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.

Thank you and 10th grade English

Life is busy. That's one thing I have learned since coming to Taiwan. I remember my first year or two being surprised at how quickly my time filled up. Between teaching, Bible studies, church activities, and social events, it seemed like my time was not my own. I remember thinking, "Wow this has just been a busy streak this these last couple of weeks or month...things will settle down."

Well, four years later I am faced with the realization that LIFE is busy. It's not just Taiwan, or teaching, or serving as a missionary, but as people we make life busy. We jam our schedule full of different activities, and as soon as one ends it is not long before we find something else to take its place. I am sure it is the same way for you reading this, wherever you happen to be.

As much as I would love to say things will settle down, they never seem to in the long run. New things always pop up and the time goes by just as quick. So I realize it comes down to priorities, and how one schedules his or her time. What do you make time for, and what gets left behind in the busyness of life?

For all of you who read my blog, I am sure you can tell where my priorities lie sometimes. Obviously blogging is not always at the top of my list. As much as I say I would love to write consistently...truthfully I don't always make it a priority. And I love to use the excuse that I have been busy lately, but let's be real...life is busy.

So all of you who do come back and read, in spite of my sporadic posting, I thank you. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you continue to come back...even when I am not consistent.

I want to write today about my 10th graders. I teach a 10th grade literature class here at Concordia Middle School, which is comprised of students who have advanced English for their grade level. I absolutely love teaching these students, and this class in particular has been a joy to teach.

I really feel like they have come together and taken advantage of the opportunity in front of them to learn and practice English. In my classes, I like to have small group discussion groups to respond to the reading that we have done. These groups consist of 5-6 students and they analyze the plot and make connections between the book and their lives.

This is my third year teaching this class, and every year it seems to be a battle to get students to use English. Usually groups will try to discuss in Chinese because it is their native language and it is easier for them. I often going around the room, feeling like a policeman on patrol saying, "NO CHINESE!!!"

It's not that I have a problem with Chinese being spoken to communicate an idea. It's just that I want to maximize the amount of English my students use, to make them the best they can be. I have used participation scores based on English use in these small groups, as an attempt to help curb laziness and encourage English. Inevitably, it has always been a battle.

For the first part of this year, it was much the same. Students would fall back on using Chinese as they discuss the reading or work on their group projects. However, the last couple of weeks have been different. The students have really grown and now start to use English much more and I notice a different attitude with them as they are discussing in their groups. They now are eager to use English and encourage each other to speak and participate in the group.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I was being observed by a couple teachers. They came to sit in on my class and watch me teach. Realizing this, my students went on their best behavior. They spoke up in class, and during our small group discussions they were all speaking in English. I went from group to group and heard nothing but English. I no longer felt like a police officer, but rather went around the room simply listening to the ideas being discussed.

After the class period, I had a chance to talk with one of the teachers, who said that he was impressed with the class. I informed him that this was a really good class and that I too thought they did a good job.

The next day we had class and some of that attitude seemed to carry over, as students still did a pretty good job using English in their small groups. I was impressed and felt really good about the class' attitude.

The following class, I decided to talk to them about how things were going. We talked about when the teachers came to observe and how the class went. I told my students that I was really proud of them, and that they did such a great job of using English and participating in the class.

I then talked with them about the opportunity that they have...the opportunity to study and learn English with a group of students who also have a high ability. I talked about the importance of using each day to improve and do their best to learn, and that we were approaching the end of the school year and they should take full advantage of their last months in 10th grade advanced English.

I really think my kids bought into it. I feel like the culture of our class changed and that now they want to learn and improve. It has been really refreshing to teach them, and these last few weeks have been outstanding.

I look forward to finishing the semester. Soon we will start to read The Giver by Lois Lowry. This is one of my favorite books to teach and I really am I excited to see how this group responds to the novel.

Fireworks and Yellow Taxis

Just a couple of other follow up stories from trip to Beijing. First I'll talk about fireworks. I was watching CNN this afternoon, and saw that one of the hotels in Beijing went up in flames. The hotel itself was in the process of being constructed, but it sounds like the cause of the blaze was fireworks being set off by a neighboring company/building.

This was in connection with Lantern Festival, which is the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration. On this day (and to certain extent throughout Chinese New Year) fireworks are set off to scare away spirits, in hopes of improving the fortune and luck for a home or business. (I have had previous experience with Lantern Festival here in Taiwan that was wild, and probably one of the craziest sights I have seen in Taiwan. I could share more at some point if you are interested). Anyway, I guess the neighboring building had paid people to sit and set off fireworks, and some of these ignited that hotel.

This piece of news reminded me of my stay in Beijing, because during my stay I was continually hearing the sounds of fireworks. Most notably was outside of my hotel. Here the firworks were set off nearly every night. They were loud and located literally right outside of my window. The fireworks were like fireworks that one would see at a city show on the Fourth of July, except probably a little smaller. Either way, they were defnitely bigger than bottle rockets or sparklers. The fireworks were continually being shot one after another with only seconds in between explosions...and many times being shot without any break in between. This lasted hours, and even into the night past 10:00 pm. I am not exactly sure when they stopped because I usually fell asleep right away. I do know once I woke up at 4am, and they were not being shot then.

So nothing terribly profound from this story, but it is another memory from the trip.

The other part of this post is going to focus on mine and Kevin's rides to and from the High Speed Railway Station. We took the fast high-speed train to get to and from the airport. The station is about a half an hour from school and we took taxis to get there.

On the way to Beijing, we had a taxi driver who was playing English music. This is actually not too uncommon, as I have had cab drivers change the music to an English station or cd when I rode. I presume this is because I am an American. Either way, this man's cd had Amazing Grace on it. I asked him if he knew what the words were or if he knew the meaning of the song. He replied that he did not, as he can't really understand English. I proceeded to tell him that it is a song talking about God's grace and love in Jesus. We did not have time to get into a big conversation, but as Kevin and I left the taxi, we reminded him that Jesus loved him. Praise God for these simple ways to witness in every day life!

On the return trip, we got into a cab of a man who had previously driven our roommate, Michael Vogel. He obviously knew we were being dropped off at Concordia, and then asked if we knew someone named "Way Ming" (this is Michael's Chinese name). I responded that he was our roommate, and we all got a kick out of it. He had remembered Michael because Michael has the same last name as him...I suppose the fact that Micahel was an American speaking Chinese and heading to Concorida helped as well, but either way it made for a fun cabride.

When we got to campus the driver gave us door-to-door service, driving into campus and dropping us off right outside our house. He helped us get our bags out of the trunk and wished us a good day.

Two great cab rides to book-end a great trip!

The Forbidden City, Tiananmen, and Chairman Mao

As a history major, I always enjoy traveling to site of historical significance, and this trip to Beijing provided several chances to for me to do this. First, I spent about an hour and a half walking through The Forbidden City (now called the Palace Museum by the Chinese). This was the imperial palace for emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was first started to be built in the 1400's, and was used by the dynasties for close to 500 years.

The thing that sticks out about this site is its size. The museum is enormous, and we spent an hour and a half there, walking mostly straight from the front to the back. We went to one side room, waited in line once to see an inner room, and took a couple of pictures. However for the most part it was just a straight shot back. Yet to both the left and the right, the city expanded into side rooms and pathways. Here's a picture of just a portion of the city, after we had already walked through three or four gates.


The architecture was really intersting, and is obviously in the traditional Chinese style. We also saw some traditional wedding clothes, and one of the room's where the emperor greeted guests.



I honestly don't have enough knowledge of Chinese dynastic history to truly appreciate this site, but given that it was once the seat of power for the Chinese government and off limits to the Chinese people, I count it as a worthwhile excursion.



Just south of the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square. This of course is famous for the incident in which student lead protests ended in death and destruction, as the Chinese government brought out tanks to stop the protesters. Hundreds of people were killed.

Today it is an open area where people can walk around with their families and look at monuments dedicated to the Communist victory and in China’s Civil War. The square itself is enormous. During my days in Beijing, the square was always full of people who just seemed to be out enjoying the day. To get in the square, you do need to pass through security in which the guards scan any bags you are carrying. But these lines move along pretty quickly, in order to keep the traffic light.



Tiananmen Square at night. It closes to the public in the early evening, but is beautifully lit up at night.

In the square are several monuments, including one dedicated to The People’s Heroes.


One that commemorates the Communist victory in their civil war.


And Chairman Moa Memorial Hall.



Inside Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is the body of Mao Zedong, preserved and on display. Before coming to Beijing, I decided that this was a must to go see this historical figure, knowing we would have to wait in line to see him. This proved to be true.

On Thursday morning we got in a line that wrapped all the way around the Memorial Hall. We had to pay to leave cameras and bags in nearby lockers, and had to show our passports as a form of ID. We went through security checks and ended up waiting close to an hour.

Once inside the hall, there was a giant display of Mao’s picture and many flowers below it. There was a reverent feel and people who talked were told to hush up. The line then broke into two parts, as we entered the room containing Mao’s body.

At this point the atmosphere seemed to change a little bit. There was a guard who spoke loudly and told the people to keep moving. The room was no longer silent, but rather people mumbled and murmured a bit as they walked by the body.
There was a glass top covering the casket, allowing the curious crowds to see the body of this Chinese leader. His skin looked rather fake and like plastic, no doubt due to efforts to preserve his body. The lower half of his body had a Communist flag laying over it like a blanket.

This is the second body of a world leader that I have seen. Last year in Vietnam I gazed upon the body of Uncle Ho, the Communist leader of that country. As I recall, both men had skin that looked fake and were sitting in caskets with glass covering, allowing the public to see them. However, Uncle Ho’s room was much quieter. There were at least four guards surrounding his body and the room was silent when we walked through. I was surprised at the contrasting feel at Mao’s Memorial Hall.

A Little Cooler

The trip to Beijing brought the chance to experience some cooler temperatures that I have not experienced in awhile. During the winter Beijing dips below freezing, getting snow and ice. When I first realized this, I was excited for the chance to see snow, as it is something that I have not experienced in over 4 years.

Much to my disappointment, it is also true that Beijing is a dry climate, thus not as much precipitation equates to less snow. So when we got to Beijing, there was no snow on the ground, and the forecast did not call for any during our visit.

While there was not a big blanket of white flaky goodness, I did have other sensations that go along with being a colder environment. Most of these occured as we walked around the city to our various destinations.

On our first full day, we decided to find the Olympic stadium. According to our map it did not seem too far, so we decided to walk it. Along the way, we made several stops.

Upon coming to Beijing, we were a little concerned that some of sites would be closed for the holiday. So our first stop was to Tiananmen Square, to see if it and the Forbidden City would be open in the coming days. Thankfully, the square was full of people, assuring us that we would not have to juggle our schedule around the holiday.

After passing through this area, we continued toward the Olympic stadium. We pressed on, enjoying the excerise in the cool air. Eventually we got hungary and decided to find a place to eat. We stopped at a Chinese restaurant where we order, lamb, sweet potatoe fries, broccoli (which was excellent), and roasted duck. Beijing is known for its duck (Peking duck), so it was a must that we order this. It proved to be a little disappointing though, as we had to wait 40 minutes for it and it was rather expensive compared to all of the other dishes we had. The taste was ok, but not spectacular.


Another place we stopped was a lake that had frozen over. This was a pleasant surprise. There were many people walking out on the ice, a fisherman, some hockey players, and a man jumping into the lake in his speedo...crazy!

Kevin, Michelle, and I walked out on the lake and had fun sliding around on the surface. I remember walking on lakes up at Okoboji and Center Lake, in Iowa, but it had been awhile since I had been on one. There's nothing like side excerusions on a journey, and walking on the lake brought a simple and unexpected pleasure.


As the walk continued into the afternoon, I began to feel the bite and nip against my exposed skin. My inner thighs began to get chilly and I had to keep my hands in my pockets to prevent them from getting too cold. My lips began to get chapped, which proved to be a problem throughout the week, forcing me to apply some chapstick.

The walk proved to be a little longer than we expected and we did not arrive at the park until late afternoon. We walked around and looked at the "Nest" and the aquatic center. By the time we got there, they had stopped selling tickets to enter the stadium, so we had to gaze from the outside.

At this point of the journey, we were all a little cold, and ready to get some place warm. We ended up finding a German restaurant where I was able to warm up with some bread, German sausages, and beer.

This day did not bring any snow, but there was one point in which I experienced snow. This was up on the Great Wall. Granted there were just a few patches of snow here and there, but I was able to pick some up and throw a snowball of sorts at both Kevin and Michelle.

In retrospect, the weather was definetly colder than Taiwan, but not approaching Iowa winters. Like America, though, Beijing was equipped with heaters, so I was able to warm up after a day of travel in the cold weather. I still maintain that the coldest I have ever been was last year in Vietnam, where we had no heat and it rained frequently.

The Great Wall of China

The highlight of last week's trip to Beijing was most definitely the Great Wall of China. Kevin, Michelle, and I went on a 10km hike across a portion of the wall. The history, the adventure and the enormity of this wall made it the most storied part of my excursions in China.

The morning started by taking the subway to the bus station. As we got off the subway there was friendly lady who helped us get from the subway to the bus station. She worked for the bus station and was paid to go to the subway and surrounding area to find help people get to the station. We told her that we wanted to go climb the Great Wall out in Jing Shan Ling, and she helped us get on Bus #980, which would take us to where we needed to go.

The bus was pretty full and we had to split up and share seats with Chinese people. I sat next to a college student, who I was able to converse with and practice a little bit of my Chinese. She was heading home from nursing school to celebrate the new year with her familiy. After a little over an hour, the bus reached our stop. When the bus pulled up to our stop, I said good-bye to the college student and the three of us set out to find a taxi.

We had not even gotten off the bus when a driver yelled up and told us that he would take us to the Jing Shan Ling trail. I figure the lady at the bus station called ahead and told him that three foreigners were coming to climb the wall. He was a really nice man, and we rented his cab services for the afternoon. He drove us out to our portion of the wall, and helped us find the where the trail began. He also agreed to meet us in four hours at the parking lot of the end of our trail in Simatai.

We set out on the path, and were soon joined by three local Chinese people. The started to make small talk, and asked us if we wanted to buy any books or t-shirts from them. We politely said no, and they replied, "not now, maybe later." And continued to walk with us on the trail. They guided us to the stairs that brought us up onto the wall, and set on our journey with us.

The initial views of the Great Wall were magnificant. The wall runs for miles in each direction, and overlooks open valleys and mountains. Parts of it have been redone, to make it a little safer, and other parts are old and crumbly. Standing on it, I knew I was on a part history and I was excited for the hike that was about to come.


As we hiked, the wall continued on and on, being interupted by towers. Our hike included over 20 towers, connecting the 10km of wall. As we continued to travel, our three Chinese friends provided information about the towers and the walls. They showed places where battles might have been fought. They also showed us unique features of the wall, such the ducts where the Chinese would dowse their enemies with water mixed with wood, nails, and rocks.

These friendly people even provided support as we climbed steep portions of the wall. They were older than us, but were very strong and steady handed. I asked the man how often he climbed this trail, and he responded that he usually did it twice a day. They also were most helpful in taking pictures of the three of us over scenic spots on the wall. In addition to all of this hospitality, I enjoyed the chance to practice my Chinese conversation. It will probably be the only time I have free Chinese lesson at such a historic site.


Meanwhile we all hiked along laughing, looking at the wall, the towers, and the beauty of God's great earth. There was one opportunity were we could take a short cut across a path, in order to avoid a really steep section of the wall. However, we felt good and decided to press on with the more challenging section.



When we got to the 12th tower, our guides informed us that they had to leave. But again, before they left, they asked if we would buy any t-shirts or books from them. We were really appreciative of their help and company, so we wanted to do something to thank them. So we took a look at their books and t-shirts, and decided to buy something, or at least give them some cash for helping us. Each of the three had their own things to sell, but they had seemed to be traveling and interacting as one group. We decided to buy a book of pictures taken of the Great Wall, which cost about $20.00. But they pressured us to buy more, and now brought out post cards and smaller pictures which were cheaper. I asked them if they shared the money together, or if each of them were individual sellers.

It was at this point I realized it was all about business. The lady wearing red spoke up and said that the were all separate, and that we should buy from all of them. I said that I would be happy to if, I could have my money back and disperse it evenly and buy from all of them. She then turned to the lady in green (who had sold the book) and in Chinese specifically told her not to let me have my money back. I asked the lady in green and again and she refused. The lady in red then started to pressure me to buy from her and told me how she had kids and not a lot of money. She said that we should buy from all of them and not just one. I got very frustrated and told her that I would be happy to if I could exchange the book, but that I did not want to spend anymore money. She just continued to beg, until I said I could not buy anymore and decided to leave.

Normally, I would not have minded paying a little extra to help the people, or having to spend more money on a souveniour from a historic site, but here I felt robbed. I was upset because I was genuinely happy for their help along the way, and wanted to thank them. But they made it out to be simply business and in the process I realized that I could have gotten by much cheaper if I was smarter about it. I should have tried to negotiate or bargain right off the bat, or asked to see other things. I was silly not to have tried to negotiate or get bye cheaper. I should have known the score and been on my toes. I have been in these situations many times in my travels throughout Asia. But I trusted them, not expecting the previous hour and a half of hiking and laughs to end in this tense business situation. I felt taken for a ride.

As they turned around to go back, Michelle, Kevin, and I continued on the hike. We discussed how it was too bad the situation ended like that, and I felt a dampening of the mood. It was in this context where we approached tower #13.

We walked into the tower and as we came to the exit door, there was a sudden drop. The stairs were gone, and below us was a hill. Straight below, the ground was close to six feet from the ledge, getting steeper and steeper going down hill to the left. To the right was the path, that was nearly five feet below us, but connected to the wall.

A couple who was hiking in front of us had just passed through the tower. They showed us a couple of footholds in the wall that we might use to climb down, and then went on their way. As we appraised the situation, we all realized we were a little scared. The footholds were in positions that were difficult to reach and they were not too sturdy. It seemed like we might have to take a bit of a leap and hope to land on the solid ground. Now, I don't want to be overdramatic and tell you that I felt I was heading for my certain death...however, I could foresee a missed step resulting in a slide down the hill and the need to grab onto the surrounding trees as a slid. This no doubt would have brought some bumps, bruises and scrapes.

As we examined the situation, Kevin reminded us of the importance of prayer. We took a moment to lift it up and give it to God. Asking for His guidance and protection. What a gift we have that we can go to Him whenever we need him. His strength and His love are ever present.

After the prayer, we made a plan. Michelle and Kevin held my arms as I slid down the wall and swung myself onto the higher ground. Once I was down below, I got solid footing and helped Kevin as he came down. Michelle held his arms from the tower, and I pushed his legs, so he too could land on the higher ground. Finally, we were both down there to catch Michelle and push her toward the solid ground.





We made it, thankful to God that we done so without scrapes or injuries. We could continue on our hike. As we moved toward the next towers, I remembered my thought process over previous half an hour. Not too long ago, I had been upset and frustrated about being ripped off. Now I remembered that money wasn't all that important in the grand scheme of things. I thought of how eager God must have been to re-teach me that lesson. How silly the book, money, and tension seemed after swinging to safety on tower #13. Praise God that His love and faithfulness are always there, even when we stumble in sin.

The rest of the hike went off without a hitch. The three of us enjoyed each other's company and sang praise songs as we hiked. We stopped and had a picnic lunch on the wall. It composed of sandwhiches of left-over Beijing roasted duck, canned fruit (I had mandarin oranges), and plenty of water.

The second half of the hike included older sections of the wall that were more rocky and not redone (although still safe). At one point, we had to walk beside the wall because the top was closed off. Here, I saw just how big the wall is. I could not imagine any enemy coming and trying to actually penetrate this line of defense.

As the hike finished up, we made our down the wall and back over toward the parking lot. There our cab driver was waiting for us with a big smile on his face. He was very friendly and helped us make our way back to the bus stop, to head to Beijing. It was the end to an amazing adventure!

Back From Beijing

Well, I just returned from my vacation to Beijing. It is Chinese New Year break out here in Taiwan and we had a week and a half off of school. Tomorrow we start up with classes again, for four days, and then have a four day weekend before getting fully back into the saddle next week.


I was in Beijing from Sunday January 25th until Friday the 30th, and it was a great chance to get away, relax and take in some historic sites. Here's a quick overview of the trip. I went with my friends Kevin and Michelle. We stayed at hotel that was located in the heart of the city. Honestly the location could not have been much better as we were within walking distance of nearly every place we went, whether it be sites, shopping, or restaurants. That being said, we did a ton of walking, more than I have done in a long time. However this made for great exercise and a cheaper trip.

One we frequented was Tiananmen Square. This wide open area had several monuments and museums, including a Memorial to Mao Tse Dong, and is across the street from the Forbidden City.


Another highlight of the trip was a hike along the Great Wall. We took a combination of subway, bus, and taxi to travel about an hour and a half out of Beijing. There we went on a 10km hike on the Great Wall. The view was breathtaking and the hike was a good work out, complete with a couple of stories and some good Chinese practice.


In addition, we also saw the Olypmic complex were the 2008 games were held, went to a Chinese teahouse to watch Beijing style Chinese opera, and ate at several good restaurants. We sampled the Beijing Roasted Duck, ate at a German restaurant, a TGI Friday's, and an oustanding Thai-Indiand Restaurant.

That's a quick overview and I hope to write in more detail as time allows.

China, the President and board games

Alright...here comes another somewhat random post. I must confess that I am having a hard time blogging lately (even though I have had an increase in free time), and I think the biggest reason is because I am struggling with what to write about. Hopefully I will have some inspiration in the coming weeks and months. I am currently on vaction for Chinese New Year, and am looking forward to a trip to China. I am heading to Beijing on Sunday for 5 days of vacation. It's supposed to be cold(although not quite Iowa cold), with the lows dipping below freezing, which I have not experienced in years. I think the most exciting thing about this trip is the chance to see some truly historical sites, such as the Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and possibly Mao's body. Too much excitement for a history major. I'll take lots of pictures. :)

Speaking of history, I would like to recognize the historic step that took place in America this past week, when Barak Obama became the first African American president. I do think this is a great thing and deserves recognition, I also was pondering this week the extent to which President Obama is feeling pressure by being in this position. I was contemplating that being he is carrying the torch for African Americans into the White House, and that this could bring extra pressure as he sets the tone and breaks the color barrier. I think back to people like Jackie Robinson and the pressure and challenges he faced being the first high profile African American in Major League Baseball. As a president, Mr. Obama's actions will be scrutinized and examined under a microscope, as his popularity with the country and media dwindles. Is it possible that him being the first black president will further intensify this? Or is the presidency enough of a challenge in itself and will race not be in the forefront of his thoughts? I don't have an exact answer, but I would imagine being the first black president would bring some extra pressure...I just don't know how much. Just something to ponder.

Either way...I am cautiously optimistic. I know that I don't agree with Mr. Obama on ever issue, especially ones regarding the rights of babies...however I feel like he is a president that genuinely wants to help the country and find solutions to the problems. I believe that he wants to be practical and work in a bi-partisan manner to meet the country's needs. Partisanship is one of my biggest concerns with American politics and I really believe Mr. Obama when he says he wants to go across party lines. I feel our country needs leadership like this during times of war and economic hardship.

I was able to stay up and listen to his inagural speech. It was 1:00 am out here, but I am on vacation and thought it was worth losing the sleep over. I think what I appreciated most is how he called on Americans to individually take responsibility and do their parts. He followed this by outlining acts of kindness or hospitality that can be done in every day life, and I am glad he outlined the importance of this for the individual.

To me, this is a great parallel to what God calls us to do. We need to carry the torch of Christ into our cities, communitiies, and neighborhoods. It is easy for us to depend on others to do this, when we ourselves could make a difference. We can share Jesus through actions of love, caring, and kindness...through words of encouragement and comfort. And most importantly, through sharing the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Like President Obama said, our work of sharing love should not be something we "grudgingly accept", but rather be something we "sieze gladly." I pray that Christ will fill us with this desire to gladly sieze the opportunities to spread His love to this dark world.

Ok...that's all for the deep stuff. Today was a fun, lazy day of watching TV and playing board games. The highlight would have to be the 3-4 hour game of monopoly, which finally ended with a victorious Kevin Foley bankrupting me...sort of. I had taken over for Michael when he got bored of playing, but I represented his monopolies strong until the end. But alas, it was not enough to gain total monetary control of the board. As we were playing, I remembered all of the board games I played as a kid, Sorry, Clue, Candy Land, and of course Monopoly. Good memories and a good chance to relax on vaction. Praise God!

New News

It's a new year....2009! Hopefully a new commitment to writing on this blog and sharing stories about my experiences here. I feel like I say this every 4 months or so...so all I can say is that I will do my best.

Here in Taiwan I am gearing up to end the first semester and head for New Year's break. This is the most important holiday here in Taiwan, and is the only source of significant vacation in the school calendar. Starting January 21, we will have vacation until February 2nd. This break will provide a good time to relax and take a break from the busy school year.

For this new year's vacation I am going to visit Beijing, China. I am really excited because this will be a chance to see the old and the new. The old, historical sites of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square will both be walking distance from my hotel. I also plan on traveling to see the Great Wall, hopefully being able to walk and spend significant time there.

New things: Beijing is a modern city, one of the biggest in the world, and has recently been re-modeled because of the Olympics. I hope to see some of the new sites that were put up for the Olympics.

Another highlight will be the chance to see snow (hopefully). I have not seen that wonderfully cold and cruncy powdery substances since the Februay 2005...just before I went to Puerto Rico for student teaching. While I don't miss the cold of an Iowa winter, I do miss the chance to see and play in the snow.

While I look forward to the Chinese New Year vacation, I have some exciting news to share from here in Taiwan. First, we have a new restuarant here in Chia-Yi...Subway! It all came out of left field when one of the teachers was driving in the city and saw the sign up advertising the reastaurant, and upon a closer look it was discovered that it would be opening in the next week. And sure enough, the end of December brought fresh, tasty, subs with the marvelous smell of the fresh baked bread. In the 3 weeks that it has been open, I have gone 4 or 5 times...delicious!

Finally, the other news is that we finally have a Pastor here at Salvation Lutheran Church. Pastor Alex Wu will becoming to serve as our pastor this spring. We have been vacant since August 2007, so this is such a blessing and we are all excited to have Pastor Alex as our pastor.

Hong Kong Trip

Hey everybody. I just realized October is nearing an end and I have yet to blog...oops. This month I had a bit of free time to take a vacation to Hong Kong. I went to visit a couple of friends who are former teachers here at CMS. One is Michelle Cavalli, who now teaches 2nd grade at the elementary school of Hong Kong International School. The other is Mike Kersten, who teaches history, humanities and a service course at the high school.

The trip was a great chance to get away and relax for a bit. Honestly the hightlights for me were just being able to hang out and play cards. A couple of activities we did include looking at some scenic temples and statues, walking around the central part of Hong Kong, going to Michelle's 2nd grade classroom, and eating at several American restaurants.

I don't have a whole lot to say about it and have not uploaded any pictures yet to my computer. Maybe I'll have some good ones to post.

Some cultural things of note:

1. People drive on the left hand side of the road, this comes from the heavy British influence.

2. Recycling is not popular in Hong Kong. Here in Taiwan, we recycle everything, even trash at McDonald's. In HK, I did not see anything at all for recycling.

3. One of the most interesting sites I saw was a statue outside of one of the banks. Hong Kong is famous for 4 or 5 of its banks, and outside one of them were two statues of lions. The lions had holes and gashes in them, and Michelle told us that these wear bullet holes from WWII, when the Japanese had come. I thought it was wonderful that the city chose to keep the same monuments on display at that the public can walk by today and see damage from fighting that happened over 60 years ago.

4. I saw the skyline several times, including some of the buildings that were used to shoot the new Batman movie (I would have to go back and watch to be sure which ones I saw). Anyway, I guess the filming of it caused a bit of a stir because of problems with lighting and usage of these buildings. I don't know if it was a huge deal or not, but was informed it was a little troublesome for the city.

Ok, that's it for now. I'll blog more later to talk about the track and field day we just had here at CMS.

Taiwan Mission Video and Typhoon

First, I want to let you know about a new link on my page, that I think is very exciting. In the links column I have added a connection to a new You Tube video, of the mission work being done here in Taiwan. Josh Lange, from LCMS World Mission, came out here last spring and video taped a lot of ministries that are happening here at CMS and in Chia Yi. He also interviewed me and a couple of other missionaries who serve as teachers at the school.

Over the last couple of months he put all of this together into an informational video, and it is now up on the internet. Josh did an outstanding job on this video and I would highly recommend that all of you watch it. It is a great chance to see some footage of what is happening here, meet some of my fellow missionaries and get to hear about the wonderful ways God is working in the mission field of Taiwan.

In addition to this link, I added the LCMS World Mission blog to my "other blogs" column. This blog is well organized and has tons of information, pictures, and videos about mission work being done all over the world. Also, fellow Taiwan missionary Kevin Foley has a new blog that is up and running. Check that out to get more perspectives on the mission work being done here at CMS. It is under the "Taiwan blogs" section.

Finally, today is Monday, but it is a no school day. Hooray! Everyone loves a day off, right? We are currently in the middle of a typhoon and the winds and rain were strong enough for the government to call off school. Actually here in Chia Yi it is not nearly as dangerous as being along the coast, but none the less I'll probably make a lazy day of it and stay inside. It allows me to catch up on my blogging, email, school work, and get some much needed rest.

But while I am thankful, it is dangerous for some out there, so please pray for the safety of those here on the island who are in the path of danger.

Feet Eating Fish

Here are some picture from the school trip that I took back in August. First are 2 pictures of those fish that eat the dead skin off of people's feet. (see previous post for more information).




I also will include a picture of Kevin and I holding our artwork that we created. One of the stops on the trip was to a traditional arts interactive museum. Here we made incense and Taiwanese traditional tops. The tops use a string and you throw the top toward the ground and then yank the string back, to make it spin.



At the museum we painted tops to make our own design. Mine is made with the theme of a sunset.

Of Typhoons, Holidays, and Football

Hey readers, I just have a couple of short times that I wanted to blog about, as nothing major or super interesting has happened lately.

First, we are in the middle of a typhoon this weekend. It started, I believe, on Friday evening, and has continued through Sunday night now. On Friday the winds started to really pick up. You can especially see it when you look up at the giant palm trees on campus and the branches sway back and forth. Some even fall off.

Now I don't want to exaggerate, this is not the biggest typhoon I have been in. Also, in Chia Yi, we are in the middle of the island and are protected on the east by mountains. So for me this is more of a giant wind and rain storm, but nothing dangerous or scary. However, it has rained pretty much straight from Friday evening until now (Sunday night). So it has regulated me to a lot of indoor activities with movies and card games, along with a wet ride to church on the scooter this morning.

In addition to being a typhoon, today is Moon Festival in Taiwan, and in China. Moon Festival is typically celebrated with family getting together and recently having BBQ as a big family meal. It kind of has the family feel of Thanksgiving in America, and it is a major holiday here in Taiwan.

In fact, it is one of only three holidays that we get a vacation day for during the first semester. But alas, the Taiwan education system is not quite like the American one. Normally if this day was on a weekday, we would get a day off of school, however, since the holiday is on a Sunday we don't have to come to school. So, there is no need for a vacation day, since every one can celebrate on Sunday. This brings the first semester count for vacation days (other than weekends) down to 2 days...October 10th and Januray 1st. But hey, Happy Moon Festival everyone!!!

Finally, I do need to bring attention to my readers that Iowa beat Iowa State this weekend in football. Go Hawks!!!!! I was not able to watch the game, but gather it was pretty ugly. I did listen to the first half on the radio through an Internet website, but decided at 1:30 that the game wasn't too exciting and that I REALLY needed sleep. But it was wonderful to wake up and check the headlines. So a good game. Iowa is 3-0 and I can cheer Iowa State on the rest of the year!

Laughint Out Loud

This week is the first week of the new semester, and it has been such a joy to meet my new students and to get back in the full time swing of things. Like every year the first week is spent getting to know the kids and talking about rules and expectations for the class. I have 8 different classes this year, so it made for a rather boring week of teaching.

I would like to use this blog to tell about one more thing from the school trip a week and a half ago. Our hotel had a decent sized swimming and hot tub area that we had access to as guests of the hotel. One feature of this complex was a small pool where fish could come and eat dead skin off of your feet.

What you did was sit on the side and stick your legs into the knee-high pool. The pool is filled with small fish that come up and pick dead skin from your feet. Often there would be about 5 or 6 of these little creatures around each foot. The idea is that this will be healthy for your feet as it helps to clean them and make them more beautiful. I personally thought it was a little strange, but definitely had to try it out.

When I stuck my feet in the pool it did not hurt so much as tickle. I remember being unable to hold back laughter for the first 5 minutes while these fish "ate" at my feet. After a little bit I got used to the feeling and could control the laughter. It was actually sort of relaxing after adjusting, but more than anything it was just a unique experience.

I'll post a picture at a later time!

Gimme those eggs!

It's been awhile since I have had a cultural experience in which I made a total fool of myself, but I had one happen recently and wanted to share about it.

To me, many cross-cultural mishaps occor when people assume things, or are unable to explain things because of language barriers or cultural differences. This is true for both serious offenses and funny social mishaps. Sometimes we don't stop to think about a situation, but get caught up in the moment and assume that we have certain rights or that a situation must be the way that we see it. This is the background for what I find to be a quite humorous and humbling story a couple of days ago on the school trip.

Every year before the first week of school, the CMS faculty takes a school trip to some location in Taiwan. Thes school hires a company to drive us around and set up sight seeing excursions in the places that we visit. It is a wonderful time to get to know my fellow Taiwanese co-workers and many of their families. It is also a good chance to see a new part of the island and have a quick 3 day vacation before school starts the following week.

On these trips we usually stop at fancy traditional Chinese restaurants where the meals are served family style and are set meals in which every table gets the same food. On the first day of the trip we stopped for lunch at a restaurant just like this. Now, these restaurants are sometimes hit and miss. Don't get me wrong, my Taiwanese co-workers seem to love each and every dish that is brought out, but not all of the dishes appeal the American teacher portion of the faculty. In fact, while our Taiwanese counter parts are stuffing themselves and getting doggy bags, I am sometimes just scrapping by to be satisfied until I can get a snack at the next rest stop. So as I sat down with my fellow American teachers to eat lunch, I was a liitle worried about what delacacies would be coming my way.

All 9 of us Americans ended up sitting together at a table, and we began discussing what would be served. A couple of things were already sitting on the table, including a dish of eggs that looked absolutely delicious. Eggs are a great food because for the most part they taste the same in all cultures. I mean an egg is an egg and provided their are no srange sauces on them, they are easy to enjoy. Thus we knew we had one dish to look forward to.

Our hope was soon to fade however. Within less than a minute of sitting down a man came back and snatched the egg from our table. He walked quickly with it over to his table, where he was seated with several other men. We were in a state of shock over why our eggs were stolen and how we could get them back.

It was decided that we should go over and talk to the person who took them, so I went and approached the table to ask about the egg. At this point my mind was a little confused and my Chinese seemed to fail me, because about all I could say as please give us eggs. I was unable to communicate what had happened or why it had happened. I stood there for a little bit, and the man looked confused but eventually he got up and went to the main counter. It seemed like he would be getting us our eggs that he took.

So, I sat back down and we continued our conversation, trying to unravel what exactly had just happened. Within in a few minutes, the waitress came by and put a new plate of eggs on our table, and we were satisfied. In fact the eggs ended up being very delicious.

As the meal wound down, we wanted to see if we could get another egg dish because it was that good. So Kevin went to talk to one of the teachers we knew and asked him to get us eggs, but he kind of joked around but didn't seem like he would get us anything. Then, we saw the man who had taken our eggs in the first place, and Kevin went to talk to him. He said that we wanted another plate of eggs, and the man eventually went up to the counter again and we soon received our second helping.

At this point we were feeling pretty good about the meal and the wonderful eggs that we had the chance to eat. We saw some other teachers and looked at some other tables and wanted to know if they too had enjoyed the eggs in the set meal. I found a couple of teachers in the English department and inquired to them about the eggs, and they had no idea what I was talking about. They had not gotten any egss. As I looked around at more tables, I did not see a single faculty table with eggs on them.

I eventually decided to go talk to the man who had taken our eggs. I spoke to him a second time and asked him more about the eggs and who he was. I soon discovered that he was a tour guide and that he was sitting on the table with all of our bus drivers. I asked him if the eggs were only for their table and he said, yes!!! He informed me that there were not supposed to be any eggs for the teachers from the school. At this point I began to feel rather embarrassed and I apologized for our requesting of the eggs. He kind of laughed and said it was ok, but I still felt bad.

We had assumed that the eggs were for us, and that this man was just taking them because he wanted some more eggs. I felt bad for going and talking to him and asking him to get us something that was not rightfully ours: more eggs. I did not take the time to consider that he was probably intimidated to speak to a group of foreigners using Chinese. He probably did not feel he could explain the situation so he just took the eggs.

On top of that, we asked for a second helping of that which was not ours, and received it. Again going back to cultural miscommunications because of things that cannot be communicated and because people think they have certain rights.

Thankfully, the tour guide (Kay-wan), was a good sport and laughed about it. In fact, Kevin and I ran into him later that night in the hotel and played some cards and had a beer with him. It was fun and we all laughed about the eggs.

On top of all of that, when we went to the restaurant on the third day of the trip (yes it was the same one, but we had a different set meal), he came up to our table and gave us another plate of eggs. He held his finger over his mouth, saying "ssshhhhh", but had a smile when he gave them to us.

So yes, we got our eggs...and a little bit of humble pie, along with a story.

Brown Bagging It

The past three years, I have spent nearly all of my meals eating something that someone has prepared for more...in other words I never cook. People back home would always ask me about this and be surprised that I usually ate out. And it's that I NEVER cooked, but the times I did were so few and far between that they don't really count.

So meals in Taiwan have typically looked like this: a doughnut or prepackaged pastry for breakfast, the school lunch that is delivered to my office, and then going out to supper at a restaurant.

Let me justify myself. Going out in Taiwan is a little bit more economical than in America, so I never really have felt bad about this, plus it is a nice way to socialize. In addition the school lunch is under $1 per day, so it is impossible to argue the dollars and cents about that one. And breakfast...hmmm, breakfast. I never ate breakfast during college or my first 2 years in Taiwan, so I figured prepackaged pastries was a step up from nothing, right?

Now that I have totally justified my laziness, I want to share that I am turning over a new leaf. I have decided to cook my own breakfast before going to school. I am going to make eggs, toast, and have some fruit, in addition to other things that I might be able to figure out throughout the year. I am also planning on bringing a sack lunch most days to school. I have been making sandwhiches, both ham and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly. In addition to the sandwhich I pack some fruits and vegetables.

I came to this conclusion after realizing that I was sick of eating the school lunch, which is always rice, meat, and some vegetables. It's not that it is terrible, and in fact there are some times when I enjoy it. However, I have mostly grown tired of eating it and want to have sandwhiches and fresh fruit, which is more similar to what I used to pack during my days of student teaching.

I have one week down of packing lunches and have started week two. So far so delicious. Now if I would ever start to cook on my own in the evenings...

The First Week Back

Well my first week back has come and gone. I always love returning to Taiwan after being gone for awhile. There is so much excitement as I look forward to the new school year and it seems everyone is full of energy, which is a stark contrast to the end of June when most of the missionaries and teachers are running on fumes.

One of my favorite things about coming back is seeing all of my former students walking around campus. When I see them or a group of them, we usually both get big smiles on our faces and say hi or wave.

I love seeing them and saying hi, or stopping to chat for a little bit. I try desparately to remember all of their names, which I am not always able to do. Sometimes I'll have to tell them to wait while I think for a second. I must say that for the most part I am pretty good at it. The Lord has blessed me with the ability to rememeber my students names fairly well, and it is something that I appreciate having as a teacher.

I ask them about their summer, and they inevetiable ask if I had a chance to go back to America, and then act so amazed when I tell them that I did. There is the feeling that yes I am not there teacher anymore, but it's ok to say hi and chat, and it's just fun to see them.

In addition to chatting with my former students, I have also been teaching 3 classes of 7th graders. I see each class once a day, giving me 15 teaching hours for the week. It's really not too shabby! Some of my classes have been a little bit...energetic...and we have been working on routines and basic classroom expectations. I have seen some improvement and will continue to press on in hopes of laying a strong foundation for the rest of the year.