Daily life: Visiting the florist

 I thought I would share a little bit about what daily life in Taiwan is like.

 

 Have you ever gone somewhere and thought to yourself “I could do that job” or “If I ever switch careers, ____ might be fun”. I know I have. One of those jobs was florist. Whenever you see a florist making pretty bouquets, all you see is the ease they do it with. I have recently learned, I can NOT do this as a second career.

Here in Taiwan, when you go to buy flowers there are shops where you can pick out the flowers you want. I had done this once before with a friend and was glad she valued my input on which ones to pick. However, I went a couple weeks ago by myself and found I could not make a decision. I was buying for the same friend that had taken me just a couple weeks earlier. All I could think about were comments she had made before. Things like “We need more variety.” and “What about color?” The pressure to get it right felt unbearable. Here I was in this tiny little store surrounded by large plastic vases of flowers attempting to pick out a good bouquet in my Chinglish. Well, my friend appreciated the flowers and I think it turned out ok.

Today, I decided to try again. This time, I was buying for me. Since flowers are so cheap here I figure why not brighten up the house. I went to the florist with my mind set on daisies. I love daisies and you can’t go wrong with only one flower, right? Well, like always there were tons of choices including 4 types of daisies. I narrowed it down to 2 colors and told the lady I wanted both. She asked me how much I wasted to spend. I have not been asked that before so I said 200 (about $6.50) thinking I could always add if it wasn’t enough. Turns out I picked the right amount. I don’t think I could have fit the $10 bouquet in my vase.

Multiple trips to the florist, but I have learned that 1) being a florist is harder than it looks. 2) I should stick with what I know (teaching) and 3) It is easier to shop for yourself, even in Taiwan.

 

Here is today's success.

 

Ghost Month

The hardest part about returning to Taiwan is transition. Now, I live in constant state of transitioning, but the one when I come back always seems to be the hardest. Each year I land on the island I immediately notice the humidity and the language differences. After a while however I find I am missing my family, friends, and my car. Independence is a whole lot different when you don’t have a vehicle.

            One thing that happens soon after I get back is ghost month. It falls every year in the 7^th month of the Chinese calendar. Ghost month for our staff is a time of spiritual warfare and realized superstitions of the people here. It is a good reminder of how lost the people here are. The people here believe that it is our job to take care of your ancestors who dies before you. This is done through the bai-bai (pronounced bye-bye). The bai-bai happens 2 times a month on the 1^st and 15^th days according to the Chinese calendar. It involves setting up tables with food offerings and burning paper money to send it to those who have died.

            However, if you die before your parents (this is considered disrespectful) or if the dead are not properly cared for the spirit becomes a wandering spirit. It is believed that each year, during ghost month these wandering ghosts are allowed to wander the earth for a whole month. People set out offerings and burn money regularly to keep these ghosts fed and happy so that they will not be haunted. The people also avoid a number of other activities to keep away from these ghosts as well. These activities include: swimming, moving, buying any large items (like a car) and opening a business. Not everyone believes this, but almost everyone does this for the security they feel it provides. (To read more about ghost month click Here)

            To me this is the reminder that I am not in the US anymore. It’s like a great big wake up call to what I doing here. I am here to show my students the love of God and how he can break the chains of these beliefs and fears. Hopefully this can not only impact them, but their families. If you pray, pray for those I am working with, that we can show God’s love to our students and their families as well as to the locals around us. Pray for a country that is bound to fear and shame.

 

For a visual, here is a Video about ghost month in Taiwan. I also want to note that many of these businesses allow these things to happen because they see it as cultural, not religious. To me, it does not mean that the business is in support of the belief, just that the business does not see a difference in religious beliefs and Asian culture.

                                           Offering table outside of someone's house

                   People stopped driving to burn paper money (Sorry for the bad picture, this was actually in the middle of an intersection and we were trying to safely get around this unforeseen obstacle)

China: Day 1

          Who knew you could do so much in 24 hours (well 23 actually). This morning (3/31) I woke up at 2am to get ready for my China adventure. I was on the road by 2:45 looking for a bus. We had to go to 3 stations before finding one that would take me to the airport before 7:00. Which is weird to me, since a lot of flights leave before that time. After I got to the airport, I checked in. I decided to change half my money into US$ and leave the rest in NT$ because I was unsure of which was the better rate.

            I boarded my plane no problem. However, I was so tired from the 2 hours of sleep that I couldn't even stay awake for take-off (my least favorite part). I slept the whole way to Hong Kong. Now, I must clarify that I think the Hong Kong airport it terrible with their signs to begin with, but today with such little sleep I found it extra hard to navigate my way to my next flight. I eventually gave up and decided to sit at an electronics charging station for an hour. After the hour passed I gave in and asked for help. I finally figured out how to transfer but was gate-less due to the late hour of my flight. After passing some time on Facebook, I think about my late flight. I remember that I was supposed to have a 4 ½ hour layover. Why do I need to sit around for 5 more hours until my flight? I look again at my ticket and realize that the time on it was different than the time on my itinerary.

            11:00 in the morning and I still have yet to eat that day (I slept through the food on the plane). I run upstairs, grab a quick lunch, and attempt to find a ticket counter. After wandering for about 20 minutes, in what felt like circles, I find one. It happens to be the correct one. After much discussion and a forceful attitude with the lady working, I finally get moved to a new plane. She tells me that they will move my luggage and to come back in an hour to get my tickets.

            Returning to the desk, she tells me I need to follow another girl to the gate. This girl spends her time talking to another girl and on her phone, only stopping to day “this way” or “passport”. At the new airline I am told that my luggage may not make it. They want to know if that is okay. “No, I need it. I am not staying in Beijing. I am getting on a train.” They make a bunch of phone calls and tell me I can go to my flight now. I get to my new plane and stand in a VERY long lone to board. Boarding was supposed to start at 1:20, we started at 1:50 (for a 2:10 flight). 30 minutes of sitting on the runway and we finally take off.           

            I slept most of the flight with the exception on the meal-thank goodness because I was starving again. I also had a nice, but short conversation with the man next to me. He was from Virginia and traveling around China and Hong Kong with his family on a tour. He was nice, but I was much too tired to stay awake and chat.

                           Airport Sign

            Upon landing in Beijing, I made my way through the airport to find the baggage claim. After a bus and some walking I discovered that my bag did, in fact, make it. I walked over to the currency exchange, pulled out my NT where I was immediately told “No, Taiwan Dollars. Try outside”. I exchanged my US dollars and walked through customs. Customs was a breeze. No line, no questions, no searches. I find another currency exchange place and am told the same thing, “No Taiwan dollar.” So, I ask the lady where else I can exchange them. She says maybe the bank, but they are all closed right now.

            Feeling overwhelmed by the fact I only have half my intended amount, and that I need to find the railroad station on my own, I go to the help desk. I ask about the best way to get to the Railway station (the busiest in all of China). She tells me the bus. I convince her to let me use her phone to call my friend Irene. I tell Irene that I will be taking the bus to the Railway station and that I will wait outside for her.

            Thanks to Julie, our 5^th grade teacher, I now have a slight fear of buses in China. I wandered around until I found the right bus. The bus ride took about an hour to get to the railroad station. I was told by a man on the bus to walk left. I started to walk left and another lady told me to go to the right. I saw a sign that said right to train station, so I believed her. Apparently she was wrong because she send her husband (?) after me to tell me to go the other way. He ended up walking with me the whole way to the station.

                    Beijing West Railroad sign

            While waiting outside I heard some music. I decided to find it and see what was going on. It turned out to be some old ladies dancing. I watched the show for a while, but didn't want to miss my friends. I went back to the station and wandered around the entrance for a while. Not finding my friends and tired of walking back and forth between the two doors. I decide to just stand by one of them. I stand, and stand, and stand, until I cannot stand still any longer. I decided to pay an arm and a leg to text my friend from my Taiwan cell phone

            It has been about an hour and a half at this point. Standing in the cold in a paper thin sweatshirt when I am not use to the weather was miserable. I decide to walk: I walk to the other door to see if they are there. They are not. I see some kids jump roping and realize that they are practicing for a competition. I watch them for a while, until I reach the point of shivering and numb toes. I decide to go pretend to shop in a store nearby. It was close and warm. I wander around, looking at what things they sell that are similar, and what things are different. I felt bad for being in there for 10 minutes to I buy a box of Pockys and head out. I go back to my door and park it. I pull out the headphones and decide to listen to music and eat my Pockys while I wait. I wait, and wait, and wait, with a few checks at the other doors. After eating the entire box of Pockys, I decide to do yet another check at the other door. Out walks Irene-2 ½ hours after I arrive at the train station.

            Relieved to find me, Irene gives me a big hug and explains that we missed out train to Xi’an (the reason for being cranky in the airport) and that our traveling companion has left her to go back home to Tianjin. We decided to try and get a hotel in the area, but did not like the price. After much discussion we agreed that we still wanted to go to Xi’an so we went back to the station to change our tickets for the next day. The lady said hard sleeper and gave us some money back so we assume that we will be on the top bunk (of 3). Then we decide to go back to Tianjin for the night. We took a cab to the other railroad station. When we walk in, the station lights go off to close for the night.

            Time to find a hotel. Irene remembers seeing one outside the train station so we walk down the on ramp to the station and climb through a fence. We get to Super 8 and one of the men at the desk says “Hotel” 2 or 3 times. Asking if there is room we find that they are full and he was trying to tell us where another Hotel was. We walk to the other hotel and it looks very scary so we decide to walk on. Continuing on down the road with many others, we keep trying to get to hotels, but are unable to find them. Finally we come to one and they turn us away because we are foreigners. Another does the same. About an hour and a half later and frustrated we decide to go back to Beijing West and find a hotel near there.

                        The road we walked and fence we climbed through

            Hailing a cab, we pay him to take us back to where we started the night. We walk into the first hotel we see and they tell us it will be $700(CNY) for one room for the night. That is roughly $115 but seeing that it is 12:30am we are ok with that. The lady starts to book our room and then tells us it will be $1400 (CNY) we ask her why and she has no reason. Angry at the change in price, Irene tells her we do not want a room anymore. She offers us the room at $1200 (CNY). We refuse it, telling her no it is not okay that you told us one price and now want more. She asks us once more if we will pay $1200 and we walk out.

            Moving on, we see another hotel just down the road. We walk in and they tell us $350(CNY) or $60US for the night. We ask if that is for 2 beds and it is so we take it. We finally got a room at 12:50am. It was a smoking room and I had to use my inhaler at least 2 times during the night, but we had a bed and a shower. Nothing looks better when you are that tired and been traveling (and walking) for 22+ hours straight.

Musings on early mornings, and god parades

        What an interesting day I have had so far. Its only 7:30 in the morning and I can already say that. But, let's start and the beginning. I have not been sleeping well this week, partly because I am showing signs of getting sick. While I have been going to bed early, I am not sleeping through the night. Last night, I decided to stay up late in hopes of being extra tired and therefore getting a full night's sleep. Boy was I wrong.
         As I was getting ready for bed last night (at 1 AM), I heard some drums outside my window. I looked out to see over 8 buses, countless cars, and just as many trucks. All the makings of a large god parade. It looked to me like this god parade was either over, or going to set up somewhere. else. God parades are not unfamiliar to me, I have seen and heard a couple of small ones, but this one that drove by last night looked quite big.
        Now I bring you to my morning, 7:22 AM and wake up to-the god parade. It is loud and long and disturbing my sleep. However, in the future that is not what I will remember. I will remember it as a reminder of how lost Taiwan really is.
       I live in rural Taiwan. People say it is steeped in tradition. I say, its so lost, they can't see a way out. These people believe everything they have been told growing up. You may not upset the gods, you need to worship the gods, you need to pray to them, give them offerings, and provide food and money for them in the afterlife. You also celebrate with them. This parade is a celebration of sorts.
       This parade what the largest I have ever seen. It contained, costumes, puppets, drums, other instruments  and the actual statues of the gods being carried on the shoulders of the people. These people looked tired and uncomfortable, but the do it because they want to appease the gods. I believe they walked from the main road, down my road, and to the temple that is behind my apartment. It sounds as if they are now walking back. While at the temple, I could hear drums and firecrackers. The firecrackers are to scare off the evil spirits. I am not sure of the reason for this parade(not that they need one), but if I had to take a guess, I would say its because Chinese New Year is next week. Another guess would because Farmer's day (whatever that is) is on Monday. Since I live in a farming community, it could be the community seeking blessing over their jobs and harvest.
       I have always found it interesting how fearful the Taiwanese people are. They need firecrackers to scare off the evil spirits, they build ghost walls into their homes to keep out the roaming ghosts, they are regular about their prayer and worship so as not to upset, clean the tombs of family to keep their spirits happy, and make sure they never forget any religious activity. Not to mention keeping shrines in their homes is order to keep their ancestors with them. It breaks my hear to see how lost they really are.
       I am so glad that I do not have to do any of these things for the one true God. I find it amazing that while there are people around the world searching for a god and a way to be happy in the afterlife, my God has done all the seeking. He found me and died for me so that I can be with him. I don't know of a single religion that offers a relationship like the one I have with God. It is such a blessing to know that I can pray for anything (like the lost people outside my apartment) and he listens. I don't have to give him money, food, blood, or any other form of payment. Just love, and willingness. Its a beautiful and freeing thing to know.
        I have included some videos for you to watch in order to get a better feel for what I woke up to, and what it may be like to live in a country so steeped in tradition, they don't realize that this tradition is what is keeping them from learning about the True Lord.

 The Temple that is behind my apartment that the parade walked to.

 First video of parade. It is a little choppy and shows my balcony at the end. Notice all the horses, they are rare here so I am curious of the significance of them in this parade.

 Second video. This one is a little  longer, but I wanted you to get a feel for my morning. The parade lasted about 30 minutes while I was awake ( probably significantly longer). Notice how they are almost dancing with these heavy gods on their shoulders.

Last video of parade. This one has the dancing of the dragon. However, I wanted you to see the buses they use to bring all the people out.  These people are either in or walking along to watch the parade. Those watching, sure thought it was a site to see a white girl watching from a balcony up on the 6th floor. (Sorry it is a little sideways.)

Something to share

So my dad is REALLY good at forwarding emails. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes inspirational, sometimes, junk, and some, like this one, are thought provoking. Oddly enough this was an email of a blog post. I have no idea where it started so I can't give the credit to the real author, but I hope it makes you stop and think about how you live your life. I know I did. 

I didn't write this. Mike Yaconelli wrote this. And I realize this is the second blog entry in a row inspired by heroes of mine, both of whom died in car accidents. I didn't do it intentionally. And I apologize if I'm breaking any laws by posting this. I had to re-type it all, because I can't find it on the web, anywhere. He wrote it years ago, in a now-defunct magazine, and I made a copy of it (another law violation?) and stuck it in a box in my garage. When I read it on the air today, we were inundated with requests to see it, so here you go.

I highly recommend Mike's book Messy Spirituality, by the way. He was a game-changer for me.

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It's Time to Party, by Mike Yaconelli

Recently, my wife and I were having our devotions and reading our favorite devotional guide, Cosmopolitan. In it was another one of those mindless quizzes. (You know the ones: How Responsible Are You? How Sensual Are You? Do You Have ESP? Will Your Marriage Last?) One of the questions caught my eye. It said:

Which would you prefer?

a) a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure - intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks, or

b) a happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by many friends and family, without such wide swings of fortune and mood?

I thought the answer was obvious. Everyone, I thought, would choose the first option. I was shocked to discover that a good majority would choose the second option. And then it occurred to me: I have been working with adolescents for the past twenty-nine years. And, when I ask them to describe adults, one word always comes up - borrrrrring.

As I began to think about it, I realized that most adults I know are boring. They don't have fun anymore. Oh sure, get a few drinks under their belts and they act alive for awhile. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about being and acting alive all the time.

The truth is that games are wasted on the young. Little kids don't know how to play games. Remember when you were seven years old and you played hide-and-seek? You'd hide behind a telephone pole with half your body hanging out. No, hide-and-seek isn't for children. It's for people like you and me. Now that I'm 46, I know how to hide. I'm a darn good hider.

I have suggested a game of hide-and-seek to many adult audiences and I am always amazed at the response. I see adults all throughout the group nudging each other, quietly discussing a great hiding place they just thought of, secretly planning a game with their children. It doesn't take much to make most of us realize that we have become too serious, too stressful. The result is that we hae forgotten how to live life. It seems like the older we get, the more difficult it is for us to enjoy living. It reminds me of a description of life given by Rabbi Edward Cohn:

"Life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time, all your weekends, and what do you get at the end of it? ... I think that the life cycle is all backward. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live twenty years in an old-age home. You get kicked out when you're too young. You get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You go to college; you party until you're ready for high school; you go to grade school; you become a little kid; you play. You have no responsibilities. You become a little baby; you go back into the womb; you spend your last months floating; and you finish up as a gleam in somebody's eye."

It's hard to imagine we were a gleam in someone's eye once. What happened to the gleam in our eye? What happened to that joyful, crazy, spontaneous, fun-loving spirit we once had? The childlikeness in all of us gets snuffed out over the years.

A.W. Tozer once said, "This society has put out the light in men's souls." He had it right. The more pagan a society becomes, the more boring its people become. The sign that Jesus is in our hearts, the evidence of the truth of the Gospel is...we still have a light on in our souls. We are alive, never boring, always playful, exhibiting in our everydayness the "spunk" of the Spirit.

The light in our souls is not some pious somberness. It is the spontaneous, unpredictable love of life. Christians are not just people who live godly lives. We are people who know how to live, period. Christians are not just examples of moral purity. We are also people filled with a bold mischievousness. Christians not only know how to practice piety. We also know how to party.

I believe it's time for the party to begin.

Never say never

October 17, 2011

When I was younger there was a song that was a hit on the radio about summer. One of the lines was “Chinese food makes me sick”. This was my favorite part of the song because I hated Chinese food and the smell of it really did make me feel sick. For some reason this song has been on my mind today. I am not sure why but it has really gotten me thinking.

           Back when we were younger, I would sing my favorite part (Chinese food makes me sick) at the top of my lungs. My sister would tease me and tell me that it would be funny if I moved to China and had to eat Chinese food. I used to respond with no way, I could NEVER do that because I wouldn’t have anything to eat. She would respond with “What if God sent you?” my response being “I hope he doesn’t.”
         Guess He has a sense of humor because here I am living in Taiwan and eating “Chinese” food on my couch. The funny thing is that the food here is way better than any Chinese food you can get in the states and I am pretty sure that the smell of Chinese food in the states would still make me sick.

Half days and lots of traveling

October 6, 2011

           Today was a half day at school. The kids get tomorrow off, and half of today off so that we teachers can spend all the time and our Saturday in meetings! Isn’t that the most exciting thing you have heard of ever. I am quite exhausted but I am looking forward to spending time with my family here is Taichung including my dad and grandpa. I am also looking forward to getting together with my job-a-likes and gaining from their experiences.

            Tonight, after rushing to the HSR and running through the station to barely get on in time, we ate a 3 course meal in about 15 minutes. Then, we attended this really interesting meeting about the culture and beliefs of the people in Taiwan. This was followed up by a comparison of the cultures here to the culture of US.

            After the meeting all of us who went to New York together went out to get Bings which are kind like giant snow cones of shaved ice, fresh fruit and condensed milk. By the way-they are really good. Anyway, we had a great time catching up on the lives of people from the Taichung campus and getting to know how their lives are different from ours. I will be spending the next couple days here in Taichung but not sure how much time I will have in between all the meetings to write.