February 18th,2009
So here we are in New York. It feels weird not speaking Chinese (or trying to at least) to everyone that we come across. We’re back to the land of Meiguoren! The weather here is bad so all the flights are delayed. At first we were told that we would not even be departing until midnight. But the latest news is that they bumped us to an earlier flight (and has promised to transfer our luggage to that plane as well). So now we think we will be getting home around midnight or so. For those of you checking on the flights, the new flight info is Flight #4723 on American Airlines.
What a long, long journey this has been… we’ve been in the air for a day and a half already. But we’re on the last leg and almost home!!!
February 18th,2009
Well we made it through the first of our three flights with minimal consequences. After boarding the first plane, we were told there was an issue with the cargo door and it would take a half an hour to fix. Fortunately they fixed it in only 15 minutes. We’ll find out later this evening if any of our luggage fell out into the ocean. So here we are at the airport in Tokyo, waiting to board for the really really long flight. We’ve got plenty of playing cards, puzzle books and other reading material so maybe the time will pass quickly… I hope! You know you’ll be in the air a long time when they say the flight includes three meals – they hate even giving one meal on domestic flights LOL! So far the final two flights appear to be on time. We’ll try to post again in New York if there’s time. See ya later!
February 17th,2009
Well we’ve said our goodbye’s… and now we’re sitting at the airport in Kaohsiung waiting to board the plane. It’s amazing that this is an international airport. There are no restaurants or bookstores. Nothing but Coach and Gucci outlets and a liquor store with tons of overpriced whiskey. Hopefully we’ll get some decent food on the plane in about an hour. We will keep you all updated as we’re able to get Internet. Ciao!
February 16th,2009
Sunday started out slow. We slept in and then studied for the meeting. At the meeting, we had to say goodbye to all the friends we had become close with. It was very encouraging to see the love of the brotherhood displayed so much towards us. The friends were sad to see us go, but we exchanged information with several of them so we can keep in touch.
After the meeting, we took a short scooter ride over to the Love river for the last day of the Chinese Lantern festival. If we thought the driving was crazy before, man were we in for a surprise!!! There were more scooters on that one night than we had seen the entire trip! HAHA. There were booths set up along both sides of the river, some displaying the lanterns that school children had made and other for food or gifts. We commented on how neat the lanterns were and asked how old the students were who made them. We were thinking maybe college students, but Jing Ru said it was elementary students. Wow! What talent! We sat down beside the river to take a short rest and were able to hear May Day playing live music further down the river. We were hoping to make our way to the stage to see them but it was too crowded so we settled for listening. At 9:00 they had a nice fireworks show across the river. For those of you in Cincy, this is very similar to the WEBN fireworks…. but on a smaller scale. It was nice to be reminded of home all the way here in Taiwan! We all had fun hearing the reactions of those around us… “ooh ahh piaoliang”! It was a nice ending to the day.
Monday proved to be a day of “shop till you drop”. We started out at some local shops that offered crafts and other small treasures. We came back home for lunch around noon and were delighted to meet more of Jing Ru’s family. And of course, there was food galore! Jing Ru’s dad gave us more pijiu and kept joking about getting us drunk! HAHA. In the afternoon, we went to the Dream Mall, a huge mall with 12 floors! We browsed several of the stores and purchased yet more souvenirs. We also found out that because we are foreigners we qualified to receive a refund of all the sales tax that we had paid. Nice perk! We made a brief stop back home to drop off our purchases, then headed out again for dinner. Two of Jing Ru’s closest friends wanted to treat us so we went to an authentic “hot pot” restaurant. It was great and as usual. we stuffed ourselves. Afterwards, we went next door to the $100 store (akin to America’s $1 store) where we all made several purchases. Finally, we made our way to the night market yet once again! We made sure to stay clear of the snake stand although Jing Ru wanted us to try some. No thanks! We stayed much later than we expected but it was our last night on the town so we made it a good one.
Tuesday we will pack our things and get ready for our long trip home. If we are able, we will make one last post along with the other pictures we have taken.
We look forward to seeing everyone soon!
February 14th,2009
Today we travelled to Pingtung, the small town where Jing Ru grew up. Being as it was Saturday, the whole family was free to spend the day together. We were able to meet more of Jing Ru’s aunts, uncles and cousins, and also see the house where she grew up (what’s left of it anyway – no one has lived in it since she was 12). After taking a walk through town, we hopped in the car and headed to the family fruit farm where they grow dates, mangos and Buddha head fruit. We are in date season right now, so there were many ripe dates ready for picking. We all grabbed a bag or basket and went to work. We collected so many dates that we filled the trunks of three cars! Then we took a break to enjoy some zongzi and soup that was prepared earlier for our lunch. We were amazed that they packed hot soup in a crock pot, despite the temperature – it was in the upper 80’s today!
After lunch, we got back in the car and headed towards a local park that has a nice waterfall that is open for swimming. Unfortunately when we arrived, it was all dried up due to lack of rain. Oh well… We decided to go to Pingtung University of Science and Technology instead. This offered a nice walk, and Jing Ru’s uncle purchased some organic basil plants from the students.
Next, we headed off to the Tsing Tao Beer Factory! Free beer! Need we say more? Too bad we missed the deadline for the last tour. But did we mention there was free beer? So it’s all good. We made a quick stop at some hole-in-the-wall restaurant for dinner. Jing Ru’s dad plays mahjong with the owner. We ate noodle soup (there was no secret ingredient to this one) while talking over the great day we’d enjoyed. On the way back home, we visited a few more of Jing Ru’s relatives to drop off some dates. By now it was dark and we were all very tired. So we drove back to Kaohsiung and retired early. Tomorrow promises a full day of “spiritual” fun, so we’re resting up for that.
Learn Chinese:
Xiāngxià = country (as in “rural”)
Nóngchang = farm
February 13th,2009
After grabbing a quick bite for breakfast at the hotel, we headed out for Maobitou Park (literally means “Cat’s Nose”). This was another great park that offered phenomenal views of the ocean. It was drizzling and windy, so the water was really churned up. This made for some great waves. While we were at this park, a guy advertising glass-bottom boat rides gave us some brochures. After discussing for a little while, we decided to give it a try. We drove about 10 minutes to the dock where the boat awaited. We had to wait a few minutes before boarding because there were two reporters on their way to take the trip as well. Once they arrived, we left the harbor and motored off into the coral reef. This proved to be an awesome experience. We saw many unique fish, big and small, and also many many corals! We had our hopes set on seeing a big sea turtle, but he never showed up. (Randall – Kendra was thinking of you during this trip. You would have loved it!) The trip lasted about 40 minutes, and then we once again docked at the bay. We were all ready for lunch at this point, so we made a visit to see Ronald and the golden arches.
Next we headed over to Eluanbi, which is home to one of the only fortified lighthouses in the world. Although we were not allowed inside the lighthouse, we were able to walk the grounds and see displays of its history. Afterwards, we made our way back to Kaohsiung.
Once back in town, we stopped downtown to walk around for a while. We were able to see the 85 building, which is the second-tallest building in Taiwan, along with some other interesting buildings. There was a nice bike trail that we decided to walk for a while. (Denise we were thinking of you!) The trail was built on top of the old harbor line railroad tracks… cool! Now it was getting close to dinner time, so we finally headed back to the house. We were all pleasantly suprised to see that Jing Ru’s mom had made dumplings for us. Hen duo hen duo dumplings! Her dad told us we each had to eat 30! In addition, there was pumpkin soup and fresh fruit. They sure know how to throw down a meal! After dinner, Jing Ru’s dad wanted to take us on a short walk to a nearby market. We browsed for a while, then walked over to a coffee shop where he treated us to some cups of joe. As it turns out, Jing Ru’s cousin was also there with her boyfriend. We were laughing because Jing Ru’s dad kept yelling over to them… Poor things, they were just trying to have a nice date! So finally we made our way back to the house and turned in for the evening.
February 13th,2009
We’ve just hit a record 100 comments posted by you guys! Thanks everyone for your excitement and support!
February 11th,2009
We headed out early to make our way to the southern most tip of Taiwan.
We were all looking forward to finally seeing Kenting for ourselves… everytime we told someone we would be coming here they would tell us how beautiful it is and that we would have a great time. They weren’t lying! The scenery is very pretty here and the weather is great too.
Our first stop was Kenting National Park, the third national park that we’ve been to in Taiwan! While it had the same great ”ahh appeal” as the other national parks, it was completely different in style. The entire park was very open and had great landscape views. We were blown away when we realized that the “really blue sky” that we were staring at was actually the ocean! What a great feeling to be standing on top of a huge mountain while staring at the ocean. Once again, we were reminded of Jehovah’s great power and his great love for us. Another highlight of the park was the gorge that we were able to hike through. Unlike the rest of the park, it was not wide open at all. In fact, if someone else was coming from the other direction, we had to sort of climb up on the side of the passageway to let them get by. The hike proved to be a little exerting physically but it was well worth the effort. What beauty there is in Jehovah’s creation!
After the national park, we made a brief stop at the beach to admire some more great views. One section was lined with huge rocks that we skipped along one to the next. There was an extremely large rock jutting out of the ocean. Check out the photo gallery for some good pictures of this.
After a brief rest back at the hotel, we headed out again for a visit to the local night market. Jing Ru made sure we tried some new food dishes and of course we shopped around at all the stores and stands. Kendra was especially pleased that she was able to bargain with one of the shop owners all in Chinese…. so she was able to buy a really cool bracelet at a great price!
We are continuing to enjoy our stay here. Stay tuned for the ongoing saga…
February 11th,2009
Don’t worry folks… we’re still alive! We had a terrible time trying to get a decent Internet connection so it was impossible to update the website. Below is one long blog for all the days we missed while in Taipei and Hualien. Now, we are in Kenting getting burnt to a crisp (and remember, its wintertime here!)
Thursday, February 5 (Hualian)
We told Dennis that we wanted to take him and his father out to lunch so the day started with that. Jerry was able to get away from work for a little bit so he joined us as well. We went to a place called The Ark. They had very good food… we let Dennis order for us since the entire menu was in characters and we had no clue what to order. After lunch, we went back to the salon with Dennis so he could cut Kendra’s hair. What fun that was! It was the first time he had worked with “foreign” hair and kept saying how thick it was… “so much hair, so much hair”. Yes, Kendra was brave to let him at it, but it turned out really cute. Dennis calls it a “Japanese style”. Afterwards, the three of us went exploring through downtown Hualien for a few hours. We ended up at a Starbucks to upload some photos (so check out the gallery). The day ended at the Lee’s home. They live halfway up the mountain and have a wonderful view of the city. We drove to the top to see the skyline of Hualien before coming back to the house for some dessert and association. We showed them the group picture of the congregation from the C.O. visit. They were happy to see brother Woolsten and the Huangs too. They commented that we have a very nice congregation. We told them we think so too! J
Friday, February 6 (Taipei)
We were up early packing our things to make the journey back to Taipei. When the Lee family came to take us to the train station, it felt like we were leaving home all over again. We were able to experience the love of the brotherhood at such a close, personal level that none of us will ever forget it. What a wonderful God we serve! The Lees made sure we knew that we are all family and are welcome at their home anytime. Of course, we told them that they could come to Meiguo anytime too! We certainly will miss them.
Back in Taipei, the allergies quickly kicked in for John and Kendra so the rest of the evening was spent resting at the apartment.
Saturday, February 7 (Taipei)
We reserved Saturday for a trip to the National Palace Museum. We only have a few photos of the outside to show for it, though, because cameras were forbidden inside. It was very cool to see the many facets of Chinese history…. art, sculpture, calligraphy, furniture, gems, rare documents, etc. It took most of the day to explore so afterwards we relaxed at home to dinner and a movie.
Nikki’s Little Adventure:
It all started as we were leaving Hualien. I needed to exchange more money, but had left my travelers checks in Taipei. I thought “No problem. Our train will be in Taipei by 4pm, plenty of time to get to the bank.” Little did I know the banks in Taipei all close at 3:30pm Monday-Friday. I had just enough money for any travel we’d be doing (MRT, buses, taxi) but not enough for meals and souvenirs. John and Kendra were wonderful in offering to help me out til Monday morning. But I kept thinking I should just go to the airport and exchange there. So Saturday after we returned from the Museum, John and Kendra decided to rest and I decided to go on a little journey.
I took the cell phone in case of emergency and told Kendra I’d be gone at least 2 hours probably more. The MRT does not go to the airport which is in Taoyuan (almost an hour south of Taipei). So I headed to the MRT got on the subway and headed to Taipei Main Station. Once I arrived I had a difficult time finding the bus stop that went to the airport. After checking with the information booth, I found I had to go about 2 blocks down the street to a bus depot. I got my ticket to go to the airport and got in what I thought was the correct line. I asked the person in front of me if this bus was going to the airport and he asked to see my ticket. It turns out I was in the wrong line. He pointed me in the direction in which I needed to go and they were loading the bus. Whew! I had made it. I enjoyed the ride to the airport, although I couldn’t see much since it was dark. My Taiwan book told me that I would need to go to Terminal 2 to exchange money, but I had no idea if the bus stopped at both terminals. When we got to Terminal 1, not everyone got off the bus, so I figured I’d wait and see what the driver did. He did indeed go to Terminal 2. It didn’t take long to find the exchange booth and exchange my checks (probably less than 5 minutes). By the time I was done, the same bus was still there loading people who had just arrived to go to Taipei. I had decided I would call Kendra when I got back to Taipei Main Station, because then I knew I’d be home within 30 minutes. However, I remembered reading in my book that when the buses come back to Taipei they go a different route and drop people off in neighborhoods in and around Taipei Main Station. We turned a corner and I noticed a hotel that looked very familiar and an Armani store on the same block. I wondered, could we actually be right around the corner from where we were staying? The bus driver had already gotten off the bus to help unload the luggage of some of the people that were getting off. So I decided to take a chance. I got off and asked the driver if this was Zhong Shan Bei Lu er duan? He said it was. It turned out I was right around the corner from the apartment. I called Kendra to let her know I was coming up to the door and she said she was just getting ready to call and check on me. So I arrived home safely, excited that I had made my way around Taipei all by myself.
Sunday, February 8 (Taipei)
Sunday morning Nikki and Kendra went again to the Zhongshan congregation for the meeting. We met still more friends and were able to join some of them for lunch after the meeting. Included was a brother from the Philly Chinese… he has been in Taipei for the last year but will return home next month. His Chinese is so good after only 1 year; it makes us want to stay longer. L After lunch, we went back home to check on John. He was feeling a little better so he was able to join us for our visit to Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building. This was very cool! The 36 second elevator ride took us all the way to the 89th floor! (This building also boasts the world’s fastest elevators!) We ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the tiny buildings and cars below (we couldn’t really even see people) for quite a while and then took the stairs on up to the 91st floor. The 91st floor is the outside observatory so we were able to feel the wind in our face while we looked out across the city. What a sight! After that, we walked a few flights of stairs back down to the 88th floor where we could see the building’s damper (a 5-ton steel pendulum that keeps the building from swaying a whole lot). Taipei 101 is one of very few tall buildings that actually have the damper on display. It is quite impressive how it works… and we can say that it did the job well because none of us felt the building move at all! After making our way back down to civilization, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed home.
Monday, February 9 (Taipei)
The long-awaited Bethel trip… we got up early to make our way to Bethel. There was a little confusion as to which subway stop to take (because it ended up being a train station instead of a subway stop – oops) but we finally made it. A British sister who has been serving at the branch for over 40 years gave us the tour. She is a wonderful sister with a great sense of humor. She has a special fondness for all of the artwork so we stopped to admire many of the paintings along the way. She would ask us “what time period does this picture take place in?” or “do you remember the name of this girl?” or “who is pictured here witnessing to the Roman soldiers?” She also spent some time in the Library detailing the history of the Amis people (aboriginals in Taiwan). Her current job at Bethel involves producing literature in the Amis language (the only printing done at this branch). Also on the tour, we were able to meet her husband who works as a Branch coordinator. The entire Bethel family is only 34 persons so she said it truly does feel like a small family. The branch was beautiful, though, and gives a great witness to the community here is Taiwan. We enjoyed the tour very much and were so glad that we were able to finally make it here!!!
Back at the apartment, we rested up for a little while before heading back out for some night life. We travelled to Meilihua which has the 2nd largest ferris wheel in Asia. Yes, Cali, we rode it for you! And boy was it fun! We got a great view of the surrounding area and laughed at the two girls in the cart next to us because they were taking pictures of themselves the ENTIRE time! Of course, we took a few ourselves – haha. (I know, Paul… “bunch of tourists”) After riding the ferris wheel, we ate dinner at… you guessed it… T.G.I. Friday’s. It was surprisingly very similar to the ones at home, with many of the same dishes. We did a little more shopping before returning home. Time to pack up and leave Taipei… again.
Tuesday, February 10 (Kaohsiung)
Today we took the high-speed train back to Kaohsiung. It was nice to ride it during the day this time so we could see the various cities as they zoomed by the window. And again, our speed topped at a little over 180mph. We ate some great noodle soup for lunch and then rested before going back out for family study at the house of Jing Ru’s best friend. On the way, some guy on a scooter came riding up beside us. He asked us “What religion are you guys?” and of course we said “Yehehua Jianzhengren” so then he asked “where do you worship?” Nikki had an invitation so we were able to give him that and tell him about the meetings. He thanked us and said he will come on Sunday! Jing Ru told us later that he probably stopped because he saw Nikki and Kendra (meiguoren) and thought “they must be Christian”. It was a really great experience… now we will see if he shows up on Sunday!
Family study was fun. There were 10 people total, including us. We did the lesson for congregation Bible study and then one of the supplementary articles in the new Watchtower. The brother conducting was very funny because he kept telling all the Chinese friends to read slowly and pronounce all their words very clearly. This was for our benefit of course but we thought it was funny to hear him correct them…. Even Jing Ru was corrected a few times! J
After the study, we enjoyed some fellowship for a little while. They provided tea and cookies and there was a popular Taiwanese drama on the TV. We left around 10:00pm and made our way back to Jing Ru’s home.
February 5th,2009
Wednesday, February 4
Bro. Li arrived promptly at 9:30 this morning and took us to a 7-11 to stock up on snack stuff. He told us that once we started going through the canyon, there would be nowhere to get food and suggested we get enough to get us through the day. After our 7-11 stop, we headed to Taroko National Park – the second largest canyon in Asia. If we thought the drive up was spectacular, we were in for a big surprise. The park exceeded any amount of beauty that we could have ever imagined. I’m sorry to say, that I know our pictures will not do it justice. We only hope that any of you who travel to Taiwan in the future put this down as a must see. We spent the day ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the beauty before us and were constantly remarking how wonderful Jehovah is as a creator. A highlight of the trip was the small suspension bridge that allowed us to venture across the gorge. Only 8 people at a time were allowed on the bridge and we never saw more than 6 people at a time on it. The entire gorge was spectacular. Anytime you thought it couldn’t get any better than this, it did and each time was even more amazing than the last. We pretty much spent the whole day there and just took our time. After our tour, we made a quick stop at: Surprise!!! McDonalds. We were really tired, as was Bro Li and we just wanted something quick so we could head in for the evening and relax.
Learn Chinese: Pubu = waterfall.
February 5th,2009
Tuesday, February 3
Brother Li came to pick us up at 10:30am. First on the agenda was the beach! On the way we took a detour up and over a nearby mountain to get some great photos overlooking the city. The drive back down took us right past Taiwan’s version of Sea World… the Farglory Ocean Park. At the beach, we spent some time admiring the incredibly blue water and picturesque views. Kendra reports that the water felt awesome. Unfortunately there were too many rocks to swim safely.
Next we headed over to the new Kingdom Hall. The friends were just finishing lunch, so we joined them for a quick bite while introducing ourselves. Then we peeked inside the Hall and found almost a dozen Taiwanese brothers taking siesta… some of them snoring too! The Kingdom Hall was very beautiful and had marble floors throughout (big surprise for Hualian right?) Several brothers outside were working on masonry walls around the driveway and parking lot. The Hall was almost completed, but still had a fair amount of work left. They have been working on it for some 3 months now, and are unsure as to a completion date.
After leaving the Kingdom Hall, brother Li took us to Liyu lake tucked among some mountain peaks. There were several spots along the shore to rent paddle boats, so the three of us got one and headed out. We paddled around for a while taking pictures, then came back when our legs got too tired to keep going. When we got back, we found brother Li had also decided to take siesta in his car. So we lounged at a nearby gazebo until he awoke. Then we all headed back to the house so we could rest up before tonight’s activities…
At 7:00pm brother Li came to get us once again. First, we went to a nearby salon where his son, Dennis, works. He was just finishing up someone’s hair so then he came over to chat with us for a few minutes. Kendra asked him if he would do her hair… his surprised and nervous reaction was priceless. At first he thought she was joking, but when she insisted he finally agreed. (There wasn’t time to do this tonight, but we plan to go back before we leave Hualien.)
*We have been having so much fun with Dennis since we got here – he is absolutely hilarious. We are trying to convince him to come to Meiguo. We almost had him convinced when we told him how much people pay for haircuts there, compared to the very inexpensive charge here.
Next, we headed downtown for some shopping and a dance show by the local Ami people (aborigine). It was an incredible show that lasted for one hour. Afterwards, we were able to go on stage and take pictures with the performers (all teenagers). After making a brief stop for dinner, we headed home with another great night in Taiwan under our belts.
Learn Chinese: Hao = signifies a number
Ex. When we were asked when we were leaving, we said “shiba tian” but were corrected to say “shiba hao”, meaning the 18th.
February 5th,2009
Monday, February 2
One of our concerns when planning this trip was how to catch the Superbowl. But when our alarms went off at 5:30am we couldn’t help but wonder if this was really worth it. We forced ourselves to get up anyway, met with Jake, and headed downtown to The Tavern Premier – an American sports bar with more TV’s than a Circuit City. It also housed the largest concentration of Americans we’d seen in all of Taiwan. There were about 20 other Witnesses who also met up to catch the game. We had a blast and quickly determined that, yes, it was worth getting up so early for. The Tavern put on a good brunch buffet… eggs, fruit, muffins, burgers, fries, salad, sweets, etc. And of course, beer. There is something to be said for having beer with your eggs first thing in the morning! The fans were predominately rooting for Pittsburg. However, we had some other supporters to root with us for Arizona. Even though they didn’t pull off the win, we had fun with the close game that it ended up being.
After the Superbowl, we went back home to clean up and pack for Hualien. We finished early so we decided to pay a visit to one of our favorite restaurants. We have come to love the quaint atmosphere, good food, and great service at Grazie (an Italian restaurant in Taipei – who knew?) So after a relaxing lunch, we were off to the train station.
On the train, we realized that we have now taken all forms of available transportation in Taiwan…. plane, train, bullet-train, bus, subway, taxi, car and scooter. When we arrived in Hualien, the friends were waiting to take us to the Huang’s house. We laughed because not just one or two people came, but five! So off we went in the minivan… We quickly fell in love with the Li family. They are very hospitable people and are patient with us when we stumble over our Chinese. They say we speak good Chinese, but sometimes they laugh when we say something incorrectly. When we first arrived at the house, we sat around in the living room talking and eating (they stopped at a night market on the way to get us some dinner). They were asking questions about the congregation in Raleigh and were very surprised to hear how many elders, servants and pioneers we have for such a small congregation. They asked about the ministry too, and that led to an on-the-spot demonstration. They asked Kendra to give a presentation. So with only a little hesitation, she gathered her dongxi and began. In the end, she “placed” a Bible Teach book and set up a return to start a bible study. They were all very impressed and said that we needed to stay here to help them out! (Don’t worry Bauluo, we told them no – hehe).
Learn Chinese: Shishi = to try or attempt
Ex. “Ni de zhongwen hen hao.” “Xiexie. Wo shishi.”
February 5th,2009
Sunday, February 1
Sunday was a slow day… Kendra and Nikki went to the meeting in the morning, John stayed home sick again. Afterward, we went to the train station to buy our tickets to Hualian. It’s interesting to see how many people try to cut around us in lines, assuming we don’t know what we’re doing and will take too long. At least this time the woman asked first, and we told her “yes, we do in fact know where we are going and what we’re doing here.” So Kendra asked the ticket attendant a few extra questions just to spite the lady behind us hahaha. Later that evening, John had to return to the hospital. This time we enlisted Jake’s help to translate. After he argued with the receptionist about paying admission a second time (citing that they didn’t fix the problem the first time), we made our way to the doctor. He said the infection was definitely improving, but that it normally takes 7-10 days to fully recover. So he gave us more meds and we were on our way. Thankfully no more prune juice! We went across the street to one of Jake’s favorite restaurants for some food, and enjoyed a few more “Korean roommate” stories before heading back home to bed. Superbowl bright and early tomorrow!
February 4th,2009
Sorry for the lack of updates. We have not had time or opportunity to get online in Hualian yet. But we have the most incredible photos ever, coming soon! We just can’t upload them by blackberry. So stay tuned… Hopefully we’ll have some for you within 24 hours!
January 31st,2009
Yesterday was sort of an icky day. It poured on and off most of the day. So last night we were discussing what we would do today and came up with a plan. We had two options: 1) If its raining we would go to the National Palace Museum 2) If its sunny we would go to Taipei Zoo. We woke up and YEAH it was sunny. So we headed out a little before ten for the subway station. We grabbed some croissants on the way and headed on our quest to see the pandas. The ride was pretty cool, because the last half of it was above ground and we got our first glimpse of Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the world). We plan to return to Taipei 101 on another day.
Arriving at the zoo, we saw panda dongxi everywhere. There were hats, bags, and stuffed pandas galore. As we entered the gate we were given a pass that told us what time we would be able to view the pandas. We found out however, that within a 10 minute window over 12,000 other people could have the same assigned time. We arrived a little after 11am and had 2 hours before it was our turn to see the Pandas, so we started our tour of the zoo. Very early on, we became the main attraction. We had several people come up and request pictures with us. We felt like celebrities. We meandered our way through the Formosan Animal Area (Per John: Formosa is the former British name for Taiwan) where we saw tons of various kinds of houzi, deer, and bear. We also had our first experience with the zoo bathrooms. They were hilarious, because they gave all kinds of curious facts about poop (pictures included). We weren’t the only ones amused by this; we saw tons of people taking pictures with the poop signs.
1:20 arrived and we got in line with thousands other people to see the pandas. The line moved pretty quickly. However, we were disappointed because we only got to see the back side of the Pandas, since they were both sleeping. Not to mention the policeman, who were herding us along at a very fast rate. But the rest of the zoo was a lot of fun. We got to ride the shuttle train through the last leg. I even ventured into the Amphibian and Reptile House. John and Kendra were great about warning me when the snakes were coming.
Our Favorite Zoo Exhibits:
John:
-
Gray Wolf – cuz it was howling.
-
Tapir – cuz it looks like a huge pig with a mini elephant nose.
Kendra: Tiger – because he came right up to the glass and stared us down while licking his lips. “I’ve never seen one that close before.”
* it is worth noting, that we suspect the animals were attracted to Kendra’s red hair, because many came up to her, including the fastest moving turtle we had ever seen.
Nikki: I enjoyed the African section, because of the way it was set up. You never knew what was coming up and you would turn the corner and bam! Right in front of you is the elephants, then the Giraffes, then the Zebras. The lemurs came right up to the fence where we were standing. However, I was a little disappointed, because they weren’t as cute as the one in Madagascar.
We ended our trip with a stop to the souvenir shop before heading back to the subway. It was the busiest we had seen the subway since we got here. We literally felt like we were being herded through the panda exhibit again. We found a great café for dinner and discussed our plans for the next few days. We have enjoyed Taipei so much; we have decided we will return for a few days after Hualien, before going back to Kaohsiung.
Learn Chinese: Xiongmao = Panda
January 29th,2009
That is, morning by our time. It’s still Thursday night for you guys.
Sorry about the delays in getting our posts updated. Our Internet connection has been spotty since people started returning from their Chinese New Year celebrations and noticed me leeching their wireless. Everyone near the house is locked down now, so we have to go to public WiFi hot-spots (like McDonald’s or Starbucks) to do our updates.
Anyway, we’re caught up on posts now and I am also in progress of uploading a bunch of new photos. Remember that the home page only shows the three most recent posts. So if you missed any, you can go to the “Blog Posts” menu for the full history.
Keep the comments coming too! We’re staying current on them via the BlackBerry. We love hearing from everyone!
Jacob – Yes, we have made arrangements to see the Superbowl. Jake said some of the friends here go to a place called “The Tavern” to watch it. Kickoff will be at 7:00 in the morning for us, so I guess we’ll be chowing down to breakfast food instead of wings and nachos! Go Arizona!
January 29th,2009
Ok so I thought this medicine would start helping fairly quickly. I attempted to join the girls for a trip to the zoo today. Big mistake! I made it as far as the subway station, then had to turn around and run home. They decided to save the zoo for another day, and left to check out Wulai instead. But not before locking me in the house. Yeah, doors are weird like that here. So I was locked inside with my evil medicine until they got home in the evening. And I am now convinced that “Brown Mixture Liquid” really IS some kind of prune juice… I’m sure you can figure out what I mean! Kendra can tell you more about their trip…
Kendra’s comments:
The travel to Wulai was really adventurous… we first had to take the subway to the farthest stop on the “green line” to Xindian. Then, we hopped onto a city bus to take us the rest of the way up the mountain. If any of you have seen that YouTube video where the subway attendants are shoving people into the cars, thats what it was like. We were stuffed in like sardines! And the drive up the mountain was twisty and curvy, making for a real challenge to stay standing. When we arrived at the town of Wulai, we walked around through the various vendors selling food and trinkets. I found an awesome cowboy hat (I had been wanting one for quite some time) so of course I had to buy it. After meandering our way through town, we came to a tiny little train station that would take us to the very top of the mountain, where the Wulai Waterfall awaited. The train could hardly be called a train, it was so dinky. We laughed at the little cars, that could hold only 2 people each (total of 10 passengers for the entire train). But it was fun. So once at the top, we were blown away by the gorgeous view. Wulai Waterfall is not the biggest I’ve seen before but it had a certain interest about it. It was very beautiful and fell over the huge rocks like water filling into a glass of ice. Jehovah has a magnificent hand! We walked around to various lookout points and got lots of pictures. When we were ready to head back down, we decided to walk instead of waiting for the train again. We were glad we did because it provided more opportunities to take in Jehovah’s creation.
Back at the base, we picked up some food for ourselves and John and then headed home. The bus was just as packed going home as it was on our way there. Our feet were soooo tired by the time we got home. But it was a wonderful day and we were both glad we decided to make the journey to Wulai.
P.S. Looks like our Bethel tour has been further postponed. We’ll keep you posted…
January 28th,2009
An yisheng you say? Yes… we paid a visit to the ER today. Don’t be alarmed… none of us lost a limb. John woke up feeling worse today with a horrible sore throat and headache, so we decided to take him to the doctors. We were all surprised by the efficient operation they were running (no pun intended)! With travel time included (walking), we were there and back home in under 30 minutes, with prescriptions in hand. Total cost: $30 US. Wow! We would have been waiting for like 6 hours (and had to pay like $600) to accomplish that in any American hospital. So now John is doped up on 4 different meds in addition to the Tylenol that he keeps taking. One of the prescribed medicines is “Brown mixture liquid with Opium”. Hmmm…. Not too sure about that.
So while John was at home resting, Nikki and I went exploring. It took less than 5 minutes to find the mall… leave it to the women! We also stumbled upon a great Japanese restaurant. It was very fancy but inexpensive. The real gem was the massage parlor… what a wonderful experience! First, they gave us tea and candy while we soaked our feet in the foot bath. Then, we headed back to the massage rooms where pajamas awaited us. For the next 60 min, we were pampered like no other massage we had ever experienced. They even walked on us!!! Surprisingly, this felt awesome… we both agreed it was the best part of the entire massage. So afterward, they gave us more tea and candy while we “woke up” from our massage-induced laziness.
We headed back to the apartment to check on John. Still feeling bad, he requested some food so we went back out to the Taipei Main Station. It might sound funny that we went to the subway for dinner, but it has everything, including a Dunkin Donuts! We explored the underground mall for a while and got to see several groups of break-dancers practicing – this was really cool. We picked up some Chinese food (bet you couldn’t have guessed that one) and also bought a copy of “I Am Legend”. So the rest of the evening was spent relaxing as we ate our dinner and watched the movie. We also had our first listen of Nikki’s new Wang Lee Hom CD.
Learn Chinese:
1. Wo de yanhou teng = My throat hurts
2. Zhitongyao = pain killers
3. Anmo = massage
P.S. Because of John being sick, we rescheduled our trip to Bethel for Friday.
John’s addendum:
It was a beautiful day in Taipei, sunny and about 70F. A nice contrast from the past few days, which have been overcast with occasional drizzle. Too bad I was stuck in the house for most of it. And I’d like to mention that “brown mixture liquid” tastes a lot like prune vodka… try to imagine! BLECKH!
Oh, and if you’ve never seen the special edition of “I Am Legend” with the alternate ending… Let me just say I liked it much better than the original theater version.
Also let’s not forget the winner of our movie quote contest…. Cali! Congrats, you win a disposable Chinese hand-warmer. Sorry, the instructions are all in Chinese so we have no idea how to use it.
Gabboh, we’ll give you a door prize for speaking Indian. How about a souvenir receipt from Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei? Cool eh?
January 27th,2009
Nikki and Kendra met Jake at the Taipei Main Station for “street” witnessing in the subway. John was under the weather, so he stayed home in bed for the morning. The subway station was teeming with people… Nikki and Kendra both unloaded all the literature that they took with them – 16 mags and 2 brochures between the 2 of them in just 2 hours (in addition to several tracts)!
In the afternoon, we headed up to Yang Ming Shan (mountain) to check out the hot springs. Unfortunately, when we got to the top it was rainy and cold so we decided to stop in at Starbucks for some hot coffee instead. Once back in town, we ordered pizza and rented some movies to take back to the house. Movie quote: “there’s a rat floating on poop”. (Be the first to comment back with the correct movie and win a prize!)
So now we are just chilling at the house… Edward is packing his bags to leave early in the morning for MeiGuo, Jake is looking at Nikki’s Taiwan travel book, Nikki is studying her medical billing, and John and Kendra are writing this blog.
That’s all folks!
Learn Chinese:
- Jieguo = excuse me (used in crowded subways and buses to get past people)
- Buhao yisi = excuse me (polite way of interrupting a conversation)
January 26th,2009
We got in touch with Jake. He invited us to join him and a missionary brother in field service, but we couldn’t get ourselves up in time. So we just met him for lunch at Jo’s House. The employees all dressed up in western wear with cowboy boots and hats. Some of the tables were even set up inside of a chuck wagon! Too funny!
After lunch, Jake took off for a few more hours of service, so we wandered the streets on our own for a while. We finally found the TGI Fridays too! They had a special on squid burgers…. Mmmmmmmm! Eventually we hopped on the subway for home just in time to meet Edward arriving from the train station. He had some phone calls and errands to do, so after letting him in we took off again with Jake to see the night life.
So Jake showed up on his skateboard… what a sight that must have been for the locals! He guided us back to his apartment and showed us around. Then we went out to a night market to pick up some dinner. All in all, we had a great time.
Oh, I almost forgot… you’ve got to hear this experience from Jake, with one of his former roommates. Who knew Koreans could be so articulate in Chinese? LOL
Jake: “Duibudui?”
Jake’s Korean roommate: “Ungh.”
Jake: “What part of duibudui do you not understand? Dui… huo… budui?”
Jake’s Korean roommate: “Uuungh!”
Jake: “What does that even mean?!?”
And of course, our Word of the Day is Buxing, meaning “impossible” or “not allowed”.
Usage example:
Jake: “I have my own shorts for the hot spring.”
Attendant: “Buxing! You must buy ours for $150.”
Jake: “Ungh!”
January 26th,2009
We decided to sleep in since we have been going strong every since we arrived in Taiwan. Jing Ru’s parents left for their hometown to celebrate Chinese New Year, but not before making us some nice egg, ham and cucumber sandwiches. They are truly hospitable people. We had a very lazy morning (and afternoon) until we left for the meeting around 2:30. Once we arrived at the meeting, we were delighted to see Edward! It was like being at home again! We were also pleased that we were each able to carry on conversations with the brothers and sisters. We knew enough Chinese and they knew enough English to exchange thoughts. We all feel that we are progressing with our conversational abilities. The friends are very helpful and patient with us.
After the meeting, we made a brief stop by the Love River for a bite to eat. Also, Edward introduced us to his aunt who lives nearby. Finally, we packed up and headed to the train station for our journey to Taipei.
The high-speed train was so cool! We all wished it wasn’t dark so we could see more of the scenery, but we did get to see some fireworks that people were setting off in celebration of the New Year. The train listed our speed throughout the journey… we topped at 185mph! We were zooooooming!
After disembarking, we made our way to the subway under the train station. We did surprisingly well figuring out where to go and which stops to take. The real challenge came after exiting the subway… when we had to find Joy and Edward’s house. It appeared from Joy’s hand-drawn map that their house was very close to the subway stop… so we decided to walk, dragging all of our luggage behind. We must have provided some laughs for the onlookers… us foreigners with a ton of luggage looking like “where do we go now?” After walking several blocks, we finally broke down and got a cab…. And then found out that we were less than a block away! The cab driver was hilarious. He kept using his tiny little flashlight to check the address we had given him… and then sputtering “meiyou” over and over. Finally, we found the street and although it was a one-way street, the driver proceeded to go the wrong way. He barely squeezed by the abundant scooters parked on both sides. But alas! We made it! So we hauled our luggage up to the 6th floor to what we found to be a very nice apartment. Joy: why do you say it is small? We like it very much!
Learn Chinese: Duojiu = How long
(The friends always ask us “Ni xue Zhongwen duojiu?”)
January 24th,2009
So we chuandao’d in the morning… We were able to get some good pointers on our presentations. Putting them into practice led to positive results – Kendra was even able to receive several donations. Door to door witnessing has brought back memories for us all. We haven’t done so much walking in years! And the loud banging on doors, shouting out “you ren zai jia ma!”, large groups congregating in the streets waiting for someone to walk out of an apartment… nothing like american service.
Next we had lunch and got our first taste of KTV. Jingru’s uncle was a superstar! We also heard her aunt and both parents sing. Too bad they had no english songs for us to give it a try. We also found out that it is her family tradition to have peanuts and hard liquor while singing. So we are getting fully immersed. 
(Baoluo eat your heart out!) We talked about taking a nap, but instead did our family study while getting eaten by the “smart” mosquitoes.
Finally, we went out for a night on the town at Xinjuejiang. We were shocked at how much STUFF and PEOPLE were everywhere! So we tried a few strange drinks and some kind of hot chicken sandwich for dinner while doing a little shopping. We are told we’ve only finished one of these “hot spots”… there are still several more to explore.
Quote of the day: The mosquitoes can’t see her, but they smell her and say “Jingru is coming!”
We are trying to upload a mess of photos, so be sure to check the gallery too!
January 24th,2009
We started out our day with a trip to Shoushan Nature Reserve (aka Monkey Mountain). The name was fitting because we saw several monkeys big and small. They all came right up to us and acted as if we were one of them. We got some great video of their bug picking ritual. Jingru promised us a good hike. Little did we know she meant lots and lots and lots and lots of stairs. But each and every step was worth it because the view from the top was great!
After a brief stop at 7-11, we went home to prepare for the meeting. At the meeting, we met many new friends. They were all very excited to meet us. One of them said she is privileged to join us at the international convention in Long Beach. So many of you will get to meet her! We also met a sister who is leaving Sunday for her first trip to America. So we joked with her about trading places.
After the meeting we made our first trip to a night market. All of us were literally overwhelmed by the stench eminating from the first booth on the right… yep, you guessed it – stinky tofu!!! But otherwise we had a great time there and stayed until well past midnight. We would have kept going, but Nikki spotted the snake booth and we all had an interesting experience as a result of that. So it was time to turn around and head back. Plus we had service first thing Saturday morning.
Word of the day today is “shi jia”… it’s the name of a very strange fruit that looks like the head of Buddha. Hence the english name “Buddha head fruit”.
P.S. to Gabboh – Jingru’s mom made zongzi for us! Mmmmmm tasty!
January 22nd,2009
Today was our first day in Kaohsiung. And our first day to preach in Taiwan. The service group started with only 7 people, but after about an hour or so we had grown to close to 20! We met a lot of new friends and we all got to speak in the ministry. Today was also a first for riding scooters. It was especially an experience for Nikki because she had never even been on any two wheeled vehicle before. We rode across town to Xiziwan where we saw Yingguo Lingshiguan (the British Consulate), and then drove the scooters right onto a ferry to go across to Qijin park! (Photos and videos coming soon.) Here Kendra and Nikki ate grilled squid for the first time. We watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean (a first for many of us). We will return here later in our trip to see the lighthouse and a shell store that Jingru recommends. We ended the night at a family style chinese restaurant where many of the friends we met in field service joined us.
The quote for the day came from Jingru this time… “Look! She had fresh noodles!” If you can’t figure this out, we’ll have to explain when we get home. LOL
January 21st,2009
Well we finally arrived here in Kaohsiung after a brief stop in the Hong Kong airport. Interesting thing about that… When we got rerouted through Hong Kong, the airline told us our luggage would follow us. Well it did. All but the biggest one that is. Somehow it caught an express flight on another airline and beat us here. But since it went unclaimed the baggage folks were about to send it to luggage limbo! We went to the lost baggage desk and were in process of filling out the forms when Nikki spotted our lost suitcase sitting off in a corner behind their desk. So she shouted “there it is!” and all of us quickly descended up on it. As it happens, we not only averted our own disaster, but saved those poor baggage folks from a lot of paperwork too. So here we are, with all our luggage too, sleeping on the floor. More to come soon. Zai jian!
January 20th,2009
We’ve arrived safe and sound… but not in Taiwan. If you haven’t guessed yet, we’re spending the night in Tokyo! How did we get here? Let’s back up a bit.
The flight from RDU to JFK was uneventful, although Kendra was quite proud of the fact that she hit her head on the ceiling. Yeah it was a small plane. But as of 6:00 am we already knew that our connection to Tokyo had been delayed an hour. By the time we got to New York, it was delayed even further. After about six consecutive announcements stating, “Ladies and gentlement, the plane is still being serviced. It will be at least another ten to fifteen minutes before we can begin boarding,” we knew we were going to miss our final connection to Taiwan. One time the gate attendant added, “the floors are still being vacuumed.” LOL.
So about an hour and a half later, we finally boarded and took off for Tokyo. The plane was huge! However, we found our seats were ALL THE WAY IN THE BACK! Past first class (which was oh so nice), past business class (which was swell as well) and on up to the nosebleed section of the bleachers. But hey, we had easy access to the “aft facilities” and got to hang with the flight attendants in between their duties.
As we landed in Tokyo, the captain assured us several times that anyone with a connection leaving at or after 6:00pm (like ours) would be able to make their flight. Ha! DRAMA!
So to cut this long story down to blogging size, here we are at the Hotel Nikko Narita (Cali and Gabby eat your hearts out!) We got free rooms, dinner and breakfast provided. We took picutres so check out the gallery to see these awesome suites. They even provided free house slippers and robe pajamas!
Kendra’s comments: And they even have a bidet!!!
Nikki’s comments: Happy anniversary Paul and Denise!!!
January 17th,2009
Another monumental date in history… January 17, 2009. It’s been almost two years since those of us in the first class had our ceremony. Now we watched as the torch was passed to a new group. The ceremony was just awesome! We especially enjoyed the two chinese dramas covering the destruction of Pharaoh in the Red Sea and the destruction of Sodom & Gommorah, climaxing with a dramatic light show as Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Poor Camille! Talk about feeling salty over something…. hahaha. Check the photo gallery for some pics we took at the graduation ceremony.
January 16th,2009
I can’t believe it’s finally here! We’ve been planning for sooooo long, but now we actually get to go!!! We will be attending the graduation for the students in the Chinese class tomorrow and then the meeting on Sunday. After that, we’re off!!! I can’t believe I’m this excited considering I haven’t packed yet – hehe. There’s always Sunday night…
Here is a picture of the group we had on Sunday for the C.O.’s visit. (Gabboh and Wu Jiemei didn’t make the cut, but I think we got everyone else.) We’ll be adding more pictures like this one as we visit the various congregations in Taiwan!
January 15th,2009
In case you haven’t yet filled your appetite for crazy Americans in Asia, here’s another blog to check out. Most of you already know Ben is in China. Well now you can read all about it!
http://bensvisittochengdu.blogspot.com
January 15th,2009
Well we only have a couple of days left! There is still far too much to do in preparation. At least we finished our blog site right? The comments are coming in too – it’s exciting!
So… the house is a mess, there’s a to-do list a mile long, we don’t even have our luggage to begin packing yet. But I did finish all my projects at work! Didn’t think that would happen. It’s just awesome that they’re letting all of us take a month long sabbatical. What are the odds that three different employers would agree to this special request at the same time?
Oh yeah, let’s not forget to mention that Gabby gets our life while we’re not using it. That means the house, the car, and our dogs too. I hope she cleans up after her wild parties! j/k
Just for fun, here’s a picture of “The Poop”.
December 10th,2008
We went over Nikki’s place again to work on our itinerary for Taipei and Hualien. Joy and Sandy had lots of good tips for us.
November 19th,2008
We went to Nikki’s house. Jing Ru was spending some time there as well. She helped us plan our stay in Kaohsiung.