Last Argus Article - "lessons"

For those of you Argus readers that have followed my year of adventures teaching and traveling in Taiwan, I’d like to wrap up my year with some of the valuable lessons that I have learned or that have been reiterated over this past year. Because I will be home in less than a month (June 26), this will be my last article for the Argus. I would like to thank everyone for the continued support and prayers. When I think back on my year in Asia, two major lessons speak strongly to me.

For the first lesson, I actually formed a personal motto to keep me focused in times of frustration. It pulled me thru many difficult situations. The motto: “Smile, take a deep breath, do the right thing.” This may seem like a simple reminder, but it has been my saving grace time and time again.

Being in a foreign land, I was faced with having to solve problems in a different way. Typically, when there is an issue between two or more individuals, one confronts the other and they try to solve the problem or, a third party is enlisted to resolve the issue. In most all instances there is some form of resolution. That method of problem solving is rarely, if ever, utilized in Taiwan. Many things are “swept under the rug” so that no one “loses face,” becomes embarrassed or humiliated. In Asian culture, one does everything possible to avoid this from happening, either to themselves or others. Once you lose face, the Taiwanese believe it is impossible to regain respect and honor. So many times I just had to smile, walk away from the situation and deal with whatever was the issue on my own in the best manner possible.

Remembering my motto has been vital to retaining friendships in the workplace as well. Something minor that could be mentioned casually to solve a problem or make a situation better, very likely would cause a colleague to lose face. I have learned that it is better to not bring attention to minor problems and just deal with it myself. This process has made me think much more before I act or react. I guess it could be said that it has taken the phrase; “choose your battles carefully,” to a whole new level for me. I have done a lot of “dealing with it” this past year.

Along the same line, I have learned that just because something is done differently than what you are accustom to, does not mean it is wrong. I believe this is a difficult lesson for most everyone, and I am no exception. Obviously, the topic just discussed above is one example. Another prevalent Asian behavior has been a bit more difficult for me to assimilate----chronic procrastination and lack of fore planning. For instance, the school calendar, and other important dates, is not given to teachers for several weeks AFTER the semester begins. As a foreign teacher, I have to wait a few more weeks until someone translates that for me. Also, there has been more than one instance when I was given a responsibility or project that could have been assigned weeks prior but instead was told just hours before it was to be accomplished. The first few times it occurred I thought it was just an oversight, but as it became a pattern I knew it was just an aspect of the culture. Rarely do things get done “on time” or exactly when it was published to happen.

I was told before my arrival in Taiwan that this culture can be procrastinators but I was not prepared for the level that exists in all facets of life on this island nation. I am, by nature and training, a “planner” and “organizer” so you can imagine the frustrations that I encountered. My motto helped work through things like these examples and actually, after time, assisted me with acceptance of many cultural differences. I believe this axiom, or any other proverb-like saying is a great way to remind us how we want to act in certain situations. In my case, it kept me focused on not going with my initial instinct in any given situation but, instead, to step back and evaluate situations before acting.



The second major lesson learned during my year abroad was actually introduced to me in 7th grade, but the reality of that message seemed to escape me until this past year. At the very beginning of that academic year, my algebra teacher, Mr. Jason Schemenauer, made this statement to our class: “extra effort is the key to success.” At the time, I figured he was telling us that we needed to finish our homework everyday even though it wasn’t checked everyday. I had no clue he may, indeed, have been talking about homework, but that in actuality was imploring a life lesson. Funny how you remember seemingly inconsequential things from the past as you gain life experience. I thought I gave my “all” in number of previous situations but it wasn’t until this one that I knew I really hadn’t. Giving an extra inch, foot, or mile in any situation will always bring you closer to success. I got it now.

While in Taiwan, I have applied this principle to my teaching. Typically, on the first day of a job, you are given expectations, rules, and other useful information for being successful in your new workplace. On my first day, I was given the student book for each grade and set off on my own. I was in the dark as to what aspect of the lessons I should focus on, what the students’ English level would be, and other vital facts about my students and curriculum. These things I would have to learn on my own. Instead of focusing on my frustration, I decided to give extra effort and use my free time to create educational games and activities that would engage my students. This method of teaching is hardly ever used in Taiwan so even though the students enjoyed it, some of the other teachers were less than impressed.

Having no translator and students with very limited English, I was faced with the problem of basic communication. How can I explain a game or activity to students that don’t comprehend my language and I don’t understand theirs? I kept the rules simple, but still challenging, and used a LOT of gestures. Sometimes I had to enlist a bilingual teacher to translate the instructions into Chinese so the students could read them. At times I felt as if my classroom was a tornado of misunderstanding, but at the end of most days I can honestly say that I had used all my energy, resources and imagination to do the job I came here to do----teach Taiwanese students the English language. I gave more of myself to this endeavor than I thought I had. Sure, my students learned from me but through it all, I learned much more than they did.

Before I wrap up this article, I would like to share a heartfelt story with you, my readers. I depend on public transportation here, and typically there are solicitors trying to make a dollar at the bus and train stations. In the past, I have ignored their pleadings and looked the other way. This one particular Sunday I encountered a 4-year old girl doing the soliciting. She followed me from the ticket booth to where I would wait for my bus. She kept saying hello and showing me what she had for sale. I asked her where her parents where (in Chinese) and she never told me a straight answer. This broke my heart to see a child, who obviously had not bathed in days, having to sell key chains at a train station.

I would imagine that most everyone ignores her, as they do the many adult peddlers so, I decided to sit with her and talk while I waited for the bus. I have never seen a child’s eyes so bright and face smile so big. We made silly faces and laughed with each other until my bus arrived. As I approached the bus, I looked back for one last smile to my little friend. I wept on the bus ride home. I would have done anything to take that child with me, give her a good meal, and a comfortable bed to sleep in. As we pulled away, I watched her wander around through parked taxis and busses, all the while regretting that I didn’t give her everything in my wallet. I have prayed for this young child many times since then, and know if I ever see her again I will be sure to buy her a meal and perhaps some clothing, and maybe, buy a key chain or two. Amid all the aimless people and peddlers walking the streets, I was drawn to this one little girl. We never know when individuals are placed in our paths for a reason. Although I brightened this little girl’s day, I have this gnawing feeling I should have done more. Sometimes there are instances when perhaps we shouldn’t think too much before acting. This is one time I wish I would have acted more and thought less.

I am not naïve enough to believe this is the only country where poverty is rampant and that it doesn’t exist in many parts of the world, including our own United States. I have now been living for almost a year surrounded by these ever-present “street” people. It was something I witnessed only briefly before and forgot quickly, like when I traveled to the Caribbean or visited a large city. It is just so pervasive here and I am confronted with it daily. It sure makes me appreciate where and how I was raised, I can tell you that. Although I feel a sense of remorse for all of them, my heart aches for the children of the street, like the little 4 year old. They have no “childhood” as we know it and I wonder what view of the world they are growing up with and how that will impact their lives forever.

I guess that is why I chose teaching as a profession. School is the one place where their environment can be controlled and people can impact the life of a child in a positive manner no matter what the rest of their life is like. It can be a place, sometimes the only place, in a child’s life that can provide safety, food, nurture, hope and, yes, tools for the future-----an education.

I am very excited to return to US soil on June 26th, and visit all my friends and family that have supported me through emails, expensive phone calls, and prayers. As for what’s next, I’m not quite sure. My ideal plan is to get a teaching job in the area, possibly purchase a house, and begin to settle down. Because of the economy, I am aware that jobs are few and far between, so I have been thinking of alternatives. There is always substitute teaching. I could return to Taiwan but if I had to go abroad again to teach I would probably choose another part of the world just for the experience. The school here would like it very much if I did return. I guess I just don’t know at this point.

Again, I would like to thank everyone for the support and prayers throughout this past year. It has been a tremendous growth experience for me and most of those around me. I will never forget the experiences I have had, the lessons I’ve learn or the people I have met. I know this, I return to the US a much different and, hopefully, wiser person than the naïve recent college graduate that left Shiawassee County that muggy August day in 2008. I have enjoyed writing about my experiences and hope you all enjoyed my writings. I would also like to thank the Argus-Press, especially Gary Webster, for encouraging me to share my thoughts and exploits while in Taiwan with all of you.

Funeral Argus Article

Along my 25-minute commute through the plush farmland of Taiwan, I have encountered many bizarre sights. These include, but are not limited to, an out of control ditch fire, public indecency, and more abused and abandoned animals than I would ever want to see. But, the most intriguing encounter happened during an early morning in late March. I saw what appeared to be a skeleton being removed from a grave. Throughout the day, I tried to dismiss the thought from my mind, but couldn’t seem to shake the idea of a grave being disturbed. Needing to share this experience with someone, I decided a Taiwanese colleague might give me insight on this experience. Not only did I learn why the grave was being dug up, but I also learned about an important Taiwanese holiday that was happening in a few shorts weeks; Tomb Sweeping Day.

Before I get into my findings, I have to admit that I’m not a journalist. This is my first time interviewing people for the sake of an article. I did not get the responses that I expected. I interviewed, or attempted to interview, a number of Taiwanese regarding this Holiday and its traditions. I also sent out quite a few emails to various individuals that I have befriended during my time here. Hardly any one wanted to talk on the subject. A few emails finally trickled in but only a fraction responded. I recently found out that Taiwanese people do not like to talk about death or dying, so my questions probably made them uncomfortable. I do, however, appreciate those few friends that did reply, and give them credit for helping me on this challenging article.

I was told that the rituals for funerals vary greatly among families in Taiwan. What holds true for one family may be completely different for another. This could be caused by the vast separation of traditions and the relatively new culture being ushered in by the younger segment of Taiwanese. Or, it could be a product of the wide range of religious practices found on the island. The pre-funeral and funeral practices seem to be similar for most families, but the burial or cremation process differ from family to family.

When a loved one passes on, there are many traditions that families will follow to honor the deceased and prepare for a funeral. The funeral is typically 2-3 weeks after the death. There are many reasons for this. The family must seek the counsel of a Buddhist astrologer in order to select a burial date that will not conflict with any Chinese superstitions. During these 2-3 weeks, the body is usually kept at the house where friends and loved ones can pay their respects and pray to the deceased.

In the Chinese culture, mourners literally “pay” their respects by bringing coins in small envelopes and dropping them in a basket near the casket. This money goes to the family to help with the cost of a funeral (10,000 USD), or will go to an organization or temple. During the mourning time the family members are temporarily vegetarians. (in Taiwan this means more than refraining from meat, also garlic, onion, and any spices). This time gap between death and the funeral concerned me, and I received conflicting information on how the body is kept in the home. Sometimes it is kept in a bed, and other times there is a refrigerated casket. Again, I think this depends on whether the family follows traditional practices, or has accepted modern substitutions. In addition to the body remaining at the home, a “party” tent is placed at the entrance of the house with large colorful flower arraignments, and a small shrine. Incense burns at all hours of the day for the deceased, and all the lights at the home are left on until the body is buried or cremated. I have passed by many of these tents, and there are always family members praying at the shrine, and typically several women folding paper lotus flowers. In the process of writing this article, there was a funeral held outside the gates of my school. For two entire days, my classes were disrupted by a man on a (very) loud speaker chanting or singing. People came and went on the first day, and there was a sort of organized service on the second day.

The paper lotuses represent a clean and sacred paradise, and are an essential symbol in the funeral. On the other hand, most families gather, discuss and share the feelings with each other by folding lotuses together. While the family members are folding the papers, which will be burned later, other family members come and go to worship the gods and the deceased. This happens twice a day for immediate family members.

When it is time for the actual funeral service it is held in the tent that is set up outside the house. The street is usually blocked off for a few days after the tent has been erected. I did not get information about the actual funeral from my friends, but I have witnessed enough of them in the last year that I think I can recreate them for you. The sounds and music is the first indication that there is a funeral. There is typically music or chanting heard throughout the town because of temple celebrations or worshipping, but this music is different, it’s more drumming and somber singing. The family will hire professional criers to attend the funeral. Sometimes they even hire other people to make the funeral bigger. These criers use a microphone and, from what I’ve heard, can get quite obnoxious and distracting. They are simply there to make the noises of a mourning family. As stated above, the service is held at the deceased house, and from there a parade (on foot) will follow the hearse to either the burial site or the crematorium. The immediate family wears white robes with white pointed hats (similar to a costume once worn by white supremacists). There is sometimes an entire band marching with the family. Incense is burned while marching, and it is a very slow procession. I have had to reroute my drive to work several times because of a funeral parade.

Because Taiwan is a small island, most families chose cremation. But there are still traditional options of burying. Either way, there are still rituals to be held in order to send the deceased to the afterlife. A “bonfire” is set with the paper lotuses, fake “ghost” money, even clothes and personal necessities. This fire is believed to send the items with the soul so that they will survive in the afterlife. For weeks after the internment, food is set by the grave so that the deceased doesn’t go hungry.

Remember that Taiwanese holiday, Tomb Sweeping Day, mentioned earlier, the event that initially sparked my curiosity on this morbid subject? It was held in mid-April, and is celebrated according to the Lunar Calendar. This is when families visit the graves of their loved ones to worship the dead and clean up their grave site. Let me back track and give some insight on the grave site. There are not cemeteries like we are used to. Sometimes in the middle of a farmer’s field, the farmer’s parents are buried. I have seen hillsides with several gravesites, and I have seen graves that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. It all depends on where a family can get a small plot of land. Obviously, there are no ground keepers. So, once a year, the family cleans up the grave, mows the overgrown weeds, and plants a few flowers. Something I noticed after Tomb Sweeping Day was small papers set on top of the grave. In the picture, you will see that graves are above ground and the top is a dirt mound. On top of that mound was up to twenty papers, held down with stones. {put here the significance of the paper on the mound, after talking to teacher with MayMieo}

If the buried body has been in the grave for ten years or more, it is time to dig up the skeleton. This is what I observed that morning in March. The bones are dug from the grave and taken to the crematorium. The ashes are then stored in a building that keeps the ashes. So, from my understanding, everyone gets cremated eventually, some just rest underground for ten years first. I would like to know if the grave is reused by another family member, or sold to another family, but my sources did not know the answer to this question.

Because Tomb Sweeping Day falls at the beginning of Spring, families take advantage of the nice weather and typically plan a picnic or outing along with the cleaning of the tomb. The foods offered on Tomb Sweeping Day vary by region. In Taiwan, the most common dishes are the distinctive "grave cakes.” These snacks are used during deity worship and consist of an outer layer made of glutinous rice dough dyed red and imprinted by using molds with the design of a peach or a tortoise. They are filled with red bean paste or peanut powder.

Tomb Sweeping Day combines the people's reverence for their ancestors and for nature, and is a reaffirmation of the Chinese ethic of family values. Today, Tomb Sweeping Day is a time not only for worship and maintaining the tombs of ancestors, but also an expression of respect for the teachings and virtues of Chinese ancestors.

For more information on traditional Chinese and Taiwanese holidays, visit http://www.gio.gov.tw/info/festival_c/index_e.htm

Kenting Weekend

Last weekend was the Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Well it's simply boat races, and some traditional food. We expats were not to keen on the idea, so decided to make a mini-spring break out of the extended weekend. Patti, Emilie, Julie, and I all planned to meet in Kenting (the beach-resort town that is at the bottom tip of TW) for a relaxing four days. Emilie and I were the first to get there since the other two has prior plans on Thursday. I had made the hotel reservations (with the help of my volunteer soldier, Jeff), and was hoping that we did a good job and were close to the beach. When Emilie and I arrive in a raining Kenting, we ate lunch before looking for our hotel. I figured since I only had the address in Chinese, it would be best to just have a taxi take us there for the first time. When the taxi driver said it would be 600 NT for the ride there, we said forget it. Panic started to set in. We asked another taxi driver, and got the same response. Finally, we decided if it was in the next town over, we could take a bus to get to the beach each day and it was no problem. So, we got in the taxi and headed out of town. Then past the next town. Then off to a side road. Pass some farms. Taxi driver stops to ask directions. twice. Way out in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (literally), we arrive at a huge brick building that could double as a prison. We barely stepped out of the taxi before telling the driver we were not staying here and would like to go back to where he picked us up. Yes, it would cost us...but there was NO way we were staying at a place where a taxi driver didn't even know how to get to. By this time, Emilie was freaked out and worried that we wouldn't have a place to stay (since it was a holiday weekend) and she was ready to go home. I was feeling very guilty for screwing up the hotel, but hopeful that we could find a room still. The taxi driver could sense our anguish, and took us took a few hotels (homestays), to help us find a room. Luckily, he found one. It was about the same price as the other hotel, but it was close to the main street AND the beach. Breathe. I was so thankful for the gracious taxi driver who saved our weekend. Granted, our room was not the standards you would expect for 80 US dollars a night.....on the first night we found 5 cockroaches setting up camp in our bathroom. Luckily, those were all the bugs that we noticed. I believe there was gecko poop all over the walls and one of the pillow cases, but I can't be sure. The driver waited until we paid the hotel and got settled in our room before leaving for his next job. What a nice man.
So we were all settled and it was time to start the fun. For me and Emilie, that meant hitting the shops before the other girls came. They aren't big shoppers like Em and I, so we figured we'd do this before they came as to not bore them. There were so many cute dresses in all the shops, it was hard to choose! In the evening, Patti showed up and we all had dinner at a Thai restaurant. Delicious! We called in early that night so we would be all ready for the next day.
Friday morning we woke up and headed straight to the beach. From about 10-1:20 we enjoyed the sand, sun, and sea until it was too hot to bear. Julie met us in the early afternoon. Of course, we all got a little red because we are so close to the tropic of cancer. Note to self, more sun screen tomorrow. After lunch and showering, we walked to the main street to enjoy the chaos. We had dinner reservations at a cute little restaurant that was busy the night before. We decided this would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate Emilie's birthday (which was the Sunday before). Julie brought a cake and we took it to the restaurant. We all overate delicious Mexican or Italian food (spaghetti for me) yet still found room for delicious white chocolate cake (thank you cafe 85). After the cake and song, we headed out for our first night of fun together. We started off on our hotel porch playing some Kings. Around midnight, the owner told us it was time to quiet down, so we decided to move our party elsewhere. Down the road a bit, there was a truck parked on the side of the road that turned into a bar at night. This was popular among the foreigners because in our countries you can't sell alcohol out of your truck let alone have tons of people drinking on the side of the road. It was an awesome establishment. After a night of "duck fart" shots and tons of laughter, we headed to bed. The next day was pretty much the same, sun and sea in the morning, shower and change, relax in the afternoon, have a delicious dinner, then head to the "car bar" This night we called in QUITE late though. Emilie left around 2 am, Julie and I headed back around 3:30, and Patti was out until who knows when. We were having too much fun to call it a weekend and head back to our towns. The next morning was pretty much packing up, getting on a bus, and headed back to reality.
Boy do I love vacations. Even if it was only 4 days.

Reason for no English

Gerry just enlightened me as to why my students do not speak English as well as they should. He found a test on his floor, and it was written by one of the Taiwanese-English teachers. It was a fill in the blank and was formatted like this.
Example: She IS pretty
1. He ____ nice. (with direct Chinese translation following)
2. She ____ thin. (Chinese translation)
3. He ____ heavy. (Chinese translation)

The next question:
Example: We ARE happy.
1. We ____ sad.
2. We ____ going to the zoo.
3. We ____ playing a game.

The test went on like this. Every example had the exact answer that was expected in that section. There was ZERO brain power used to take this test.
Typically I don't worry about what my co-workers do; I try to focus my energy on teaching my students at the best of my ability. After 9 months, I still feel like I have not made much progress at all. Upper Level students can speak as much English as they could last August. No new conversations happen in or out of my classroom. I honestly feel like I have not made an impact after 9 months of trying so hard. I feel like this is part of the reason. If the Taiwanese-English teachers are giving little effort, the kids are giving little effort. And then, ha ha, look at the foreign teacher busting her butt to try and get through! It breaks my heart.
This isn't the case for a lot of schools I have heard about from other foreign teachers. My friend, Emilie's, school is very innovative and has a striving English program. They push the students and expect results. The students can relay their feelings or questions to the foreign teacher.
When I mentioned this all to Gerry he shrugged it off and assumed it was our location. Low-income farming community. This very well could be a factor. The rich kids go to English tutoring school (cram school) after public school. The poor kids don't. This should mean that the "rich kids" are ahead of the group and the "poor kids" are right on target. Well, that's not the case. The non-cram school kids are behind terribly; and the cram school kids are at an average level. I feel that the school(s) need to observe other striving English programs, have motivated teachers, and work toward an English program that will make a difference.

Field Trip

Monday and Tuesday, I was fortunate enough to join the 5th graders on a field trip to Yo Ma lie, which is a farm-like resort. There are fields of tall grass that they roll and grind to put in certain foods, which the kids got to experience. There is a driving range, archery range, downhill grass skiing hill, water park, and many other fun outdoor things. The "camp" reminded me a lot of Sherman Lake, the Y camp that I interned at last spring. Since it was all Chinese, I really don't know what they were focusing on (at SL we focused on character development, conflict resolution...), but they did similar group activities during the time. What I thought was awesome is that counselors took over and we teachers got to do whatever we wanted. It was nice to do all the activities with just the adults. Even though we have language barriers, I got to bond with some teachers. Jeff, the military volunteer that helps out with translation and my classes, got to go along to translate and have fun! I'm sure if was a great break for him....his job seems so dull. We had a lot of fun! The downhill grass skiing was so funny. The slowest ski lift in the world took us and our robot-looking sleds up the hill. At the top, we sat on this strange sled and took off. It didn't go that fast...but the reactions of the other teachers was so funny. There aren't many opportunities taken by the Taiwanese to be adventurous. I've noticed they avoid situations or activities that may have a small danger factor. So this was funny. They were scared at first. Same with golfing and archery. The women were too afraid to try, and they guys had probably never tried before, and were really terrible. It was so funny. I'm no archer or golf pro, but I know enough to look like I know what I'm doing. They all watched me before they tried. When we were golfing, I HAD to take video because they were so awful. One of the male teachers looks like an uncoordinated teenage girl trying to dance or something...so funny!
Monday night we had a bonfire and did some dancing. It was awesome. Again, the language barrier...but I felt as if I bonded with the students. I participated while the other teachers watched, but I did't mind at all. I had a great time. We played some games, sang some songs, and then had a little candlelight service. It was all familiar to me having worked at camps and been a camper myself; so even though I didn't know what they were saying, I had a good idea about what was being said.
All in all, the last two days was a great break from school and a great chance to have a good time with the kids. I'm so grateful that the school invited me to go along!

More information on gwa sa

Gua Sha – Pronounced gwa sa, the technique uses a massage tool with a blunt edge to loosen scar tissue and improve circulation in the painful area. This traditional Chinese manual therapy is over 2000 years old and is gaining recognition from Western clinicians as a method of quickly decreasing or eliminating pain and improving function associated with chronic injuries like tendonitis, muscle strains, joint sprains, scar tissue adhesions and following surgery when pain persists long after the procedure.
http://www.uhhospitals.org/OurServices/MedicalSpecialtiesNR/PhysicalMedicineRehabilitation/PhysicalTherapy/ManualTherapy/tabid/3734/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Gua Sha is used regularly by practitioners and laymen in health care facilities and homes throughout China. The government in China goes to great lengths and funding to campaign the positive effects of Gua Sha through the use of media to reduce health care costs by making it a priority and decided that Gua Sha was the best way to keep their people in good health.

That alone tells us the merit it upholds. If only our own government would start to support preventative healthcare even somewhat and if insurance companies would start to cover preventative alternative treatments perhaps we could keep health care cost at a minimum and actually become a healthier nation, of course, that is just my opinion on the matter but I believe that understanding and utilizing the energetic nature of healing would greatly enhance our healthcare system and drastically reduce our healthcare costs.

The method of applying Gua Sha involves the layering of Gua Sha oil on the skin. This oil is enhanced either with healing herbs or essential oils chosen to aid the extraction of toxic waste. The skin is then scraped in the area of discomfort or at times on the entire body using a specific Gua Sha tool depending on whether the treatment is for physical or emotional healing. Gua Sha treatments are not painful. As the body is scraped it pushes a build-up of fluid ahead of it, and after it passes, it leaves an indention or vacuum behind which draws toxic fluid out to the skins surface from deep within the tissues, the toxic fluid (Sha), as it floods to the surface is seen as small red, deep purple or green pools of blood and very often is hot on the area that the toxic heat is extracted. Red spots are an indication that toxins are being released. Where the area is deep purple the blood is old and extremely stagnant.

A dark green discoloration is a sign that stagnant blood and toxic chi are being released from the system. Sometimes a clear fluid will draw to the surface in a form that resembles cellulite or goose bumps. Where the skin starts out as a green glow which turns to red during the treatment, is a sign that pain or stagnant chi is being removed. The exposing of the Sha is literally removing disease from deep within the system. In Chinese forms of healing, there are three types of bad chi, the first being dead chi. It is stagnation that has been in the body for a very long time without being released.

The system suffers from oxygen deprivation. Dead chi is very harmful as it can encourage the growth of cancer cells. Remember, cancer is anaerobic and cannot survive where oxygen is plentiful. The second type of bad chi is stagnant. It is caused by conditions such as lack of exercise, chronic heart, liver, kidney, spleen and lung problems and from an overweight state of health.

The stagnant chi is always associated with pain throughout various parts of the body. The third kind of bad chi is toxic chi--where waste products or toxic residue accumulates in the system and when left untreated can result in very serious health problems. Gua Sha creates a suction on the skin that pulls stagnant intercellular fluid to the surface, removing toxic debris, and replacing it with fresh oxygenated, nutrient rich fluid, which in turn accelerates regeneration and revitalizes the region where cancer cells may or already have manifested. Unlike acupuncture, although it is extremely valuable also, Gua Sha can treat not only the meridian system but the entire system.

This is why the Chinese utilize Gua Sha as their foremost treatment in the prevention of disease. Gua Sha can be used to treat, alleviate and heal chronic degenerative diseases, migraines, chronic neck, shoulder and back pain, bone spurs, strains and sprains, menstrual disorders, insomnia, heart disease, hypertension, Vertigo, sinusitis, ear and eye disorders, chronic infections, sciatica, osteo arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bursitis, neuralgia, asthma, cysts and tumors, carpal tunnel syndrome, stress, digestive disorders, muscle aches, breast pain, varicose veins, skin disorders, blood disorders and liver, spleen, kidney, bladder, pancreatic stress and much more. If you are suffering from any of the these ailments, then it is time to do something beneficial for yourself and experience Gua Sha and its advantages firsthand by making an appointment with a practitioner that offers this therapy and getting yourself on the road to recovery.

Chronic Disease is extremely prevalent today in our nation. More often than not, individuals everywhere are both sick and tired or experiencing some degree of severe pain either physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually. Just in my office alone the amount of circulatory insufficiency and oxidative stress I am seeing on a daily basis greatly concerns me. I am quite impressed with the results that I achieve when I use gua sha. This technique may not apply to every patient and I only perform the procedure when I feel it is necessary. It is, I believe, a vital, restorative therapy that can lead us on the path to DISCOVERING WELLNESS.
http://www.stopthepain.net/practice/adjunct_items.php

Gwa Sah Massage

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to my landlord that I had a headache...he became very concerned and every time he's seen me since, he has given me suggestions on how to get rid of my headache (which was only that ONE day). He wanted to take me to relax in hot springs, but I didn't feel comfortable doing that with him. Once he suggested a massage, I thought it was a great idea. He told me that his friend's mother does massage and it's walking distance from my house. So, we planned a day to go, and he took me so that he could translate. He told me that it would be a hot stone massage. I was sooo psyched. I've always wanted a hot stone massage. I was ready for bliss.
When we arrived at the ladies house, she sat me down and gave me a 3-page paper about the massage process. It was translated in English, obviously by an online translator. I could not understand most of it, so I just glanced quickly. She opened a book and showed me pictures of a person with scratches on his back. My landlord told me that my back might be black and it might hurt a little. I figured that residue from the stones will make it black, and usually massages can hurt a little. I was still really excited. Then he told me that I would be able to shower, but for three days my back would be black or red (I figured he was mixing up his English words). She led me to the massage room, which wasn't like others I have been to. There was no relaxing music, no dimmed lights, no candle or incense. Just a room with a bed, and a bookshelf full of Buddha statues (like my stepmom's cemetery of angels in the grandfather clock!) I changed into the robe, and layed on the table. She began a fast massage, moving over my muscles in a firm, but fast motion. Everything was good so far. Then began the beating. She took out something that felt like a broken off piece of hard plastic...perhaps from a child's toy. My head was in the hole of the bed, so I could not see what was going on. This is probably a good thing. It felt like she was scraping my skin off my spine. It was extremely painful. My landlord had told me that the scraping will let the bad "chi" out of my body. As she moved the object down my spine, I felt a strange sensation in my legs. Sort of cold, and refreshing. After abusing my spine, she worked on the left and right sides, respectively. This didn't hurt as much as the spine, until she got onto the far sides, where the skin is more sensitive. I winced in pain, but survived the beating thus far. After my back was entirely striped of skin, or so it felt, she began to prepare something that sounded like a machine...then a smooth, hot, round object was whirling over my back giving me the most euphoric feeling after such a hard beating. I glanced toward the table when she returned the object and I saw that it was a wooden ball with an electrical cord. Where can I buy one? It felt wonderful. After the heat, I got another 5 minute massage all over my back. After working on my back, she repeated the entire process on my buttocks. She was pushing so hard, that I had to have her stop. I felt like a baseball bat was striking my cheeks. She asked where it hurt and told me through actions that it was painful because I had something wrong with my legs. Since it hurt, she continued to push harder and harder to try and ease the pain. Oxymoron? It was the pressure that was hurting. My bottom was just FINE before I came in for the massage. She would alternate between cheeks until it did not hurt when she applied pressure. Maybe I had knots in the muscles that I didn't know about. Then it was back to the scrape abuse. She spent most of the time scraping, and the rest going between massage and heat. After about 30 minutes, she had me sit up so I could work on my neck. This was the worst part of the entire experience. She got the scraping tool out and went to town on my neck and shoulders. I clenched in pain and realized I wanted to punch the lady for putting me in so much pain. I thought of all the words I wanted to scream at her. But I remained quiet as I squeezed my eyes and fists trying to endure the pain. As I glanced over my shoulder I saw the culprit that was causing the pain...a small, porcelain, Chinese tea cup. THIS is what was beating the tar out of me. Wow. I could not believe it. Who in the world would think of using a tea cup to scrape your back to heal the negative chi? This is an actual massage technique. I am still trying to find information on Gwa Sah in English. I will have some Taiwanese English teachers help me find something online tomorrow. I would like more information on this. Perhaps some answers as to why I endured this pain.
The entire 45 minutes was considered a "trial run" to see if I liked it. I was charged 300 NT, which is approximately 10 US dollars. If I return for the abusive massage, it will be 300 NT, and if I go only for the relaxing and heat massage, it will be 500 NT. I will never get the Gwa Sah massage again. As you can see in the pictures, I was left looking like a beaten housewife. I would love to get a massage, as long as that stupid little cup isn't allowed in the room.

April

Last weekend I finally got the chance to visit Lou Dow...or Green Island. We had the best group to go. We all have similar interests, are easy going, and take our time doing things. I hate those tourist weekends where we are practically running from sight to sight. I want to relax on my weekends. The five of us where: James (Kentucky), Patti (Indiana), me, Tony (Taiwan/Hong Kong/Australia/USA), and Julie (Texas). We met in Taidong and stayed the night at Julie's place. We woke up at 6am so we could catch the 8am ferry to the island. It's about a 50 minute ferry. Julie gets sea sick easily, so we were all hoping the water would be calm. We all slept on the way there...then once we got there, we were picked up by the owner or our hotel. We immediately got on our suits and went to the beach to snorkle. The water was crystal clear and there were so many amazing fish and colorful coral to see! I loved it! After snokling, we had lunch, then went out again later to snorkle while the guys went scuba diving. That evening we drove around the 20km island on scooters and saw so many beautiful sights. After dinner, we went to try out the hot springs. But, they were super crowded and noisy....impossible to relax. We felt like we were taking a bath with 40 strangers, so we left soon after we got there. After tony shouted at the loud asian people in english, we left the filth infested water and went back to the hotel and crashed. Wow, what a day. We were all tired from a fun day, so we crashed early. On Sunday (Easter Sunday) we took our time getting up and having breakfast. Tony had already been up fishing for a few hours and caught a huge needle fish that looked like a cartoon character. After breakfast, we decided we were going to try out our underwater lungs and get a little scuba lesson from Tony, who is a certified instructor who has lived in Australia giving scuba lessons on the GBR. I was scared and figured I wouldn't try, but after Patti tried and loved it, I had to try it out. Tony was very thorough in his instructions and didn't leave any questions unanswered. What a great instructor. I felt save and excited. We were at a dock so the water was very shallow. He held my equipment and messed with the equalizer while I dove, so all I had to focus on was keeping my breathing steady and looking at fish. While he was diving with Patti, they saw a seahorse, something Tony has NEVER seen in all of his diving experience (did I mention he's a Marine Biologist?) So, they were really excited about that. He pointed out a blue eel, a rock fish, and other fish to me, but I saw the seahorse and pointed it out to him once I saw it. How awesome. I'm definitely on to something here...I HAVE to certified and go diving more. I'd love to go to the Great Barrier Reef. I think I'll take my Dad there. He loves diving and deserves a sweet vacation. I know I know...you're thinking I better win the lottery.
After scuba, we all cleaned up and went to lunch. This was the BEST meal ever. I had what was called pork and basil. It was small strips of pork that was stir fried with olive oil, cherry tomatoes, garlic and lots of basil. It was amazing. It was a big plate, but I sure finished it all! I had a long train ride ahead anyway...I probably wouldn't be having dinner. After lunch, we packed our things and prepared to leave the hotel to go back to reality. Sad. The next 6 hours was boring travel: the ferry ride, scootering so fast you'd think we were on The Amazing Race, getting on the train, waiting for a bus, then bussing back to Taibao, and a ten minute walk back to the apartment. So much travel.
It was an awesome weekend and I'm so thankful for Tony and Julie for organizing the little getaway. Tony got a great hotel, figured out all the travel times, and must have done a lot of work to get us there! THANK YOU!
Back to school:
This week is crunch time for the English competition. We have been practicing twice a day and critiquing pronunciation so much! The kids are doing really great and I really think they have a chance to win! They've come a LONG WAY!
I only have 10 weekend left in Taiwan. One will be spent in Thailand, and perhaps I'll make a weekend to Hong Kong. As for the other 8, I'm not sure. I have been to all the big tourist destinations in Taiwan, perhaps I will visit the smaller places and and discover new adventures.
I am very excited for the summer. I have so many plans and so many people to see and catch up with. I miss everyone and everyday, but that missing seems to grow larger and larger as it gets closer. I can't wait to embraced the people I love in the airport terminal on June 26th. I miss hugs more than anything!

Ghetto Cooking

Since I moved into the same building as Emilie, we have had some fun cooking adventures. These are our resources: a hot water machine, a toaster oven, a hot plate, and a pan. We made spaghetti one day by cooking hamburger (a new addition to the super market meat selection) in the pan with some onion and wine, then added a jar of sauce. we took the sauce out and cooked the noodles. It was normal spaghetti, and a very good change of pace from the dumplings and rice we typically eat.
Tonight we had a beautiful chicken spread. I was so surprised when I found boneless, skinless chicken breasts at the market. Our landlord got a microwave that is under a plastic bag (everything is wrapped in plastic) next to the washing machine, so Emilie suggested we microwave the chicken. I was a little weary about this, so I thought I would try the hot pot. I put some water, salt, garlic, and italian dressing in the pot and boiled it with the chicken breasts. It smelled really good. I was still a little weary. Then, I took the chicken, the stuffing, and the water that I boiled the chicken in, and mixed it all together in a tin pan. We covered it with some foil, and popped it in the toaster. Emilie worked on the instant red skin potatoes while I did all this. Within about ten minutes our dinner was ready...and I have to admit it was pretty darn good. It was no John Strein culinary artwork, but it was a good change up from what I'm used to!

Temple Celebrations

In one of my earlier articles I attempted to describe the small city in which I teach and the only unique aspect of this community, the Matzu Temple. Many of my friends and acquaintances have told me about the huge celebration that will take place here in March when droves of people will enter the city to worship the goddess of Matzu. What I did not know or expect was that people would start their trek to our city days in advance and the celebrations that would take place before the "official" event scheduled to take place the third week in March. Since the Chinese New Year (in January), streets leading to the temple have had visitors and worshippers on a daily basis. During my lunch break, I often hear the drums and gongs that are played during temple ceremonies. Occasionally, when walking to 7-11, I am stopped by a mini parade of worshippers, marching “bands” or Buddhist puppet shows.

What I have come to understand is that there is a pilgrimage from one temple in Taidong to the temple in my town, Hsin Kang for the annual Matzu Festival. It takes many days for thousands of people to walk the distance, just to worship Matzu. For two days during the week of March 22nd, school is cancelled for the actual celebration but in reality the merriment begins well in advance of those few days. The reason for the school closure is essentially twofold: the pilgrims will be sleeping on the concrete floors of the school’s classrooms and it provides an opportunity for the students and teachers to participate in the town’s activities. There is a catch for the teachers however; we are required to be in school those days, unless we choose to use our sick days. Also, those two days worth of classes had to be made up in advance during Wednesday afternoons when we typically don’t have classes. As for me, I plan on staying in school those two days to cleaning up my classroom and work on future lesson plans. My Western thinking makes me believe that if it isn’t an “in-service day,” we should be given the day off like the students. But, every day and every class must be accounted for. No "free" days in Taiwan!

I have already attended one of the celebrations associated with this festival. This particular event, highlighted by a parade, was to mark the arrival of “Matzu,” the goddess that protects the people as they leave China for Taiwan. (To understand the significance of this migration from China to the island of Taiwan you have to understand the history of this nation which is beyond the scope of this article. If you are interested, look on the internet concerning the history of Taiwan) Worshipers, townspeople, students, parents, EVERYONE, shopped the shacks set up along the street and bought culinary treats from the numerous vendors while they waited hours for Matzu’s arrival. I never knew three city blocks could accommodate so many people and vendors!


The parade that accompanied this celebration was approximately four blocks in length and culminated at the temple. There were easily as many floats and performing groups as we see at the annual Curwood festival. The cheerleading team I am helping coach was invited to participate in the parade so I got to march with them. We were placed toward the back of the parade and as we got closer to the temple the excitement and celebration heightened. It really was quite electrifying! At the temple there were probably twenty different news crews assigned to capture the celebration for the entire nation. Adjacent to and surrounding the press was a multitude of party goers all cheering and drinking. This was one exciting Chinese celebration!

I have witnessed a few temple celebrations before, so I knew a little of what to expect, but was awestruck when I saw the magnitude of this one. And, this wasn't even the main event! As expected, there were people dressed in giant costumes that were to represent gods or guardians, fireworks, music, an abundance of food, and shopping. As the giant "god" figures approached, I anticipated that one of them would be the much anticipated Matzu. When a little doll came down the road in a small temple-looking box held up with bamboo poles and carried by four old men, I wondered why everyone rushed to touch it. That was Matzu. The older generations believe that if they have the chance to touch Matzu, their year will be blessed. The elder ladies rushed toward her much the feeding frenzy of school of fish while most of the younger participants stood back and quietly showed their appreciation and respect to the goddess less aggressively.


The cheerleading team was scheduled to perform around 6:30pm, but when our group reached the temple we were told that Matzu was running late and it would be closer to 8:00pm. At 8:00pm the word was that it would be another hour or so. The team finally performed for Matzu in front of her temple at 10:30pm. I couldn’t believe that the schedule ran so far behind, but I seemed to be the only one surprised. Even though I have been in Taiwan now for over seven months, I am still caught off guard when time schedules are seemingly disregarded. As stated in my previous article, this is just part of the culture and everyone just “goes with the flow.” The performance was well received in spite of the fact that cheerleading is not well known or understood as a sport in this part of the world. My town is not only fortunate to have an art-study high school with a cheer team, but also three post-college cheerleading coaches. The team of 50 young men and women practice two times a week and are PAID to perform at events like this. In the end, everyone enjoyed themselves, me included

.

After the performance, most of the students made their way back home but I decided to do a little more observing. There was a group in the parade that caught my eye. It was a collection of marchers of every age, young and old alike, dressed in bright yellow costumes with elaborate face makeup. They were ahead of us in the parade, so as we approached the temple, they were walking in the opposite direction. But, the strange thing was, most of them weren’t walking. Many were being carried, some sitting down looking as if they were about to get sick, and still others just exhibiting a glossy-eyed stare as if "possessed" or drugged. My friend caught me staring at this group and knew I was confused. He graciously told me that these people are believed to have a "gift" that allowed them to communicate with the gods. What I was witnessing were demons leaving their bodies so that their “spiritual ears” would be able to hear more clearly. I’ve heard of exorcism or deliverance before, but I had no idea that Chinese culture had a similar belief. It goes to show that there are some similarities across the religious spectrum.

I look forward to the actual event to take place during the upcoming week. If what I witnessed so far is only the lead up to the main Matzu festival celebration, I can't imagine what it will be like. I will let you know in a subsequent article.

On a separate note, I have less than one hundred days left in Taiwan. I have written many articles for the Argus-Press, and will continue to do so for the next few months. If there are any particular questions you have about the Taiwan culture, living in a different country, or the school system, feel free to email me at kstrein@yahoo.com . I would love to answer reader questions in the next couple articles. Think Spring Owosso!!!!!!!!!!!

Different kind of shock

Before moving to Taiwan in August of 2008, I knew very little about the Taiwanese culture; but have since learned a great deal. It is a fascinating country with a culture very different from ours. I expected to experience a bit of culture shock but had clue as to what form it would take. Obviously, I knew there would be a language barrier, differences in food, religion and customs, but nothing really prepares you to be immersed into a foreign culture and experience the obvious as well as the subtle differences in culture. I have been in Taiwan now for over seven months and I am still learning about the ways of the Taiwanese people.

When anyone travels to a foreign country as a tourist you experience, for the most part, the superficial aspects of the culture. That is what I did for the first several months in this intriguing country. I was overloaded with the different culture I experienced yet little did I know there was so much more that was totally going over my head. I would like to share with you some of the more subtle aspects of the Taiwanese culture that I have only lately come to appreciate. Additionally, I am going to reveal some things that I have learned about myself as a result of this experience.

First, I need to confess that because there is a lack of English speaking friends, I am experiencing a bit of social deprivation. I miss everyday, ordinary conversation! By nature I am a social person. I enjoy talking, going out with my friends on the weekends and making plans for small “road” trips. The social life of Taiwanese young adults is drastically different from their American counterparts. Primarily, it revolves around family. At my school, most of the younger teachers with whom I might normally socialize, go back to their parents’ house for the weekend, and rarely go out. I was shocked at how these young adults are still so very much tied both emotionally and socially to their extended families. I don’t want to be misunderstood here. I am certainly all for family and family values but I am also for independence and having a broad spectrum of family AND friends with whom to socialize. The social circle of the Taiwanese does not extent far beyond family connections.

If you have been following my articles, you know I have done a fair amount of traveling but still there are many weekends spent alone with not much to do. Having only a handful of people with which I can communicate make for a very lonely and long few days. I had to realize that these people have their own lives and cannot be there for me every time that I need them. I am dealing with the loneliness in the best way possible, but in the same breathe, I will be glad to be back on American soil and in the midst of a familiar culture and language.

Another subtle aspect of the culture I've come to experience is that, by and large, the Taiwanese people are not planners, at least not nearly to the extent of most Western cultures. For example, it was not until two weeks into the semester that teachers were given a semester calendar with important dates for the upcoming months. Teaching supplies and curriculum were distributed in a likewise manner. Though I had a week of office hours to prepare for the coming semester, I had no materials with which to prepare. Luckily, the first day for students was only a half day. This gave me time to prepare at least for the first week. These types of occurrences are more the norm than an isolated incident. Not one of the Taiwanese teachers was alarmed at this nor were they concerned. Deadlines are flexible. It has been my experience that this sort of thing would not be tolerated in the USA. As an American, I look at this as procrastinating, or irresponsible, but that is to view this culture thru my culture and experience. I am still working on patience, tolerance and the ability to perform many tasks without the benefit of advanced planning.


The next major culture difference that I’ve noticed is how parents relate to their adult children. In prior articles, I have mentioned how children typically live with their parents until they are married and frequently after. Multigenerational homes abound in Taiwan. Not only do they live with their parents, but children are taken care of to an extent that we would view as childlike. A child can be well into his/her thirties, living at home and have a “curfew” similar to a middle school student in the States. Additionally, the parents will make a majority of the decisions for this young adult as well. It is so different than the way most Western parents raise their children. Most parents I know want to prepare their children to become independent and able to make good choices on their own. I do not see that philosophy here in Taiwan. There must be an age where the parent feels comfortable “letting go” of their children but, as of yet, I haven’t figured out where that age might be………….30…..35…..40?

Now that I look back on it and appreciate what was just described above, I think the administration at my school was probably shocked that their new English teacher was so young. All the concern and wanting to know where I was going and when I would be back etc. was not necessarily driven by professional hospitality but, rather, by their sense that I needed parental-like protection. I think that is why the principal has treated me so differently from the other two foreign teachers, whom are both in their 40’s. It took me this long to figure it out. Because I am young and a first year teacher, she either decided or was appointed the job of being my surrogate parent, at least while I was in the school setting.

Recently I decided to move out of my host family setting and get my own place. To be honest, part of that decision was around the very issue I just discussed: independence. The principal was not at all comfortable with my decision and tried to convince me otherwise. Once I made it clear I want my own place for the next semester she became very active in the process of finding me an apartment. She eventually took me to look at several places in Hsin Kang, but none of them were up to my satisfaction. On my own, I found a new apartment complex that had a furnished apartment for rent in a neighboring town. At first, the principal would not allow me to move to a different town because there is a commute, and that is dangerous. I explained to her that I liked the apartment and have chosen to live there. During the entire next week she came up with several reasons for me to not take that apartment. I finally had to explain to her that a commute is normal in my culture, and I have been driving long enough to be as safe as the next driver. This was a challenge for me, because I appreciate her concern, but I also needed to be firm and stand my ground. When I told her that children often leave home after graduating high school or college, she was very shocked and I got the impression that she felt American parents did not care as much for their children as they did. It was then the proverbial “light bulb” went on for me: she was trying to be the parent she thought I needed. Since this incident, she consults me everyday to make sure that everything is going well and I am getting enough sleep. I am not used to someone wanting to know my whereabouts and such details, but, again, I appreciate her concerns.

When preparing my heart for the year in Taiwan, I considered what I thought would be my biggest challenges: being away from home, different overall living standards, strange foods and the language barrier. I did not consider these smaller aspects that come up during everyday life. I knew that our two cultures differed greatly from one another, but having now been embedded into this culture, I am amazed at how much they actually diverge. I guess, subconsciously, I expected people to be the same, just eating different food and speaking a different language. Such is the naivety of 23 year old!

English Competition

April marks the month of the Chiayi County English Competition. So, preparations are in full swing across the county's elementary schools. This past week, my school has been judging students on the two areas of the competition to chose which students we will send to the BIG county competition. Today I was one of three judges for the story telling competition. Being an elementary competition, I did not expect a very formal format. Well, I was wrong. The students were given exactly two minutes to recite a story from memory. They were judged on how they spoke the English words, how well they told the story, and how well they remembered. Each three judges had a score sheet with comment section. The students were so nervous and shaky, I felt a little bad giving low scores, and gave a little higher than I should have. A few students were excellent though, they brought props, did actions to go along with their story, and had voice inflection to emphasize exciting parts of the story. Most of the stories were very monotone, and I had to focus hard to understand the words. Most of the students recited their stories very fast because they were nervous. One student completely forgot his story and stood there trying to remember for the entire two minutes. He cried until the end of the competition. I felt awful. It was so strange to see students that are usually hyper and silly in class turn into a shy, nervous performer. I think three judges staring at you from 3 feet away would be quite intimidating. After the judging was finished for all three grades (6 students per grade), I congratulated a few students on how well they did. One of my favorite students, and probably the most fluent of all, Jonny, said he was so embarrassed and so nervous that he did terrible. I told him that he did a great job and he has nothing to worry about. Most of the students I know from class and recognized their nerves, and I made sure to take that into account. I've never seen Jonny so quiet.
So the next few weeks we will have the chosen students practice 1-on-1 with us English teachers to prepare for the big competition in April. Unfortunately, we are unable to attend the competition after helping them prepare....we can't miss classes :(
TO prepare for my portion of the competition, I had to create a readers' theater script for the students to memorize and perform. We will be practicing this for the next few weeks! WISH US LUCK!

Doing Well

I just wanted to give an update to everyone. My last couple posts were a little on the negative side...but things have started to look up and I'm much happier and content. I'm ready to come home, but I'm not yearning for home like I was during those difficult weeks. I'm all settled into my new place, which is like a dorm room with a bathroom...not bad for a hundred fifty bucks a month! Now that classes are back in swing, days go by quickly...and I love my job still! The teaching is why I came, and that is what keeps me surviving. I keep telling myself I need to take my vid camera and take a few lessons...I just always forget...then while I'm teaching I think, "this is a good one, I should video tape this!" Lol. Maybe I'll tape a few duds before I catch myself on a good day. It's interesting being in my classroom...it's very different than you would expect...a lot of Chinese flying around my ears, some out of control behaviors, old wooden chairs that are falling apart, and me being an entertainer for 40 minutes....lol!
That's about it for now, just wanted to let everyone know that things are much better than the last few weeks....St. Patty's day marks 101 days until I'll be home...that's the official countdown....
LOVE AND MISS U ALL!

Like Woah

I've been on an emotional roller coaster for the last few weeks, and I'm going to blame everything that has happened on the stars. February just doesn't like me. Just when I thought all the issues were about to be ironed out and life could go on as normal, I get two loads of information today.
1) My sister is going to elope with her boyfriend of 16 years rather than have a traditional wedding, or even a small ceremony. This is happening in TWO WEEKS. I know this is what they want to do and it's selfish for me to not support it 100%, but I always dreamed of being a part of her wedding and being there for her every step of the way. I at least thought that the family would be around. I'm happy for them, don't get me wrong, I'm just having some sad feelings. I'm not sure if my brother ever intends on having a wedding, so that leaves me thinking that I'll never be a part of my siblings weddings or have the joy of tearing up as they say "I do." I guess as a part of a family, I had always hoped to celebrate that day in a special way by being there beside them. A girl can only wish.
2) My step sister from my dad's first marraige has not been a part of my life, or my family's life in over 14 years. This has been hardest, I think, on my dad and myself. I always wanted to know Danielle and do "sisterly" things with her. In high school, she told me over the phone to please stop writing letters that went unanswered, and please stop calling her. This broke my heart. I've learned to deal with the empty spot that is reserved in my heart for her, and I've been doing very well. Well, today I see that she accepted my request to add her on facebook. I got to see an up-to-date picture of her, see where she lives, she that she's single (thank GOD she didn't get married and NOT TELL US) etc... I've dealt with the heartbreak of not having her in my life and I was soooooooo close to coming to terms with it, and seeing her picture and seeing her profile just makes her seem within arms reach and it feels like my heart has broken all over again. I don't want to get my hopes up that anything will come out of this, but it's hard to not wish. At the very least, I can see where she lives, know when she has a boyfriend/fiance/husband, and see pictures of her. Call it stalking, but it's important that I know a little bit about her....she's my sister after all.

Hard work pays off

This is an e mail received this morning from the head of the English department at my school:
Dear Teachers:

We know Kate has done more than her share of test preparation and camp lesson planning. We want to correct this situation. To start Gerry will prepare all the grades five and six tests this term. Also Bette will prepare all tests for grade three and four for this term. Tests must be emailed to the other teachers two weeks before the test date. As will allow other teachers to make any changes needed for their individual class.

I've gotten one response from a co-worker and it was slightly sarcastic and cunning, but that is to be expected. I do not anticipate this going over well with the others. But I'm glad that the burden has been taken off of me, and the work divided evenly.
After Wednesday's brawl with Bette, I'm sure that this semester is going to unfold a lot differently than last. We have begun a semester with division within the department, tension, and hard feelings. I have a feeling it's going to remain this way for the next 19 weeks.
19 weeks. 5 days. I'll be home. Just keep going. Just keep going.
Time to go out for the night and not think about SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Valentine's/Single's Awareness Day!!!!!!!!!!

Argus Winter Vacation Article

With my first semester of teaching and winter vacation behind me, I want to reflect on the many new things I have learned about the Taiwanese education system. My biggest surprise is the fact that although there are three weeks on the school calendar marked as “winter vacation,” two of the weeks some teachers are still required to be in school. I have mentioned before how much emphasis the Chinese put on their children’s’ education, and this reiterates that fact. Although these three weeks were considered vacation time, I was required to have office hours at school from 8-5, more than my normal work week of 8-4, for one week. Part of this time was spent teaching in the camp which I will describe later in this article. The remainder of the time was used to prepare lessons and activities for the first few weeks of the new semester, even though I didn’t get my teaching supplies until the day before classes began.

The second week I actually did have off and I took full advantage of it by going to Japan (also to be addressed later in this article). This was the government mandated time off due to the celebration of the Chinese New Year. For this Holiday, four weekdays are given off for all businesses, but the fifth day of the week, Friday, is not. Since most people traveled in order to be with their families, my school was gracious enough to give the additional day off………..with one catch; we have to make it up. In Taiwan culture when a day of work or school is given off, it must be made up. Because this Friday was given off, we will have a regular school day on a Saturday. This has happened before and each time I am surprised. Parents just do not want their students missing any days of school; so every day must be accounted for. I would assume the government has a certain amount of mandated days the students must be in school each semester as well but I don’t know this for sure. At any rate, there are times in Taiwan that teachers and students attend school on the weekends.

About the camp I mentioned above: the first and third weeks of our “break” we held an English camp, essentially two weeks of extra English practice for everyone. Although the students are considered to be on break during this time most, if not all of them, attended the two weeks of “English camp.” The students only come to school for half of a day, but the teachers have office hours until 5. The camp was a project given to the three foreign English teachers, which ended up practically being a project of my own. For each day, I prepared lessons and activities for three teachers to teach in rotating stations.

Because the project ended up in my hands, I wanted to have every student get the chance to be in each of the three foreign teachers’ classrooms. We had an hour session, three times in the morning, each the same lesson. The lessons, depending on the grade level, consisted of: acting out a story, role-playing how to buy candy at a store, and learning the months of the year. My other foreign co-workers failed to prepare any other lessons, so on the days that I did not prepare a structured lesson for them, they played an English version of bingo with the students. Though it was a very stressful time for me, it was a great experience and I was able to further develop my leadership skills.

In America, winter and summer vacations are times for teachers to re-energize, possibly travel with their friends\family or continue their education. Here in Taiwan, a few teachers, I believe the newer ones, are expected to work for the school during their “vacations.” What’s more, I don’t think there is any supplemental pay for this duty; it is just expected. I still haven’t quite figured this all out yet. My mindset is still that of an American teacher so this entire concept is something I don’t fully comprehend.

As I stated above, I did get to do some traveling during my one week of semester break. A small group of foreign English teachers organized a quick trip to Japan. It is not the best time to visit Japan because it is the winter season and many attractions, especially the botanical gardens, aren’t as impressive as they otherwise would be in the Spring or Summer but I don’t have time off then so, I took advantage of the opportunity while I had it. Because of a foot injury early in the week, I was unable to see and experience everything on my group’s itinerary but still saw a portion of the Japanese culture. We visited many temples and gardens in the historical cities of Kyoto and Nara.

The day trip to Nara is the most memorable day of my Japan experience. The train ride from Kyoto took about an hour and as we reached our destination it began to rain but even this did not deter us from seeing the sites. We rented bicycles, causing a little shock to the bicycle rental worker, and set off to the main park. After an uphill ride, we arrived at some tourist attractions. I assumed it was a zoo because I saw deer grazing in a gated area. Then I saw deer grazing in a non-gated area as well as in the street, near the temple and even trying to get into stores! There were wild deer EVERYWHERE. I couldn’t’ believe that this was accepted throughout the town. The deer were as much inhabitants of this town as the people! The deer were actually obnoxious. They came up to people begging for food, head butting them (and us!) and, in general, harassing everyone.

My two friends and I biked through the most beautiful parks and trails, stopping at shrines and temples. Then we came to an attraction that led us to Todai-ji, the temple that houses the biggest Buddha in Japan, and the largest wood carvings in the world. Nothing could have prepared me for the enormity of this Buddha. His eyes alone were three feet wide. Because temples are candle lit, pictures could not capture the essence of the Buddha or the temple, I still got a few nice shots though.

As I write this, the second semester of school has started and my year in Taiwan is more than half over. I hope to continue learning about the country and its people. My next article is going to discuss culture shock that goes beyond the initial reactions of visitors: living in a foreign land. Thank you again for reading, and I wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year.

Argus New Years article

5…4…3…2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!
These are familiar sounds to most everyone I know but they are not the words I heard around midnight on December 31st. Though there was not a formal countdown, my New Years celebration in Taiwan was a very memorable one. Some of you might have been watching CNN as they panned around the world to give viewers a sense of how different parts of our world celebrate the beginning of a New Year. One of those shots was in Taiwan at the famous Taipei 101 building where a dazzling firework display was briefly caught by the cameras and beamed to the network. Being at the 101 on New Year’s Eve is like being in Times Square in the States and………………I was there. Here is the story of that memorable evening and the few days after January 1 when I had a chance to explore the main city of Taiwan, Taipei.

Kevin, another expatriate English teacher from Long Island, and I met at the train station in Taipei City before 7pm and decided to find our way to Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the world) right away and then make our plans for the evening. Navigating this city, nearly the size of New York, was surprisingly easy using the MRT (subway) and before long we had located the famous landmark around which the New Year’s celebration would take place. There was no giant crystal ball hanging from any of the skyscrapers so I figured that was purely a New York thing but there was obviously going to be some sort of festivity. There were tons of people already milling around and midnight was still over 4 hours away. I was already excited!

Since we had both been on a train for several hours to reach Taipei and only eaten snacks, we were famished. Now that we had our bearings of where the celebration would take place, our thoughts turned to food-----not any food -----we craved a good ole fashion American meal. We knew from a trip we took in August that there was an Outback Steakhouse near Taipei 101. It took a while, but once we found it, our appetites had preceded us! We enjoyed every bit of our dinner because we rarely have an opportunity to enjoy this once familiar cuisine. After the leisurely meal we still had two hours to kill until Midnight so we walked around a little, got some drinks at one of the many street establishments and found a spot that we thought would be perfect to watch the show. We didn’t want to risk losing our spot, so we took turns leaving to walk around and “people watch”. The crowd was beginning to press in on everyone and the excitement, although tempered in terms of western standards, was palpable. You could feel the anticipation in the air but, interestingly, there was not that much noise or “craziness” that you see on television in regards to New York. We had our great seat in the middle of a street about a block and a half from Taipei 101. From our vantage point we had a super view of the building and were, essentially, in the middle of everything! As the hour crept slowly by towards midnight, many times we had to “protect” our turf from would be squatters. Thankfully, being a New Yorker, Kevin was an expert at this.
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With only a few minutes until midnight we geared up for the traditional countdown. It never arrived. Somewhere around 12am all the lights of the 101 went out, there was a reaction from the crowd and a massive show of fireworks commenced from the building itself. Not over top the building, FROM the building----from the roof, from the sides and from the area around the structure. Actually I think it was a few minutes after the hour when the fireworks started. So much for the traditional countdown and obligatory eruption that follows 3-2-1…………. I thought the count down was a world-wide thing, evidently not. The show lasted about 6-8 minutes and on the last explosion, Kevin screamed "HAPPPPYYYY NNNEEEWWW YEEAARRR." You would think that he would have been one of many voicing the same thing but strangely, Kevin’s voice was the only one ringing in the New Year in this fashion. The firework show was nothing short of spectacular but I missed the noise and celebration we all grew up seeing on our televisions from Times Square. Following Kevin’s boisterous broadcast, everyone, thousands and thousands of people, got up and left. I'm sure it was just a funny coincidence, but it seemed as if Kevin's yell was the announcing of the end of the show. NO hugging, kissing or celebrating; the show was over so it was time for everyone to move on!

Kevin knew that when a huge show like this is over, it is not the best idea to get up and leave with the crowd...there is a lot of pushing, shoving and frustration so we sat and watched everyone else leave. Many people wanted to get their picture taken with the funny and loud Americans so we gladly obliged. For one couple, Kevin laid completely on his back so he could get a good shot with the 101 in the background. Many others found this remarkable, so he took about 5 more couples' pictures in this position. Onlookers were even taking pictures of Kevin on his back with a camera because this was very odd to them and ended up creating quite the scene. With the crowd thinning out after several minutes we looked at each other and wondered; what should we do now? Since this trip was arranged rather spontaneously, neither of us had made any arrangements for the evening, ie; we had no place to stay for the night! We decided not worry about it until we got tired so we just took in the night life of Taipei until a bit after 2am when the rigors of our travels and the events of the evening finally caught up with us. I was cold and tired. Both of us were ready for sleep but the question was where? There was not a hotel or hostel room to be had anywhere in the city, not on New Years Eve night. What now?

This is the craziest thing I've ever done, and I wouldn't have done anything like this if I weren't with Kevin but, really, we didn’t have many options. Kevin is quite a bit older than I am and is like an uncle to me; he's responsible and always puts my safety before anything else so I figured we'd be ok. I guess when you catch the “traveling bug” you do more adventurous things and take bigger risks than you normally would, at least that is what I will attribute our lack of planning to. Luckily, we both refrained from drinking much (note: it is legal to drink anywhere…even walking on the sidewalk) because in the back of our minds, we wanted to have control when it came time to find somewhere to stay. We got on the MRT and went to the stop where our hostel for the next night was located (Kevin had a room reserved for the next night but not THIS night). We walked into about 3 hotels where they just laughed at us when we asked for a room. The last hostel that rejected us was on the 3rd floor of a building so, seeing no other options, Kevin decided to find a nook in this building where we could crash. He left me in the stairwell (a bit frightened I might say) to find a spot and in a few minutes came back and said that he found a place out of the way and, by his estimation, it was the best place we were going to find. He led me up some stairs to a balcony where two comforters were hanging over a railing either drying or airing out. We now had covers and protection from the elements! Soon Kevin was snoring but I don't think I fell asleep until after the sun rose. It seemed like as soon as I got to sleep he was waking me up and telling me that we needed to leave before we were found. So, about 9am January 1, 2009, we rolled into McDonald's after a night of being homeless, and “refueled”. Neither a night not soon forgotten nor one I care to repeat in its entirety again!



As I stated above, Kevin had reserved a bed at a hostel for the next evening so I figured I could just sleep on the floor in his room or perhaps they had a roll-a-way bed for such situations. Obviously, I had never been to a hostel, nor did I really know what a hostel was. I thought it was just like a cheap hotel. WRONG. A hostel is a bunk room for cheap travelers, and you can't have guests so I inquired about a bed for me. No such luck but they offered a couch for half price. It was better than someone’s balcony but not by a wide margin. Being a hostel, there is nothing provided; no towels for wet hair, no shampoo, conditioner...etc. This I didn't realize until after I was in the process of showering. Along with no towels, they also don’t supply any soap. Luckily, I found a sample of shampoo that quickly was transformed into “body wash and shampoo”. There was one more lesson I learned from this situation: that in a pinch yesterday’s clothes can easily double as today’s towel! If not an adventure, it sure was an experience!


The rest of the weekend was much less eventful, very educational and enjoying. We spent most of the time learning some history of Taiwan by visiting many of the museums around Taipei. The National Palace Museum is a magnificent collection of artifacts from the Chi’ing Dynasty. I would love to share pictures, but no cameras were allowed in the museum. We also visited the Taiwan Aboriginal Museum, which was also a great experience. The aboriginals here are so similar to the Native Americans. They use similar resources from the earth, make similar clothing and jewelry, and celebrate similar rituals.
The holidays were definitely different for me, but a growth experience being away from home. The whole episode of New Years Eve 2009 will always be a great memory for me. I experienced a new way to celebrate, and was far more daring than I have ever been in the past. I pray that our nation and the world will have a better year in 2009 than it did the previous year. The economic downturn is worldwide and is also felt here in the East.

January marks the 5th month of my living in Taiwan. I have already experienced and learned so much. I look forward to my last 6 months here but will also be glad to step foot on American soil again. In the New Year, I expect to write about future travels, and more on the Taiwan culture. I will be traveling around Taiwan as well as Japan during my winter break so, hopefully, you can look forward to hearing about those excursions. It would be ok with me if they weren’t quite as “adventurous” as the New Year’s experience.

Emotionally Drained

I've posted articles that I've written for the Argus, but I'd like to talk about things that aren't published in the paper.
Living here is HARD
You don't realize how little things in a culture can make a HUGE difference
At home, my landlord and I have that it would be better for me to find a new place to live. Taiwanese typically brush things under the carpet when it comes to dealing with issues. So, over the last 6 months there have been small issues that bothered the family I lived with, but they failed to tell me. Apparently, leaving your clothes outside overnight to dry is bad because there are ghost at night that can get in your clothes. It bothered them that I did this. Apparently, you wash your pots and pans BEFORE you eat, and I do not...I want to eat my food when it's still hot. This bothered them. Apparently, closing your bedroom door is rude...I didn't want everyone to see my room and what I was doing every minute of the day. This bothered them. So, all these little things have added up to create a big mess. The family I live with is no longer speaking to me, and over an internet chat, asked if I could find a new place to live. I wanted to resolve the issues, but all the father would say is "some people in the world have different ideas." I think he is a coward for not manning up and dealing with small issues as the arise. They have put me in a very challenging situation, with only 5 months left here, I need to find a new place to live and get all the necessities of living in a new place (fridge, microwave, tv....)
With this fiasco, and the recent drama happening with a co-worker at school, I have felt emotionally drained and burnt out on my position here in Taiwan. I decided last night that I for sure was going to head back to America within the next week. Sleeping on it, reading a lengthy email from my dad, and seeing how supportive the school has been to me, I'm re-thinking things.
1. If I run away from this problem, how will I ever learn to face life's difficulties
2. If I leave this school, my co-worker will have the victory over me when she is in the wrong
3. I don't have a job back in the US
4. It is not a good way to start your career by backing out on your first contract
5. I would miss my students and the work that I enjoy here
6. I would disappoint a lot of people.

So, it's been a very hard few days trying to get all my thoughts and feelings sorted out.
I've come to a conclusion that I think is best in the long run, but not easy in terms of short term emotions. I'm going to stay here and tough it out. Hopefully by doing this I become a stronger person and I can face giants later in life that try to get me down. I don't know if this will work, but if I don't do it I will never know.

Matzu Culture Celebration

Last night was a celebration in my town. I wouldn't have known about it, and would've missed it, if it weren't for my cheer team performing. They were told to be ready to perform at 6pm, but didn't end up performing until shortly after 10. So, we had a lot of time to just sit around and wait, but we made it a lot of fun. At about 9:30, the celebration began. It was a huge parade that stopped at the temple. Vince explained some of the attractions to me, but a lot of it I just admired for the beauty and intricacy. Matzu is the goddess that is worshiped in my town. She is the one that protects people that emigrate from China to Taiwan. The Taiwan straight is dangerous, so Matzu looks over them for a safe journey. Of course, Matzu was the last in the parade, and as the parade went on, the floats were more meaningful to her. There were trumpet players and bands and other types of worshipers. It was all such an awesome experience, even if I didn't know the reason behind it all.
For pictures - check out kstrein.shutterfly.com in the Matzu folder
for videos - go to youtube.com and search kstrein for videos of the evening
My cheerleaders did a great job performing....the video is also on youtube

inservice and mom's visit

Wow, I haven't written at all during these two weeks of vacation...where do I start.
Well I guess at the beginning would be nice.
Picking Mom up from the airport. More difficult than one would expect. I took the High Speed rail to Taoyuan, where I was told I would take a free bus to the airport. I got on the bus and waited as it filled up with travelers for Chinese new Year. Well, the bus driver came over to me and started saying really fast Chinese so I didn't understand...then he breaks out English and tells me I need to buy a ticket. So, I bought the ticket that wasn't too much....feeling confused as why the signs say "free airport shuttle bus" but you still pay. Hmmm. About 45 minutes later I arrive at the airport and meet some other foreigners that guide me to where I should wait. I was getting so excited to see someone from home. I waited probably 45 minutes before I saw mom. While I waited, I decided to use a piece of my journal paper and write "MOM" on a piece of paper. When I arrived in August, I thought it was awesome how someone was holding a sign with my name...so I thought maybe she would get a kick out of it too. She walked in the opposite direction when she came out of the terminal, so I ended up yelling her name before our movie-scene reunion (the big hug that ends up me getting twirled around). So, I figured out how to get her, now how to we get back to Taipei to find the hotel? We walked around the airport trying to find a shuttle to the MRT, which was more challenging that I had expected. I know she was exausted and the last thing she wanted was to walk around aimlessly, but I hadn't really expected that delay. After another shuttlebus, the MRT, and a taxi, we arrived at the hotel and got to bed around midnight. We had to wake up at 5 am to catch our 3 hour train to the Hualien inservice. I had planned to sleep on the train, but Mom was so excited and wanted to catch me up on everything, so we chatted and observed the countryside. Once we got to the train station, we were shuttled to the resort and taken right into the inservice where I gave my speech within 5 minutes of arriving. What a whirlwind morning. It was nice to see everyone and catch up. I finally got to breathe as we took a lunch break before loading up a tour bus to check out Taroko Gorge. I don't typically tour places in a group, so at times I felt as if we were rushed or "hurded," but we got to see a lot in a short amount of time. We had an awesome little old man as a tour guide and he had some great history of the Aboriginals that live in Haulien. Men used to hunt for human heads by fighting with their bare hands. The more skulls they had, the more worthy of a man they were. Facial tattoos also showed the status of an aboriginal person. When the Japanese were in rule of Taiwan, they banned the Aboriginal human head hunting, which caused major problems between the Japanese and the Aboriginals. I'm going to look more into the history online sometime....I found it to be a very fascinating story. The gorge was absolutely beautiful, and though it's a cliche, pictures truly could never do it justice. After the gorge, we were all ready for a little downtime. Mom had misplaced (or customs took it) her blood pressure medicine, had jetlag, and some culture shock, so as you could imagine...she was being such a trooper at this point. once we arrived back at PromisedLand Resort, she hit the bed and was out for the night. I knew before long, we were going to have to find a way to get her medicine...or else she would not be able to do any of the things we had done. So, while Mom was resting, the group had a "bbq dinner" which I was expecting to be the typical Taiwanese bbq...a lot of meats and squid over an open flame. Boy, was I wrong. This was a five star resort and definitely a five star meal. Crab, Italian food, you name it. Oh delicious. After being stuffed to the max, I decided I wanted to re-join mom and perhaps relax for once in a few days... so I filled a plate of food for her, and went back to the room. I felt bad making commotion, but she got up for a bit...pretty much to tell me to join my friends because she was down for the count. So, I got on my suit and hit the hot springs with the rest of the group. This was the most fun I've ever had in a hot spring. There was a really hot pool, hot tub-ish temp, bath water, then really cold pools....so of course the big water slide went into the really cold pools...and we all had a blast acting like little kids going down the slide, screaming at the cold water, then running to a hot water spring. It was a great time. Since I was running on nearly no sleep, I called it a night early. Everyone else planned to watch Obama's inauguration at 10pm....so I left at about 930 and watched some tv before going to bed. The next morning was free time...which was awesome. Mom and I walked around the resort, which was absolutely paradise! I feel bad that this was mom's initial impression of Taiwan, because once we went back to my town, the culture shock really set in for her. We took a 15 minutes boat ride around the resort, and checked out the rest of the area. We were both so excited that the horse-riding was so cheap...and we love riding together so we jumped on that opportunity. Well, it ended up being an adult pony ride. I had help getting onto the horse, and was led around in a cirlcle with someone leading the horse with the reins. Good thing it was only a few minutes, because I was about to explode. PromisedLand should've been the last part of the trip so she could leave Taiwan after relaxation and pampering. I'm glad we got to spend the day and a half in Hualien though...it was awesome.
After our departure from Hualien, we were set for Taipei and back to the hotel we stayed at mom's first night. Now that it was just us two, we were free to roam on our own time and at our own pace, which was really nice. The first night after settling into the hotel, we hit the night market in Taipei city. It was enormous and packed. I don't think mom was crazy about the night market atmosphere, but I loved it. Great bargains, so much to see! One interesting thing that I've never heard of or seen happen...we were looking at an item and said we'd think about it and come back...and the lady kept saying no we will leave if the police come...and we weren't too sure what that was about...but about an hour later we figured it out. We saw all the vendors that were set up in the middle of the market take off down alley-ways and hide their shacks on wheels. They must need a permit or something to sell, and so many don't, so they have a look-out person and once police are spotted, they call it a night. It was pretty funny how everyone just accepted this and got out of the way of the hustling vendors.
Mom was dying to try new foods before coming to Taiwan, but after the night market where she saw more unidentifyable foods and smelled stinky tofu, she had no appetite. I convinced her to atleast eat McDonalds. Its not a favorite of ours, but something recognizable was necessary at this point. My happy meal definetely always makes me happy. (If you've gotten the bad e mail from Greg Oshust forwarded to you, you know why I was hesitant to write about McDonalds. I was highly criticized for eating western food and "wasting my cultural experience" HA!)
Day #2 was the Taipei Zoo. We were both really hoping to see Twan Twan and Yuen Yuen, the two Pandas that were given to the zoo from China as a peace offering. But, they were not on display until after Chinese New Year, which was still about three days away. The zoo was very empty, but the animals were extremely active. It was a great time. We took our time, took some great shots, and saw active animals throughout the entire zoo. I especially enjoyed the zebras that were running and jumping on one another. Even the hippos gave us a show!
After the zoo we had planned to check out Taipei 101. The stores are a little above our standard, but I still wanted to give mom the chance to be in the tallest building in the world, and perhaps gawk at Tiffany jewelry. We got there around the time everything was closing, so it was a short tour of 101. We had decided to have a nice dinner around 101 that night, so we found Chili's and ate there. Mom was wanting a steak, and I just wanted something delicious, so we both were satisfied. It was an abnormally expensive meal for two people at Chilis, but that's what you get at a restaurant that makes foreign foods. Well worth it in my eyes.
After dinner we were both ready to relax. The next morning, we slept until 11 and neither of us could believe that we slept in that long. We were going to take the train at 12, but didn't want to rush, so we ended up taking the high speed rail back to Chiayi.
Mom was in awe at the business front of my house, just as I had expected. She loves furniture and antiques, and all of it is french inspired, so she was ooh'ing and awe'ing for quite sometime. LOL.