Temple Procession - No Shame!

My time in Taiwan is complete, if you'd pull me out tomorrow I'd be happy...ok, I'm not REALLY ready to go home for the summer yet, but yesterday was something I've been looking forward to since I got here! I have a confession to make...I was creeping yesterday...hardcore...and I have no shame in what I've done!

This is what I began following

Ok I'll back up a bit, but please be prepared to be blown away! Yesterday, Sunday here, was a beautiful day and I chose to go check out the harbor in Hsinchu only about 15 minutes drive from my house, as I had yet to visit the area and wanted to see what all it held (side tangent, it was beautiful and I can' t wait to go back, rent bikes, and drive up and down the coast!) I left the harbor heading for church and planned to grab a quick dinner and then head across the street for mass at 6. I wasn't too far from church though when a man appeared in the middle of the road signaling to traffic to stop. I pulled off to the side of the road and tried to look ahead through traffic to see what was the hold up. To be honest I heard the drums and trumpets before I saw them and decided to shut off my scooter and sit and watch them pass by. Just a few feet before the procession should have passed me they turned right down a narrow road obstructing any view I once had.

I sat for a second and then thought...what the heck! I hopped off my scooter and began to follow the processional  {I mean I've got to figure out what's going on right?!!?} I walk with them a couple minutes down the road before they come to a standstill. There's a group of middle aged men all standing around (by this point they had put the god they were carrying down) chewing beetle nuts {think a grosser form of chewing tobacco} and drinking beer and were all quite intreagued by the lone foreign girl and were instant I have a drink with them...no thanks buddies!

We walked a bit further, with the guys picking up and carrying the bouncing god statue every time they moved, until I realized I was a decent ways away from my scooter...so I did what any good curious person would do; I walked back to my scooter and then drove it back to the processional parking only when the traffic got too bad to drive any further and then continued walking with them. I moved and parked my bike a good 3 or 4 times amounting to a solid hour of following these people and almost 3/4 of a mile covered by their processional.

[starting top left: 1. 10-12 foot god costumes 2. local men eager for a picture 3. a young boy dressed as a god 4. part of the area of the procession {look in the back, it keeps going!} 5. elderly woman & god 6.  firecrackers lining the road 7. myself and a large god 8. trumpets used during ritual dance 8. the "bouncing" gods]

Now on to the REALLY interesting stuff though! Guys, after an hour I still have no idea what I was seeing but I couldn't stop watching! There were so many local gods there. Some were on small bouncing platforms being carried by groups of 10-12 men, others were men dressed and painted to resemble warrior looking gods, and still others yet wearing costumes of 10-12 foot tall over sized gods. The entire time I walked there was a string of connecting firecrackers lining both sides of the street that they would lite with little to no warning, colored smoke being shot into the air, and 4-wheelers pulling drums and their drummers providing music for the whole ceremony.

[LOVE how these 3 pictures turned out! 1. god costumes waiting to be worn, the scenery was gorgeous!, and the sunset behind a dancing god]

Meanwhile, the "gods" were suiting up for the next leg of their procession while club music was ringing out from the group of drunk men behind me still carrying their bouncing god statues. I continued following them hoping to figure out where they were going {this puzzle was missing too many pieces lol} and saw they were heading to a small temple. Bingo! that had to be the end...or not! Each portion of the processional stopped in front of the temple, did a short dance or bowed, and then continued on down the road. I followed them for a while down a winding road taking pictures, having my picture taken, and responding to everyone hellos and where are you from's {of course all in Chinese lol} but still never found the end.

Next thing I knew it was 5:40 and my phone/gps was quickly dying. I said my goodbyes to my new found "friends" and headed on my way to church; laughing the whole way thinking off all the situations I find myself in. Until next time bouncy gods...keep on bouncing!

Taiwan Children's Day

Kids in Taiwan, the lucky little boogers here get a whole day devoted to them, and boy do the schools go all out for them!

April 4 in Taiwan is the national holiday of Children's Day. Kids here are extra lucky that it coincides with tomb sweeping in which they receive 2 days off school, thus giving the kids a 4 day weekend "for children's day".

Both my schools had fun activities planned for the kids, and lucky me was able to participate in all of them! Fu Long (my smaller school) celebrated early and took the kids the Hsinchu Little Ding Dong Scince Park for the day. This large park is divided up into area devoted to different fields of Science allowing the kids to learn while exploring and playing their way through the park. Their favorite part of the park (naturally on a beautiful 75 degree day lol) was the indoor "ski resort" aka-a hill covered with artificial snow for sledding. But, when you've never been sledding before, anything works! The kids had a stinkin blast and I can't lie, I had fun myself hopping on sleds with a couple kids as well!

Friday my school schedules were flip flopped around a bit and I was able to spend the day celebrating with my students in Hsinfong. The day started with a school wide assembly followed by an hour long magic show for all the kids. The reminder of the morning was spent rotating groups of kids through the gym which had been transformed into our very own Taiwanese carnival!! Before the big day the kids had opportunities to win tickets that they were then able to cash in at carnival to play games, get snacks, or win small prizes; they had a blast! The afternoon was spent relaxing in their classrooms and watching movies...not too shabby for a Friday before a 4 day weekend if I do say so myself!

 Pictures starting top left & working left to right: giggling at the magician, enjoying their snacks, chocolate covered marshmallows & sweet green bean soup, air gun target practice, popcorn for the win, chocolate covered marshmallows, making pins to wear, CO2 pop, air cannons, punch box fun, selecting their prize, & girlies enjoying their day! 

{Below - Teachers scored big during Children's Day as well! Holy Food!}

Taiwan Lantern Festival - Light Up Your Life

February 22 - March 6

Living in Taiwan this year has led me to having many learning experiences. I expected to learn some of the langue and about their food and maybe some basic customs, but what you don't realize until you are living someplace completely new, is that EVERYTHING is new to you! One of the most fun things to learn about is the Taiwanese holidays because none of their holidays are the same as what we celebrate in the United States of much of the western world whose holidays are largely Christian based. 

I wrote an article earlier about Chinese New Year that fell in early February this year, but later I learned there was a 2nd holiday signaling the end of the new year 15 days after it began; Lantern Festival. 

From what I've learned and researched this holiday has always been present, but it's only been in the last 25 or 30 years that the tourism bureau began printing and organizing a national event corresponding to the holiday. 

The thought behind the holiday is that people light paper lanterns with their hopes and wishes for the new year and release them to the sky hoping that their lanterns reach the gods who grant them a safe and productive year ahead. The present day lantern festival has turned into a huge national festival that travels around the country to a new county each year displaying lanterns from local artist & school children, showcasing performances from local groups, and presenting a vast array of local food and treats for out of town guests to sample. 

This years festival was held in Tayoun (outside of Taipei) only a quick 20 minute High Speed Rail ride from my house {needless to say I visited 3 times since it was so close!} and lasted 2 weeks from February 22 to March 6. This year, on the Chinese calendar, is the year of the monkey so tons of the lanterns were monkey themed (sadly none of my monkey friends from Kaohsiung were there) but the lanterns didn't stop there! If you can think of a popular kids cartoon; it had a lantern. If you can think of a cutesy animal; it had a lantern. An island surrounding Taiwan; lantern. Surrounding Asian countries; lantern. Sports, teams, and players; lantern, lantern, and lantern. Seriously guys, they were never ending and some were downright huge!

The main lantern was a multicolored ginormous monkey who every 30 minutes would light up, play music, and spin for everyone to see (not that it needed help there was no missing this neon colored fellow!). There was one section devoted to religious lanterns and paraphernalia, another to other island and counties of Taiwan, and still another reserves to elementary children's classroom creation. Even better yet was the 4 giant areas devoted to food stands and vendors making sure everyone's tummies were full and the performances that took place each night of the 2 week event!

Trip 1 - Tina, Tara and I headed up after school for dinner and because of the day's rain it was empty and perfect for a quick walk through! Trip 2 - Tina and I went up again on Saturday and though it was crowded it was beautiful outside and it didn't compare to the record breaking crowds on Sunday, but being the middle of the day on a weekend, we were able to watch many different performances! Trip 3 - Phil and I went a week later on Sunday for the last day and the closing ceremony shows they had lined up!

Were 3 trips necessary? If you ask any Taiwanese person they'd say absolutely not...to the person who had never heard of the festival 6 months ago...most certainly!!

[Top left clockwise] Cutesie steam buns for sale, proof I actually went!, HUGE and delicious sausage buns, lotus flower lantern I was given,  [bottom] aboriginal dancers

Mialoi Bombing the Dragon

Yes, you read the title right, and they did literally that...poor, poor dragon! He never even knew what was coming!

This festival/tradition/craziness is still a little hazy for me as to the origin or the whereabouts of this idea, but this is what I've gathered....

It is tradition, sometime during the 2 weeks after Chinese New Year to have a fireworks festival {actually they use fireworks the entire 2 weeks...trust me!...but  they dedicate a specific time to having a festival to use them} in which TONS of firecrackers are set off with the thought that the loud noises will scare away all of the bad spirits and things in your life. [My personal take on this...if the firecrackers didn't scare the bad spirits away NOTHING is going to, and now both the spirits and myself may be permanently deaf....but who's asking me anyways!]

There are 4 different locations around Taiwan that hold these festivals and each is a little different. While some just enjoy throwing the firecrackers, others encourage people to stand where they are throwing them {I swear I can't make this stuff up!}, and others yet use dragons as the main spectacle to throw the fiery noisemakers at. Mialoi, the county right below me, is the latter; hence, the Bombing of the Dragon Festival!

Last Saturday (when I finally got off work...boo to having to teach on a Saturday this week!) I headed down to Mialoi just in time for the festival to really get going. I had ZERO idea what to expect, but was still quite taken aback when I got there! I was less than 2 yards off of the bus when a guy volunteering at the festival deems me as "a beautiful lady" and tosses a light up dragon hat on my head {you only live once right?!} From there, the night continued to get weirder! I met up with my Miaoli friends (Rebecca, RJ, William & his friend) and after grabbing some food from the stands near by, I convinced them it was time to get our party started...donning on the dragon costume time it was!

We got in line, were handed helmets, goggles, ear plugs, face masks, & gloves and then waited our turn...still not sure what exactly to expect. Next thing we know they were ushering us into the center ring, handing us each a long pole that a section of the dragon was attached to and telling us to run...then the firecrackers started...they were trowing BOXES of firecrackers right at us!  Haha I kid you not, I was laughing so hard I could barely run, to say it was an  interesting experience is an understatement!

Once we finished our run it was near time for the actual show of the night to start. The real dragon bombing show was similar to what we did (people holding the dragon while firecrackers are being thrown at them) except their moves were choreographed and the dragon they had was beautiful! Each dance/bombing lasted about 20 minutes {umm hello TONS of firecrackers!} and then there was another dance or performance in between each of the bombings to give them time to clean up and for our ears to stop ringing. When we left around 10pm we had seen countless dragon bombings including an electric light up dragon, a Chinese dance show, a local middle school's Japanese drum student performance, & a Chinese lion/god dance. Needless to say, the dragon bombings were definitely a learning experience, and one of those times I just have to laugh and tell myself "only in Asia!"

What Year Is It?

Happy New Year my friends!

I hope you rung in the new year with your friends and family and that your year is off to a good start! Let's see about this resolution deal...this year I resolve to travel more (I'm living in Taiwan...check!), eat more (check, check & check), and live each day to it's fullest (always...check!)  Well looks like those are all taken care of! ;)

Ok, but really, on a more serious note (or as serious as I can be) new year's eve this year was a blast! You might have read my previous post about the funky feeling some of these holidays have here in Taiwan {if not you can read it here} but you get enough crazies together and  you can't help but to have fun!

I had to work New Year's Eve day, but my director let me out of work early (score!) and so I ran home, finished packing, and jumped on the next train to Taipei. To my dismay though, that was the last time I was able to move for the next hour and a half...holy crammed buses! I made it to Taipei and headed to Tina's grandparents place to get ready and wait for the other girls. We had dinner reservations for 7 at a "hardcore Taiwanese restaurant" but man was it delicious!

After dinner we began combing the streets for THE perfect spot to watch the fireworks; no building, correct wind direction, places to sit...this was serious! We finally found a spot and settled in amongt the crowds of locals....and then the countdown began!

The firework show was fantastic, we popped our party poppers, sang Auld Lang Syne in the middle of the street, gave the best new year's hugs to each other, and partied our hineys off until 4am....I'd call it a successful night to remember! I'm still confused though...is it 2016 or 105 now?!

The next morning we didn't have school (hallelujah! only our 4th day off since August!) so a group of  us headed out in search of food & adventure. We found both, in the form of a Pizza Hut buffet & climbing Elephant Mountain. Oh the food {and the views!!}

By Sunday we were down from 5 girls to 2 (and then there were none!?!) so Tina and I, having covered most of the super touristy things IN Tapei, rode the metro to the end & boarded  a bus to the very northern tip of Taiwan with not much of a plan to speak of. Only in Taiwan though can you have "not much of a plan" and still see the ocean, walk through a rock bridge, accept a ride from a strange man in a van, & visit a 10 story tall dog  in a single afternoon!

Ok, I'll elaborate a bit! We decided to venture outside of Taipei and see what the northern countryside had to offer when we discovered a natural "rock bridge" on a map and decided to check it out. The bridge was really pretty and unique, but let's face it, you can only spend so much time looking at a rock bridge! We checked our maps again and found a temple boasting a 10 story dog statue about a mile up the road; we walked it. Upon getting to the spot on the map we can't see the dog anywhere (this is when we start thinking we are crazy! How does one lose a 10 story dog?!) We stopped at an electric plant and asked a guard who told us it was about another mile...up the mountain...ugh. We asked if he'd call a taxi and he insisted it would only take us 8 minutes (a mile up a mountain...I think not!) we decided to give it a shot  though. We made it about 6 feet from the guard when he called us back and told us to wait. Next thing we know, another worker pulls up in a company van and chauffeurs us to the front door of the temple, wishes us happiness, and leaves....only in Taiwan!

Breathtaking views walking down the mountain from dog temple

Quick stop && Kung Fu time in front of Chaing Kai-shek Memorial

The "Long" Awaited Video!

Well we {{I}}  made it! After a couple run throughs at home, even I  couldn't help but admit that it wasn't difficult (disclaimer, I still stand firmly by the point that understanding the lyrics would have made a WORLD of a difference! lol...anyways!). I got to school Friday confidant that I knew what was going on.....until they handed me a bag saying "For you! For you, put here!" (while handing me a large  bag and pointing to my waist.

Umm....what exactly do you want me to do with this bag of giant leaves?? Ooohh...umm, it's a skirt? We are all dressing up like trees??  Umm...ok...roll with the punches Tracy, roll with the punches. 10 minutes  and 3 teachers dressing me later, I now looked like a giant, red (thank you  red school polo we had to wear) tree. While this look was adorable on the little kids...it was not so becoming of myself haha....but I wore that tree proudly dangit! haha

ANYWAYS! We marched on the field, the 8th graders played their drums, we did our dance, the announcer yelled my name a couple times, and the camera may zoomed way too close to me for comfort, but, we did it and the kids looked adorable!

The kids in their tree get-ups...way stinkin' adorable!

Aboriginal Village

--- --- Sunday, October 4, 2015 --- --- --- ---

(yes, yes, yes...I'm a little behind...apparently life keeps moving even when the blog isn't!)

So to continue from my previous Ping Dong Mountains post from yesterday; Sunday morning we woke up bright and early from our "out in the boonies hotel" (I'm not kidding here! 3 sides were covered in pineapple fields and the 4th was a field full of beetle nut trees...BOONIES I'm telling ya!)  ANYWAYS! lol, we woke up early and boarded the buses for {well at the time I wasn't sure...remember I'm still amazing we have 80 people in our group instead of 5...I clearly have no idea what's going on!)

So we boarded these buses and drove and dove and found ourselves here, at the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park. Let's just say I was pumped!

We started our tour of the Cultural Park with a visit to the museum where {luckily} many of the captions were in English, so I was able to read up on the local Indians and learn about their daily lives. (Like how you have to prove yourself to be worthy to be considered a man or a woman {instead of a child} and once you have proved yourself it is a badge of honor for men to get several of their teeth pulled and women to get facial tattoos....oh how cultures can be so different!)

Once we finished in the museum is was time to watch the bamboo cannon demonstration {take me back to Mulan for this one!} song / dance / cannons included!

Taiwanese Street Show

This will just be a quick post of mostly pictures for two reasons. 1. I'm sleepy! 2. (and more honestly!) I have no idea what is going on in these pictures!

Apparently this is some type of traveling theater troop that goes around singing and putting on shows. I clearly understood none of it! haha, but I decided to go out and see what was going on since I was able to hear them from my {closed} bedroom window from about noon until I went to bed at night. These pictures aren't the best, but it was still interesting to watch! :)