There's No Place Like Taiwan for the Holidays

The holidays have come and gone. I was pleasantly surprised by the experience here. We had a Christmas party at school which was a chore at first but turned out to be pretty fun. I was dumb enough to volunteer to be in charge of decorations so I spent a lot of time on a chair with scissors and tape in my mouth trying to hang snowflakes from the ceiling. Then I was in charge or carving 2 of the turkeys, a task I've never been trusted to do before. Now I know why. Then I got to eat the turkey dinner with 60 kids at about 10:30 am. I even got to put my catering skills to the test by teaching all the kids how to fold their napkins into little fans. "Teacherrrr show me..." x a million.

Turkey carving/ butchering with Brent and Lisa

some of my kids

One of my favorite things leading up to Christmas has been to look at the outrageous Ch-English cards. Some of my favorites:

"Happy Beer" featuring Santa holding a bottle of beer with that label

"There are flowers. I want to live in with you" with a Santa hat wearing cat

.... really words don't begin to do them justice but i thought I'd have a go.

Christmas turned out to be a beautiful little adventure. I went to a teacher-friendly mass on Christmas Eve and was found myself a little overwhelmed to be away from the people i love most. I was distracted from my sorrows by a HUGE Christmas cockroach that literally came right down the aisle and then went under my chair. Nothing can bring you back to the present like a killer bug that could survive nuclear war if put to the test. Unfortunately, this one didn't survive somebody's shoe.
The next morning I travelled to this island between Taiwan and Chinia called Punghu. It's supposed to be one of the windiest places in the hemisphere and I'd definitely believe it. At times I felt like the scooter was going to fly off to never never land (or maybe into a ditch). There were 9 of us who completely took over a big house. We went to the beach on Christmas, explored the island, exchanged gifts, got acupuncture while sitting around drinking wine... just another day. One of the best feelings was being able to take a deep breath and not feel like you've inhaled just as much fossil fuels as oxygen. I really miss blue (non smoggy) skies and trees.

Christmas Nap on the Beach

Battling the elements

Pretty bench on a pretty beach

To all those at home : I hope you had a wonderful Christmas full of love and laughter and I can't wait to see you in 2010!



If you're not jealous of my Christmas on the beach, then I have one more little note to add:
I'm going to THAILAND/ Cambodia in Feburary
.... and BORNEO in March

~~~Love and Chopsticks~~~
Han, Li Ya

Where you're meant to be

There's nothing you can know that isn't known.



Nothing you can see that isn't shown.



There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be



It's easy. All you need is love. Love is all you need







This classic Beatles song just shuffled its way into my life today and it really stuck with me. I've been on a bit of a roller coster. For the most part, it's an awesome rush and there's always something new and exciting ahead. I'm really living my life and trying to take every oporutnity that comes my way. At the same time, I also fully understand the concept of not seeing how important something is until you don't have it anymore.


Last weekend one of my roommates left to try her luck in mainland China. It was weird because I feel like we had become great friends after only living together for a month. It's funny how someone can be an active part of your life for such a short period of time but my experience here has been completely changed because of her. The way things have been working out have really made me think that everything happens for a reason. Right before I found out that this roommate Vicky was leaving, I visited Kenting and met a girl at the hostel who's become my new roommate. I'll be spending Christmas with a group of friends I met through Vicki and the new roommate Sarah on an island between Taiwan and China!!!!
In a lot of ways, it is difficult for me to be away from my family especially around Christmas. We have so many traditions that I absolutely love and will be sad to miss out on. Eggs benedict and mamosas on Christmas morning followed by an extraordinary example of teamwork between me and Erik to sort the presents.. these are things that I truly cherish. At the same time, I am so happy to be here in Taiwan. I'm developing a different interpretation of Christmas but it's still a very good one. There's a tree in the apartment and i've been singing Christmas songs for hours every day at school. I'm really excited to be spending the holiday on an island with some of my good friends in Kaohsiung too. I just have to remember that this is where i'm meant to be right now. I'm on the phone with my parents right now and have been requested to remind everyone that I love them very much... which of course I do!

~random story 1
ice breaker of the night: Tonight, while enjoying a few cold brews , the men at a neighboring table sent over a dish for us to enjoy. I took this opportunity to show off my hundreds of dollars/hours spent on Chinese classes and asked "what is this?" More times than not, it's better not to ask or atleast not until after you've finished eating the mystery meat product. Tonight was no different. Their reply- chicken blood. Of course we couldn't turn down this generous dish because that would make these lovely gentlemen lose much face. So I grinned, thanked them and dove into the feast of congealed chicken blood. I didn't expect to like it but it's actually quite a tasty little treat, if you can master of mind over matter thing. In my expert opinion, it's much better than congealed pig's blood.

~random story 2

The road to Alishan

A few weekends ago I went to a town called Jaiin to check out a haunted house. It wasn't very scary which could be due to the fact that I was travelling with 10 other people or because there was a coffee shop next door where you could bring a picture and get a certificate proving you visited the most haunted house in Taiwan. I ended up splitting off from my group and staying with some other people (who I didn't meet until after deciding to stay with them). They were having a killer BBQ by a lake where we ate/drank the night away. The next morning I met my roommate Sarah, and we took a 2 hour busride to a mountain top town called Jaiin. We hiked and visited some little tea shops. It was an incredible place. My favorite thing was this quaint little Zen Buddhist temple hiddin among th trees. As we aproached, we could hear a faint gong and then we peaked in and saw four Buddhist monks beginning their chanting/meditation. Even though I had no idea what they were saying, I was completely mesmerized by the beaty and simplicity of the whole experience. It was something I could really appreciate after living in the crazy city for a few months. After waking up at 5:00 am Monday morning, we hiked for an hour to the peak to watch the sunrise then hitch hiked back down the mountain so I could be back in time to teach.

Pupkin Noodles: the new pumpkin pie

I've finally gotten a chance to see the beauty of Taiwan, outside of the chaos that is city life. I took a trip to Kenting this weekend with some friends and it turned out to be exactly what i've been missing since I got here. Kenting is at the southern tip of Taiwan and the area is absolutely stunning. We took a taxi down but of course had to rent scooters as soon as we got into town. I totally forget how people get around without them in the less fortunate areas of the world where scooter-driving isn't the norm. The Taiwanese are very funny becaue they wont go to the beach during "winter" even if winter days average in the 80's. Their loss is definitely my gain.

We rode down to the southernmost tip of the county and then to the sight of a shipwreck that happened during the taiphoon earlier this year.

Rob, Kristen, me and Julie at the southern tip of Taiwan

No Pasha Bulker, but still very impressive

After a little hike we drove our grumbling stomaches back to town for some Thai food and night market mayhem- the perfect way to end any day. The next morning we hit the National Park pretty early and I finally got to see wild monkeys!!!! I had a minor freak out but was unfortunately the only one of the group not yet jaded by the presence of monkeys. After the park we were going to return our scooters and head home but I was definitely not ready to leave... so I waved off my friends and found a hostel for the night. The hostel was a surfing hostel right across from a beach and my biggest adventure of the day involved travlling between the beach and hostel. I met two girls who were travelling around the country and sat outside: playing cards and listening to the waves. It was a relaxing quite night until chaos came a'knocking. All of a sudden about 20 scooters pulled up and guys jumped off and started lighting fireworks in the street. Kids came running out of every street. Somehow we wound up in the middle of a political rally in the previosly deserted street with the anti-China Kuomintang party. After about 10 minutes of struggled conversation with a bunch of men in matching hats everyone left as quickly as they came and we were left dumbfounded at the picnic table. While we were talking about how weird the whole thing was, another group came though in the same fashion except this time it was the pro-China politcal party. I think the top candidates from both parties were travelling to pai-pai at the temples around the town and we just happened to be stationed near one. I wonder if I'll ever stop being shocked when things like this happen.

My next adventure of the week was on Thanksgiving Day. My friend, Luke, and I went to Cijin Island which is a stone's throw away form Kaohsiung. After Chinese class we rode down to the ferry and boarded with our scooters. In honor of Thansgiving, we treated oursleves to a little feast. First we had to choose what we wanted to eat among the fish, crustacions, and frogs that were sitting on ice (or swimming in tanks).

There was one fish in particular looked like it really wanted to be sitting in my belly so I happily obliged and we got some pumpkin noodles (a close second to pumpkin pie), scallops, veggies, and Taiwan beer to go with it. We ate like kings... until the second Taiwan beer inspired us to eat the fish's eyeballs (1 each) which we swallowed like pills. When in Rome.....

Today I played Ultimate Frisbee with a group of foreigners- Pilgriims vs. Indians. Unfortunately, history repeated itself an the Indians were massacred once again. We followed the game with a trip to cold-stone which is always a little piece of heaven delivered a waffle cone. Although I my Asian interpretation of Thanksgiving was quite enjoyable, it didn't quite compare to the holiday as I know and love it. It's a little sad not to have family and close friends around. This is one holiday I wont make a habbit of missing at home.

Traditional Dances of the World

Feeling a little artistic at Central Park on a beautiful day

This is the entrance to the subway station near my Chinese school

I've got quite a few stories since the last one but i'll do you all the favor of trying to only write the most fundamental and entertaining. My fingers always get ahead of me when i'm writing and all of a sudden i've got a mini-novel with no plot or inspirational message.... just me (the protagonist) and a few crazy experiences that I (the writer) think some of you might enjoy.
I moved into a new apartment two weeks ago which is absolutely beautiful. I'm living with another American and a Hungarian girl. We all get a long really well and i've already shared some great experiences with them. The apartment is on the 19th (top) floor of a great building with roof access right outside our front door.

Last saturday, we were all feeling adventurous so we decided to walk to this great park near the apartment. If there's one thing you should know about Asians, more specifically more mature aged Asians, it's that they LOVE to exercise in the parks. So we were walking past huge groups of people doing all sorts of tai-chi type things until we found the group we were looking for: the dancing ladies. They were just warming up when we got there so we cast our purses aside and joined the ranks. We were shuffled among the lines and in no time were mimicking the instructor (having no idea what she was saying) and having the time of our lives. We learned traditional taiwanese dances, hip hop dances ("Who let the FROGS out?!?!") and other popular dances. We danced for over an hour until we were finally finished. We thought. We were just about to grab our bags when the instructor said there was one more dance we should do.... a traditional English folk dance. The english speaking lady who had been helping us told us we'd know what to do, just listen to the lyrics. So we got in a huge circle and the music started. "4...3....2....1.... you put your right foot in, you put your right foot out..." I literally fell to the ground laughing when I realized I was about to do the hokey pokey with these women. I apologize to all the hokey-pokey lovers out there but that's got to be the most annoying song we've got to offer. It was such a relief when we finally got to "shake our whole selves all about" but they thought we loved it so much (because of all the laughter) that they so kindly played it again and we did the freakin' hokey pokey twice. None the less, I'll defintiely be joining these women again.

Halloween at the school.... i was in charge of the "Monster Walk" costume show

Other news: Yesterday I got to check out this lab where they're working on developing drugs for cancer treatment and helping hospitals with disease identificaiton. I really miss the lab atmosphere! They invited me to come by now and then for an internship type thing. I think i'll pretty much be the sporatic lab guest who watches people and askes annoying questions. There was a biotech professor there who invited me to visit his lab where they're also working on developing a drug that specifically kills breast cancer cells. Sounds like it could be a very promising connection. Maybe i'll just cure cancer while i'm here.
I'm defintiely settling in well. I don't feel like a toursit anymore but I still continually encounter things that make my jaw drop, or make me burst out in laughter because they're so extraordinary. I'm making friends of all varieties but I definitely miss everyone from home a lot. This morning, my Hungarian roommate put on Mika's "Big Girl You are Beautiful" which was a classic dance party in the Camelot kitchen song. It's always music that brings you back to the places and people you love. Well, tonight I'm off to a "Thanksgiving" dinner with a friend from Chinese class. We'll see if I remember how to use a knife and fork.

Monks (and me) on Scooters

There’ve been a number of monumental changes in my life over the past two weeks. I went from having no job, no Chinese class, and no means of transportation to having all of the above. I was hired at a cram school (in Chinese they pronounce it boo-she-ban) as an English teacher. I have three different level classes from the “baby” 5 year old class to 12 year old kids. You can’t imagine entertainment that a classroom full of 5 year old kids can bring when they only understand half of what you say (on a good day). My other classes are pretty good too although I’ve got some tuff shells to crack with the older kids.
I’m also into my second week of Chinese lessons and it feels good to be learning again. I have to admit that I really miss the classroom environment. Every morning I am joined by an American-Pakistani man named John for two hours of Chinese with teachers Fong and Xu. I’ve reached the monumental point where I can successfully order an iced coffee or green tea and the shopkeepers actually understand what I say. Every time that happens I give myself a mental “pat on the back” for a job well done. After the lesson my classmate and I go to a coffee shop for our daily caffeine pick-me-up and life discussion. Through him I’ve learned about Muslims and yesterday he even read my hands. Turns out I’m not good at saving money and overall, I’m complicated person to read... Tell me something I don’t know.
My last and possibly most exciting piece of news is that I am the proud owner of a beautiful scooter! It’s tried and true (for over 10 years), and has improved my life immensely. It’s actually quite easy to drive and I love exploring the streets on my new wheels, especially at night when the streets are all lit up like only Asian streets can be. When I’m waiting at a red light in the middle of a hundred scooters, I like to pretend I’m either in a big race and waiting for the start gun or that we’re all a huge biker gang. Both are equally entertaining at 7:30 in the morning when I’m on my way to class. My favorite biker-gang members are the families of 4 that somehow fit on a single scooter and the Buddhist monks in their long flowing robes.
It takes me about 30 min. to drive to work and I have no idea how I actually wind up there. The first time, I wrote extremely vague directions on my hand that I followed half way until I couldn’t find a rode I was supposed to turn on. From that point on, I just drove in the same direction until I got to a dead end, then turned and rode for a while and turned again down some random street. I hadn’t seen a familiar road name for a while and was just about to turn around at the next intersection but luckily I read the street name first. Somehow I had wound up on the same street and just a few blocks from my school. I have always been absolutely terrible at directions, even when they’re on a computer screen in front of my face and a little voice is saying “turn left now”. (Amy- I think if you were here we’d still get lost and somehow wind up in Newark) How I found anything on the winding roads of Taiwan with directions that had smeared off my sweaty hands remains a complete mystery.
Two nights ago when I was driving home from work I found myself in the middle of a big festival. I remember walking through one and thinking ' I would never be caught dead driving through this chaos'- turns out they're completely unavoidable. I guess I was a little lost in my thoughts because I just thought the traffic was normal friday night traffic until I pulled up to a stop light and there was a person in a huge Buddha costume dancing in the street right in front of me. Nothing weird about that- just make sure you aren't next to a bus or taxi when you swerve around the dancing buddha. About a block down the road I got caught up behind a huge gong/ drumb combo that were a little bit harder to maneuver around but luckily I got away right before they started setting off fireworks in the street. Just another Friday night in Taiwan

On Burning Boats and Root Beer Floats

First, let me say that you are completely free to skim, skip, or completely ignore my rather lengthy posts….

Last night, Susan took me to a nearby town for a huge festival they have once every 3 years. It’s an entire week of mayhem the likes of which I have never encountered before. My first experience of a festival last week was like a warm up show. It was like the band that comes on right before the headliner… entertaining but nothing in comparison to the big guys. We to the temple around 5:00 and I was immediately taken back by the massive crowd of people. That’s saying something since I’ve been in Taiwan for almost a month now, and massive crowds are a daily scene. Although this may seem offensive, I can’t think of a better way to describe the temple than that it was “pimped”. There were flashing lights all over the entrance and huge tables set up were people could get their fake paper money and food items to offer to the Buddha. People were grabbing handfuls of incense left and right, lighting them on these torches that stick out of the walls and going around to paipai at all the different Buddha statues.

temple lights = inspiration for carnival lights

Across from the temple there was a huge boat filled with miniature everythings carved from wood… stables, farm animals, dogs, bed rooms, tables, money, food… you name it and it was in that boat. I even spotted a case of Taiwan beer sitting among the offerings to go with the boat. Imagine that, beer for Buddha…. That should be a bumper sticker. At the end of the week, this boat will be dragged through every winding street of the town, capturing sickness and bad luck along the way, and eventually taken to the ocean, set afloat and then burned.

The boat- check out the case on the bottom right of the pic

I wrote a little about the Buddha “carrying cases” and how the Buddhas from different temples will travel to festivals…. Well I’m pretty sure that every single one in the country brought its entourage for this particular event. I even saw a group of "posessed" people who were following one of the Buddha processions, shaking uncontrolably and on ocassion inflicting physical pain on themselves. As night fell, fireworks could be seen in every direction often being set off by somewhere with maybe a 5 ft radius between set-off point and insane scooter/car/pedestrian traffic.

There's a woman and her son kneeling in the middle

I’ve found an interesting similarity between the little old ladies in straw hats of Taiwan who sweep the sidewalks (with the world’s most inefficient brooms) and the maintenance workers of JMU yielding high-powered leaf blowers that could Mary Poppins you to the next town. If nothing else can be found to unite these two different worlds, there’s always the shared distaste of having leaves on the ground in public areas.
As I sit here there’s a familiar sound making its way through the window, to my auditory nerve, and eventually to my cerebellum. It’s a happy little tune that I hear every day around the same time and it’s obviously coming from a vehicle of some sort that’s making its way through the streets very slowly. I know what you’re thinking- ICE CREAM! At least, that’s what I’ve been thinking. Every time I used to hear it I would internally debate whether I should throw on my shoes, grab about $60 (translates to < $2 USD) and run into the streets like any sensible child in America does. The thing is, this music doesn’t have the same effect on the kids of Taiwan. Something was amiss and I decided to investigate. You can’t imagine my sorrows when I found out that there’s no such thing as an ice cream truck in Taiwan… there is however a daily garbage truck that plays music so you know it’s time to take out your trash. At least I never gave into the temptation to chase it down.

~Love from the leaf and ice cream –less streets

Dancing Dragons and Mooncakes

Just when I thought I’d seen it all, the Moon Festival happened. This holiday takes place during the full moon of August (in the Chinese calendar) which just so happened to be last night. In a way it reminds me of our 4th of July where families get together for a BBQ and fireworks are going off left and right. That’s where the similarity ends though. I joined Susan’s family in front of her parents’ house for a BBQ which consisted of people sitting on mini stools around a little fire in what looked like a hubcap. Rather than hotdogs and potato salad I was stuffed full of noodles, squid, pork, chicken, sausage, and these gelatin peanut balls that I could eat all day and night…. And of course the ever present, ever changing moon cakes. There was a girl there about my age and talking to her was such a trip. I think she was amazed to be talking to an American because every sentence started with “WOW”. I think it’ll be a shock when I come home where for some reason people don’t seem as amazed by everything that comes out of my mouth.
After dinner Susan took me to the beach but on the way we literally drove into a Buddhist festival on the street so we parked and got out for a look. I didn’t realized the magnitude of the even at first because I only saw the first hundred or so people of the procession. They were dressed up, with about 10 people doing a big dance with a dragon costume and other groups were carrying a all sorts of Buddha’s. We walked past these guys only to find about 5 city blocks of people in the middle of the road waiting for Buddha to tell them it was time for their group to start. (I guess he actually lets them know when it’s the right time). There were people completely covered in ash lighting huge piles of fireworks in the middle of the road. The craziest part was that the roads weren’t even closed to traffic! So here I am standing in the middle of the road watching a dragon dance while there are piles of firecrackers going off and cars and scooters trying to maneuver through the chaos.
When we finally got to the beach, which is actually part of a college campus, we met up with Susan’s friend and her son. They were all surprised that I was so interested in the monkeys at the park behind the beach. I was joking that I was going to go hiking with bananas and lure a monkey home with me. I guess that’s not an absurd reality because this guy told me that while he was at the college a monkey snuck into his dorm room in the middle of the night and stole his chocolate and bread. The bunny problem at JMU definitely doesn’t compare to the monkey problem at Chungshan University.

Tonight I am going for a BBQ at a Buddhist temple with Susan's family.... not quite sure why it's there but i'm a happy camper as long as i get fed!
and
Tomorrow I have an interview at an English school. Hope the Tsunami stays clear!

~Love and fireworks from the streets of Kaohsiung!!~

giant buddhas and hot pink helmets

I wonder if there’s a Buddha that Taiwanese people paipai to to protect them from crazy foreigners on scooters. Today my foot has been officially shoved into my mouth for every comment I’ve ever made about Asians being bad drivers. Pappa Svend has risked his life numerous times while teaching me to drive back home (both my first time, and when I learned to drive a manual)… It’s scary to be the driver but I can’t even imagine what it feels like to be the teacher when a girl is screaming in the driver seat as the car goes in reverse toward a tree rather than forward toward the wide open road (and then instead of hitting the brake she stomps on the gas). God bless my father’s patient heart for ever getting into the car with me after that incident years ago. That’s obviously a blast from the past but I couldn’t help but think of him today when Susan’s sister Sandy came by to teach me to drive her scooter. The first thing we did was head to the store so I could get a helmet. I was debating between a black on with flames on the side or a hot pink one. I opted for pink … it’ll match better with the Hello Kitty stickers I’m going to put all over it. I bought the helmet and then it was time to throw myself into the lion’s den. I was all over the road at first- swerving between the lanes. When a few stray dogs passed through the road I imagined them as pins and me as a big hot pink bowling ball… luckily I didn’t knock any of them down. My skills definitely picked up though and I was eventually able to navigate my way around while staying relatively close to the right side of the road. So now I’ve finally gotten started on all 3 things I wanted to learn while I’m over here…. Chinese, scooters and chop-sticks. Not bad for a week’s work.
I’ve also been pretty busy seeing the sights and sounds of the area. On Friday I went to Lotus Lake which is completely surrounded by Buddhist temples. I felt like it could have been taken right out of Disney world with all the colors and statues. First I walked out on nine-cornered bridge (a zig-zag bridge that the ghosts can’t cross) to the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas. You enter though the dragon’s throat and exit via the lion’s symbolizing the transformation of bad luck to good fortune.

Another pavilion was shaped like an even bigger dragon with a winding body that you can walk though… then you get pooped out at the beginning of a long pier that leads out to another Pagoda. I spent most of the day walking in and out of animal bodies, temples, and eventually a church for a little taste of something familiar.
Saturday was just as eventful. I accompanied Susan to a lunch reunion with her grad-school classmates. We went to lunch in Tainan, a city about an hour north of Kaohsiung and then toured one of the men’s factories where they made this health drink to keep you young and beautiful. I even got a box which they sell for almost $200 as a gift! Most of the people were older (very wealthy) men who liked to drink. This is where I learned the meaning of “campei” which basically translates to “empty your glass immediately or you lose all your street credit.” A lot of the men were introduced as uncle something (out of respect since they were all older) and a few of them said that since they were uncles I had to campei…. also out of respect? I think I was just the easiest and most obvious target. One of the men owned a company that sells bike racks all over the world and another sold fish which he had changed the genetic makeup of so they glowed things like “I love you” or something….. at least that’s what Susan told me. I was definitely dining with the crème de la crème of the area.

~love from inside the tiger’s throat~

stranger in a strange land

goodbye dinner at the Mohawk House

So here I am, a stranger in a strange land. Within the few days that I’ve been here I’ve definitely gotten an interesting taste of the Taiwanese culture and I’m excited for more. The other day I was walking along the Love River in Kaohsiung when a 40ish year old man stopped short and, with a big grin on his face, waved and said “Hello” then carried on his merry way. Now I have to admit being stared at by everyone you pass and being approached by strangers could make one feel like a circus attraction… but I’ve decided to declare myself a celebrity. That happens to them too right?
Well let me start from the beginning. The whole commute was smooth as butter. We got to the airport in plenty of time. I passed through security without going off (which for some reason always makes me feel like a champ). I wasn’t disappointed by the airplane food despite the fact that I had 3 chicken dinners in a row. I even had a whole 3-seat row to myself for the first part of the trip. So I got to Taiwan and by local benefactor Susan took me under her wing. She picked me up at the airport and brought me back to her house. I basically have a whole floor of my own with a big bedroom, balcony and bathroom. There is a big beautiful pool that I have been loving during the hot hot heat but apparently the Chinese aren't into swimming because i've had it completely to myself every time. This is way more than I could ever have hoped for.

I got here pretty early and despite every morsel of my body wanting to fall asleep I pressed on and got a nice little tour of Kaohsiung. We walked around a department store and all of my senses lead me too none other than a Cold Stone Creamery hidden among endless shoe stores and Hello Kitty displays. I mistakenly thought that maybe things wouldn’t be so different here…. How could it be if there’s a cold stone right? Wrong!
I didn’t end up getting any ice cream because Susan wanted to introduce me to a local beverage that is all the rage in Taiwan. I only wish I could insert a straw into this page so you could all try it but just lend me your imagination and I’ll do the best I can to share the experience of zhenzhu nai cha (or Bubble tea for those of us who struggle with our Mandarin). The drink is a cold milky flavored tea with tons of chewy tapioca balls on the bottom. It’s served with a big straw that’s thick enough to suck up the tapioca balls. I have to admit that I enjoyed the drink more for its novelty than for its taste. I couldn’t quite get over the fact that every time I took a sip I had to chew for the next ten seconds. Yesterday I had something that may have been even stranger. It was definitely better though.

Another Taiwanese favorite is a dessert of shaved ice + everything under the kitchen sink. It’s made on almost every street corner and is obviously very popular among all age groups. Susan led me through the process step by step: First we got bowls by the register and went down a buffet style row of different ingredients. I’m not sure of everything that went into my bowl but it included: papaya, pineapple, tapioca cubes, peanuts and sweat potato. We paid according to weight and they covered the ingredients with shaved ice and topped that with some sugary syrup. I was definitely apprehensive, maybe because of the sweet potatoes and peanuts, but it was so tasty and quite refreshing. Definitely beats a snow cone.
Believe it or not, I have done a few things that don’t involve food. Yesterday Susan took me to this beautiful Buddhist temple and told me a lot about their beliefs. It was definitely an eye opener. There were something like ten different Buddhas in the temple, each serving a different purpose. There was a woman Buddha that you “paipai” or pray to for issues involving fertility, a child Buddha that people brought toys to, and others specializing in money, family etc. The whole process is really interesting. If somebody has a question to ask the Buddha they’ll go to the temple and take these two wooden blocks, and rub them together before dropping them on the ground. If the Buddha wants to answer their question, they’ll land on opposite sides (the equivalent of a head and tail if 2 coins are dropped) repeatedly. If the answer is yes then you pick out a stick with a number on it and drop the blocks again to see if that’s the right number (the answer’s yes if they land on opposite sides). Each number corresponds with a specific drawer which contains a paper with some type of saying/ advice on it. Another interesting thing is that the Buddhas are mobile. They have these ornate display cases (we’re talking flashing lights and carvings everywhere) that a Buddha can be transported to another temple in. I guess the Buddhas like to visit other Buddhas at their temples…. especially during festivals. Nobody can pass up a good party!

Buddha carrying case

incense holder

To get to the guts of life… I don’t have a job or a clue how to speak Chinese but I am in good health and spirits. Random highlight: seeing a family of 4 on a single scooter.

~Love from the East~

If only I could be a Tico

I just got back from Costa Rica last night after a whirlwind tour with my fabulous parents. I think I could have stayed for another month (especially if i happened to be spending that time on my parents budget rather than my own). Pappa Svend loves loves loves his GPS. He'd probably turn it on to direct him to the grocery store down the road. Well, as much as I make fun of him, getting a GPS to go with our car was the best decision he made on our trip. Once we pulled out on to the roads of San Jose, I was in constant fear of my life. First because (as much as i wish i could deny it), I'm a wicked back-seat driver and second because the traffic laws in Costa Rica are more like suggestions. In reality, it's perfectly acceptable to pass a truck going around a hairpin turn of a partly washed out mountain road. At least it wasn't me behind the wheel.
As the (incomplete) Hansen family made our way to Manuel Antonio we crossed a bridge with a curious amount of cars parked on either side and people peering over the edges. And then we hear a new voice coming from the GPS, not the one that constantly says "recalculating" when you pull off to pump gas but a friendly man who turned out to be a great travel companion. His first message went something like this "Are you wondering why there are cars parked on both sides of this bridge? That's because there are Crocodiles down there... Hundreds of them...!" Our car was in park before the man could finish warning us to look both ways before we cross the bridge. We walked down a ways and sure enough there are HUGE crocodiles soakin' up the rays on either side of the bridge. After a few solid minutes of gawking like only tourists can do, we shuffled back into the car and finished our drive to the hotel in Manuel Antonio. That night we shared a few drinks on our private balcony as a huge thunderstorm raged over our heads.... life was good

The next day, bright eyed and bushy tailed we got on our walking shoes and headed down down down the road to the Manuel Antonio National Park. We saw monkeys playing in the trees only meters from where we stood, sloths doing a whole lot of nothing a bit higher in the canopy, land crabs hanging out in the bushes and even a HUGE sea turtle doing its thing in the ocean. So far so good.... Destination 1 was definitely a success.

Our next stop was Jaco where I parted ways with my parents to stay the night in a Hostel with Robyn (only to run into my parents on the street later that night). Robyn and I rented surf boards and marched right out into what turned out to be a bit of massacre of waves crashing on our heads. By the next morning, I had at least stood up and made my way in on a number of waves i felt justified me in all the complaining i would do for the rest of the weekend about my sore arms and hands.

Puntarenas was the next place on our list and it was definitely the most relaxing part of the vacation. We stayed at a B-E-A-uuutiful all-inclusive resort in which my biggest decisions were which pool I should lay by and when it was appropriate to order my next Mojito... I think this is where i discovered my love for plantains (or sugar and butter with a hint of plantains). Robyn stayed with us one of the nights and although she was in the middle of a week-long hangover (diagnosed by her host-padre) I think the R&R (and warm showers) did her well before she was thrown back into the lions den (aka San Jose).

The last leg of our journey took us to Arenal which is one of the most active volcanos in the world. We stayed in a great lodge and went on a jungle walk and watched the lava flow down the side of the volcano with Miguel (of "Miguel tours"). I even rented a kayak from a Tico on the side of the road to go kayaking on the beautiful Lake Arenal. I found myself in the middle of the lake listening to the howler monkeys in the forest (all with the volcano in the background) but was surprised by a huge thunderstorm that rolled in. I've always loved storms and I'll usually be the first person to run outside when there's good one. I've sat on the front porch of Camelot through many, on the roof for one, but never have I been as in the middle of it was I was on that kayak. I don't think there's a better way to get a unique perspective on life. Later, we all went to the hot springs in town and sat in the hotttt baths for hours (through another good storm) and left for San Jose just as we were beginning to resemble prunes.

As you can tell, we made it home safe and sound.... and it's back to reality of staring at the lake for hours at a time (for the record- the pacific is much more fun to stare at)

Man I love college

Bio grads!

I was thinking recently about that saying about the closing of a chapter. I can't say for sure if i like that anecdote or not but it keeps popping into my head. It's a bit distressing because i remeember when i was getting ready to hit the dusty road to Harrisonburg (the dusty road being 81... which does not sit too fondly in my memory since too close encounter between my sonata and a massive buck). Anyway, I was distressed about leaving the comforts my little house on the lake but people kept telling me that college was the greatest time of their lives. Now it's 4 years later and i'm back in my old bed room reading an old book with my killer cat looking deceiptfully innocent on top of my legs. It's really strange how quickly things are falling back to the way they were before I ever left. It's an interesting perspective to see how things can be so constant at home while my life's been a whirwind since starting college. I've packed up and relocated my life a grand total of 6 times in 4 years and I don't think i'd mind starting over and doing in all again. It's impossible to say what made the biggest impact becaue everything's so connected. Despite all my complaints about the classes and labs, I absolutely loved being a bio major; couldn't imagine doing anything else (nerd alert!!) I think 'm most grateful for the friendships I've made. From my start in the projects to my final days in a castle, I've come across a lot of people that I know will always be a big part of my life. I guess i'd say it's a bittersweet time right now. The things that I had to leave behind are constantly on my mind, and it makes me sad that it none of it can be the same again. At the same time, I'm really because I refuse to believe that the best time of my life is in the past. I hope to always believe that my best times lie waiting in the future.

Canoeing A-team