following an unknown path

my groom sings to me

I am SO excited by what a good friend handed to me last night!!  She passed on to me a CD of videos from our Taiwanese wedding!

Here is the first thing I saw . . . Lawrance singing to me a song entitled "Vows" after we had exchanged our vows.  I got giddy just listening to it last night!! 

My Groom Sings To Me from amanda wu on Vimeo.

I LOVE listening to him sing . . . and I often ask him to sing me to sleep.  I am blessed!

typhoon update

As we watch the news this morning, we are learning of more and more damage and destruction the typhoon and the after rains of the typhoon have caused--mostly in the south.

The entire township of JiaShen in Kaohsiung County has been pummeled by mudslides and flooding.  Over 1000 people in this township are unreachable--no contact can be made to determine whether or not they are alright.

**UPDATED 1:00 PM Monday**  Some people from JiaShen have been located.  They are distraught because on one hand they are safe, on the other hand their homes are gone and family members and friends left behind. 

In addition, the TV news stations are reporting 20 dead and 30 missing throughout Taiwan.

Further, the train on the west coast couldn't go further south than ChiaYi because of all the flooding in the south.  And, here in Tainan, the city has currently stopped providing water.
**UPDATED 1:00 PM Monday** We've been told our water will be off until the 12th. 

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Here are some scenes from the typhoon:

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We are safe and dry.  Those we know and love are safe.  But, my heart is hurting for Taiwan right now.  I picture my friends in Meinong dealing with the flooding once again--they've had a rough go of it in the past few years.  My heart aches for the entire township that is missing and unreachable.  On our knees for Taiwan.  Lord have mercy.

Happy Father's Day!! and a Typhoon

Today is Father's Day in Taiwan. Here's why:

Daddy in Chinese is "BaBa."
Eight in Chinese is also "Ba." So, August 8th is "BaBa."
So, Father's Day in Taiwan is August 8th. 

Actually, many people here are surprised to hear that Father's Day in America is not August 8th but rather in June. 

Today is also the 2nd typhoon day in a row.  Typhoon 莫拉克 has been perhaps the biggest typhoon I've ever experienced.  Officially 6 have died and over 20,000 have been evacuated.

We've had heavy rain and wind for two days in a row now.  It was dumping 3-6 feet of rain per hour.  And, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau, "the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 144kph."

Signs, plants, and mopeds have been down all over our city, streetlights aren't working, tree limbs are in the streets, and intersections are flooded. 

We took Lawrance's parents out to lunch despite the typhoon, but other than that, we've been locked inside.

So, I'd like to let Lawrance introduce his parents to you.  So, please meet my in-laws:

china is exporting mandarin

I have a myriad of thoughts about this . . . some good, some bad.

HT: On the Eastward Journey

chopstick world

Funny video made by Taiwanese college students about using chopsticks.

It shows how you can eat with them (which are all very true things I've seen people do), shows how to separate them in different humorous ways, and then shows some alternative uses for chopsticks.

Here are a few more alternative uses for chopsticks:

--after collecting several (like 20 or so) you can play "pick up sticks"

--testing if a cake is done (similar to the "toothpick test")

--stir drinks (Law often does this instead of using a spoon)

--test to see if oil is hot enough to be used for stir fry

--beat eggs (actually VERY common use here)

--all kinds of craft projects (like making stick or shadow puppets)

--make a rubber band gun (I've had students use this as their topic for their "how to" speeches)

--or collect 7,382 used disposable ones and make your own canoe

There are many more, but I currently have a brain freeze.  So, do you have any other ideas??

faith like potatoes

Lawrance and I picked up this movie based on a true story yesterday afternoon not knowing what it was all about . . . .

It was EXCELLENT!  We both really enjoyed it.

I don't often recommend movies . . . but this I would recommend.

Has anyone else seen it yet?  What'd you think?

confessions of a newlywed who surrived "extended singleness" #1

Here is the first of several confessions I've been thinking about  . . .

Before, watching others fall in love, get engaged and marry was VERY bitter sweet.  I was happy for them, but the pain it caused inside could be intense, the struggle it reawakened difficult.

Now, I love weddings!  I love watching people fall in love!  I've even cried in joy at youtube videos of strangers weddings and even teared up watching this news reporter propose on air to an anchor! 

It's so fun to be able to experience sheer joy at watching people commit to marriage! :)

And, you know what? It's fun to have a husband who celebrates right along side me as we watch (and sometimes encourage) others as they fall in love. :)

language classrooms can be noisy

Here's proof from one of my classes last year:

The first video is of students debating for one minute on simple topics like "tea is better than coffee" and "watching news on tv is better than reading a newspaper."  I tell them "outside yes, inside no" and then they have to support the opinion I've given them.  Since they only have one minute to discuss the topic, they get really loud really fast.  I love it. 

The second video is of an activity I'm going to do in class tomorrow.  Each student has a partner--one sits down with a pen and paper, the other runs back and forth from one side to the other.  Why?  Well, they look at song lyrics, memorize a line or two, and then run to dictate that line to their partner.  First pair to finish wins. 

Of course not all of the activities we do are this noisy . . . but I do love it when my classroom is so loud I can't think. 

english spelling is dumb

I am a terrible speller.  I openly admit this to all my students. 

As someone who is incredibly detailed and struggles with perfectionism, it stands to reason that I should be a good speller. 

So, I blame it on the fact that I am a visual learner, and when learning spelling as a child I was always required to spell orally and listen to the words orally.  I just can't do that.  Gotta see it.  I was probably someone that actually would have benefited from a written kill and drill approach to spelling or at least a more creative visual approach. 

Speaking of . . . My bloggy friend Jimmie creatively teaches spelling to her daughter.  I love observing all the fun stuff they do . . . I wish I could have done that too.  Another friend (this one IRL) has her son, a tactile learner, spell out words with his body letter by letter on the floor or spell the words by "writing" them with his finger in mounds of rice or salt on a tray.  Fun stuff.

Back to the topic at hand . . . I also blame the fact that I can't spell on the fact that I can rely on spell checkers to help me.  In fact, since I can "teach" Word to auto-correct my most commonly misspelled words things have only gotten worse. :)

But, some people like this (now) 103 year-old man blame the fact that I can't spell on the fact that English spelling is dumb.

tong yuan tradition

For the first time in 30 years, I went to school (aka: work) on Christmas day as did Lawrance.  In fact, since he didn't come home till after 10, there was no point in cooking a special meal.  So, in order to still do something special, after lighting our advent candles and opening gifts, we made tong yuan. 

We also made these sticky sweet dumplings right after we decorated our Christmas tree in late November. 

Below is a video of Lawrance showing you how to prepare tong yuan.

abortion survivor

(not here comes the bride . . . but something absolutely worth sharing right now!!)

I remember reading Gianna Jessen's autobiography years ago. 

Watching her talk and share her heart is AMAZING! 

If you have not read or heard her story . . . this is worth your time.

fragrant rice

My neighbor friends were watching a new music video this weekend.  As I watched it along side them I loved how very much it captured what is TAIWAN. 

I asked my husband (how fun it is to say that!!) to help me find the video online.  And he did.  As we watched it together he exclaimed several times how very much this video was "Taiwan" too. 

If you are remotely interested in Taiwan, take a look at this two minute music video that shows scenes that are just pure Taiwanese.  Even if you don't know Chinese I think you can still understand the story and enjoy the views of Taiwan shown in the video.

The song is entitled "Fragrant Rice" (稻香) . . . and basically says "if you are feeling like a failure and don't know what to do follow the smell of the rice back to your roots and find your family who will love you and support you no matter what.  Come back home and remember the simplicity of where you came from."

The song is by Jay Chou (周杰倫), a rather well known Taiwanese musician.

sung chiang battle array (simply taiwan 8)

I don't have much knowledge of the Sung Chiang battle array (a form of martial performing arts) beyond what I observed the day I took these photos.  I took these photos not long after I moved to Taiwan and lived in Meinong in Kaohsiung County.  Two of my students invited me to a "fair" which turned out to be in reality a temple activity.  They had taken me to the annual Goddess GuanYing Festival at the Neimen Zihjhu Temple in Neimen, a city north of our school.

Neimen has reportedly around forty or fifty different battle array "troupes."  Several different troupes performed one right after another.  Each troupe had weapons and preformed to beating drums and gongs.  Some troupes had young and old alike all performing; some didn't include children.  Nearly all the performers were male.

Here are some of the facts about Sung Chiang battle array that I learned by reading this article online:

"Unlike many other traditional Taiwanese folk arts, the Sung Chiang battle array has never been recorded as existing in mainland China; it is purely Taiwanese."

"Many of the weapons used in the Sung Chiang battle array are actually farm tools--rakes, sickles, hooks, umbrellas--used by the early peasantry."

"The performances declined during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan (1895-1945) and today they are seen only during festivals, especially the birthday celebrations for Matsu (Goddess of the Sea), Emperor Paosheng (God of Medicine), and Cheng Huang (City God)."

"A full-size Sung Chiang team has 108 members; smaller ones have 72 or, at a minimum, 36."

"The performances vary but all include the same tactics, which add up to a total of 108."

"All team members must pray to Sung Chiang before a performance starts; and, at both the beginning and end of a performance, the performers gather at the temple gate (most often, performances take place in temple courtyards), raise their weapons high, and shout 'Ho! Ho! Ho!'"

Here are some of the videos I took of one of the troupes we watched:

The video below is of the troupe worshiping after performing. They start by worshiping the idol in the center, then move to the right and then to the left to worship the idols to the right and left of the center god.

Like I said yesterday, sometimes at temple performances there is a crowd watching and sometimes not. At this particular event, the crowd was huge! Here is only part of it:

drama performance for a god (simply taiwan 7)

Many Taiwanese worship a variety of Buddhist, Taoist, and folk deities. One of the ways Taiwanese people use to celebrate a god's birthday is a presentation of some sort to entertain the idols.  I've seen people showing god's live "opera like" drama performances, demonstrations of "the art of war," movies shown on screens stretched between poles, women scantly clad singing and dancing, and puppet shows. 

Recently, I also saw a mechanical version of what is shown in the very short video below.  Actually, there were five different mechanical stages set up around a traffic circle.

Sometimes there is a human audience watching as well and sometimes not.
 

taking out the trash (simply taiwan 4)

There are very few things I don't like about Taiwan.  But, I seriously hate tossing the trash in Taiwan (and I consider hate a very strong word, so I'm not using it lightly here).

At different times though out the day a trash truck will drive through every neighborhood.  Each trash truck announces their presence by playing an electronic version of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise," which to the unknowing American sounds like an ice cream truck.

Each neighborhood/city is a little different, but each has their own trash truck traditions. 

At my old house, people from two apartment complexes all gathered along the alley in front of the buildings, the trash truck stopped and literally about 100 people tossed trash into the back in about 5-10 minutes each night.  We all knew that the truck would arrive at about 7:30, so at about 7:20ish people started heading downstairs and gathering out front to wait.  I, however, lived on the 2nd floor near the front entrance, so I would wait till I heard the tinny melody to grab my trash and head out the door. 

The nice thing about that neighborhood was that about 30 minutes later another truck drove down a side street, so if I missed the 7:30 trash truck, I could meet the 8:00 trash truck. Now, the 8:00 trash truck didn't stand still.  People would stand outside their "townhouse-like" homes with their trash, and as the truck slowly drove by they would toss in their trash.

This phenomenon is something that can't be captured by words and photos alone, a video is necessary to help you experience this.  So, without further adieu, here is a trash truck I got stuck behind while on my moped one night.

I always wondered what in the world I would do if I always worked nights and could never be home to take out the trash between 7:30 and 8:00.  In some neighborhoods, the trash truck comes during the day . . . and I do wonder what people who don't work from home do about their garbage.  Hmmm . . .

Ok, now let me just take a second to further justify my hatred for tossing trash.  It is not just that I have to be responsible for taking out my trash and tossing it myself.  That's ok.  But is the fear that I've done something wrong and will have to dig in the trash to undo my mistake.  You see, they have strict mandatory recycling polices here.  And, if you throw out something that should be recycled, the garbage guys (aka trash nazis) will tear open your bag, and make you take care of it the right way. 

Once, right after my neighborhood started to recycle food scraps, I included egg shells in my food waste pile.  I thought egg shells were supposed to be good for compost piles.  Except, I later learned food scraps collected on the back of the trash trucks in blue barrels are not for composting but for feeding pigs.  So, when the trash nazi saw my egg shells in the blue barrel, he made me dig through the pile of food scraps to remove them.  All the while, people were tossing their garbage bags over my shoulder as I diligently stuck my hand into that disgusting mess of pig slop and dug out all the egg shells big enough to see with a naked eye.  YUCK!

Recycling trucks tag along behind trash trucks on certain days of the week--playing a different song (yes, at the same time).  But, that's a story for another day.

For now, here are four more Taiwanese trash truck videos I found online.  Enjoy!!!

Here is a link to a one minute video that is pretty good but can't be embedded.

the faces of persecution

A Believer dies for their faith in Christ every 3 minutes according to Voice of the Maryts.
{RSS Readers: Click over to see the embedded video.}

Join me today in praying for our brothers and sisters around the world.

God is SO creative!!!

This tiny, beautiful pink flower (smaller than the tip of my pinkie) has leaves that MOVE when touched. 

Check it out!!!

Anyone know WHY a plant would want to do this?  (Mom?  PawPaw?  Either of you have any clue?)

tonight!!!

Last year, I discovered one of my students had been singing on TV.  But, because I didn't have cable, I only watched a few of the videos of her on YouTube.  I told her I had seen her singing and was impressed.  It was then that I found that what I had watched was small potatoes . . . . and that she had sung at other times on other shows too--as recently as just that past weekend.  But, she didn't tell me exactly what or brag or go into details. 

So, fast forward to this summer when I moved to Tainan and a typhoon blew through at the same time.  As I sat in my friend's apartment locked safely inside and utterly exhausted, I flipped through the channels . . . and I SAW HER ON TV!!!  I was shocked.  I mentioned it to my friend and found out that my student entered a "Taiwanese Idol" show on a major TV network. 

There are currently three different "Taiwanese idol" shows on prime time right now here in Taiwan.  My student is on the one called 星光大道 in Chinese.  They call it "Million Star" in English but a better translation of the show's name would be "Path to Stardom" or "Avenue of the Stars." 

So, ever since August of last year, I've faithfully watched this "Taiwanese Idol" show on TV each weekend.  It starts on Fridays at 9:30 and lasts till midnight.  Good thing for me they replay the last two weeks of shows back-to-back again on Saturday and Sunday.  So, in total I have four extra chances to see each show in case I miss the Friday night one or if I fall asleep on the couch before Rachel, my former student sings (she graduated last year).  (By the way, if you remember Judy from this summer, Rachel and Judy are best friends.)

Well, they have it down to the top five and tonight the show is live as they determine the ranking of the top five and declare a winner.  Rachel has consistently received high scores throughout the show.  And currently is in first place from the last 3 weeks of "top 6" competitions when they started adding the scores together for the top 6 and not just kicking off the low achievers! 

So, no doubt that tonight I will be watching this show and cheering on my former student!!! 

Here she is in a couple of her most recent performances on the show (the first one she is in a duet with one of the judges in a fun song called "it doesn't matter"):

proof i was not exaggerating

Yesterday, when I talked about all the fireworks and firecrackers and all the noise I could hear, I wasn't exaggerating for effect.  You don't have to take my word for it, you can actually see and hear for yourself.

Another foreigner living in Tainan also wrote about the temple celebrations that went on this weekend.  He even went to explore the reason for the celebration and took videos of some of it.

He reports: "that temples from all over Taiwan came to Tainan to throw a party for the 300 years birthday for one of the oldest temples in Taiwan - the Koxinga temple. Zheng Cheng Kung, Koxinga, is a Chinese-Japanese local hero who 'liberated' Taiwan from the Dutch during the 17th (?) century, and who [his] university is named after. Since they celebrate this event every 30 years, this was a 10th anniversary for the 30th anniversary."

He captured some of the non-stop fireworks:

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He also captured one of the idols being carried "over the firework remains in a strange go-forward go-left go-right go-back kind of dance."  This is in fact how all idols (that I've seen at least) are carried when they are marched down a street or go on a "god parade."  This carrying of the god can be seen about 30 seconds into this video:

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And, he also captured one of the dragon dances I guessed were happening:

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Right in the middle of the street!  This video is of fireworks and part of a god parade with some of the music I told you I could hear in my living room:

steps in tainan

Before I moved to Tainan I posted a video showing life in Kaohsiung.  I recently found one showing a little bit of what Tainan--my new city--has to offer.

spitting on the Bible

No intro needed . . . just watch.

HT: persecution blog