Quick Hits: Holidays and Vacation

As a teacher here in Taiwan, our teaching schedule is quite a bit longer than if I were to teach in America. The typical school year runs from the beginning of August until the end of June, giving the teachers only one month of vacation in the summer as opposed to 2 in America.

In the middle of the year is a two week break for Chinese New Year, which is in the end of January or the beginning of February. This usually coincides with time between semesters, so it is also a semester break of sorts.

The first semester has three other days that are considered holidays: Moon Festival (in September or October), National Day (October 10), and the Republic of China Founding Day (January 1).

The second semester has three vacation holidays: Peace Day (February 28), Tomb Sweeping Day (in April or March) and Dragon Boat Festival (in May or June).

For all of these holidays, our school gets one day off...provided that day is on a normal school day. If it is on a Saturday or Sunday, we do not get another day off that week. The weekend is our chance to celebrate.

If the day falls on a Monday or a Friday, this is great because it means a three day weekend.

On Thursday, Taiwan will be celebrating Dragon Boat Festival, which means no schoool, and it also presents another vacation scenario.

Being that the holiday is on Thursday, the school will also take Friday off, enabling us to have a four day weekend. The catch is that the following week schools (and any public institutes that choose to have Friday off), need to be open on Saturday. So that gives me a four day weekend this week, and a six day work week/one day weekend next week.

This is Taiwan!

Now, I can't complain too much because next Saturday is graduation at Concordia. This is a school wide event that will include a ceremony and a school fair following the ceremony. In other words...I don't have to teach class and can just enjoy the fair on Saturday.

As for the four day weekend, I am going on a trip to Hua Lien, which is located on the east side of the island. There is a beautiful national park and a famous site called Taroko Gorge. I look forward to a relaxing trip and some beautiful scenery.

Quick Hits: Scooter Repairs

I had the realization the other day that while living here in Taiwan there have been and are many small stories and every day examples that show cultural differences between life in the U.S. and life in Taiwan. They don't make for much of a story or a long blog entry, but to me they are just interesting in and of the themselves.

I decided that I would start to write about these things as they happen in my life (or as I remember them from the past), and title these entries "Quick Hits." I think the title will help remind me that I don't have to write a novel to describe the situation, and consequently I hope to write them more often...that's the plan at least.

Today's quick hit is about repairs. I don't know about you, but in the United States I was always afraid to take my car into the repair shop...even for an oil change. I usually had to pay an arm and a leg and was afraid that the person would try to tell to me fix something that did not really need fixing. (A disclaimer on this, I did have some good experiences with a church member of my Dad's church and my great Uncle's car dealership).

However, here in Taiwan it is cheap...dirt cheap and fast. The other day I went to get my scooter looked at and had four things I needed to fix. Yes...I was procrastinating about taking it in and probably should have done so earlier. My left mirror was coming loose, I needed an oil change, my odometer/spedometer was broken, and I wanted a new basket for the front.

Without an apointment, I pulled up at 10:00 am and told the mechanic what I needed. He told me that it would be finished by noon. When I returned to get the scooter, the total price for the mirror adjustment, oil change, new wire for the odometer/spedometer, and new basket was a little under $15.00 (US).

I never feel stressed out going to get my scooter fixed, and the people are always really good about getting it done quickly and cheaply.

The Lantern Festival Story

In one of my posts about my about the fireworks in Beijing, I had made reference to an experience here in Taiwan for the Lantern Festival. I said I would post if anyone was interested in reading, and my Grandma emailed me and told me she would want to hear about it. So, here it is...

The Lantern Festival is always celebrated on the fifteenth day after Chinese New Year. This marks the end of the a series of celebrations for the new year, and is a time when people put many red lanterns on display.


My first year in Taiwan, I had the chance to go watch a celebration in a small town near our school. The town's name is She-Kou, and it is the home of a friend from Salvation Lutheran Church. To celebrate vendors set up games that are on the street and sell snacks for anyone who would come out. In the evening there was a parade through the town, and many people set off fireworks.

Much of the significance of the parade was centered around the local temple and other traditional Taiwanese religious beliefs. The main feature of the parade was the "god box" which was taken from the temple and wheeled around the streets of the town. Along the way, the god box/altar would stop at many of the houses and businesses. When the altar stopped at a house, the people at those places would set off fireworks in hopes of scarying away evil spirits.

Other parts of the parade included people dressed up in the form of walking gods, and other colorful clothes. One of the most disturbing things I saw was a man who was walking in the parade. He had his shirt off and was carrying a big knife, almost like a machete. As he walked he would stop and fling the knife over his shoulder and cut his back. As I looked at his back it was full of open knife wounds, and he looked like he had worked himself into a stupor as he pressed on throughout the parade. Honestly, I don't know the exact significance of what this man was doing, but I believe it was some sort of sacrifice or ritual to please the god.

The parade culminated with the god box being brought back to the front of the temple. It was at this point that many people also gathered around the outskirts of the temple and watched what was happening. When the god box got to the temple, then the fireworks really started to pick up.

People would hold boxes that contained a set of fireworks and shoot them all off at one time.


The smoke in the areas was nearly suffocating, such to the point that many people would wear facemasks to filter out the smoke. Here's a picture of my friend Ray, wearing his facemask.

As you can see, I am in the background without one. When I initially got there, I didn't think I would need a facemask. I had no idea what I was in for, and eventually put one on.

As they did this, the god box was pushed around the square, running into all of the people. As I stood there, I needed to move to get out of the way and to keep pace with the crowd. I did not stay for the whole ceremnoy, after awhile I had enough of the smoke, the noise, and the crowds. I assume afterward there was a large spectale in which the god box was put back into the temple. Here is a picture of the people pushing the god box around the temple in the square.


The night was an experience that I will not forget. It was the closest and largest scale that I have ever seen of idol worship here in Taiwan. So it was many things to me...heartaching...frustrating...educational...curious...motivating. It was a motivation for why I am here, which is to share the hope of life in Christ to the people of this island. Even as I sit and type this over 3 years later, I am reminded of that very purpose and goal for which I have come. May God work through me to accomplish his will with the people of Taiwan.

Third times the charm?

In a couple of weeks I will be going to a flamencoe dancing show here in Chia-Yi. Now, normally I am not much a show/dancing type of person. However, several co-workers are going, and it is the chance to get out of the normal routine and do something cultural.

In the hustle and bustle of every day life, it is hard to get out and do things. Rather I often find myself going through the same weekly schedule, without much change. This year I have tried this year to make an effort to get out of this and to see a show every once in awhile.

For the year, I am 0 for 2 regarding theatrical performances. Both attempts were massive strike outs and provide even more evidence that living in a foreign country is a humbling experience. Now, a little disclaimer. I do not actively find information about shows, but rather hear about them from other teachers and decide weather or not to attend based on that. Second, being that these shows are advertised in Chinese, it is not always clear what one is getting oneself into.

Now for the stories. Back in the fall, I went to a show that I thought would be a traditional Taiwanese style dance show. It was a Saturday night, and I thought it would be nice to get out and go to the theater. Upon my arrival to the show, I discovered that the show would not be traditional Taiwanese dancing, but rather a modern art performance to showcase frictionless movement. This is a fancy description for a show that consisted of older men in nothing but their underwear, greased up with baby oil, sliding around on a baby oiled stage. I kid you not...this was the show.

Being that I bought the ticket for the show, I decided to give it a chance. But based on the description I just gave you, I am sure you can guess what my opinion was. As I watched, I hoped to pick up a story line or practice my Chinese as I listened to the play. However the only sounds were music playing in the background, with the occasional grunts released by the old men. There were never words.

Needless to say this was not at all what I was expecting and I did leave half-way through the show, vowing that I would try to get more information about a show before attending again.

The second theater experience came this spring. It was a cultural show with ballet, dancing, songs and mini dramas. It had beautiful costumes, impressive twirling dance moves, and lively music. It also, turns out that the show was centered around a pro-Buddhist message, and had a political agenda for a group that is being persecuted in China. I remember one of the songs have the written English translation referring to the Buddha being the savior and lord that leads to life. I just shook my head, and couldn't believe I made another blunder at the theater. I feel bad that my dollars went to support this play that had a message contrary to the truth of Christ.

Again though, these examples show two more cultural mishaps in the every day life of living in a foreign country. At the time they were unfortunate but now they make for interesting stories and hopefully will guide decisions in the future.

So with those two stories in the background, it is with caution that I am hoping for a better experience at the theater this time. I have been assured from other teachers, who checked with Taiwanese friends, that this show will not feature, old men in baby oil, or buddhist doctrine. I am looking forward to an enjoyable show with bright costumes and energetic dancing. I'll keep you posted.