Matsu Made Us Famous

Matsu is all the rage in Central Taiwan this time of the year, (as I described in a previous entry), and the pilgrimage of her small statue has been described as one of the best things to see in Taiwan, if given the chance. As a result, we were delighted to find out that the religious pilgrimage comes directly into our little town of YuanLin--a street away from us, in fact. So as we were preparing to take Coco to school on Wednesday morning we heard firecrackers and noisy festivities headed toward us, and we stopped everything and ran to see the hoopla. We weren't disappointed. 

Some of the pilgrims following Matsu for over a week.

I always wonder how these guys manage to not tip over with this much recycling in tow. 

In connection with their reverence of Matsu, the Taiwanese believe that if you crouch down on the ground and allow Matsu to pass over you, you will be blessed with peace and safety for that year. Considering this deal too good to pass up, we thought we'd jump into the mix and join the crowd ourselves. What took place from that point on was hilarious. Thankfully, Jamin took some video that you seriously have to watch. It is a riot--especially since it involves a television interview with your friendly neighborhood foreigner at the end. 

Here's the official television interview  directly after being blessed by Matsu. (Note: this news station is not just local, but national, and was broadcast that evening across the whole country).

After that funny moment we walked momentarily into the local Matsu temple to take in the sights. 

As if this wasn't enough, Hubby got hit up for another television interview with a national station as we were standing there taking pictures. Here's the link to this interview, which was also aired that evening. 

That night at 6:00 p.m. we sat around the dinner table all together, and were stunned to hear the phone start to ring off the hook as all of Ama's friends called frantically from all over Taiwan, saying we had to turn on the TV to watch both interviews. We roared to see all of us on television, and grinned at how quickly Matsu's powers held sway. Maybe we shouldn't discount the little lady after all. :)

A Golden Afternoon

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."  -  Ralph Waldo Emerson

This Taiwanese adaption of a crepe was hilarious. The street vendor we bought it from was so proud of his new investment. The thing came off the griddle really crispy, not soft, and the blueberries we thought we were adding to the crepe turned out to be the thinnest layer of strawberry jam possible. Notice the marshmallows, though. This was the part that really made us laugh. The guy kept reassuring us that they were very, very delicious! In the end, it tasted the way you would guess a crepe cookie with marshmallows would
taste--a little bit strange, and altogether too sweet.

True friends are hard to come by, (especially when they're the kind of friends that can make you laugh until your sides hurt), and therefore it is a tragedy when our busy lives drive out opportunities to enjoy the friendships that mean the most to us. Imagine, then, my delight when I found out that one of my dearest friends from my mission would be visiting Taiwan during the same time that I would be here. Frankly, it felt too good to be true.

By way of background, Melissa and I never served together as missionary companions, but rather we became friends on the mission when she shared her famous farm stories from her awesome upbringing in Alaska. Her instinctive gift for storytelling always brought the house down, and some of my best memories from that time was laughing to tears when hearing her stories and her frank perspective on life unique to those raised on a farm. I loved that while we shared pictures of our families with others,  Melissa shared photos of her 4H prize competition livestock, and that regardless of how tough he was, she could work any elder under the table physically. The woman is a wonder. 

Directly after the mission, Melissa and I decided to room together at BYU, and that's where I gained an even greater appreciation for her. In addition to being wicked funny she was always clean, respectful, and thoughtful in her actions towards those she lived with. She also was remarkably frugal and self reliant. Putting herself through her own schooling, she surprised me with how resourceful she could be, and I came to feel comforted by her quiet self assurance. 

Melissa was the one who recruited me to teach a Chinese class at the state detention center, and the one to emotionally ground me when I became too hormonal. She could also openly yet lovingly call me on the carpet for just being stupid, (which in my book is also one of the signs of a true friend). More importantly, at that time and since, Melissa has quietly demonstrated to me what it means to be a true Christian. When our roommate had surgery on her arm and couldn't bathe herself, Melissa was the one to help give her her sponge baths. When a mutual friend of ours made poor choices that landed him in prison, Melissa made sure she went to visit him there. When people she loves choose another path than she would accept for herself, she still makes sure to help them feel included and appreciated. Over the years she has called after the birth of each of my babies to hear the whole story of their birth, and to particularly see how I am doing. (When the Big-O miraculously appeared she made him the most darling pair of John Deere overalls you've ever seen on a newborn.)

She's also incredibly smart. After getting a degree in agriculture, (which was a subject that many of us periodically teased her about), she went on to get a masters degree at Tufts in something akin to international agricultural development, and consulted on agricultural projects for years--all while being a young mother as well. I've admired her ability to juggle and balance the responsibilities of work and family, and enjoy observing how she has pursued something that has professionally brought her so much satisfaction. When it comes to seeking advice on the subject, she is always the first person I turn to since I value her good sense, judgment, and compassion so profoundly. 

Last Saturday Melissa was in town with her husband James, who was doing some student recruiting for BYU Hawaii, and as a result, she and I got a full day to play!  :D

We started things off with eating traditional a Taiwanese danbing breakfast, going to see the National Natural History Museum in Taichung, finding Taiwanese buddha fruit, waxed apples, and dates. After this we searched out a typical Taiwanese stationary store (more on these later . . . they're awesome!), and then found boba drinks. After that we decided we had to get a massage for our tired feet, hands, and shoulders. In the midst of our subsequent wanderings we then found the local night market, where we bought our kids crazy Taiwanese outfits and I got some hair removal done via an Asian string technique. (Hopefully I can get Melissa to send me some video or photos of this soon. . . We giggled the whole time). Then to top off our fantastic day, we ended things with fresh potstickers and noodles. (There are no words to fully describe the delectability of these bad boys.)

The two of us joked that though we had spent several hours together we could have kept going much longer. It felt so good to reminisce, relax, and howl in laughter together as we enjoyed a place we mutually love so dearly. As we embraced each other goodbye, I considered my blessing of being given such a friend. God has been good to me in more ways than I can count, not the least of which is in my friendships with people as quality as Melissa. 

Thanks for the great day, Melissa! This was one of my best days on the island ever. 

Surviving and Thriving in Taipei, Day 2 & 3

Sorry for the long gap in my posting, everyone. The kids and I have all been laid flat by an awful stomach bug--an ugly reminder that illness and regular life still happens no matter where you are. But, before I forget, I really want to record the last couple of days we enjoyed in Taipei last week. So here goes . . . 
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Thursday morning promised lovely sunshine as we headed out to explore another section of the city. As we walked out of our hotel, however, we noticed a lovely, large cockroach lying dead on the step outside. The kids were fascinated, staring aghast at its horrid appearance. (They, too, agree with my own personal assessment of cockroaches.) As if this initial encounter wasn't interesting enough, however, I stepped downward onto the marble stair and inadvertently landed on one of the creatures small legs, causing it to suddenly kick like crazy. Spontaneously, the four older kids erupted into high-pitched screams that surprised everyone. Immediately, shopowners and others came outside to see what in the world was going on. We tried to explain that the kids had seen a cockroach, but between my laughter, trying to calm down the kids, and it being such a commonplace occurrence, it was clear these people could not understand. It was funny!

Choosing to move forward quickly, we headed out to the MRT (new rapid transit) to head into the center of the city where I had served as a missionary for five months. I ran off to the LDS Temple to do a session there, while everyone else walked over the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Taiwanese history, Chiang Kai-Shek was the leader of the Nationalist Party who fought against the Communist party in China, only to flee across the waters to Taiwan and establish what was to become modern Taiwan. The memorial itself is gorgeous, and made even more graceful by the amazing concert halls that flank each side, as well as all the beautiful landscaping. As a missionary I spent many wonderful moments there, ranging from my very first opportunity to contact, to seeing cultural performances there, to seeing the most amazing fireworks show of my life on Taiwan's independence day. It holds many wonderful memories for me. To make it even more special, however, when we were in town the memorial had a visiting art exhibition of thousands of paper pandas that have recently traveled round the world throughout different major cities. (Click here to learn more if you're curious). Needless to say, we knew the kids definitely needed to check out their little black and white friends.

Unfortunately, all great photo opps can be undermined, and this time a new sunscreen combined with the Taiwanese heat made for a bad combination. The kids were beyond frustrated as the sunscreen literally melted into their eyes. Hen zaogao! 

Afterwards the kids met up with me over at the temple grounds, another place that means so much to me, for many different reasons. Every month of my mission I was allowed to attend the temple once, and I walked past it every day for five months of my time in Taiwan, and I was thrilled to see how it has been improved with an accompanying new chapel/visitor's center. It was so lovely, and I felt moved to see how the work has progressed since I was here before, and to consider that I had played a small part in it. Even more special, I was so happy to listen to the temple ceremony in Mandarin again, and feel all the familiar emotions I felt the last time I had been there. It brought me a renewed sense of peace and joy. 

Poor Mr. O is still frustrated with the bright light and sunscreen in the eyes. Another photo op foiled . . . Sigh.

This was taken outside the temple before the sunscreen foibles. 

Following a bit of needed air conditioning and rest, we decided to go search out one of my favorite food stops in the neighborhood, the Golden Chicken, which also happened to be the very first restaurant I had ever eaten at on the island. Happily, it was still there after all these years, and still looked exactly the same!

I love watching them in the kitchen. You can always directly see how they work their magic.

It's amazing how fast they put these out. 

As we walked into the dining area upstairs, I was thrilled as they gave us the very table I had first eaten at as a new missionary. I couldn't stop smiling--especially when their delicious food showed up.

The baby especially loved the Golden Chicken's chicken. He inhaled it, skin and all. 

I absolutely love this photo. I took it without them even being aware. For those of you unfamiliar with Chinese culture, they're covering their teeth while they pick food out of them. It's considered very rude amongst the Chinese to pick your teeth in public. . . Something akin to picking your nose. This photo is proof that the kids are picking up on cultural nuances without even being aware of it. 

After our happy lunch, we headed back to the hotel for some necessary napping, since we would be heading to the famous Shilin Night Market later to join up with the kids' former Chinese teachers. As always, the subway ride over was half the appeal. (Notice the pandas advertising the exhibition at Chiang Kai-Shek).

Then, as we arrived in Shilin, we met up with the kids' previous Chinese teachers, two of whom we hadn't seen for well over a year. It was a joyous reunion!

A full circle moment for all of us . . . All of my kids' Taiwanese teachers together--and in Taiwan!

Night markets are the best! Seriously, the street food is amazing, and so fun. :)

Think Big-O is eating a plant? Think again. That's ice cream, with a cookie topping and mint sprig on top. Clever, no?

Sassy sports her new waffle gun. The only thing missing is syrup.

Banana Nutella Roti -- I could have one of these every day for the rest of my life!

Can you see how happy Sassy is to be back with her favorite teacher, Lee Laoshi?

Taiwan's fruit is seriously the best!

All the kids with their respective teachers. 

Getting to spend time with the teachers that had been so good to my kids really was the perfect way to end a wonderful day. We went home completely exhausted--especially the baby--but it was so worth it.

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After much effort to awake from our Shilin night market hangover, pack up five kids, and get breakfast, we finally headed back to Shilin via the MRT towards the National Palace Museum, the location for the largest collection of Chinese art in the world. Only a tiny fraction of it is on display at any one time, while the rest is locked away in the mountain vaults behind the museum. 

By way of background, this palace was built to house all of the national treasures that had accumulated over 1000+ years and had eventually found their home in Beijing's Forbidden City. Chiang Kai-Shek had taken these items with him to Taiwan when he fled China, and it was a good thing, too, since Mao ZeDong later destroyed all remnants of Chinese art or treasures on the mainland in an effort to eradicate all reminders of imperialism in China. 

The sun was so hot that day, and Coco was completely beside herself. We all were dying to get indie the air-conditioned building. 

We had been forewarned before about the fact that there would be many mainland Chinese tourists to contend with once we got there, but we were not even remotely prepared for the swarms when we got there! It was craziness! (I wish I'd taken photos). We could barely navigate in some places, and avoided them as much as possible, but it drove everyone absolutely nuts since they have a completely different sense of personal space and had no qualms shoving us out of their way. That being said, we still enjoyed the gorgeous treasures that we did get to see, and left impressed again with the incredible scope of Chinese history. 

As we collapsed in our seats on the bus, then the MRT, then the high speed train back to YuanLin, our feet were so sore, but we felt an accompanying self satisfaction at all we had pulled off in just a few days. On the whole, it was a jubilant experience to be back in my old stomping grounds of Taipei, even if part of it had changed so much. Seeing the city this time through my kids' eyes, though, was that much more gratifying.

Surviving and Thriving in Taipei, Day One

Learning that the kids' classmates would be all testing this last Wednesday and Thursday, we decided that rather than sending them to school with English reading books, we would instead hit the road for a few days and explore Taipei. Considering the circumstances with five young kids, we covered an insane amount of ground in just three days. As a result, here's the report for just day one:  

After four hours of mad packing and preparation starting early Wednesday morning, we finally left the house after 11:00 a.m. and headed for Taiwan's awesome high speed rail. Travelling at up to 186 mph, the kids thought this was pretty cool:

After finally finding our hotel, we were greeted by Sassy's beloved first grade Chinese teacher (she was also Bitts' teacher before), who had recently moved back to Taipei. Surprising us with tickets to Taipei's Baby Boss, we joined Li Laoshi for an afternoon of uniquely Asian fun.

To give you a better idea of what Baby Boss is, it is an indoor park where children are allowed to try a taste of different professions, and earn their own "baby bucks" for doing each job. Then, at the end they can purchase something with their money. I had read many parents comments online about this place, but really didn't know what to expect. Here is our first view/introduction:

Here the local baby bosses try out the life of a soldier.

As we walked in they handed us a map of the facility, and an accompanying schedule of when the kids could participate in all sorts of different job training. Here's a slight glimpse, but please note that this is nowhere close to comprehensive. 

Cleaning/Domestic Help

Sound recording studio. Notice the Cartoon Network endorsement.

Hotel/Hospitality Services

Firefighting

Sushi Bar/Seaweed Wrapping. So cute! Then again, who can do seaweed better than Asians?

This picture is totally my favorite, and any of my Asian friends ought to get a kick out of it. This is the section dedicated to exposing the kids to surgery. I laughed so hard as all these Chinese parents insisted that their kids to sit in on this, as well as the courtroom across the way. While most of the little girls wanted to play in the beauty salon next girl, this child's parents insisted she try out surgery! As you can see, she finally got a reluctant one-on-one tutorial. I should have taken a photo of the satisfied look on her parents' faces as they looked on. Classic!

Finally, after receiving a quick introduction to the offerings, the kids got to try their hand at being their own baby boss. We started with the T.V. studio, where the kids were taken into a room to rehearse a routine for their own show. Watch the result here. It cracks me up b/c it is so Taiwanese. (FYI:  Look especially at Mr. Bitts, who totally gets into it.)

After that the kids split up and pursued more specific interests, such as:

Construction

Hairdressing. (Actually, I thought this one was kind of lame, since they were really only playing with Barbies' hair. But, since the infamous doll is typically banned from our house due to her anorexic appearance, the girls were still elated at the chance to play with her. :))

Law enforcement.

Working at a pizzeria. 

Aviation

This was my personal favorite -- Aromatherapy Massage! (I got to be Sassy's client). 

Honestly, I thought this place was adorable. Though the Big-O was definitely above the typical target age, he was a great sport about the whole thing. And honestly, with it all being in Chinese, it made the experience more interesting than it normally would be. In fact, it could be considered the best Chinese-learning day ever. I learned a lot of vocabulary by watching them, and so did they--especially since they were having so much fun.

After finishing off this experience, everyone was so tired, but we felt determined to conquer the new iconic symbol of the city before the night was through:  Taipei 101

Known as the tallest building until 2010, this building has 101 floors above ground and 5 below. It is considered to be the largest and greenest building in the world, and was built to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. In order to accomplish this, it must maintain both stability and flexibility. As a result, on the 89th floor Taipei 101 utilizes a 660 ton steel damper--the largest one in the world and the only one open to public viewing. 

Anyone want to play ball?

The thing is seriously amazing, and the Taiwanese are quite proud of it. . .  so proud that they've actually created their own mascots named Damper Babies to represent their fantastic landmark. 

Blown away behind the science behind the building, Big-O appreciated the Damper Babies, and insisted we return a couple days later to buy one for him. 

Buggas congratulates the Damper Baby on his choice of haircut. 

Thanks to that amazing damper, Taipei 101 safely provides views like this:

And this:

They were quite something, and all the kids oohed and ahhed over the experience. Buggas response, however, was the very best. After traveling up 89 floors in less than 30 seconds, Li-ling and Jamin took the baby over to the large enclosed windowsill to look downward and get a better look at the view. As they sat him down there, he paused nervously for a moment and then let out a long, blood-curdling scream! The entire crowd turned to look at what happened, and then slowly, one by one they laughed out loud at the realization that this little guy actually understood that he was somewhere high up above where he ought to be. Strangely enough, the baby in the room provided the most universal communication for everyone there. Regardless of each person's nationality there, we each felt a bit of fear and a bit of awe, all at the same time. 

In fact, I loved hearing how much this building had inspired the Big-O, when he exclaimed,  "Mom, Taipei 101 is so awesome! It makes me want to be an engineer when I grow up." What could I do other than smile?