Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Dragon Boat Festival}

Sometimes I have people tell me after reading my blog that "there are tons of festivals in Taiwan". In reality though, I'm not sure they have any more major festivals than what most western countries have holidays.

Largest Holidays Celebrated in Taiwan:

(Click each link below to learn more about the holiday)

- Chinese New Year
- Lantern Festival
- Tomb Sweeping Day
- Dragon Boat Festival
- Ghost Festival
- Moon Festival
- Double Ten Day

Lucky for me out of this list of popular holidays and festivals in Taiwan there is only one on the list that I have missed to date and it's coming up on June 9th! Have no fear Taiwan...I will witness all of your holidays yet! You may have read my post earlier in the week about my training for dragon boat festival. Needless to say the boat racing is only one piece of this national holiday. Not having any idea what this holiday is about exactly, I put one of my co-workers to the test to find out for myself why we really weren't having school!

Dragon Boat festival is celebrate each year on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar (read more about their calendar HERE) falling on June 9 in the year 2016. The story around this holiday states that there was a famous poet by the name Qu-Yuan who was loved by many. When Qu-Yuan discovered that the emperor Zhou was going to be overthrown by the Qing, Qu-Yuan couldn't handle the news and threw himself into the river. Upon hearing this news emperor Zhou sent his men out on boats (presumably shaped like dragons?) to go and retrieve Qu-Yuan's body...Is this story true; I have no idea...is this the story Taiwanese like to tell surrounding this holiday; yes!

Other fun parts of this holiday {aside from the most popular activity of the races} include eating a type of glutenous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves and filled with pork, small shrimp, nuts, or mushrooms called zhongzhi {think about a Chinese version of a small tamale but exchange everything corn for rice!} Also, children wear and are given small sachets (little bags) around their necks filled with fragrances and participate in egg standing (standing an egg on its end at 12 noon) as well as spending time with their families.

{1. Zhongzhi waiting to be sold and enjoyed 2. Desert Zhongzhi made by students at school 3. Zhongzhi for dinner after rowing practice 4. The desert Zhongzhi unwrapped; lime & green tea!}

Dragon Boat Practice

Thursday, June 9th, is a national holiday here in Taiwan; Dragon Boat Festival {check back Tuesday for more information on this very new-to-me holiday!}

The main attraction of this holiday {besides the fact that we get a 4 day weekend!} is watching the dragon boat races. Upon hearing this I was quite intrigued and initially wanted to watch the races...that is until I was offered to be IN the races...umm yes please!

My school has helped me find a local team that began practice about a month and half ago {I started a little late with only 4 weeks of practice left} and Clement, my poor substitute military guy from school, was tasked with taking me to practice the first couple nights and translating from Chinese to English how to row these massive boats.

Starting last Sunday {a week ago now} we transitioned to the actual river where the competition will take place and likewise rowing real boats instead of sitting in a cement box in the ground!

Dragon Boat Logistics 

16 rowers per team/boat

1 drummer per team/boat

1 flag catcher per team/boat

1 man in charge of steering per team/boat

1 coach per team/boat

170 meters - length from starting point to the flag

Countless - tubes of Tiger Balm, rolls of sports tape, knee pads, & neon orange life vests per team

Our initial training location; a cement "boat" with small moats of water for rowing

One of our teams 2 men's groups at the training site.

During my first night of my one-on-one training with the coach

Actual dragon boats we are practicing in/will use for the competition

Dragon butts! ;)

Yilan County

April 22-24

I PROMISE {both you and myself!} that after this post I will actually be caught up {hurray!} and the remainder of my posts will actually be in order haha! As you may have realized I have myself a little goal while here in Taiwan to make it each of the counties (or areas in some instances) of Taiwan. Before this weekend I still had 3 of the stinkers left and was bound and determined to shave a little more off my bucket list. Luck for me another fellow English teacher from Texas, Ariel, lives in one of the three remaining counties and invited Tina and I out for a weekend...Yilan County here we come!

Now comes the fun part...prepare yourself for an official Yilan County photo dump! :)

The train ride out to Yilan from the west coast is not a short one, so of course dinner was needed! Sushi express offers a choose your own sushi bar for less than $1 USD each. 

The Yilan Center for Traditional Arts was a great way to spend a chunk of Saturday and get acquainted with what Yilan had to offer us!

And if teaching doesn't work out...selling noodles on the street is always an option as well!

The weather called for rain but ended up being a spectacular day to spend outside!

{{Arial, Myself, & Tina}} at the Cultural Village

Next stop, the beach! The beach was filled with small pebbles and sea shells...what could make my feet much happier?!

Loved the views & the breeze!

I've truly been blessed with the friends Taiwan has put in my path :)

The beautiful morning led way into a gorgeous afternoon & perfect biking weather

Biking took us past these funky condos on stilts as well as one of my favorite Taiwan sights, rice field workers!

Near downtown Yilan

Dinner came in the form of ramen and mango shaved ice!

And our post dinner treat included a free local hot spring as well as dinner for the local fish ;)  {and smooth feet for us!}

Sunday brought us more great weather and a picnic in the park with what us American's call..."duck tacos"!

Beautiful views at the park!

Jiufen Old Street - Take 1

Saturday, April 16, 2016

I profusely apologize for anyone who has to deal with me on a regular basis and has ever complained about my endless stream of energy {ok, I guess I apologize, but I'm still not willing to change!} Several weeks ago I began asking around as to what my friends were doing for the weekend and I received unanimous answers from all of them "I'm tired, I think I'm just going to stay home and sleep". What is this word sleep they talk about? I'm still not 100% sure, but I sure don't like the sound of it! :P

Solo adventure, here I come!

I've made a bit of a "to-do list" of things to do before I head back home for the summer, and one of the easier things to cross off this list was to visit Jiufen Old Street in New Taipei City {yes my posts are a bit out of order! You can read about my 2nd trip there with my mom HERE} Since Jiufen isn't terribly far from my house, I decided I'd head out early in the morning and make a long day trip out of it.

First stop of the morning was to make my way to Taipei where the bus to Jiufen left. While waiting on my bus though, what do you know, I meet a fellow American traveler (no shame in checking out someone's phone that they are using to see what language they have it set to!) who had just finished up a teaching gig in Japan and was traveling through Taiwan before heading home. I ask where he's heading {first he gives me a name of who knows what before he shows me the correct name on his map lol} and what-do-ya-know, he was heading to Jiufen...travel buddy acquired!

1. Small alley way 2. Paper lanterns lining the streets 3. Tea shop display 4. Tea house at dusk

The bus to Jiufen was an hour-ish {to be honest, I slept, so who knows!} and when we hopped off the bus we were met with the most incredible mountain views! Throughout the day Alan and I perused the streets graciously accepting free food samples, picking up "necessary" souvenirs, and taking in the sights and sounds that Jiufen has to offer. At one point Alan decided he wanted to stay put for a bit while I wanted to check out the waterfall, so we exchanged contact info and went our separate ways {needless to say thanks to the lovely public transportation in Taiwan some days...I did NOT make it to the waterfall this day!}

The famous tea house in the heart of Jiufen

As the sun began to set in the sky Alan and I met back up and decided to stay for sunset to see what else the area had to offer us. All I've got to say is that the more I travel, the more I'm positive that God is an artist. Holy moly guys it was beautiful! The sunset, the silhouettes of the old Japanese style buildings, the glow of the red paper lanterns...it was breath taking and so worth the wait if you find yourself on the steps of Jiufen Old Street someday yourself!

Extraordinary views!

Tuesday's Taiwanism - {Taiwanese Grocery Store}

Food! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read my blog to know that I love am obsessed with eating and trying new foods {no shame, a girls gotta eat!} And, to make matters even worse (or better?! I guess it depends on how you look at it!) while I am traveling there is even MORE new foods for me to try...score!

While traveling to a new place I love spending time perusing a local grocery store. I feel as though you can learn so much about the culture and their eating habits and customs by seeing what they purchase and what they stock their shelves with. Needless to say, I have spent more time than I'd like to admit checking out countless grocery stores here in Taiwan as well! In the last 10 months I have truly fallen in love with Taiwanese food {except for you stinky tofu...you're a whole other ballgame buddy!} and love the opportunity to try new foods almost daily.

Today I have some pictures of one of my most recent trips to the grocery store focusing mainly on the produce section {you'll see why!} Although after nearly a year I'm in my routine now of typically purchasing my staple grocery items, it's still fun to check out the new produce and snacky isles and grab something I've never tried before to see what else Taiwan has to offer me!

What other sections of a typical Taiwanese grocery store are you interested in seeing next time, let me know!

(PS - I promise I'm not a terrible photographer! I put my hand in several of these pictures for a size comparison!)

A popular type of eggplant in Taiwan called "Chinese Eggplant". As you can see they are very long and super skinny. They taste almost identical to Western eggplants, but with less seeds. 

These mushrooms are called "Enoki Mushrooms" they are teeny and noodle like once cooked and popular in many dishes here. I suppose if I was a fan of mushrooms I'd like these tiny guys a little more!

Some type of gourd plant. I clearly have no idea what this is but had never seen one before, they were quite heavy!

"Bamboo shoots"! A staple in every Asian dish!! I used to like these, but since moving to Taiwan I love them even more!

I tried to google translate on the sign for these monsters and it wasn't much help. It appears to be a root like vegetable with a dry potato texture.

And here we have 2 vegetables...again 0 help here, but seriously, where do all these crazy vegetables come from and how are there so many different vegetables in the world!