daughters Yaheui & Yaru) and our little angle, also taken during Sandy's visit in March of 2003. Red envelopes: it's Chinese New Year!

Chuck's March 2003 wedding to Yahting (Elegant Beauty), formal portraits and shots from the banquet.

5 April 2003, Christopher Paul Chalfant / <cpc@chrispc.DELETE.THIS.PART.com> Back to the Main Index