Two Months

Nǐ hǎo!

It’s hard to believe, but I have been in Taiwan for two months!  It’s crazy thinking back to all of the things that I have done and learned in what feels like such a short time!  What is even crazier is to think that I haven’t even begun to explore China!!  I’ve been on this island for two months, and haven’t once thought, “Well, I’ve seen it all.”  There is always something new to see or experience.  This only fuels my excitement for China!  If Taiwan can hold as many wonderful things as it does, even though it could fit into Texas 19 times and into China 266 times, then I am in store for amazing things over the next ten months!

                I will admit though, it has been hard at times being away from home.  Seeing all my teacher friends getting their classrooms ready, missing wedding, birthdays, babies, and wedding planning is tough to swallow at times.  One of the things that get me through is the knowledge that I have amazing people in my life who support me.  The biggest thing that gets me through though is my reliance on Him.  Knowing that He is directing my life and has a specific plan for me while I am here keeping me going and keeps me faithful. 

                It’s been a while since I have posted, so here are the Spark Notes for the past three weeks.

1.  I celebrated my 24th birthday in Taiwan.  The biggest difference, for me, was being at school on my birthday.  Having a birthday in early August, I NEVER celebrated my birthday at school.  Most people would think that having to work on your birthday wouldn’t be fun, but I loved it!  My kiddos even sang me “Happy Birthday”, which if you have never heard a group of Taiwanese 4 year olds singing, you are missing out!  It’s possibly one of the cutest things ever!
2. A group of us went to a Taiwanese baseball game on the 10th.  The only way to really explain it is to see a video and hear everything going on.  Instead of cheering /heckling when the other team is up at bat, you cheer THE WHOLE TIME your team is at bat.  Not just cheering though, there are people leading chants and everyone has noise makers.

   

   You should be able to click on the video in order to hear the audio.

3. We went on a trip to New Taipei in a charter bus with older Taiwanese couples on August 18th.  The “tour” started at a Dao temple.  From there, we went to Taipei and road the Ping Shi Railway.  We stopped in a few towns and explored the markets.  The main stop of the trip was the Shifen Waterfall.  It was absolutely beautiful!  Pictures don’t do it justice.  Also at the waterfall though was a mini zoo.  If a zoo at a waterfall isn’t strange enough, the animals there certainly are. They had rabbits, goats, chickens, and kittens!  They had kittens in a cage while cats roamed freely.  How bizarre is that!The most entertaining part of the bus ride though was karaoke!  We sang karaoke almost the entire time while we were in the bus.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Erin and I went to see Elysium on Wednesday at a theater recommended by a friend.  There were only 30 seats in the theater and this is why…..
   
   
   
   
   We sat in LAZYBOYS to watch a movie! 
5. Erin and I went to Taipei this weekend to visit her friend, Audrey,  from home.  Turns out, she went to High School with someone I went to College with!  Small World!!!  While we were there, we went to Taipei 101.  It is the tallest building in Taiwan and it was the tallest building in the world for 5 years after it was built.  It is still the world’s largest “green”  building though.We also got our hair washed.  This might sound strange, but it is great!   I stayed sitting in the chair where you would normally get your hair cut.  The hairdresser had a bottle of watered down shampoo and put a little on the crown of my head and started scrubbing.  She added more of the shampoo/water mixture and more hair until all of my hair was sudsy on top of my head.  She continued to scrub and massage for a while.  Then, she rinsed my hair and blow dried it for 10 minutes.  My hair has never been so soft!!The thing that made my whole weekend though was Audrey’s oven!  In China, ovens are very rare because they make the house hotter and it’s just much cheaper to eat out.  This has been hard for me because I LOVE to bake!  So needless to say, I made chocolate chip cookies!  I don’t know if the cookies were really as good as I thought or if I was just so excited, but they were some of the best cookies I’ve eaten!

   

   Taipei 101 from Audrey's rooftop

   

   Storm rolling in

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   Watching the rain from the top of Taipei 101

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

We are told that we will be going to Hong Kong soon to finalize and pick up our Visas.  As soon as that happens, we will be off to Mainland! 

More adventures to come soon!

Love, Jodi