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! ;)

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

Silk Worms & Chinese New Year

Monday, February 8th

Holy moley guys! I'm so sorry, I am STILL not finished with my Thailand trip...between my computer catching a computer flu and currently being out of commission and then me getting sick for the past 2 weeks (ugh that's another story in itself) and the fact that life just doesn't ever stop...well anyways...I'm behind, but I haven't forgotten! If you might be behind on reading as well, you can catch up with me on Thailand HERE and Cambodian adventures HERE. 

Monday morning we decided to try, yet again, to check out this amazing floating market that we kept hearing so much about, so we set out earlier, went to the same market that was closed when we were there before and THERE WAS STILL NOTHING THERE! Apparently, after we asked around more, the people thought we were crazy, they couldn't figure out why we thought there was a floating market in this location since there never had been...ok Bangkok, you've got us on this one...and as for the floating market, we'll get you next time!

We decided to enjoy a little more time in the flower market that we had skimmed the day before and then afterwards, my curiosity got the best of me and I told Tina I wanted to go check out an amulet market that I had read about several places. I knew nothing about what an amulet market was, but that only further tickled my curiosity. If you aren't quite sure, and amulet is an object, often religiously related, that is thought to protect the wearer or owner from harm or to bring them luck. The amulet market in Bangkok was no let down. The 2-3 streets that had amulet sellers were covered with people selling. Some simply had a dozen or so amulets laid on a blanket while others had tables full of hundreds of amulets. From the little I was able to talk to the sellers I gathered that a majority of them were Buddhist decent and most had a picture of Buddha on one side and a monk or a symbol for the monk (I'm not sure if it was the creator or simply an important monk) on the reverse side. 

It was obvious that the amulets ranged in age and material, although many were made from stone and wood. And there were serious buyers walking around with magnifying glasses trying to find the days best deal. I on the other hand, having no idea what I was looking for, simply picked one that I thought would remind me of my trip to Thailand and chalked it up as a nice $1 souvenir! Checking out the market wasn't a huge time commitment, but if you're ever in the area I'd suggest checking it out!

After checking out all the amulets we decided to see what all the fuss was about the Jim Thompson House. We had seen multiple guidebooks suggesting that we check it out, but yet again, we had no idea what we were in store for {ahh one of the beauties of traveling!} First off, I am so glad we visited the house! It was really neat to see and I learned a lot as well during the included tour. Jim Thompson was an American architect who fell in love with Thailand and its people and moved there permanently in the 1940's. He pieced together his house from nearly a dozen local homes creating a one-of-a-kind Thai home to live in. While in Thailand Jim Thompson helped to revitalize the silk industry and many credit him today for the booming industry in Thailand. In 1967 though Thompson went on vacation to Malaysia and never returned. His house was eventually turned over to the Thai government and has been a museum now, open to the public, for over 40 years.

Thompson's home was beautifully decorated with many Buddha statues and traditional Thai pieces that he collected over the years. Likewise, there were displays and workers on hand to explain the process of creating silk starting with the worm and ending with a beautiful piece of cloth. It was a fun learning experience, and I'm glad we checked it out...our feet on the other hand...they were ready for nap time!

After a MUCH needed nap Tina and I put on our party pants and headed to China Town to ring in the Chinese New Year. Oh my goodness, this place was PACKED!!! For starters I felt like I was back in Taiwan with all the Chinese people crowding the streets and hearing Mandarin all around me, but there were so many people, Chinese and tourists alike, that navigating the crowds was just a tad tricky! 

Funny story of the night. Tina and I had been walking around for less than 30 minutes when this middle aged Turkish man approached us and began talking with me eager for someone to practice his English with. I figured that eventually he would part ways or he would get lost in the crowds, but he was a persistent bugger! I can't lie, at one point (probably 2 hours into our new friend Oz following us) we decided to go off on a side street and duck into a grocery store to try and lose him. We killed about 10 minutes in the store laughing that we had to hide to lose him. We turn around to finally leave, and who do we see....Oz. "I thought you ran away from me, like maybe you didn't want this old man following you, but I found you, I'm so happy!" {umm dear Oz, that's exactly what happened, but you just took this to a whole new level now!}

After a great duck dinner, some delicious Chinese snacks, and bidding our new friend goodbye we headed back late to our hostels (well not before stopping to see a New Year show at a temple we were passing bye and trying unsuccessfully to get a taxi) where Tina caught up on some sleep and I people watched outside my hostel with a beer in hand and a smile on my face....Thailand, you're way too good to me!

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!"

Tuesday's Taiwan-isn {Chinese New Year!}

Chinese New Year; oh  boy, where do I even start?!

Before moving to Taiwan I knew it was a holiday, I knew it took place sometime after our new year (January 1) and that it changed dates every year, and I knew there was a lot of  red and yellow stuff and maybe some dragons thrown in there...but that was about it. Holy moly though, I'm pretty sure living here was like the world's best crash course in Chinese New Year! I'm not claiming to be an expert on anything here, but I will admit I sure did ask a heck of a lot of questions about what was going on around me!

What: Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year) is the celebration of the new year according to the lunar calendar.

When: This year's Chinese New Year took place on February 8, 2016 & we are now in the year of the monkey! {so long 2015 ram!}

Where: Chinese new year is celebrated in many of the Asian countries & territories with strong Chinese populations such as mainland China, Taiwan, Macau, & Hong Kong.

Who: Traditionally the holiday was celebrated by the Chinese people, but today it is celebrated by Chinese people and foreigners alike {who wants to turn down a great celebration!?} The week of Chinese New Year (February 8-12 this year) is officially a national holiday in Taiwan and thus schools, businesses, many stores close for the week's celebrations {along with winter vacation we had 25 days straight with no school!}

How: Here's the big one, how do they celebrate?! The short version...they eat, spend time with their families, give lucky money to the kids, dance, & have fun!

--- --- --- The LONG Version! --- --- ---

The traditional food for families to make during Chinese New Year is hot pot. Hot pot is essentially a pot full of boiling broth that people then put meats and vegetables into to cook themselves before eating (personally I think it is somewhat of a bland meal...but to each their own!). Also many oranges are given and eaten during this time as a gift of an orange is like giving the person a wish for good fortune in the new year (needless to say I have about 50 oranges in my room currently...thanks everyone!)

The children's favorite part of Chinese New Year is receiving "lucky money". Lucky money is any amount of money placed in a red envelope and  usually given to you by an older relative during the New Year. Although I'm not a child I was lucky enough to win a drawing at our staff luncheon and get myself some lucky money...happy day! 

Red envelops everywhere!

Just like we decorate for Christmas in red and green, they deck their halls in red & yellow...EVERYWHERE! Everywhere you turned (homes, stores, malls, restaurants, everywhere!) was decorated. Paper lanterns were hung from above, monkey are still scattered on every flat surface you can find (2016 is the year of the monkey) and spring couplets are hung outside of every homes entrance. Spring couplets were a new one for me. They are essentially a poem of sorts written on 3 large sheets of red paper {some are super fancy looking} and then hung on either side of the doorway with the 3rd piece on the top of the door. A 4th, and much smaller, square piece is then hung like a diamond on the center of the door generally with a single character (word) printed on it. I was given a spring couplet for my apartment, but not having a clue what it said or which one went in which spot....it never got hung up...maybe next year! 

Doorway to my apartment building

Lion dancing was also another big {and totally new for me} event for Chinese New Year. This one still needs some more research to learn about the meaning behind it, but essentially peopled would dress up as lions (I swore they looked like fuzzy dragons though haha) and parade around the streets with people beating big drums. Passerby's would pet the lion and often put money in its mouth...again not 100% sure what exactly was going on haha. 

Oh, and firecrackers, I couldn't possibly forget about those lovely things. I meant who doesn't love the sound of firecrackers going off at 10pm, 10am, and all hours in between...there is no exaggeration here!! My street is currently red from all the firecracker wrappers that are stuck to it!

Today, Monday, February 22, 14 days after Chinese New Year started is the Lantern Festival and officially the end of the Chinese New Year. I don't have high hopes for the monkeys or firecrackers to be disappearing anytime soon, but I am excited to see what the lantern festival brings my way!!

1. Holiday shop  2. Even KFC gets in on the fun! 3. 7-eleven full of New Year gifts

Happy Birthday to Me! - 生日快樂!

祝你生日快樂

祝你生日快樂

生日快樂生日快樂 

祝你生日快樂

Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè

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

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {western holidays}

Western holidays {or even just non-Taiwanese holidays!} such as Christmas and New Year are funny things here in Taiwan.

Outwardly they celebrate these holidays. There are Christmas trees, people dressing like Santa Clauses, Christmas carols in the stores, and fireworks shot off on the 31st of December. But, past the commercial aspect of these holidays, there is nothing.

I actually had a co-worker tell me that other than  "happy happy time" they had no idea why we celebrate Christmas {this co-worker had Christmas themed lessons in their classroom!}

Likewise, when midnight hit on New Year's Eve, people sat there with their phones filming the fireworks without a single hug given, kiss received, or Happy New Year shouted...it was silent...they don't celebrate it.

I don't understand why there is such a commercialist view on these holidays that they don't celebrate, but it certainly sparks many questions as they continue to pass by, stumping me more and more with each passing holiday.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, my students at Hsinfong Elementary School at their first annual Christmas carol competition!  {I may be biased, but I think they did great fantastic!}

2015 in Review

2015 has been a whirlwind year for sure. I rang in the new year last year in Ohio at a family wedding, closed up my 3rd year at St. Edward's Elementary and said my tearful goodbyes to colleges that had become a second family to me, grudgingly packed up my fist apartment & classroom, and made one of the toughest decisions that I have yet to make; BUT, everything happens for a reason! I may have moved halfway around the world from my family and friends, but I have made so many new friends, fell in love with places that 6 months ago I didn't even know existed, tried both delicious and cringe-worthy foods, and have packed more memories and laughter into my trials in Taiwan than should be aloud in a person's lifetime! 2015, I'm sad to say goodbye, but if you are any indicator as to what 2016 might hold for me...bring it on, I'm ready!

Happy 2016 Friends!

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice {or 1^st day of winter if you’re a 1^st grade teacher!}

I’ve never really thought much about it, it’s cold, it’s near Christmas, it’s the shortest day of the year, there’s lots of cold days after it….I mean, let’s be honest, does it really have any meaning to any of us?!?!

Cue in: Taiwan & the Asian culture & Dongzhi Festival!

I’ve been notified several times this week that winter solstice was coming (December 22 this year!) as well as assuring people that I have eaten the traditional foods for this important lunar calendar festival! Last week at Fu Long, Josh and I were able to help the students make the traditional rice balls that are cooked into soup and eaten during this festival. These rice balls, tang yuan, or are made from a glutinous rice paste and then boiled before being added to either a sweet or savory soup. Although the balls can come in many colors, it is very traditional to make them in pink and white {I believe this stems in some way back to the idea and symbol of the ying & the yang}.

Students making rice balls for lunch

It is considered good luck (and fertility lol) to eat these rice balls in even numbers, but with my loving relationship with food I don’t have time to count what I’m eating!

Though I’m sure there’s a million & one family recipes for these soups the ones I’ve tried have been rice balls in a sweet red bean soup & the rice balls in a salty veggie soup. Although the red bean one was my favorite, they were both quite delicious!

The finished product ready to be cooked

Turkey Day Taiwan Style!

Happy Thanksgiving from good old Hsinchu, Taiwan!

Hoping you and your families had the most blessed of days and didn’t forget to throw in an extra thank you (or 20) throughout your day! If you take the time to truly look around it is absolutely amazing how much God has given each and every one of us to be thankful for!

Now trust, I realize, that they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Taiwan…shoot, most people don’t even have any idea what it is, but that doesn’t mean that this American girl went through the day without a little turkey and Macy’s Day parade!

The last 2 weeks I have been teaching my students about thanksgiving…in the most BASIC form possible! I’m not kidding, part of my presentation included “bye-bye England…Hello America” haha…like I said BASIC! We also talked about traditions, foods we eat, watched the parade & crazy shoppers, and thought of all the things we have to be thankful for!

I’m all about numbers, so here’s a little Turkey Day breakdown for you!

13 – times I re-watched the 2014 Macy’s Day parade

46 – the number of Thanksgiving day pop-up cards we made

5 – the number of plates I had of thanksgiving food! {eating is a sport right?!)

11 – the number of American’s that made it to our Thanksgiving dinner!

1,354 – the number of times I had to repeat the word  PILGRIM  for the children to understand how to pronounce the word!

Also, some misconceptions that I dispelled during classes…we do not eat TURTLES for Thanksgiving, papaya pie is not served at the table, and the big bowl of fluffy stuff is neither rice nor mashed sandwiches but rather mashed potatoes! Haha oh the ESL classroom!

Turkey Day group! William, RJ, Tina, myself, Matthew & baby Jacob, Ruth, Tory, Rebecca, Glen, & Angie.

THEN, to make Thanksgiving even better, we found out the Sheraton in Hsinchu was having Turkey on their buffet Thursday night…cue in 11 excited Americans and a solid 3 hours of eating, and we all left more happy and Thankful than  we would have thought possible! I’m telling you, I had turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, cheese {these last 2 are difficult to find here!}, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake…oh my goodness, delicious! (And thank goodness for flowy shirts at Thanksgiving!)

Don't know what I'd do without these girls in Taiwan!

Next up, let the Christmas celebrations begin!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from all of us at HsinFong and Fu Long Elementary schools! Wishing you the spookiest of holidays and candy-filled trick-or-treat bags! 

Ultra Expressive!

Oh the expressions one ends up making while teaching children English! I'm glad I don't have to see too many of these pictures!

Exploring Kaohsiung, What a Place of Beauty!

Pronounced "GOW" (like cow with a g) "shung"
"GOW shung" {and they say Chinese isn't difficult! haha}

This past weekend we had a holiday (yes! I know, we just had one, BUT, I'm not complaining!) This time we had Friday off for 10/10, also know as Double 10 Day.  I didn't have any concrete plans in the books, so I thought what better weekend to check something off my bucket  list (I've always wanted to do this and when I found it was a possibility in Tawain...let's just say I'm shocked I had the willpower to wait 2 months!) I stated  to ask around and Kristin and Brody were fair game for a weekend full of "winging-it" in Kaohsiung.

Kaohsiung is near the south of Taiwan and takes about and hour and a half to reach by the High Speed Rail that runs along the western coast of the country. My weekend was off to a soggy start with having  a scooter as transportation during a nasty rainstorm, but a quick stop for a helmet shield, and I was on my soggy way!

  

When I met up with Kristin and Brody in Kaohsiung we had little planned other than a contact with a hostel owner that was willing to give us a couple bunks for $490 a night (hello $15.80 USD!!!) We found our hostel, (OK, no really...our hostel driver began driving his bike towards the station and found us and led us back to the hostel) settled in, and asked Jason, the hostel owner the easiest way to get the the nearby mountain. He pulled out a map and began giving us directions and then said never mind, I'll just take you {umm again....exactly why Taiwan is amazing haha}

So Jason drove us up the back side of the mountain and stopped at a little rest area on the side of the road. And guess what?!?! We got out of the car and saw.....MONKEYS. They were behind glass, or in a cage, or behind bars...they were real live monkeys, out in the wild, and SOooo close to me!! Kristin had a little scare when she got out of the car and a little guy came a little too close for comfort when he noticed she had food lol, but she quickly put here belongings back in the car and we began to get to know our new acquaintances 

I mean please, look at THIS!!!

Happy {belated} Moon Festival!!!

Moon Festival, also known as Mid-Autumn Festival, is a holiday celebrated throughout several east Asian countries including Taiwan on the 15^th day of the 8^th month of the lunar calendar…yeah, I don’t understand dates like this yet either lol….in other words, we celebrated the holiday on Sunday, September 27, 2015 and because it fell on a weekend was given Monday the 28^th off of school (this is also Confucius’sbirthday and Teacher’s Day here in Taiwan).

Upon asking around for the meaning of moon festival I received some mixed reviews, but most boiled down to a holiday revolving around family, friends, giving thanks for the year’s harvest, and praying to the gods for whatever you might need. I was also given responses along the lines of “I don’t know but we get a day off” and “it’s about an old legend of a rabbit living on the moon and  you can’t point to the moon or else the rabbit will bite your ear off!” haha…I’m not so sure about the later responses!

Anyways! Regardless of the reason for the holiday I was able to quickly pick up on and participate in the traditions of Moon Festival which including gathering with family & friends, having a BBQ, and eating moon cakes & pomelos.

BBQ --- BBQ’s are very popular here especially surrounding the Moon Festival and can either be at home (outside over a fire) or in a BBW restaurant where you purchase raw cuts of meat and cook them over the open fire in the middle of your table.

Moon Cakes --- These delicious little balls of yumminess are EVERYWHERE during the preparation of the Moon Festival, and as a foreigner everyone assumed I had never had one (correct!) and brought them into school for me to try by the truck load! Haha (new food makes for a happy Tracy!)  There are MANY variations of moon cakes  with the traditional being red bean paste, but they typically boil down to a small round pastry filled with meat, fruit, veggies (anything you can think of!) surrounding an egg yok resembling a full moon…DELICIOUS! (the link above shows the more Chinese style moon cakes, Tiawanese style cakes are simply round balls)

Pomelos --- This fruit is yet another fruit that when introduced to I had no idea existed! This giant green citrus fruit is the largest of the citrus family and although bright green on the outside, most closely resembles a sweet less tangy grapefruit on the inside. These are frequently given as gifts during the Moon Festival (aka the foreign English teacher easily ends up with a dozen of these suckers!) and the thick rinds are often also cut open and put on kids’ heads like hats…not sure why haha. 

A Little Penghu, and A Lot of Typhoon!

So this post is slightly delayed….but I have  a good excuse, promise…we had a gigantic typhoon last weekend and it kind of really through our schedules off!

Anyways, last weekend was a holiday weekend  {more to come about moon festival too! Haha} so no school on Monday called for a nice long relaxing weekend with the girls in Penghu, Taiwan, a small island off the west coast of Taiwan…yes and this is where you ask "aren't you on an island?"...yes, we went to vacation on the island's island lol.

Tory, Kristen, Rebecca, little Brody and I couldn't have been more excited to board our ferry bright and early Saturday morning headed for tropical paradise, looking  forward to a nice warm, relaxing weekend…haha…oh how plans so quickly can change!

*** Enter the ferry Puke-Fest 2015***   {if you have a queasy stomach, now's the time to stop reading!}

Please try to imagine for a minute a small 2 story ferry boat, full of about 200 people, on a sunny Saturday morning, with waves covering the 2nd story window, and 95% of the people vomiting, for 2 hours, all ALL ALL over the boat…yeah, let me tell you we figured out what those cute little puke bags were for real quick. Although I was a lucky one and didn’t actually get sick, you still know you feel like poop when you are willing to share a gag bag on a boat with a friend and don’t think twice about it at the time:/

AYWAYS! We did eventually make it to Penghu, and after cleaning up from the ferry we were bound and determined not to let anything ruin our trip…. Haha, such naïve little travelers we were!

--- Day 1 --- Saturday --- --- --- --- --- ---