Fame and glory?

[Kim] - Hey, guys! I just wanted to let you know that you are all officially famous back home now... Well, at least in the Tri-City area.

Jeff was generous enough to write a column for The Pacer this week which we published with a few photos he has sent me over the last couple of weeks. The page is included here. 

We are also featuring the Lion Dance video on the home page of our Web site: www.newcastlepacer.com

So have fun, and keep posting! You guys are doing us proud!

National Palace Museum

I was greatly looking forward to visiting the National Palace Museum on our trip but didnt know that the day we would get to go and visit was also the day that the entire population of main land China also was visiting. I haven't been that crowded in my life, and I'm from LA. I was most excited to see the famous white cabbage but when we viewed it I was not impressed. Now, What I was impressed with was the ivory that they have on display. We were not allowed to take photos but you can see some of the pieces at: http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/collection/selections_02.htm?docno=896&catno=12&pageno=2

Also, We have noticed that all of the girls here pose certain ways for pictures. One way is with one finger pointed at your cheek and this is to be cute. Two is to hold up a V either close to your face or just in general and I am told that this stands for victory (over what I do not know). And the third is to hold your chin in your hands with your fingers pointing out as if they are leaves and your face is the flower. No Joke. enjoy.

Breaking News

In looking back at our pictures and trying to decide what to share today in our blog I ran across several photos that were post worthy but decided upon this picture which is Elizabeth at the CTI television station reporting on current events. She looks so professional that they should hire her today to replace their current news reporters. Taking pictures on the sets of their talk shows was too much fun for us. We tend to be silly already but this just set us over the edge. We are convinced that the Taiwanese people thing that we are completely insane. This picture was before the face threading and doesn't really have anything to do with the culture here, I just thought it was fun.

Threading

So my host, Vivian, and I were walking to the night market and passed a woman who was threading a lady's face right there on the sidewalk. For the uneducated, threading is where someone uses a twisted thread to remove your facial hair; it's available in the States but is more expensive than waxing and it's hard to find a good, experienced person to do it unless you're in a very large city with a very nice spa. Vivian told me it's something old ladies in Taiwan have done so their makeup stays on better. I wanted to try it, so Vivian was kind enough to wait and take some pics for me:BEFORE. I am a hairy beast of a woman and it's a wonder anyone can gaze upon me.
The long shot, where you can clearly see the exorbitant price this 73-year-old A-ma charges for her service: NT$250, or about $8 US. Did I mention? She's been doing this for about 60 years.

The powder apparently helps the thread slide over the skin. I was not being Edward Scissorhands at the time.



Aaaand, AFTER. My face, it is naked. And my brows, they are lovely.

(l-r: My host, Vivian; the Pro; and my pretty skin.)

To answer your next question, YES. It hurt. Hurt like heartbreak. But this nice woman cooled my face off with baby wipes and applied a delightful lotion ensuring that less than 5 minutes later I had no redness anywhere, unlike when you see someone who just got their brows waxed and they look all flamey and painful. Happy A-ma up there is older than my dad and her skin is just gorgeous, even after spending the past 60 years working outside on the streets of Taipei.

Oh, and she told me when I sat down that I was already "So beautiful." Why, yes. Yes, I am.

Requests

Well, we have had requests for more food pictures and like the giving people we are we would like to grant your wishes. In the photos we have Goose Blood Soup and Korean Beef. I still havent downloaded the photos of the Chicken Feet or other tasty dishes. Also, Elizabeth's potty story was so popular that I thought I might expand on the topic and include a photo of the female urinals that are what constituts public toilets here in Taiwan. These are the kinds of things that really make us think about how we arent in "Kansas" anymore. Two weeks into the trip and I think we are all missing some amount of normalcy. It is so strange but I feel as though on some occasions I forget that we are in such a foreign place and then other times I feel as though we are on a different planet. Lessons learned. If you have any other requests just let us know. =)

Chinese YoYo Tricks

Elizabeth, Ashley and Jeff perform tricks we learned at the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts. It was challenging and fun to learn and we worked very hard to get a flawless performance.

National Taiwan College of Performing Arts

I'm too exhausted to comment, so I'm just going to leave this here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6ReaQui_DU

Magical liony thanks to Peng Shu Hsiang and several others at National Taiwan College of Performing Arts. Rawr.

Puppet Theatre Museum

I'm going to be honest with you: I saw "Puppet Theater Museum" on our itinerary and I'm pretty sure I yawned.

Oh, how wrong I was.

This was hands-down my favorite cultural experience so far (pardon the pun). Not only were the puppets themselves interesting, but the museum setup was flawless. It's in a converted house in a very old neighborhood, and the steep stairs led us to four floors full of well-thought out and well-executed displays, complete with DIY puppetry on each floor's landing (see Sheila making a string puppet dance in the photo to the left) and separate side exhibits on each. It was a toss-up whether I preferred the "Ugly Parlor," which poked fun at the hideous clown puppets, or the exhibit dealing with Communist influence on this traditional art form.

Yep. Communist puppets. Puppet oppression. I swear I'm not making this up.


Truly amazing as well was our guide, a young man named Eason. Eason's been studying puppetry for several years and truly has passion and talent one would admire in any artist. That his art is, well, Taiwanese puppets makes this extraordinary in my mind; after all, not only does he perform and work at the puppet theater museum, but he's also learning to make puppets in their shop, a craft he says will take many more years to master. I find it exciting that not only are these young people aspiring to be practitioners of a near-lost art, but they seem to be able to put food on the table as well.

I don't know. Maybe that's not extraordinary. I'm sure it happens all the time all over the world. But I sure didn't expect to see it in Taipei on a random rainy Thursday, a shiny little gem tucked away on a side street in the crumbly part of town.

Chinese Names

Our last host family was kind enough to oblige us with our requests for Chinese names. Ｉdont know how to spell them so I am going to guess and say that mine is Ke She La and Ashley's is By Ya Maun. pretty cool! Mine is just because of the sounds of my American name but Ashley's actually means graceful like a dancer and her last name means the color white. Thanks to Alex and Irene.

Bicycle ride at night

I was lucky enough for my host Printer to take me for a nice bicycle ride along the Dangshui River last evening. The route is very scenic and went for a mile or two down the riverside. The city has some great parks and recreation facilities and this one is very beautiful and landscaped.

Canadians? In OUR Taipei?

This morning we were walking through Xungshiao Fuxing station and heard disturbing voices behind us... people speaking English! And they were not us! I just cannot adequately describe to you how jarring it was. Turns out the people were Canadian and they were just as surprised to see us as we were to see them. They said they'd been in Taipei for about a week and we were the first Americans they'd seen. No kidding, folks. After a while it's kind of upsetting... we kind of wondered for a moment, "Who do they think they are? This is OUR Taipei." Then they went off to catch a different train and we decided to share.

Shen Yun

Sunday night Elizabeth's host family was generous enough to get us tickets to a show here in town. It is called Shen Yun which features traditional Chinese dance along with singing and instrument playing. I believe that they said they also have a show in Seattle. The costumes are amazing. I think that all of the women up on stage look like little pieces of candy. If you ever have a chance to see it I highly recommend it.

http://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/

The Art of Dance

This mornings activities took us the the Chinese Culture University (well, actually Shawn, Chien, Printer and Claire took us but...) where Ashley performed for us and the modern dance students and then we were able to sit in on their regular class. All of these individuals are so very talented and made every move look effortless. It made me want to take up dance even though I havent had a dance class since I was 9 but I wasnt very good back then so I guess I will leave the dancing to the professionals. This trip is about many things and one of those things is to experience the Taiwanese culture. How better to do that then by visiting a university and seeing them perform art? (this is a rhetorical question so all of you smart alecks please keep your comments to yourself).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iE3pGsTRfU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXoVylTGAU0

Food

Okay, so I know that you are all curious about the kinds of food we have been eating. While Elizabeth seems to have had some of the craziest with things like Goose Foot, we all have had our fair share of new things. The top picture is pig ears. Its in little strips and includes very little of what I would call meat and the rest is cartilage I guess. Then the middle photo is of eel soup. it still has the skin on it and you are supposed to eat the skin as well. The meat was very tender and delicious and I usually dont even like eel. The bottom dish is sea cucumber. I really enjoyed this dish. To prepare it they said that you put it in a pressure cooker for a long time. its kind of like really think jello but with a nice flavor. and those are little bird eggs in the dish with the sea cucumber. We have been adventurous, you all would be proud.

TCWC Childrens Home

We visited a childrens home on 3/17 and were extremely impressed with the way it was run. They house approximatley 42 children including 6 whole families. In my limited understanding, it appears to me to be similar to a DHS facility with funding from the government and private donations. There is a separate building that is a school for the children but is also a day care and after school facility for other children in the area as well. It was a beautiful and cheerful place. Elizabeth may be able to give further explaination as this is her area of expertise (non profits). They even employ social workers and a psychologist. These lovely young people specifically asked to shake my hand and pose for a picture. They were sweet enough to show us around their home. Faced with serious life issues, they remain happy and extremely welcoming.

Ashley's Fiance

On one of our vocational days we visited a dentist's office as Ashley is starting dental school and one of the young dentists took to Ashley. It didnt hurt that Paul, one of the rotarians, is trying to marry her off. This young man named Michael was very sweet and shy and both he and Ashley seemed to be good sports about the whole thing but we now refer to him as her fiance. This is just another example of how wonderful the people here are and how welcoming they have been. Although, Ashley could certainly do worse. =)

Howdy Oklahoma

While on one of our adventures the other day we came accross some school children who found us very interesting. You may be getting tired of my greeting clips but we just couldnt resist showing you how beautiful and amazing everyone here has been to these strange Americans. The entire day that we had while on this specific trip was unforgettable. I want to share it all with you but dont have the time to load all of the pictures or videos at this specific time. I apologize for not posting more frequently but have found it difficult to find time and it has also been difficult keeping everything charged and downloaded. It is interesting how much attention we seem to get when we should be the ones giving the ooohhhs and awes. enjoy.

UYA (Unidentified Yepping Animal)

I'm blogging with the window open to this gorgeous morning, and despite the fact that this apartment building is in the middle of Taipei, it's surprisingly quiet here on the 5th floor... birds, running water, very distant traffic... and some new animal in the distance.

I can't... I just can't begin to describe the sound this animal is making. The best I can do is to say that if Satan in all his husky-voiced, gravelly glory were walking around the nearby mountain agreeing with me, it would probably sound a lot like this animal. Near-constant YEP! Over and over... YEP! YEP! YEP!

If only Sheila and her flip were here, she could record me making this sound for you.

On second thought, if Sheila and her flip were here she could record the actual sound.

She's not here, though, so you'll have to trust me that the UYA is quite a bit more tranquil than I make it sound here. Want to come join us for the rest of the trip? YEP!

The Taiwan Potty Story

Since I can barely be depended upon to string together enough coherent thoughts to formulate a Facebook status update, I think I'm best serving the blog-reading public right now (all dozen of you) by letting Sheila be the straight-man to my buffoon. By which I mean I don't at all mind looking like an idiot (see previous post) so from me you will probably get the posts about our various foreign blunders. [Let the librarian be the truly informative one; it'll make her feel better about being the only one on the team with a more useless undergraduate degree than mine. (I kid because I love, Sheila)]

To wit: My first night at the Huangs' home (our second night here), I was confused by a toilet for a good 10 minutes.

Background: Did you know you're not really supposed to put toilet paper in the toilet? I arrived at this astute observation (thanks for all the prep, PEOPLE WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO PREP US) by noting that the t.p. kept hanging around post-flush when we were at the hotel, and further noting that every single potty in this country has a wastebasket full of used tissue next to it. Just call me Dr. Watson.

Anyway.

Upon arriving in my private bathroom at the Huangs' (which is in all seriousness the loveliest apartment I've ever seen in my life) I was immediately confronted with the urge to "go" and a new-found sympathy for Luddites. Who's got a keypad attached to the toilet? With instructions in Mandarin, accompanied by the strangest pictographs imaginable? Is there training available, and perhaps grant money?

[And while we're at it, what graphic designer actually conceived of these drawings, and how many meetings did it take to get them approved for use? Best not to think about it too hard.]

Rather than stew over trivialities, I bravely approached this new technology. Further investigation and testing has yielded the following conclusions:

1) I simply MUST own a heated toilet seat IMMEDIATELY upon my arrival back in the States;
2) The pictures matter not at all once you've exhausted all possible combinations of bidet temperature, stream/spray, and strength of flush... you're going to forget which one you liked best anyway;
3) The most important button in the whole process is the one that means STOP.

I could go on and on about how long it took me to realize that the little box of tissues in the lace-frilled cozy are not, in fact, kleenexes, but we should probably let that go due to the fact that I'm the kind of mom where, if you ask my kid for a tissue, she'll bring you three or four squares of t.p. anyway.

Ain't world travel glamorous, folks? You're never going to forget I talked about this, are you? My only consolation is that my post immediately before this should probably have given you fair warning about what a countrified bumpkin I am, so the Taiwan Potty Story should come as no surprise.

I have no idea what I'm doing

I told Sheila I'd help with the blogging but I'm going to be honest: I've never really blogged before and the instructions here on the site are by default in some foreign language, so if this doesn't post to the right place or I look like an idiot, we'll just chalk that up to reality, shall we? Let's call this a test.

The mountains just north of Anchorage, Alaska were truly breath taking. The airplane food has been fairly good and my travel mates have definitly been entertaining. We have a great trip ahead of us but with that being said, I was so ready to be off that plane and at this point we still had an additional 4 hour flight from Tokyo to Taipei. We have now made it safe and sound and can not believe the hospitality of our hosts. Thank you so much for all that you have already done. We appreciate it more than you know.

Here we are getting ready to leave OKC for our long and highly anticipated journey to Taipei. As our plane took off and rose above the clowds we were met with the most amazing sunrise and it reminded us how fortunate we are to live in oklahoma. Chicago was overcast and cool but the first leg of our journey was over by 9:00. Seemed as though we were right on schedule until the Chicago departure was delayed an additional hour. The anticipation was palpable.

Moore Rotary Group

Wednesday, March 10th, I was able to present to the Moore Rotary Group and show them a preview of the presentation that we will be giving in Taipei. They wanted to say hello to the rotarians we will be meeting and staying with on our trip. Thanks to the Moore Rotary Group.

It's almost here...

Hey, guys. Only 3 days to go! I hope you're all packed and you've thought of everything. Have a fantastic trip, and we'll all be watching your videos, pictures and posts as you UPDATE THIS BLOG EVERY DAY, right? Right.

So don't forget your allergy medicine, or your sketch pad, or your camera, or your presents. I should see you at the airport, but if not, good luck, and may each of you have a profound, soul-rocking experience!

Ni Hao Taiwan

During our last meeting on 2/21, our team tried our hand at creating a video post. Let's see how this works.