Purple Mountain's Majesty

Well we've returned from the vacation that ate all other vacations! A 10 day trek from Taipei, Taiwan to L.A. to Denver to Montana (Glasgow, fifty miles from Canada), back to Denver then on to L.A. and finally, back to Taipei. The goal? Surprise an unexpecting sister shortly before her wedding day. Did it work? Not exactly.
It is still my belief that there was a twinge of doubt in her mind as to whether or not Melanie and I were in the States. However, I must concede that my sister is far more clever than I gave her credit for. Having not logged onto Skype (a free internet phone service, fricking awesome!) since we left on the 19th, in combination with a minor slip-up from one of our accomplices my sleuth sister became quite certain of the facts and the perfect plot was foiled. But it was still a great ride and she didn't let on that she knew until the last possible moment. Kudos sis!
The wedding was a really great time. The ceremony was wonderful and Faith and Scott Redstone (whoooaaaa!!!) transformed the old Elks lodge club room (equipped with Elk's heads) into a classy and beautiful reception hall. The food was fantastic, the live country band rocked and the conversation was great. One of the best parts of the evening was the auction for the garter. This is a Glasgow tradition to collect start-up cash for the bride and groom. We stood barely able to stop laughing as the cattle auctioneer collected bids for over an hour! "Twenty-five,twenty-five a little bit more money, thirty and a thirty and a little bit more..." and so on. In the end, a little boy won with one dollar and a grand total of $3100! So basically, Mel and I are having our wedding in Montana.
The trip was an amazing race through the land we can truly call home. After five months in a different reality we caught a glimpse of what it will be like when we finish this journey. And while we aren't sure when that will be, we are more certain now than ever that our true home is with family and friends. Our desire for adventure compels us to continue onward and discover more about this country, the language and culture and ourselves. But we do know that one day we will be back in beautiful Colorado nestled somewhere amongst the rugged pines and aspen groves.
It was a rushed vacation and our only regret is that we didn't get to spend time with everyone and only a small amount with some. Please don't be angry with us, for we would have loved to spend everyday with everyone and we all know this can't ever be the case. But take the knowledge that you are all in our hearts and thoughts everyday. You know, flying in the air at 15thousand feet, there is no other choice but to familiarize oneself with a total lack of control. When you have no control, you have to let go of all those things that bind us everyday. So my wish to you all is that you find happiness everyday with no boundaries. Give up some of the control and enjoy the ride. Don't worry, the captain has turned off the fasten seat belts sign.

just a little reflection...

Not writing to describe some great trip we went on or wonderful place we saw, I was just looking through my journal, back at the beginning before we left, and noticing how much things have changed in these past couple months.
It's funny to think that the place I'm in now was what I was desperately longing for a while ago--being in Taiwan for a couple months, knowing the ropes, feeling less scared and more calm. And it does feel good. I find myself sitting on the MRT, looking around and suddenly noticing, "Wow, everyone's speaking Chinese."
I didn't even know what the MRT was three months ago, and now I'm overhearing Chinese phone conversations, understanding a word here and there. I know a few characters, know how to ride the bus (which is scary), know how to pay. I know how to order a coffee (pretty much), and don't feel embarrassed for not knowing the Chinese and having to gesture and draw pictures. It usually makes for a good laugh anyway. I have new favorite foods that I know I wouldn't have liked if I tried them in the States. The staring, which used to always make me feel self-conscious and like a complete outsider, doesn't bother me as much. It's not as scary to try something new, since I have to try something new every day just to get by.
Of course, these are things I'm thinking when I'm having a good day. When I'm having a bad day, well, that's different. That's more like, "Of course my MRT card isn't scanning. Why would it when there's a line of ten people waiting behind me? What are you staring at? Why do you have to stare for so long? Can't I order something that doesn't have pork in it? And why do my students have to scream every thing they say?"
But at the end of the day, it's these little annoyances that I love.
Teaching English in Taiwan is a unique experience, and what fun would it be if it were easy? It's also a lot of fun to gripe about the the peculiarities of Taiwan life with fellow waiguoren (foreigners). For example, there have been many conversations about this mysterious, psychic ability people in front of you have for knowing exactly where you want to go, and walking (very slowly) at a perfect angle so as to thwart you from getting around on either side. This can go on for five minutes before you find an opening somewhere to escape through; usually between two closely parked scooters.
It feels good to be learning so much every day. And not learning by reading about something or listening to someone talk about something, but by actively doing. Learning things that are actually important in my life right now, like where the ATM is, how to say 'sorry,' never buying starfruit juice again (you'd think it would be good, wouldn't you?), and more English grammar than I ever knew existed/can handle.
So my advice to someone feeling rather stagnant: pick up and move to a foreign country, or just try something new today.

Tainan Vacation

So we've just come back from our very first vacation since we've been here and it was awesome. We went to Tainan which is way down south, about two hours on the HSR (high speed rail) with our friend, Debbie. It was similar to Taipei in some ways, but definitely had a different feel. Things weren't as bustling, there were lots of trees, and the people were SO friendly.

We took a transfer bus from the high speed rail station into Tainan city, and the guy sitting next to John said the people in Tainan were the friendliest in Taiwan. That definitely proved to be true as we explored the city. Any time we gathered around the map to see which street we were on, someone was always right there, asking if we needed help. Once, when we were looking for a street at an intersection, a woman standing next to us noticed us looking lost and asked where we were going. When she wasn't sure exactly where the street was, she asked a guy in a car that was waiting at the red light next to us. The guy got out, followed by his wife and kids, and they all figured out the best way to get to the street we were looking for. By the time we said our goodbyes, a policeman had also wandered over and offered his knowledge of the city, as well.

We spent three days and two nights in Tainan, ate some amazing food, and practiced our Chinese a lot. The first night, after we grabbed some dinner in an interesting hot-pot type restaurant, we found a pub and met some new friends. A guy who later introduced himself as "Mr. Chang" sat down with us at our table with all his friends. They spoke about as much English as we do Chinese, but that didn't stop us from hanging out for about three hours and having some great laughs. We were all thankful that John brought along the Chinese-English dictionary. It got some good use.

The second day we decided to do some sight-seeing. Tainan was originally the capital of Taiwan, and is full of history. We saw more temples than we could keep track of. After a long day of historical site after historical site, we decided to go to a bar and grill called "Willie's Second Base Bar and Grill" which is owned by ex-LA Dodgers pitcher Steve Wilson. We took a cab and it ended up that the bar no longer existed, so we asked/mimed to the cab driver to take us to any good restaurant. We ended up in a very nice dim sum restaurant which was yet again another great opportunity to use our Chinese/English dictionary. It turned out to be a great meal.

After dinner, and some walking around, we found (again!) a really nice little bar. Everyone seemed a bit nervous when we walked in there, and communicated that nobody really spoke English except one waitress who we ended up having a great language exchange with. Her name was Ting Ting and she said she was looking for an English name. We offered to help think of some and it was really fun coming up with a long list of names. She also wrote our names in Chinese and told us what they meant.

The last day of our visit we stumbled across an incredible curry restaurant called "Pumpkin Curry" which served all things pumpkin and curry, of course. After that we went to Anping, which has some of the oldest streets in Taiwan. We saw an old Dutch fort and went up in a tower that gave us a great view of Anping. We also saw a really great Eagles/Air Supply cover band who played "Take it Easy" for the Maegworens (Americans...us).

We ended our trip with a walk down a night market in Anping which was by far the most intense and crowded night market over any we've been to. We collected some nice stuff to take home-charms, fans, whistles, and some great pineapple cakes.

So our first trip out of Taipei was a fantastic one, and we're all looking forward to getting out again! We also took about a hundred pictures if you want to see Tainan.