24.7.06

To Rie Yue Tan (Sun Moon Lake) and back

I have been living in Taichung for roughly 2 weeks and it seems that much as evolved for me personally. I have found a job, learned how to ride a 2-wheeled motorized vehicle and now am the proud owner of an adorable blue, 125cc, automatic scooter. Yes, watch out Taiwan locals, I'm out on the road.

In all seriousness, I had a wonderful scooter teacher. Simon was extremely patient and supportive. We would find wide, desserted streets (which is a bit of a challenge here) and I would practice going around and around the blocks. Each session, I became more and more confident. Eventually, I rode in mild traffic and all has been well. Last Thursday, I bought a great scooter from an Oregonian who was off to travel through Southeast Asia. On Friday night, I had my first girls night out with my roommate Elza and friends Shelley and Holly. We literally shopped until we nearly dropped at a night market. Driving to this huge market was very exciting. Imagine 10-50 or more scooters all stopped at one intersection, revving their engines waiting for the light to turn green, then a cloud of exhaust puffing up into the sky as a symphony of engine music surrounds your atmosphere... all while trying to keep an eye out for your friends, because I had no idea where we were going.

Here are a few interesting Taiwanese traffic observations:

*People tend to drive fairly carefully here; not necessarily too fast, but everyone is very aware of the people around them. Accidents are not all that common.
*The horn is used as a communicating device and to remind others not to cut you off.
*Sometimes people drive on the wrong side of the road (but on the shoulder, mind you) because it's easier than getting across multiple lanes of traffic.
*The police drive around with their lights on, as if to say "we are here-don't do anything we have to pull you over for", which is quite considerate. If they turn on their sirens, then you're really in trouble.
*Taxi drivers are crazy and don't seem to deliberately try to drive you off the road, but somehow don't mind getting REALLY close to you, even if you are driving in the scooter lane. (In my experience, taxi drivers in every country are a bit nutty).
*Scooters are not allowed to take left hand turns, so to turn left, you must wait for a green light, veer to right of the intersection across from the direction you want to go and wait in a little scooter box painted on the ground, until you get another green light.

The night market was HUGE. We spent 3.5 hours there and didn't see everything. The Taiwanese are very good at shopping and eating, so the market food was delicious and the shopping was massive. As many of you know, I do not eat wheat. Here they have every kind of sausage being grilled on nearly every corner. Rather than serving the sausage on a bun, they have created these rice rolls in the shape of a bun. So, I ate a rice roll wrapped around a delicious sausage. You can all imagine how excited I was to have a real sausage and "bun". Now, back to the shopping. It's a bit of a tricky game because not every shop will let you try clothes on. They claim their dressing rooms are unavailable or broken, I'm not sure. The sizes are quite different here, as you can imagine. I am undoubtedly, very average in size, so a small pair of pants is sometimes too small, but not always. Shopping can be a bit of a crap shoot. But, the deals, oh the deals, are so sweet. I can walk out of a store with 2-3 outfits for less than $30 (USD). There are bags, shoes, clothes, accessories and much, much more sold on nearly every street corner.

This weekend, we went to Rie Yue Tan or Sun Moon Lake. From Taichung, it took us 2.5-3 hours to get there. A total of 11 of us went on this trip and it was great fun. Thursday I officially learned how to ride a scooter, Friday I bought a scooter and Saturday I rode my new scooter through windy, curvy, steep hills. Maybe not the best thought out plan, but it was a great learning drive. Simon purchased me a very safe and big helmet, so my head is quite cushioned should anything happen. Learning to lean into the curves as you drive down a steep hill is a bit intimidating, but I survived and feel much more confident on the roads now. Sharing the highways with large trucks and other cars can be exciting and a bit thrilling. Huge trucks blowing exhaust right into my face made me fear for the future of my ovaries, but I just held my breath anytime a big truck passed me. Obviously, holding my breath for long periods of time isn't the best long distance driving strategy.

We camped right on the lake, but we were not allowed to swim in it. In my last post, I discussed how the word "safety" is a relative term here. Well, the Taiwanese are quite worried about people swimming in open bodies of water. Most Taiwanese do not know how to swim and yes, they live on an island. So, at Sun Moon Lake, people can swim across it once a year and it's a huge event. But, we went swimming in it anyway. We just waited until really late at night and snuck into a swimming area. It was fun, no one drowned and all was good. :) Some of our friends also did a boat tour, where each adult had to wear a life jacket, but the children didn't and were seen running around on the boat decks. Ah Taiwan!

Our group consisted of foreign teachers and we met up with other foreigners also from Taichung. We spent our days buzzing around the lake, exploring the area and little towns along the lake. The area is quite touristy because it's Taiwan's largest and most beautiful lake. One of the most gorgeous sites I saw was the Wenwu Temple. It's a huge temple that overlooks the lake. From the top of the temple, there are observation decks and you stand, surrounded by serene tiled temple roofs and can see the lake and the lush green surroundings so peacefully.

The ride home was quite stressful, as the downhill curves were very difficult for me, but Simon stayed right by my side and gave me lots of encouragement when I was feeling defeated. During the ride home, I saw my first sunset in Taiwan and it was jaw-dropping gorgeous. Imagine a bright red round sun balancing perfectly above the horizon, completely surrounded by light orange and pink hues. All of this surrounded by hills of trees and amazing landscapes. I tried not to stare at the sunset for too long, as I didn't want to endanger myself and other drivers on the road, but am so thankful for the views I did catch. Taiwan is a beautiful country and there is much to see, I realize.

A typhoon is moving in, which has made the temperature and humidity much cooler. The skies and clouds are often stagnant in Taiwan, but when a typhoon moves in the clouds dance across the sky so beautifully and smog seems to melt away. However, the rain keeps people inside and businesses are often closed. But, I'm hoping typhoon Kaemi is a bit bigger and heftier than Bedisir. Driving in the rain is a fun challenge.

In recent light of the tsunami that rolled through Indonesia and with the recent change of political climate in the Middle East, I am reminded at how blessed I am to be safe and happy in a wonderful place. I am thankful for each of you and hope this message finds you happy, healthy and full of life! XO!

15.7.06

Where in the world is Pau Pau?

For the next two weeks, Simon and I are house and dog sitting for a friend in Taichung city. The dog, Pau Pau is a black, lab-looking dog, but know one knows for sure. She's a somewhat young, very curious, but a happy and good girl. Yesterday morning, I went out to meet the garbage truck. As a side note, the garbage and recycle trucks drive through the neighborhoods playing the same songs so people know what to bring outside. I had never taken the garbage truck, as in our apartment building, we just dump everything in a huge dumpster. So I go out to meet the garbage truck and have a small miscommunication with the garbage lady who's trying to explain that she's only picking up garbage. When I leave, I only shut the screen door for fear of getting locked out of the apartment. I get back to the apartment in time for the rain to start dumping and I call out for the dog. I remember her owner telling us that she's afraid of the rain and really afraid of the sound of thunder. Pau Pau is no where to be found. I start to panic as I know the rain is dumping and I think she's run away while I was out taking the garbage out. I grab my bag and start walking around calling out her name. Now, it's really raining hard and I really am panicked. I recall some information about lost/kidnapped children and for every minute that they are not found, can get further and further away. I am devastated; I think about her owner who's enjoying a lovely holiday in Thailand with her boyfriend and wonder what I'm going to tell her. I also think Simon, who's away at work, will be so disappointed in me. Additionally, I barely speak any Mandarin yet and generally don't mind the challenge, but in this situation just wish I would run into someone that can speak a little english. I find a few pay phones and attempt to call Simon, but can't figure out why his number isn't going through and what the automated voice is saying to me in Mandarin. I walk into a 7-11 and attempt to ask the clerk for help with the pay phone, explaining that I've lost a "hay sir go" or black dog. When he doesn't know what to do, I start to cry and he quickly comes outside with me to help. Simon's phone is turned off or the call isn't going through. Defeated, I continue my search. I go home at one point to grab her leash, an umbrella and her vitamin bottle. I walk around Taichung city for 3.5 hours asking everyone if they have seen a "hay sir go", shaking her vitamin bottle (she thinks they are treats), calling Pau Pau (which literally means "bubble"). I am sure I looked so crazy to everyone. After I start to get blisters on my feet from my birkenstocks, I go back to the apartment to change shoes and who appears, but yes, Pau Pau. I was so happy to see her, I gave her 4 treats. Apparently, she got really scared from the rain and hid from me. Alls well that ends well, but it was an intense morning.

Other than that, I've gotten to know the tight knit group of foreigners who are living and working here. There are people from all over- Canada, the UK, New Zealand, South Africa and the US. Everyone is very nice, helpful, fun and I seem to have much in common with most of them. It's been wonderful having a little network here to help me get acclimated. Last night, we went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant, then went to a bar for a few drinks. The bar was full of foreigners and it was fun to chat with people, learn about their jobs and backgrounds. I even met a man from New Orleans, who didn't speak with any southern drawl and argued with me when I said that people usually speak with a drawl from his city. It was an interesting conversation, indeed. :)

Today, I went to the Immigrant Mall with Simon and Shelley, from NZ. There is a community of Vietnamese and Thai people who have come to work at factories, as cheap labor. Sunday is their only day off, so they come out to the malls. It was so interesting to see other Asians besides Taiwanese. For a little while, I felt like I was in Thailand again. We watched the movie "Inside", a Spike Lee Joint. It was a great heist movie, cost only about $3 and we received a free tea, internet time and game of pool. Plus, once you pay, you can see all of the movies you want. Very fun afternoon, definitely.

The typhoon ended up being rather mild, which was disapointing. I was hoping for trees in the streets and school closures. But, I understand there are more on the way, as the typhoon season doesn't end until September. Oy!

14.7.06

Not weird, just different...

Nee how ma? How are you? Life is good, interesting and fun in Taichung. Experiencing bits of the culture are so fascinating. The Taiwanese are very careful and somewhat safety conscious. Everyone drives around on scooters with helmets, special arm and hand covers and face masks. They also use sun umbrellas all of the time. Keeping their skin pale and untouched by the sun is important because they feel that pale is more beautiful. (Needless to say, the tan that I got in Cabo San Lucas a few weeks ago makes me stick out like a sore thumb.)

Yesterday, we went to a pool near our home. It's not just your regular swimming pool. It was huge! There was a huge children's area complete with a play structure all above water with slides, swings and climbing areas, another children's area with slides and a water half pipe, a huge outdoor slide and pool, saunas, several jet pools (with jet beds, seats, standing jets), and 9 different soaking herbal pools all different colors from the herbs-light green, dark purple, brown, etc. The Taiwanese love jets and there was an entire tiled room with really strong jets blasting down. It was like a water massage after the initial shock and pain subsided. Also, there was a karaoke room, lap pool, gym, ping pong tables. We spent hours there and I got to speak to Taiwanese children for the first time. Their english was quite good and many of them asked me the same thing: "What can you draw?"

Back to my first point about safety has an interesting twist. While everyone seems safety conscious, I see lots of children riding around on scooters with their parents with no helmet and today while we were riding through town, I saw a huge water half pipe water slide above a building with no railings or guard. There are also lots of playgrounds with no padding under the structures, just cement. Hmmm... So, it seems to me that "safety" is a bit of a relative term.

On Wednesday, Simon and I hosted a dinner party, so I could meet his friends. He used to be a chef and whipped an excellent meal of 7 different dishes-vegetables, tofu, fish, rice noodles, salads, etc. I met many people that he teaches english with and all are foreigners. It was great to connect with his friends, even one from New Zealand who I had heard so much about and just feel a bit more connected to my new life here. Everyone has traveled so much and listening to their stories is renewed inspiration for me to see more of the world. Fun!

Today, we had lunch with Simon's language exchange partner, John and his girlfriend, Irene, who are both students at the local university. It was fun to get to know them, learn more Mandarin and have a delicious hot pot lunch. I am in the process of getting my own language exchange partner, as well. Learning Mandarin suddenly doesn't seem so hopeless and I am excited about the challenge.

We also just experienced a minor typhoon. Typhoon Bedesir has cooled the climate drastically (thank goodness-we don't have air conditioning), swept the bugs and mosquitos away (again thank goodness-I am a tasty treat for some of them) and has moved the layer of smog away from the horizons. From our balcony, I saw the mountains for the first time and they were beautiful. The typhoon also brightened the blue sky and white billowy clouds rolled through quickly as if watching them being fast forwarded with a giant remote control. The typhoon also brought much rain and this morning there was a small lake in our apartment due to a leaky window in our room. Everything, and I do mean everything is tiled in Taiwan, inside and out. So, we all have embraced the mop and things are clean, clean, clean.

Due to the typhoon, I have been locked out of my bedroom, twice. We keep a sliding glass door to the patio open to keep the place ventilated and the wind blew it shut and locked automatically. I had to figure out how to access the roof a different way and the security guard in our building doesn't speak english. Luckily, a nice lady helped interpret and showed me the way up to the roof. Yesterday, while I was reading during the day, I heard a man yelling from outside. I couldn't understand him, but he sounded a bit distressed. After wandering around our patio, I saw him, an elderly neighbor locked out on a different roof-top patio in our building. I figured out how to find his patio and let him in. While we couldn't understand each other, we communicated through body language and he got me to go back to his apartment with him. Turns out he's my next door neighbor and he wanted to give me money for letting him in. So sweet, eh? Of course, I didn't take his money; I only opened a door, for heaven's sakes.

This week has been nice as I haven't had any responsibilities of work or committments, which was a great change of pace from the long hours I was working in Seattle. I've spent my days exploring my new neighborhood on foot, doing my best to order food from local restaurants (which is really yummy and cheap), catching up on reading, writing and yoga (we have a little tea room that has been converted into a yoga space) and trying to acclimate my body clock to it's new environment. Just yesterday, I started sleeping more than 4 hours at a time. Yay!

However, I'm now ready to get back into work again. Next week, I'll visit Simon's school, meet his boss, visit some classrooms and see if I'd like to work there. Aside from teaching english at cram schools, I also could find work as a kindergarten teacher. We'll see how it all pans out... Will post pictures soon! Lots of love!

10.7.06

Taichung, Taiwan: I'm here!

Hello everyone! After long travel, I arrived to Taipei to meet my friend Simon. Taiwan is the second most populated place on earth after Bangladesh and Taipei is a bustling, clean and safe city. The weather is hot, approximately 85 F degrees and very humid. It's typhoon season and I'm told that usually the weather is much hotter. I'll acclimate eventually. :)

On our first day in Taipei, we started the day by visiting the weekend flower and jade markets. The flower market was beautiful. The weather and knowledge of plant lovers helps create a gorgeous variety of orchids, succelents, bonsai and many other plants. I can't wait to try to keep my own orchid here. They are beautiful and there are many types that I've never seen before.

Next we took the MRT, which is the Taipei train transit. As many of you know, I used to work in transit and have a real love for transit and trains. The MRT is a very clean, efficient and inexpensive way to see the huge city. A Taiwanese woman even lectured me on drinking a beverage while entering the station. She was not at all impressed or let up on me when I explained that I was an American and didn't know the rules. Needless to say, I threw the drink away as soon as I could. Oy!

Our first stop was the Longshan Temple. It was built in 1783 by Fujianese locals and is a huge, amazing temple surrounded by dragon pillars through out. We joined many people in prayer and the burning of incense. It was so refreshing to visit a temple again and I am so thankful for the time to pray, meditate and appreciate the wonderful travels and life that I am so privileged to experience. Next we visited the Snake Alley Night market. Much of the market was closed since it we visited during the day, but we did have a nice lunch of snake soup. Turns out, snake tastes like chicken and is very bony. The soup also had a mixture of Chinese plums and nuts that are apparently good for women's health. All in all, it was a delicious experience.

My friend Simon has been studying Taiwanese for 2.5 months and is quite good, I think. The Taiwanese are confused that I can't speak a lick of their language, but the caucasian guy with me can... So, he's taught me a few basic phrases and words to barely get by: Hello (nee how), Thank you (shie shie ny), I don't understand/literally I hear you but don't understand (wor ting bu dong) and toilet (tsu swor). My first attempt to find a bathroom was very successful and he was impressed that the locals could understand me. Many people here learn English by Western foreigners so perhaps an American trying to speak Mandarinis easier to understand than a Kiwi. At any rate, we'll see how well I embrace this difficult language. However, so far, with a smile and some laughter, the Taiwanese are quick to try to communicate... in any language.

Next we visited the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial built after the late president. The buildings in the compound are covered in blue glass-like tiles and surrounded by white marble walls. The grounds are covered in beautiful fauna. The actual memorial has a huge statue of the late president (think Lincoln Memorial size) and is guarded by two guards in full uniform, armed with bayonet guns that didn't look very automatic. The sun was hot at this time of the day and we quickly found a cafe for turnip cake, rice noodles and iced tea to cool us.

Then, we traveled to the end of the MRT line to Danshui which is the harbor along the Danshui river. I suggested we dip our toes in the river, as I like to physically touch many of the new bodies of water I experience. Simon quickly explained that this was the only river out of Taipei and the pollution was probably thick. Ah Asia, so beautiful, but not the most environmentally aware. Danshui was the equivalent of a beach front boardwalk complete with arcade games, shops, restaurants, musicians and entertainers. We arrived just before sunset and the area was full of people, young and old alike. There was a Turkish ice cream man who was so entertaining using a metal rod to hold the ice cream cone. He sang, flipped the cones around, slapping ice cream on top like a champion. Even though I don't eat ice cream, I bought one just for the entertainment value. Taiwan is such an inexpensive place to experience, so $0.93 for a few moments of laughter and fun was certainly worth it.

We traveled back to the city and visited Taipei 101, which is the tallest building in the world at 1,670 feet. The night views of the city were spectacular as the city was light up and life below was in abundance. Then, we ended our day by visiting the Tonghua, Linjian St. night market. Another perk about Asia is that shopping and eating can be found at nearly all hours of the night.

Today, we took a train to Taichung, Taiwan. The country is very industrialized and I saw many factories, flood plains, bits of nature and hills. My apartment is cozy and comfortable, complete with a roof top patio. My flatmate, Elza is a fun, spunky woman from South Africa. Her accent is very different from any other I've experienced, so it will take me a bit to get used to it. However, I'm here safe and sound and so far, loving my new home. I'm off to explore my new neighborhood (on foot). Hope this finds you all well, happy and healthy! XO!

7.7.06

Cherry blossoms on UW campus

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Seattle: Great to be back!

Back in the US, I've enjoyed reconnecting with friends and family. Spring time in Seattle has been beautiful. The cherry blossoms bloomed as I arrived and the experience warmed my heart. Tomorrow, I leave for Taichung, Taiwan for 6 or more months. I will teach English, volunteer, explore Asia and experience as many adventures as possible.

View of Rio from side of Corcovado

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Peter rockclimbing Corcovado

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Floats, floats and more floats!

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Sambadromo and the spinning samba dancers... amazing!

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Melissa and Shirley.

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Rio: Copacabana Beach... ah Brazil!

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Bangkok: Birthday dinner with Wat, Kristin, myself and Simon.

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