The majority of families with children attending either Ci-Xing Waldorf or Humanities are not from Ilan. These "immigrant" families tend to congregate, with some renting apartments in the same building, or even living together under the same roof, thus forming what could almost be called an "immigrant village."

Six immigrant families live in one apartment building near Humanities, and the 12 kids there go to school together.

One of these "families" especially is characterized by happiness and wellbeing.

Separate responsibilities

Every morning sometime after six o'clock, after she finishes preparing breakfast, Huang Yi-chung, the "lady of the house," wakes up her two fifth grade "sons," Chih-hsiang and Yan-fu, who bunk in the same room, and takes them to Humanities Elementary School. Lin Yi-ling, who goes out to work, wakes up naturally without an alarm clock, then heads off to school where she is a volunteer in charge of the R&D resources integration group.

Huang, an interior designer by trade, explains with a smile, "She makes me happy and I give her a comfortable home" Yi-ling, who describes herself as lazy, is a cheerful extrovert, while Yi-chun is a fine cook that prefers taking care of the housework and families. The two complement each other perfectly.

Two halves of a circle

Transferring from an elite school district in the city to a country primary school.... This goes against the grain of common thinking and met with stiff opposition from husbands and in-laws at first. While scrutinizing Humanities for an entire year, Yi-ling broached the topic with her family and began preparations to "emigrate" with her oldest son, Chih-hsiang. An especially important part of preparing was helping her two-year-old son bond with his other caregivers--both grandmothers and their Filipina maid.

As for Yi-chun, she and her husband and were originally engaged in interior design. After allowing her son Yan-fu to try out the school for one week, they decided to transfer him there. She was reluctant to leave behind in Taipei her husband and her daughter--a high-school senior struggling to prepare for the college entrance exam. When she recalled, however, how her son went from being an outstanding to a C-average student and how he started to rebel and stray from the straight and narrow after the fourth grade, she decided to give him a brand-new start.

Since moving to Toucheng a year ago, Yi-chun has been returning to Taipei every weekend. As soon as she walks in the door, she makes a pot of mouthwatering curry for her daughter and a pot of pork ribs stewed in Chinese herbs for her husband. The food that packs the fridge is testimony of her love for them.

To prevent him missing out on his education, Yi-ling is helping to create an "autonomous-study nursery" for her now three-year-old youngest son. After their lives settled down in Ilan, Yi-ling and Yi-chun divided up labor and responsibilities. For two days of every school week, one mother takes care of both boys, allowing the other to return to her home in Taipei. The commute is tough, but this allows them to take care of their homes in both locales.

Life in the city differs radically from that in the country, but the two mother-son duos feel that leading dual lives "doubles their pleasure." When in Ilan, after eating dinner with 20-some other "village" families they agree to meet to soak in hot springs and eat hotpot in the winter, or look at the sea and eat taro ice cream in the summer. They don't have TVs here, nor are there department stores or movie theaters, so the kids can enjoy their natural surroundings to their hearts' content or quietly read books of their own choosing. Life is simple, but interesting.

Home is where the heart is

Running back and forth between Taipei and Ilan, where do they truly call home? Answers differ with each family.

"The grandparents are all in Taipei, so naturally that is where our roots lie," Yi-ling says. Yi-chun's situation is different. Her daughter will be leaving for university this year. After figuring out the expenses of one house in Taipei and one in Ilan, she and her husband decided to rent out the one in Taipei and really settle in Ilan.

"Immigrant" parents of Ci-Xing Waldorf school kids have even gone so far as to agree to build and live together in a dream neighborhood on a piece of land they have their eyes set on.

Fortunately, with the imminent opening of the last leg of the Taipei-Ilan Freeway, it will be much easier for families to see each other on weekends, bringing a happy ending to the story of the "single-parent immigrants."