Steph and Ben (in Kinmen!)

The journey continues...

2011-01-19T00:21:00.003+08:00

Dear friends,
We have truly loved maintaining this blog and sharing all the remarkable (and unremarkable!) things we experienced while living in Kinmen. Now that we're back in America, this phase of our journey is sadly coming to an end.

But! We have decided to continue blogging, just not at this location. If you wish to follow the next phase of our journey, as we make a life for ourselves back in the states, we welcome you to visit our new blog, www.westofthewind.blogspot.com. We are excited to be blogging again, and hope you will come check it out!

Many thanks to all of you who read and enjoyed our blog about Kinmen. You have encouraged us more than we can ever express, and it is for you that we have decided to continue blogging.

Love,
Ben and Steph

KTV

2010-11-30T21:56:00.003+08:00

In the last month before we left Kinmen, naturally we wanted to see all our friends and hang out "one last time." What better way to do that than in a small padded room with couches and a karaoke machine? Which is just what we did. This particular KTV session was our last time to see our dear friend Karen, who was among our very first friends in Kinmen. We had a great time together!

Ben shows off his skills

Jim, Karen, Jane, and Carol

Karen and Jane, my first 2 friends in Kinmen

I am well-suited to the role of tambourineist

Jim and Ben, getting crazy

I love these people.

And now, be amazed as Ben performs a segment from "Qi Li Xiang," by our favorite pop star, Jay Chou.

Revisit

2010-11-29T11:17:00.003+08:00

So...it's been FOREVER since we've done anything with our blog. But there is still stuff to share from our time overseas, and we promised we'd share it. I'm determined not going to leave y'all hanging. To get myself back into the blogging spirit, I put together a little slideshow highlighting just a FEW of the thousands of memories we have from our time in Kinmen. I couldn't stop crying when I watched it back; I don't expect anybody else to have the same reaction, but making it did help me remember all the amazing things we experienced in our last month there, that we still have yet to share with the rest of the world.

Anyways, enough of my jabbering - enjoy!

This free picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

New Update!

2010-07-15T04:34:00.001+08:00

We recovered the hard drive! And I didn't even have to get in a plane crash or be the subject of an FBI investigation. So there is still more to come...

Update

2010-07-14T03:57:00.003+08:00

Hey everyone this is Ben. I'm just signing on real quick to let you know we are back in America now. The last week in Kinmen was incredibly busy, so we didn't really have time to post anything.

Good news is everything seems to be going reasonably well back here in the US. Our flights were as painless as possible, considering we had five 50+ pound bags. We visited Chicago and Wheaton to check out a grad school I'm interested in. Got back to Florida and saw some Pensacola friends and met with my family. We've gotten everythig settled for our car, a 2001 red Subaru forrester (we love it!). We also found out we are working in Yellowstone national park this fall! So praise God for all those things.

Bad news is that our computer's hard drive seems to have gotten frizziled on our flight over. It is entirely possible that our three years of photos and videos of Kinmen are gone! Unfortunantely, we still had a lot of stuff, especially videos that needed editing, that we wanted to share with you. It's a real punch in the stomach to think all of our photos and memories of our beloved Kinmen might be gone for good if we can't get the hard drive recovered. So pray for that if you can remember it.

Other bad news is I ate something called "the Ultimate Falafel." Now I can become instantly nauseous with just one moment of harkening. I guess that's why they call it ultimate...

Ostrich Meat!

2010-06-30T11:10:00.004+08:00

Oh what a treat! This past Sunday someone had the bright idea to have church service at the "zoo," which is more technically a livestock research facility. They make quite delicious fresh milk and ice-cream. However, their slaughtered ostriches leave something to be desired. That's right they had some spare ostriches they didn't want so they gave 'em the ole hack and we meat loving church folks grilled 'em up. Like any red blooded American it was only a matter of time before I was behind one of the grills:

What you don't see is the thousands of flies that took a break from nibbling dairy cows to come over and join our smorgasbord. Anyways, it was a unique experience and we all had a good time.

Hell Spawn Cockroach from Hell!

2010-06-28T21:45:00.003+08:00

What does it take to kill the most horrid hellish hideous beast birthed from the darkest machinations of Satan himself? I found out the other night when the hugest roach ever FLEW into our living room. At first I mistook him for a giant majestic moth, but nyet comrade! Twas the biggest roach I ever seen, I discovered upon his landing on the doorframe! "Oh Lord No!" I yelled (seriously I did, infact this whole story is serious, except for the "Satans machinations" thing that's not serious. Okay back to the true story). I won't go into detail but I grabbed my roach slaying gear and the battle was on. Here is the aftermath:

Shattered electric Zapper

Normal Bug Whacker torn asunder

Blood stained bug spray can

Like all good monster stories there is no picture of the body. I was so freaked out by the thing I just got rid of it as soon as I could. Anyways, if you don't believe me you can...having trouble thinking of anything; YOU CAN GO STUB YOUR TOE ON SOMETHING!

okay peace out.

Darkness and Light

2010-06-25T17:56:00.003+08:00

Darkness:

Didn't get the scholarship we applied for, to study Chinese in Taipei next year.
Don't have jobs or plans for when we go back to USA next week.
The one job I have applied for, the application got lost in the system and I had to start the process over. Probably not a good sign.
Visa issues will almost certainly force an overstay and all the unknown complications that might bring.
Our bedroom is infested with fleas thanks to the stray cat that wandered in to have her kittens.
Did I mention we're leaving next week? This place which has captured our hearts and has been the backdrop for our entire married life will soon be only a memory. It's heartbreaking.

Light:

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.

For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong...

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments...

When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply

till I entered the sanctuary of God...

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory...

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

雖然我的肉體和我的心腸漸漸地衰退，但是神是我心裡的力量，是我的福分直到永遠。

-Psalm 73 (selected verses)

Lord, please help me believe that the light will ultimately outshine the darkness.

Dragon Boat Festival

2010-06-24T17:04:00.005+08:00

Last Wednesday was Dragon Boat Festival, and since we've never seen the races before, we made a point to go out and experience them this year. Basically, teams are formed and they race against each other in boats shaped like dragons. And people eat rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo, called zongzi. Ben especially likes them, which is lucky since all of his students gave him some as gifts for the holiday.

But enough of that, off to the races!

Lining up...

The oyster dance

Part of Kinmen's festival this year included an art competition for kids. Rebekah encourages some of the contestants.

Working hard on their paintings...

...While I chillax and take pictures of my awesome shoes. :)

The navy frogmen team, I'm pretty sure they won.

Losing to the frogmen...I'm afraid they never had much of a chance.

High school boys

Go girls!

Forbidden Fortress!

2010-06-18T14:56:00.000+08:00

A few weeks back I had an adventure with our friend Don and family, to explore an old abandoned military outpost. Don had followed some local fishermen around the gate one day and had discovered the place. These are a few pictures he took of our adventure:

I'm guessing this is about a 120mm artillery piece (I don't know though). It's located in a concrete bunker facing the Taiwan Straight. My guess is it's been sitting there rusting for quite some time.

Just beyond were the artillery piece is is a door that leads down into a system of tunnels, This is the view from inside the tunnel looking back up to the door.

This is a view of the tunnel way. Like so many in Kinmen it's carved right out of the granite. By the way that's the flash of the camera illuminating the picture; it's actually pitch black!

A long corridor leading off from the main cave to a machine gun pillbox.

A different angle of the big gun.

Don's kid having a good time and accidentally starting WWIII.

This is the main corridor. The little gray square is a piece of concrete jutting out for a defender to hide behind.

The sides of the tunnels had old candle on them, all burned down. Pretty cool.

Here's another cannon just left to rust.

Here is another fort we visited in a different location. I'll post another blog about it later.

By the way the outpost is near Shuitou port, but instead of turning towards the port at the village, take a left. After you see the not abandoned outpost there will be a steep little-used road on you''re right. Take that road all the way down to the entrance. Although it appears blocked off, there is a well worn path to the right of the gate. Here's to adventure!

Night Market

2010-06-18T10:24:00.004+08:00

This year, as part of the city-wide celebration for the Jincheng city-god, the biggest and best night market ever known to Kinmen made its arrival! We went no less than 5 times over the duration of its stay. Here are some pictures of us and our fellow foreigners enjoying the festivities:

Get excited!

The night market has everything! From jewelry...

...to BBQ Chicken...

...to disgusting corn dogs...

The highlight of this particular night market were the nightly "water dancing" performances.

The kids enjoyed the bungee trampoline

General merriment

So yummy! Flatbread with sweet potatoes baked inside.

Less-yummy squids on sticks

Carnival games

I forgot what this is, and I can't really tell from the picture. Tea? Chinese medicine? Your guess is as good as mine.

These are really cool! It's like an entire potato, sliced in a spiral, put on a stick, then deep fried. Result? Potato chips on a stick!

Creepy clown train

Rebekah and Anthony enjoying ice cream. :)

God is Love

2010-06-18T10:06:00.003+08:00

Last night, Ben and I read Psalm 130. As we were reading, the verse that really stuck out to me was verse 3: "If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?" It's one of those things that I've read a thousand times, but this time it had new meaning for me.

This time, upon hearing it, I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 13, which says that love keeps no record of wrongs. Then I thought of 1 John 4:8, which states that God is love.

So, hearkening back to my geometry days, I started working through a proof in my head.

Given: God = Love.
So I'm going to use the substitution postulate, which states, "A quantity may be substituted for its equal in any expression."

Therefore:
"God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He does not dishonor others, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. He does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails."

What a refreshing thought! And such a contrast to the misconceptions we so commonly have about God.

May the God who is Love bless you and keep you always.

City-god parade #3

2010-05-30T17:44:00.011+08:00

More parade craziness!

These things are simultaneously the funniest and creepiest members of the parade.

fire crackas!!

This kid drove the cart through the whole parade! And he's still smiling!

Apparently being a parade godling is pretty tiring. ;)

hehehe

creepeh!!!

He's coming to find you...

This is my attempt at a candid shot of our friends. I think it turned out even better than I had planned. :)

Crossing generations

Yea! Girl power!

Sweet dancers

Performing in front of the temple

You gotta feel sorry for the kid who had to dress up like a pig...complete with nipples?!?!

One of my favorite students! Alan :)

Another favorite student! Jack

City-god parade #2

2010-05-28T13:37:00.006+08:00

Here it comes! The official beginning of the parade:

One of the god costumes. The guys take turns wearing it, since it's hot in there and I'm sure pretty tiring to dance all around the street all day. Hence the matching socks.

The noise is LOUD and really never stops. Firecrackers, cymbals, drums, horns, etc. etc. My ears were still ringing for the whole next day.

More god costumes...

Kiki, one of my former students! :)

Worshiping the idols as they pass by.

I'm not sure what these guys represent, but they were really scary looking.

A lot of worshipers follow the gods, carrying incense sticks.

City-god parade #1

2010-05-27T11:36:00.008+08:00

Here they are! The first round of parade pictures. I say the first round because, after uploading 4 sets of photos (you can only do 5 at a time), I realized I hadn't even gotten to the actual parade yet! Thus, this set is entitled, "Waiting for the Parade to Start."

I took these while all the paraders were working their way to the starting line of the parade. Just because the parade hadn't officially started, however, didn't mean there wasn't a fair share of excitement. As you will see:

Our friends, waiting with us for the parade to start.

This ritual is unique to Kinmen! Each temple has these little idol houses that they carry on poles through the parade. Periodically, the guys carrying it start swinging it back and forth and jumping all around. They will also light firecrackers underneath it. We learned from a friend that it is a reenactment of when the spirit of the idol descends upon it and possesses it - when that happens, the little house thing will start moving by itself and the men have to struggle to control it.

Hiding from the firecrackers. Necessary, because the parade guys think it's funny to throw the firecrackers right at the spectators' feet. Not to mention, shrapnel (i.e. bits of paper and cardboard from the firecrackers) flies everywhere regardless.

A view from dad's shoulders

The dragon train. These kids are adorable in their traditional costumes and makeup.

One of my students, Emma

I love the sunglasses. :)

Yes, you saw it right. He's dressed like Harry Potter. Don't ask me why.

Enjoying ice cream while they stake out their spot.

A sweet Ama

The more serious worshipers hold incense and bow to the idols as they pass by in the parade.

Is she not the cutest? :)

Parade Preparation

2010-05-26T12:29:00.006+08:00

Yesterday was the annual parade in celebration of the birthday of Jincheng's city god. This year was one of the special years with a bigger, more elaborate parade. For weeks, the town has been beautifying the streets and putting up decorations and practicing for the big day.

One of the more unique things they did this year was to commission a local artist to make sculptures illustrating different scenes from the parade. I forget the guy's name, but he's pretty famous around here. His trademark is making artwork from trash!

And the sculptures were totally cute (can you see the resemblance?):

I think my favorite sculpture was the puppet show, even though I didn't see any puppets in the parade:
Stay tuned for more parade pictures!

Way Overdue: Lantern Festival 2010

2010-05-20T15:12:00.005+08:00

Lantern Festival marks the end of the Chinese New Year holiday every year. So yes, these pictures are from February, but they were too fun not to share.

The festivities were kicked off by a parade featuring students from the local elementary schools.

After the parade, we made our way over to the lantern exhibition, which featured some particularly creepy tigers this year:

Finally, we went to see the lion dance...

...Which ended with the longest, loudest firecracker string I've ever witnessed:

No Reservations: Episode 6 (Lao Shan Dong and not Qi Nian Liu Ban)

2010-05-19T16:33:00.001+08:00

Eight legged freaks Strike Again!

2010-05-17T15:47:00.003+08:00

Sup again erbody, you might remember our long ago post about evil arachnids. Well that was then and this is now and not much has changed apparently, even though we've had a change of venues since then. Anyways, we came home Sunday night and looking upon our table there was a large death "Laya" spider from hell ironically standing on the electric bug zapper thingy, as if to say "I'm a large spider and I'm not afraid of your pathetic two double A battery powered bug zapper thingy." The speedy beast avoided our initial attempts of capture, and a full scale hunt was on. This is the aftermath of that search:

Yi-Gen Coffee Shop: Land of Licentious Behavior...

2010-05-14T13:39:00.001+08:00

...and of course a roaring good time. Anyone planning to stay in Kinmen awhile or even anyone just visiting on a short trip should visit Yi-Gen Coffee Shop. It's located in a small community just outside of Shanwai. It's a good place to enjoy some drinks and snacks with friends. The atmosphere is totally cool, as you shall see from the pictures bellow. Every Saturday night starting at eight pm some local artists provide live entertainment for patrons. It's just a nice place to unwind after a heck-tick week. And if you're really lucky one of the bands will awkwardly chant for you to get naked.

It's not too hard to get there; on the way from Jincheng to Shanwei take a left across from the Nissan?? dealership just before getting to Shanwai and follow the road up, it will be on your left.

Cake (the owner, that's her name: Cake), Chris our friend, and guitar guy. Between their songs they would have discussion that somehow always ended in them chanting: "Ben Ben naked naked Ben Ben naked naked." I had rather ambivalent feelings about that; flattered, confused and 不舒服.

It's the kind of place that makes you wanna read Robert Frost poems...

...and make otherwise un-artsy people attempt to take artsy photographs. The leftovers of our fruit tea, The Sound of Trees.

That's Ellie, she won like the best voice in Kinmen award. We have had the honor of KTVing with her on a few occasions.

Our friends Giant and Bethany, whom we hung out with. I think they were more traumatized than I was about the 'naked naked' thing.

Freakin dice seats man. They may not be comfy but they look like dice!

Records on the wall, dice seats! What more can you ask for? You greedy person you.

One other thing, Yi-Gen is going through some renovations at the moment. I guess they're planning on making it that much cooler. But unitl then it will only be open on weekends, which is the best time to go anyways. Okay love and Peace!

New Place! New Place!

2010-05-13T15:14:00.006+08:00

Kinmen is a small place. To give you some perspective, look at the little map down in our sidebar. To drive from one of end of island to the other, along the longest part, takes only about 40 minutes. So when you've lived here as long as we have, it starts to feel like we're done having any new adventures. Because frankly, we've seen practically all there is to see.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, we proved ourselves wrong! Off the coast of our hometown, Jincheng, there lies a little island. That is, it's only an island at high tide. When the tide is out, you can walk to it...and what would you know, but there's a fort and a giant statue on it!

We had always known this little island was out there, but we had never had our timing right to go there while it was low tide. Until one Sunday afternoon, that is...

The little pathway leading to the island

Looking back toward Jincheng (our town)

On the island...it's surrounded by razor wire.

Gathering oysters at low tide

The fort and Jincheng

Through the barbed wire and shards of glass, you can see Small Kinmen

Ben in the lookout thing

Bunkroom

Peer through the gun hole

These guns have big bullets!

Small Kinmen again

Outer view of the fort

And now, a random, huge statue of Koxinga, some guy who kicked all the Dutch out of Taiwan

Seriously, this thing is gigantic.

A cute little map of Kinmen

Country Cookin and Bewildered Lookin!

2010-05-12T15:16:00.005+08:00

Ben's note:Sorry for the long hiatus. Actually, we have a ton of stuff to put on the blog and we don't even know where to start. We're gonna do our best to get it up and running though.

Last weeks weekly Youth fellowship dinner, was served up by some American folks who were kind enough to provide us with a yummy taste of real American cuisine! Talkin Mulberry pie, fry chicken (not fried, Fer-eye Chicken!), green beans, mashed taters and praise the name mmmmmmhmmmmmm gravey! I decided this was a good occasion to bring out the camera and take pictures of people when they didn't expect it. Enjoy:

I said: "Give me five Rebekah"
response "eh...oookay..ehe."
Must have been something on my hand.

Father and Daughter, or since its Country cookin
night Pa and the Youngin.
Seriously, that young lady is getting mighty tall!

that there's my sweetheart

Smorgasbord!

Erbody wanna see Leprechaun say "Yay!"

Only one thing can assuage my despair since the gradual recession of my hair and that my friends is cobbla!

Our friend Giant lifting a batch of egg-salad sandwiches over her head. Now that's a young lady that's not surprised by random picture taking.

Vick looking dapper. Vick is the pastor at Small Kinmen church.
He taught me lots of Chinese.

Amanda cookin it up! You go girl.

Okay hope you liked it! Peace!

A little something to get you thinking...

2010-05-06T11:43:00.002+08:00

Quimby The Mouse from This American Life on Vimeo.

Thoughts? Reactions? I'll wait to post my ideas until y'all have had a chance.

Precious Precious Baby Childrens

2010-04-21T13:59:00.001+08:00

Here are just a few of the kids I indoctrinate weekly with my linguistic propaganda. Thought their impressionable little faces might brighten your day. Enjoy!

Latest Fad: Korean Pop

2010-04-12T19:13:00.004+08:00

When you spend most of your time with kids, you start to pick up on what the latest trends are. This year, it seems to be annoying Korean Pop songs that get stuck in your head and refuse to leave. Which are, of course, also accompanied by corny dance moves.

And now, you can enjoy them too! (Don't worry about thanking us!) ;)

Wedding!

2010-04-12T10:44:00.000+08:00

(sorry about being so late)
Awhile back we were invited to a wedding at the church. The youth group was planning to sing a song for the couple, and for some mysterious reason, they called me up to request my vocal services. At first I wasn't able to attend because I had work at the same time, but miraculously, my student canceled class at the last moment and I rushed into the ceremony to provide my much-needed sultry masculine vocals so perilously lacking from the youth choir.

A Rather exceptional example of English

The flower girl

Sweet sword to cut the weeding cake, really nice touch

Who's that fine fella in between?

Only I have proper form

Michael Spencer, with Christ

2010-04-06T17:55:00.006+08:00

Our dear brother, Michael Spencer, known as the Internet Monk, has passed away today. I cannot begin to express how much Michael has meant to me and my family (just check out our recommendations). My heart aches. Please pray for his family.

Hope all your Easters were filled with joy as you remembered the Resurrection of our Lord.

Spring Excursion

2010-03-25T11:25:00.005+08:00

After feeding the fish, the weather was still too beautiful to go back home. So we decided to drive around and see what there was to see...

We ran across a new peace park...

Found some secret tunnels...

Explored hidden beaches...

Found some big red cliffs...

Saw lots of sprouting sorghum

It was a beautiful day!

Feeding the Fish

2010-03-24T12:10:00.003+08:00

Two months ago, at the Kinmen Marathon, we ran into the mother of one of our friends. She handed us a bag full of bread and said, "here! eat breakfast!" Well, all of us had already eaten breakfast and didn't really want to fill up on stale bread right before we had to run 3 miles. So we politely accepted the bread and brought it home to our fridge, with a purpose to be determined.

About once a week, I saw the bread in there and started to throw it away, when Ben would intercept me, saying, "No! Don't throw it away! I want to use it to feed the ducks." I wasn't sure which ducks he was talking about, but every week, for 2 months, I reluctantly agreed, "ok, it can stay in there a little longer, but you need to do something with it before too long."

That opportunity came yesterday. We woke up to the nicest Spring day we've had yet this year, and couldn't bear the thought of spending it indoors. So, stale bread in tow, we headed up to KMIT to feed the ducks.

We only saw 2 ducks, and they wouldn't get close enough to let us feed them, but we did have a grand time feeding the goldfish!

Too bad for them, the ducks missed out.

Very little has the power to make me homesick the way thousands of blooming azaleas do. For as long as I can remember, azalea season has been one of my favorite times of the year. Here at KMIT, their scent was just hanging in the air...if I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine I was back home in my front yard. :)

Beauty in Simplicity

2010-03-22T18:34:00.002+08:00

Tonight, while I was reading my book, waiting for Ben to get home from work with our dinners, I started contemplating how beautiful my life really is. How Kinmen has grown to be such a big part of our hearts and lives. And how much I'm really going to miss it here when we're gone.

We wake up every morning to the sound of birds singing outside our window and a faint trickle of sunlight peeking through the concrete slats. We don't have to hurry to wake up; our jobs won't be needing us until later this evening. So most mornings, we'll lay in bed long after we've woken up, just enjoying the quiet time alone together.

When we do get up, our biggest decision is how we're going to spend the afternoon. Sipping tea under the trees? Eating fried rice or beef noodles at our favorite hole-in-the-wall shops? Walking along the seawall and looking across the strait to Mainland China? Just driving our scooter wherever the wind blows us, or until we see something interesting enough to stop and explore? Sometimes we actually do have a list of things we need to accomplish, and those days are good too.

4 days out of the week, I don't have to go to work when Ben does. I spend my evenings thinking of new ways to spend these precious hours. Reading a book. Listening to podcasts. Knitting or crocheting a new project. (Rarely, these days) brushing up on my Chinese. But all the while counting down the minutes until my husband gets home and we'll be together again. We spend our evenings reading, or watching TV, or playing cards or Chinese chess. Usually, it's late by the time we tear ourselves away from whatever we're doing to get ready for bed.

And then it starts over. Always with minor variations, but with a rhythm that is comforting and peaceful.

So, when I think of leaving here, it's easy to see why I'm intimidated. In many ways, I feel like I haven't made it to the "real world" yet. Jobs and responsibilities and the kind busyness that just eats away at a person are only things I've experienced shadows of. And I'm not sure I'm ready to face them yet.

Lord, grant us the peace to appreciate where we are while we're here. And yet to face the future bravely and in the faith that you are guiding our steps.

Sleepover

2010-03-17T19:54:00.002+08:00

Thank goodness for great friends! Monday, my friend Carol invited me over to her house for a sleepover, since she knew Ben would be gone and I would be lonely.

I met her for lunch (dumplings, mmm!), and then we went back to her place. When we got there, she asked if I wanted to try this new computer game she had downloaded, Spore. So she set me up and taught me how to do it, and then she went to her computer and started playing something else.

The next time I looked at my watch, it was 6:00! Gracious, I can't remember the last time I got that sucked into a video game. As we were walking to dinner, Carol said, "Now you know why so many Taiwan kids have nearsighted problems." No kidding. Just one afternoon, and I felt like I was cross-eyed. :)

After dinner, Kelly came over and Carol's cousin Jane got home from work, and the four of us played some really fun games of team Skip-Bo. Then, it was even more video games as Carol pulled out Super Mario 3. The two of us played that until 2:00 am. :)

Even though it was kind of crazy, I am so glad we were able to have this time together. It sure beat milling around the house trying to kill 24 hours by myself. And I haven't really had any "girl time" since college. It was kind of nice.

But I'm glad I don't have very much direct access to video games...my life would definitely become a giant waste of time! (More than it already is...)

Home Alone

2010-03-14T23:29:00.006+08:00

Ben's in Hong Kong right now getting a new Visa, so I've been forced to entertain myself. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Mindlessly scan through facebook.
Read my book.
Cry.
Find free playlists to download on iTunes (and hope they're not crap).
Make myself into a mannequin.

Thankfully, tomorrow, my friend Carol has invited me over to her house for an all-day fun extravaganza (Skip-Bo and Super Mario 3 have been mentioned), so my life will become a lot less lame and pathetic. :)

No Wind and Rain and No Clear Skies

2010-03-08T18:30:00.008+08:00

Believe it or not, this is not another post about weather!

And although it might not look like it, the past few weeks have actually been quite eventful. We have a long line of upcoming posts in our "blog to-do list," but Ben has called dibs on writing all of them and he's pretty busy these days. So, since it might be a while before those get done, and because it's been a long time since we've shared any Chinese music, here is one of my favorite songs lately:

今天我問我自己明天在哪裡
Today I asked myself, “Where is tomorrow?”
失去方向停在原地生活只剩呼吸
I lost my direction and stopped right where I started.
There is nothing left of my life but breathing.
拼命找尋舊回憶我問我自己
With all my might, I search for old memories.
I ask myself,
有沒有值得紀念的事情
“Is there anything worth remembering?"
上一次流淚為什麼早已忘記
Last time I cried, what was the reason? I forgot long ago.

我又打開電視機轉著遙控器
I turn on the TV and flip through the channels.
每一天重複的刺激而我早已麻痺
Every day, the same stimulus. I have long been paralyzed.
看著他們的眼睛看看我自己
Looking at their eyes, looking at myself,
發現是一樣的委屈
I discover it’s the same grievance.
終於明白這世上生活不容易
I finally understand that in this world, life is not easy.

每個人都是獨一無二的星星
Everybody is a unique star
在每個角落綻放光明
Shining brightly in every corner
而我們難免有恐懼
Yet it’s difficult for us to avoid being afraid.
不知道明天在那裡
I don’t know where tomorrow is
害怕擁有一切又再失去的傷心
I’m afraid to have everything and then have the pain of losing it again.

今天我問我自己明天在哪裡
Today I asked myself, “Where is tomorrow?”
失去方向停在原地生活只剩呼吸
I lost my direction and stopped right where I started.
There is nothing left of my life but breathing.
拼命找尋舊回憶我問我自己
With all my might, I search for old memories.
I ask myself,
有沒有值得紀念的事情
“Is there anything worth remembering?”
上一次流淚為什麼早已忘記
Last time I cried, what was the reason? I forgot long ago.

每個人都曾失去方向停在原地
Everyone has experienced losing their direction and stopping right where they started.
再強的人也要呼吸
The strong ones still want to keep breathing.

而我們都需要勇氣
And we all need courage.
在徬徨時繼續相信
Although I doubt, I continue to believe
那烏雲終究會散去
That after all is said and done, the dark clouds will finally disperse
直到雨和眼淚洗淨天空我看清
Until the rain and my tears wash the sky and I can see clearly
其實也無風雨也無晴
That actually, there is no wind and rain and no clear skies.

-黃建為 (Europa Huang)

Kinmen Fog

2010-02-28T14:23:00.005+08:00

Hmm...it appears I'm writing a lot of posts about the weather lately. But when you live in a place where your life is so drastically affected by the weather, what else can you expect?

Case en point. The Fog. It descends upon our little island every Spring, grounding flights, stopping boats, delaying deliveries of basic life necessities. And it arrived here this week. Ben and I decided to walk around in it on Friday, and this is what we saw (or didn't see):

Let's compare...

This was the view facing China in September:

And this was it on Friday:

The fog even got into our hair!

Scat!

2010-02-24T21:08:00.005+08:00

Warning hilarious slightly adult content!

I'm really tired so I can't think up any clever witticisms. Luckily I don't think these pictures need any:

If there's one way to a male baboons heart it's steamed buns. Hey wasn't that a witticism? Shut up inner monologue!

cause a lemur will poop on it.

Mao taking care of a "mao."

This was in the background of a picture. Somebody must have brought steamed buns.

Clearly Taipei zoo is a filthy feces sex obsessed hall of deception. Lure your children in with pandas and then they get pictures of Mao Ze deng wiping kitty poo. Lordy!

The Seeds in my Backyard...an update on my farming and a recommendation.

2010-02-24T19:54:00.007+08:00

My "dongxi*" complete with trowel (which I'll need since farming involves a lot of trowel and error. Hahahaha!):

Hey everybody! I bet your days have been spent in nail-biting expectation awaiting a 'fo real farmville' update. Well I want keep you waiting: I've bought a trowel. That's all. The people who own this place told me where I planned to make my garden doesn't belong to them, so there's a set back. I think I'll by some pots and plant it in those. Or maybe I could just let the trowel and seeds sit on my shelf never to be used quite like the boat in this story by the internet monk, Micheal Spencer. His story, about his relationship with his father, shares a lot of similarity with my own. Also Micheal, who has been a great blessing to us, has been struggling with a sudden onset of cancer. You can learn about it at his website and can even donate to their family if you feel so led.

Peace out!

*dongxi is pinyin for "stuff," for those who ain't in the 'in' crowd.

Back to School

2010-02-24T16:58:00.003+08:00

As Chinese New Year is winding down, it's back to school for us teachers. Yesterday was my first day back, and to be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to it.

But actually, it wasn't so bad! It was kind of nice to have a reason to get out of the house, and to interact with people again (even if they're miniature people). ;) Today, I got to teach a brand new class of kids, who are just learning their ABC's for the first time. It was so fun to see them figuring things out and really learning, even after just one hour.

And, because CNY was so late this year, this coming semester is only 4 months long - which means I won't really have that much time to get frustrated (the fall semester was over 6 months long). Before I know it, my season as a teacher is going to be through and we're going to be moving on to a new phase of our lives.

Which fills me with mixed emotions. Of course I'm excited to see what the future holds, but Kinmen has been so good to us, and we have grown to love it so much. It really is home to us now, and the thought of leaving makes me want to cry.

So I'm not going to think about it. :)

Happy Tiger Year! 虎年快樂!

Ugh, Winter

2010-02-16T16:51:00.003+08:00

(It keeps getting colder every day) + (it's been raining consistently) + (our house isn't heated) + (our only mode of transportation is a scooter)
= I haven't left the house (and have barely left my bed) in three days. Literally.

And I think I'm starting to get cabin fever. :/

Pandas!

2010-02-14T16:03:00.003+08:00

One of the other highlights of our trip this past week was a visit to the Taipei Zoo - main priority: see the new panda bears which were donated from China about a year ago.

It was definitely more of a political move than some act of generosity that we here in the "renegade province" got the panda pair. Their names, Tuan-tuan and Yuan-yuan, put together, mean "reunion." Kind of ironic that all this friendly rhetoric takes place while China still has missiles pointed directly over here in case Taiwan ever decides to officially declare independence.

But that doesn't change the fact that the pandas are totally cute and completely steal the show at their new Taipei home. :)

Della, Carol, Kelly, and me at the entrance to the zoo

Ben liked the pandas, too. :)

They were even eating bamboo!

I don't know which is Tuan-tuan and which is Yuan-yuan. They looked pretty much the same.

Playing around with the pandas. ;)

Another interesting Chinese/Panda fact: the Chinese name for panda means "bear cat." Or "cat bear." It seems most of the population doesn't actually know. I gathered that the popular term in recent years has been "bear cat," but the official stance of the zoo is that they are not cats that look like bears, but bears that look like cats. So the zoo insists that they are called "cat bears." It definitely is a point of confusion, since I overheard about six conversations throughout the day along the lines of,
- "Is it bear cat or cat bear?"
- "I don't know, I thought it was bear cat."
- "I always called it cat bear."

Bear cat, cat bear, either way the Taipei pandas are pretty awesome and I'm glad we got a chance to see them before we leave. :)

Winter Vacation in Kenting

2010-02-14T10:52:00.005+08:00

While temperatures in Kinmen keep dropping, and the only escape being to huddle in bed all day long, when we had a few days off for Chinese new year last week, where else would we have wanted to go than somewhere warm and sunny?

And that is just what we did. First chance we got, we jetted off to Kenting, the southernmost part of the Taiwan mainland, and the center of beach culture in the country. Two glorious days of shorts and flip flops, scootering wherever the wind took us, basking in sunshine, and swimming in the bluest waters I've ever seen. The only way it could have been more perfect is if it had been longer!

The cliffs of Maobitou (cat point)

Enjoying the sunshine

Jialeshui (happy water)

The southernmost point in Taiwan

Chuhuo fires - they are caused by gases leaking up from cracks in the ground.

Nanwan (south bay)

View from the forest recreation center trail head

Dajianshan (big pointy mountain)

Fo real FarmVille

2010-01-31T21:19:00.003+08:00

Just sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, sipping some Jim and Coke, watching some Anthony Bourdain, and decided I'm gonna give you the lowdown on something I done cooked up (in the figurative sense, like I had an idea not like some cuisine I actually cooked; you would be mistaken if you thought that). So lots of people play FarmVille, like millions, and lots of people play a thing here called Happy Farm. I even have a Farm:

Although my farmer's not so happy.

Well I thought I'd get back to the roots of what started all this, *drum roll please...* I'm actually gonna plant some real vegetables. Carrots and Cabbage! Grandma told me to plant potatoes and squash, but they don't have yellow squash (like Grandma said) and I can't remember why I didn't buy potatoes and anyways I don't have to explain myself to you, how dare you question my love for my Grandmother! Where's my cup! Okay so I'm gonna start a wee garden and compost pile in the empty plot next to our house. I'll update on how my communion with nature goes and get you some pictures. Hopefully, if all goes well I'll be eating a carrots and cabbage salad, a disgusting prospect that I would never consider eating if I had not grown the plants myself. I can't wait! Now where can I get a salad shooter in Kinmen?

Adventure Update

2010-01-23T18:24:00.006+08:00

Ben pulled a cart load full of delicious updates all the way from Malaysia for you,
so you better read them and you better like it!

What's up suckas (for those of you who aren't 'down wit it' suckas means esteemed friends and guests). What you think we wasn't gonna put another AdUp up in yo face? Heck to the naw! You was wrong! Okay here we go:

Kinmen marathon was last Saturday. Once again we made a competitive showing amidst the scores of elderly and elementary schoolers in the five K fun run. It's free to run and they give you a bottle of hard liquor at the end (thus the thousands of old folks). The kids prize was a face whiting mask. I can't think of anything sufficiently sarcastic to deride such a decision as giving a face whiting mask as a prize to a child. I could have gone and bought them five hundred lollipops for fifteen bucks and the kids would be about ten-thousand times happier. I face whiting mask, glory!
Well we had an old friend stay over at the house, the one and only Council Vaughan! Sucka ran the whole marathon.
We had many adventures with ole Council under the unusually agreeable weather. We planted a Geocache. We even went to the beach, gasp!
hmm...haven't done one of these in a while how do I do it again, let me think...oh yeah take something mundane and make it sound adventuresome, oh yeah that's it!
I felt a little sick the past week so I let Steph drive Shadowfax and me ride on the back. Oh my goodness it was much more comfortable than I remembered. I felt myself dozing off a number of times.
Ate at Joys the other night. She gave me some of her homemade wine aka Extremely alcoholic apple sauce. While eating the applesauce-ale with a spoon we proceeded to watch a copy of Avatar pirated out of Russia. The quality was so bad we just decided we'd wait and go see it in the theaters. Though the more of that apple sauce I ate the more 3D the movie appeared.

Okay esteemed friends and guests. Thanks for reading!

Malaysian Adventure

2010-01-21T16:49:00.006+08:00

Day 1

Pretty trees outside the Pavilion mall

Central Market

Yummy roll-up thing from Central Market

Chinatown

Day 2Orchid Garden

Monkey sighting

Independence Square

View from Petronas Tower skybridge

Petronas Towers

Day 3

We venture into the jungle

Canopy Walk

Traditional Malay House

Creepy playground toys

We're off!

2010-01-09T16:16:00.001+08:00

That's right, folks, we're saying goodbye to freezing cold weather and daily obligations (for 4 days anyway). Tomorrow we're going to Malaysia! Hello tropical paradise, exotic food, and new adventures! We'll be back later in the week to share about all our experiences. :)

Hmm...

2010-01-09T09:15:00.003+08:00

This ad came up yesterday as I was uploading our latest No Reservations video... (click to zoom)

I think somebody might be getting fired.

No Reservations: Episode 5

2010-01-09T09:05:00.001+08:00

Encouragement for the New Year

2010-01-06T10:25:00.003+08:00

Yesterday
by Oswald Chambers. From My Utmost For His Highest, December 31.

"The God of Israel will be your rereward." Isaiah 52:12

Security from Yesterday. "God requireth that which is past." At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise from remembering the yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God's grace is apt to be checked by the memory of yesterday's sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them in order to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual culture for the future. God reminds us of the past lest we get into a shallow security in the present.

Security for Tomorrow. "For the Lord will go before you." This is a gracious revelation, that God will garrison where we have failed to. He will watch lest things trip us up again into like failure, as they assuredly would do if He were not our rereward. God's hand reaches back to the past and makes a clearing-house for conscience.

Security for Today. "For ye shall not go out with haste." As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, unremembering delight, nor with the flight of impulsive thoughtlessness, but with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities which will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ.

Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him.

I'm famous!

2010-01-03T17:39:00.004+08:00

Check it out everybody! I got in the local paper. A rite of passage everyone who lives in Kinmen must go through, and if you're a foreigner who stays here any real amount of time, you should at least get an article written about you ("why the heck are you here?"). So as luck would have it, one of my adult classes was ending with a bbq party last weekend, and a reporter was invited. He asked me a series of questions, quite a few of which I thought would not make it in the paper. Boy was I wrong. They even mentioned my shout out that Panama city had the worlds most beautiful beaches, and an embarrassing joke I made about politicians (I think they translated it wrong through). The title, as best as I can tell, says something about our class introducing some beautiful sentences? Also there's a subtitle that says "Come empty leave full" (not talking about the bbq). According to the article this is what our (Becky was also a teacher) students were saying about the class. What a great endorsement! I really feel the same way about my students, I came into the classes empty and left with a passion for these students. Thank the Lord! Speaking of the Lord the reporter asked me for a life quote and I gave him Proverbs 3:5-6, which he printed for everyone to see. Pretty cool to see. Well here are some pictures of the article! Enjoy

The year in photos

2009-12-31T17:46:00.006+08:00

As 2009 bids us all farewell, I thought I'd reflect on everything we have done in this past year. It's been a long, hard, yet rewarding year, which I can look back on with pleasure and satisfaction...but which I wouldn't want to live again. :) I guess that's the good thing about life, though. Our future, though shaped by the past, is always fresh and new and full of hope and potential.

So here we go, 2009 in pictures:

January
We run our first 5k

February
Lantern festival

March
Trip to Hong Kong

April
Easter parade

May
Jincheng city-god parade

June
Ben graduates from KMIT!

July
Summer at home :)

August
Back to Kinmen, now living in our new (to us) traditional house

September
Becky (Ben's sister) and Kelly (college friend) come to Kinmen

Our 1st anniversary!

October
Visit from my mommy...

...and sister/brother-in-law.

November
Thanksgiving!

December
Christmas!

My latest endeavor

2009-12-29T23:57:00.004+08:00

One of the things Ben got me for Christmas was a copy of my favorite book, Anne of Green Gables, in Chinese. So, for the past three days, I have been toiling to try and read it. For those of you who might not know, reading Chinese is really tedious work. Because the characters each have their own pronunciation, if you get to a word you don't know, you're at a roadblock until you look it up in the dictionary. Luckily for me, I live in a century where this process is slightly improved by a tool called the "handwriting recognizer." I can go online to the Chinese dictionary, draw the character, and it will show me the word I have been looking for. It's still really time consuming to get through anything substantial, though. Consequently, I've only gotten through the first 2 pages of my book, after about 6 hours of diligent study.

I feel like it's a big accomplishment, though! I am reading a real book in Chinese, and I am understanding it! It might take me 10 years to finish the whole thing, but I'm trying not to think about that right now. :)

Something we've learned about studying a foreign language is that the more you learn, the more realize how little you actually know. But if we let myself get overwhelmed by that fact (as it's very easy to do), we'll stop improving. We just take things slowly, one step at a time, and it really does fall into place, like a baby learning how to talk for the first time.

So that's the approach I'm taking with my book: don't get overwhelmed by how much I haven't read yet; be excited about what I've already accomplished! And I really am. :)

The first page of my book, complete with my crazy scribblings.

No Reservations: Episode 4

2009-12-28T19:02:00.000+08:00

Murry Christmas!

2009-12-28T12:05:00.006+08:00

Hey hey erbody! What could possibly bring us back from our recent blog hibernation? Christmas of course, silly! Anyways, here are some awesome pictures of our yuletide gaiety! Enjoy:

Behold, The awesome Tannenbaum!

Little Stockings Steph crocheted for our guest.

What a great tradition: Stuff socks with edible things.

Kelly and Carol our esteemed and greatly appreciated guests. Eating Christmas lunch on the floor, foot tall tree; in case you didn't notice we poh.

MMMMM

Stephie made an almost clean plate!

I got a ripstick! Or as we say in Chinese "Snake board," ooooo danger!

Very handsome indeed.

Other non-photographed highlights of Christmas included watching "Fiddler on the Roof" in our loft. Very good movie; now it is not abnormal to observe me walking around singing this.

Hope your Christmas was wondrous! Glory to God in the Highest! A Son is given a child is born! Love and peace.

Life Lately

2009-12-07T17:20:00.002+08:00

Nothing really exciting to share...I just feel like writing a post! We have been doing really well. The Christmas season is here, as much as it can be in a rural southeast-Asian island community. :) Our friends have been holding lots of gatherings to decorate, watch movies, etc. We have also been busy shopping for Christmas gifts for our family members. That's always a fun part of living over here - getting people things that you know they don't have already!

With the cold weather setting in, I have also taken up my knitting again, which helps me to feel productive and creative. I've even dabbled in crochet, which is still pretty new to me - but I love learning new techniques and making new projects! Right now I'm in the process of knitting my first hat in the round - which means using 4 needles instead of 2, and knitting in a circle so that you don't have a seam when it's done. It has been pretty tricky to get the hang of, but I think I'm improving, which gives me hope!

Ben has been studying for the GRE, since he's going to be applying to graduate school in the next few months. He actually seems to be enjoying it, and has already gotten a good handle on all the "A" words. :) We've both been having a good time thinking about our future and making plans. Not that those plans will necessarily come about, but it helps to have something to work towards.

We've also been planning a trip to Malaysia for January! Ben has to go somewhere to renew his visa, and I have a week off from school for the kids' final exams, so it worked out perfectly. We're pretty excited about having a little vacation, especially to such a new and exciting place! :)

Other than that, things are pretty much normal, but we have been content in a way we haven't felt in a long time - maybe even since we first came here! It's kind of sad to think about only being here 6 more months...so we just aren't thinking about it. :) We are going to make the most of the short time we have left here, so that we'll be sure to have plenty of joyful memories to take with us wherever we end up next. It's pretty exciting!

湖下 (Hu Xia) our Hometown

2009-12-02T21:50:00.008+08:00

Here are some pictures from the little town we live in called 湖下(Hu Xia) it means "under the lake." I just decided to get up and take some pictures on a whim. Hope you enjoy!

plenty of abandoned traditional houses for good photos

This is the house in front of ours. Tis abandoned

A row of big traditional houses with an old western style house at the far end.

An old building next to our house. Also not inhabited.

This is looking through a window to the house in front of ours. Looks like a meteor went through the arch.

A Kinmen Thanksgiving 金門的感恩節

2009-12-01T16:36:00.006+08:00

It's always hard for us to be away from our families on the holidays, and this Thanksgiving was no different. Thankfully, we are so blessed to be surrounded by a community of American believers here who rally together every year to create a Thanksgiving celebration worthy of any American household. This is the second year we've participated, and it's always such a joy to work together - shopping, cooking, decorating - to provide a little taste of home for one another (and a little taste of American culture for our Taiwanese friends).

This year, Ben was given the special honor of being in charge of the turkey - and he did his job with flair! We arrived at the dorm at 3pm, at which time he gathered wood and bamboo and built his fire, which he tended until 5:30, when the turkey was ready to go in the roaster.

God bless everyone, hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

More National Park Chinglish!

2009-11-25T12:00:00.003+08:00

You can already tell this hike is going to be awesome...

This sign is a little vague...am I prohibited from dieting or prohibited from eating? Or are they encouraging me to adopt the eating practices of the 1920s?

Twice the crap of normal wetland centers!

I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't have thought to electrocute or bomb the fish until they saw this sign...

The anti-smoking brigade

2009-11-21T20:59:00.004+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, Ben and I were climbing aboard our scooter to leave church when one of the ladies there came running up with a clipboard in her hand. Here is the conversation that ensued:
(English is regular, Chinese is italicized.)

Yaya: Ben! You have to sign this paper!
Ben: What is it?
Yaya: Uhhh...no smoking.
Ben: I don't understand. Why do I have to sign it?
Yaya: It's ok, just sign it!
Ben: But I don't know what it is.
Yaya: No smoking!

At this point, I look at the paper in her hand to try to figure out what it is. It seems to be some sort of pledge that the signee agrees not to smoke inside their house.

Me: Just sign it so she'll let us go. It's just an anti-smoking pledge.
Ben: But I don't want to!
Me: It's ok, just sign it. She won't let us leave until we do.

Ben signs the pledge.

And that was it. Sure enough, she was satisfied with our signatures and we went on with our day, not thinking twice about it.

Until about 2 days later...Ben had just left for work, and I was home by myself when there came a knock at the door. We never have unexpected visitors, so I was a little leery and didn't answer at first, hoping they'd go away. But no, they kept knocking...4 or 5 times they repeated their knock. So finally, I went to the door. There were 4 people standing there - one middle-aged lady with a clipboard, a younger man, and an old lady with her grandson (the old lady was just a neighbor who helped the other two find our house).

Clipboard lady: Is this Mr. Fu's house? (Fu is Ben's Chinese surname).
Me: yes...
Clipboard lady (to younger man): ok!

At this point, the man proceeds to walk into our house, sniffing into every room. When he comes back, he says to clipboard lady, "Ok, they haven't been smoking in here."

Old lady: No, usually the house next door smells smoky though.
Clipboard lady: We're going to put a sticker on your house. Please sign here.
Old lady: How much do you pay every month to live here?
Clipboard lady: How much?
Me: Ummm, we don't pay anything, our friends are letting us live here for free.
Old lady and clipboard lady: Ohhhh, ok, great!
Clipboard lady: Thank you, bye bye!

And with that, they left. When they were gone, I went outside to see what they had stuck on our house. Sure enough a huge sticker was plastered right under our house number with a cartoony picture and the words, "Smoke Free Family."

I guess we've learned our lesson not to sign any more mysterious petitions...

The Taming of the Shrew

2009-11-20T23:21:00.006+08:00

Since we've moved out into the countryside this year, our biggest frustration has been the intrusion of mice into our humble abode. In my opinion, mice are worse than roaches or spiders because it tugs at my conscience to kill them. I certainly wouldn't be able to step on one and squash it. I mean, it has bones! And blood! Not to mention, they're just creepy looking, running along the edges of the walls with their creepy little eyes.

So, after trying various means of mice extermination, we settled on our trusty catch-and-release trap. After all, we were only spotting 3 or 4 mice a week, and they were sticking pretty much to the courtyard and kitchen - places that are relatively easy to avoid. Our plan of "don't eat food in the bedroom and the mice won't care about coming in" seemed to work seamlessly.

Until this week. Suddenly, after only 3 weeks of pleasant fall weather, the temperatures dropped 20 degrees, basically overnight. And without any form of central heating (anywhere on this island, not just in our house), it's almost impossible to get warm.

So on this particular night, I was home alone, waiting for Ben to get home from tutoring. I had already taken a hot bath and put on my warmest pajamas, and decided to spend the rest of the evening reading my book in my bed.

*As a side note, this particular evening had been more mousey than usual already. Our trap already contained one mouse, and I had spotted another one running under a shelf in the kitchen. I should have taken it as an omen.

So I snuggled down under the covers and started reading. I had probably been there 20 minutes or more when something in my peripheral vision caught my eye and caused me to look up from my book. There, IN THE BED, wriggling out from under the covers, was one of the biggest mice I have ever seen in our house. I screamed louder than I think I ever have, and started flailing the blankets about, I think in an effort to fling him across the room and out the door. Unfortunately I only succeeded in scaring him underneath the bed, at which point I promptly left the room and called Ben. Sounding frantic, I explained the situation to him and begged him to leave his tutoring gig early and come home to help me (he was going to get off in 5 minutes anyway).

I hung up the phone and went right to the computer chair and put my feet up off the ground - which turned out to be a good idea, since about 2 minutes later my little bedmate came scurrying out of the bedroom into the living room where I was! I tried to keep my eye on him so that Ben could catch him immediately upon arrival, but sadly he disappeared somewhere into a corner, never to be found.

And as it turns out, he (and all those who came before him) wasn't a mouse at all, but a shrew! An Asian house shrew, to be exact. You can read about them here.

So, sadly for my allergies, it seems our days of keeping our bedroom door open to the courtyard are over. But I think I'd rather be sneezing and sniffling all winter than have a repeat of this little adventure. Definitely one of the creepiest things I've ever experienced.

My Funny English Post

2009-11-20T11:48:00.005+08:00

This is all I got:

it's a shirt that says "Mike love not war." Mike love is the preferable kind of love. Special thanks to Becky Francis who bought me this shirt and to my best friend Mike Rimes who makes it 更笑! Love and Peace

Cool post

2009-11-19T15:26:00.001+08:00

While we're talking bout history check this out: http://taipeiairstation.blogspot.com/2008/09/maag-taiwan-men-on-kinmen-july-1956.html

The Kinmen Identity: Background and Article Suggestion

2009-11-19T14:35:00.005+08:00

This is the second part in a series of posts I'm endeavoring to write about in an attempt to give a profile of Kinmen, its people, and its unique place in our world (both past and present). I am hardly qualified to write about this, but since I think those who are qualified probably would never or could never (i.e. they speak/write Chinese) communicate to the kind of audience (all seven of you) that we have, I'm going to try and do my best to tell you who and what Kinmen is. So here's a little history I've gleaned*:

Kinmen is a small island in the harbor of Xiamen (traditionally known in the west as Amoy). Politically, it is governed by the ROC although geographically speaking, it is part of the Fujian province which is governed by the People's Republic of China. Most days, we can walk from our house to the shoreline and see the buildings of Xiamen not three miles away. Before the Chinese civil war that ended with Chiang Kai Sheik's nationalist forces retreat to Taiwan in 1949, Kinmen was indeed considered part of the Fujian province. Kinmen's status as a territory of China dates back to the late 14th century when a Chinese Emporer claimed it as part of Fujian. Unlike the rest of Taiwan, which from the Sino-Japanese war in the late 19th century until 1945 was ruled by Japan, Kinmen has been continually under Chinese control.

After the nationalist retreat in 1949, Kinmen was set up as a staging point for an envisioned future of retaking the mainland, and as the last bastion of defense by the ROC against the PRC. So from 1949-1992, Kinmen was heavily fortified against sometimes constant artillery barrage and threat of invasion. Due to these unceasing threats, Kinmen during this period was ruled by strict martial law. After 1992 and the onset of more amiable relations with the PRC, democratic elections finally came to Kinmen. In 2000, an agreement between Taiwan's government and the PRC called the "three mini links" allowed for limited direct mail, travel, and communication between Kinmen and the PRC. Before, only residents of Kinmen were allowed to travel between Kinmen and Xiamen but now anyone in possession of a Taiwanese passport or China Visa can use the "link." Thousands and thousands of business people, pilgrims, and tourists make the trip every year. So in sixty years, Kinmen and its people have played the role of a hand wielding a sword towards China and now the open hand extended in friendship.

How all these factors mentioned in this history and more have affected and shaped Kinmen will be the focus of these posts. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

*The brief account of Kinmen's history recounted here is better told in its original source: Wei Jian Feng's "An Examination of Cultural Identity of Residents of Quemoy (Kinmen)" as I wrote about here. Also Professor Wei has a newer study you can check out called An Examination of College Students Identities in Quemoy (Kinmen)

Even more!

2009-11-18T21:02:00.002+08:00

Today's funny English signs all come from National Parks around Taiwan!

Because plant picking and hunting are definitely in the same category...

The Chinese says, "Close your eyes. Imagine the beautiful scenery around you. Now open your eyes. Um...I want to close my eyes again."

Ahem...no comment.

More Funny English

2009-11-17T15:30:00.002+08:00

(On a takeout bag)

You gotta let those leftovers ripen for at least a day before you eat them.

I have no words...first of all, what is "bamboo literary liquid"? And if I wash my face with this stuff, am I going to become some kind of scholar?

If my life wasn't wonderful before, it is now that I have this malted milk!

Funny "English"

2009-11-16T19:12:00.001+08:00

While we are all well aware of the recent blog neglect that has been going on over here recently, I'm kind of tired of writing apology posts about nothing except how little we've been updating. So, to get us back into the swing of things, I present:

Our Collection of Crazy English Discoveries! (part one)

For some reason this kid has a description of a puffer fish on his shirt.

All the places this air freshener can be used. I really do hate it when my almirah is smelly...

If you have a thing to place, this cabinet is the place to place it.

Stay tuned for more! In the meantime, you can pop on over to Engrish.com. You're sure to find a good laugh (or 2 or 3). :)

I need to remember...

2009-11-07T15:06:00.003+08:00

There's Always a Day Before
by Michael Spencer (link to the original post)

The news story is strange and tragic. Three college softball players go for a night time drive in the country. On an unfamiliar road, they take a wrong turn and drive into a pond…and drown.

There was a day before. A day with no thought of drowning. A day with family and friends. Perhaps with no thought of eternity, God or heaven. There was a day when every assumption was that tomorrow would be like today.

My friend Gary has been the night dean at our school for more than 20 years. His wife has been in poor health, but he has been a workhorse of health. He’s walked miles every day, eaten a vegetarian diet and always kept the rest of us lifted up with his smile and constant focus on the joy he took in his salvation.

Two weeks ago, the doctor turned to him and said leukemia. Today he stands on the crumbling edge of this earthly shadow, looking at the next world, fighting for his life with all that medicine and prayer can offer. Our prayers for him as a school community have been continuous, because we never thought there would be such a day.

There was a day before he heard “leukemia.” A day of work, chores, bills, hopes of seeing a grandchild, prayers for students, love for Suzi. Not a thought that the journey of life contained such a surprising turn for him.

And on that day, Gary was full of faith, full of a servant’s heart, ready for many more days or ready for this to be last one before whatever was around the corner.

We all live the days before. We are living them now.
There was a day before 9-11.
There was a day before your child told you she was pregnant.
There was a day before your wife said she’d had enough.
There was a day before your employer said “lay offs.”
We are living our days before. We are living them now.

Some of us are doing, for the last time, what we think we will be doing twenty years from now.

Some of us are on the verge of a much shorter life, or a very different life, or a life turned upside down.

Some of us are preaching our last sermon, making love for the last time, saying “I love you” to our children for the last time in our own home. Some of us are spending our last day without the knowledge of eternal judgment and the reality of God. We are promising tomorrow will be different and tomorrow is not going to give us the chance, because God has a different tomorrow entirely on our schedule. We just don’t know it today.

Who am I on this day before I am compelled to be someone else? What am I living for? How am I living out the deepest expression of who I am and what I believe?

My life is an accumulation of days lived out of what I believe is true every day.

Gary lived every day with the story of Jesus nearby and the joy of the Lord a ready word to share.

When the day came that “leukemia” was the word he had to hear, he was already living a day resting in the victory of Jesus. That word, above all earthly powers, cannot be taken away. It speaks louder and more certainly the more the surprising words of providence and tragedy shout their unexpected turns into our ears.

Live each day as the day that all of the Gospel is true. Live this day and be glad in it. Live this day as the day of laying down sin and taking up the glad and good forgiveness of Jesus. Live this day determined to be useful and joyful in Jesus. Live this day in a way that, should all things change tomorrow, you will know that the Lord is your God and this is the day to be satisfied in him.

The Kinmen Identity

2009-11-05T13:11:00.002+08:00

I just reread an interesting paper written by professor Wei Jian-Feng at KMIT about the cultural identity of the Kinmenese people. It's a topic that's long interested me: with Kinmen's unique geological, political, and social history, how have these factors effected the identity of Kinmen's residents; who do Kinmen's people think they are? The paper in question does an excellent job detailing these unique factors and examining their effects on the locals perceptions of themselves and others. Data was collected by conducting interviews with Kinmen residents regarding their feelings and perspectives on a variety of topics including their views of mainland China, Taiwan (ROC), and Kinmen. comes to illuminating conclusions that succeed in his goal to help "demystify" the Kinmenese people.

I'm hoping to write a series of posts presenting some of Professor Wei's findings, and some of my own input as I ask my adult students about the topic of Kinmen's identity. I'm even hoping to possibly have Professor Wei over to the blog for an interview.

Woohoo, look at that forecast!

2009-10-28T14:03:00.001+08:00

Have you ever seen anything more beautiful? :)

A Whirlwind

2009-10-26T19:51:00.008+08:00

This past Friday, I stood on a wall outside the Kinmen airport, and, through a curtain of tears, waved goodbye to a plane holding my mom, sister, and brother-in-law. It marked the end of three of the best three weeks I have ever spent in Taiwan, and was one of the most bittersweet moments I have ever experienced in my life.

I can't believe it was just barely over three weeks ago that my mom first arrived in Kinmen. Walking into David and Patti's house and seeing her there sitting on the couch seemed like a dream. Over the next week, every free moment was spent exploring the nooks and crannies of our beautiful little island.

Then it was off to the mainland, where we had one of the most adventurous weeks of my entire life (that's a story for a whole other post). Lets just say landslides and rock falls were the least of our worries. :) But the scenery was breathtaking and the memories of our excitement won't be soon forgotten.

Then, on Thursday, Julie and Scott arrived! We spent one morning in Jioufen before making our way back to the island Ben and I call home (there's another story there which will also have to be saved for a different post). The next week was spent traveling to all the most famous and interesting spots on Kinmen island.

And then, as suddenly as it began, it was over. I can't describe the feeling in my heart as I stood on that wall waving goodbye to their plane. It was like it was simultaneously the emptiest and most full it has ever been. And I haven't quite recovered. Maybe I never will. Because such a meaningful set of experiences is not likely to come my way again any time soon. Not only getting to live here, but getting to share my life with some of the people I love most in the world...I can't really imagine anything more perfect. And something changed inside of me, I think. It's a hard thing, but a good thing. A beautiful thing.

For the rest of my life, I'll look back on these past three weeks with only the fondest of memories. Thank you Mommy, Julie, and Scott for taking the time to come over here and spend them with me.

Some Recent Photos

2009-10-05T11:45:00.003+08:00

The sunset out our doorway

Kelly and us walking along the Cihu causeway

A view of mainland China from the causeway

Small Kinmen

Becky and Kelly

Happy Moon Festival!

2009-09-27T17:19:00.005+08:00

Moon Festival is this Saturday, so this week at school we took a break from teaching and had special activities instead (i.e. coloring). It was really nice to be able to just relax with the kids and get to know them better. Plus, their pictures, were so cute!

I also got to learn the story of Moon Festival, which is actually pretty interesting. According to Chinese legend, many years ago, the earth had 10 suns. As you can imagine, this made things way too hot and everything was just burning up and shriveling.

Now, at that time, there lived a man named Hou Yi who was also an archer. He saw what the suns were doing to the earth, so he took it upon himself to solve the problem. Using his bow and arrow, he shot down the 9 extra suns that were threatening the earth.

As a reward for his heroism, Hou Yi was granted an elixir of life which would make him immortal. However, his wife, Lady Chang E, was jealous. She wanted the immortality pill all for herself, so she stole it from her husband and took it. As punishment for her wickedness, she was sent to the moon. Feeling regretful, she tried to cough up the immortality pill, but when she did, a jade rabbit came out. Lady Chang E and the jade rabbit have been in exile on the moon ever since.

Meanwhile, Hou Yi became the god of the sun. Once a month, on the full moon, he is allowed to go visit his wife Lady Chang E. It is said that it is on this day that the moon shines brightest because of their love for one another.

Modern Moon Festival celebrations consist of eating barbecue, moon cakes, and grapefruit, as well as reciting moon poetry.

Getting to Know Kinmen's Wildlife...

2009-09-23T23:23:00.003+08:00

...via high velocity smashing into face/body. That's right, even though summer is singing it's swan song, it seems to have bellowed up one last operatic line of teeming creatures to fly into me while driving my moped. See if you can match the picture of the animal with the speed at which we collided and what part of my body it struck:

a. shoulder then Stephanie's lap

b. neck then Becky's facial region

c. my face then got lodged in between my ear and helmet forcing me to pull over.

1. 70 kph

2. 50 kph

3. 60 kph

Hope that was stimulating enough for you. Peace!

Biking Small Kinmen #2

2009-09-23T14:50:00.007+08:00

With the recent change in weather, we decided on Monday to make the trek over to Small Kinmen and bike around the perimeter, much like we did last December. This time, Becky came along for the fun. And what fun it was!

A view of Big Kinmen from Small Kinmen

This might possibly be the worst picture ever taken of three people. But it was the only one I had of all three of us, so please accept my apologies and scroll by as quickly as possible. Thanks. :)

Ben in the window of a fort

Fort and coastline, with Big Kinmen in the background.

Ben and Becky on the beach, with Xiamen (China) in the background.

Me with a cow who was just chillin by the path. This is as close as they would let me get, but there was no way that thing was going to charge me. He would have had to get up first.

Doorway to a secret tunnel in the woods.

Hujingtou Battle Museum

Xiamen skyline

Return to Mt. Taiwu

2009-09-22T11:07:00.005+08:00

When Ben and I first came to Kinmen, it was as college exchange students. We were looking for adventure and new cultural experiences, and were up to trying anything anyone invited us to do. As a result, we got in the habit of joining our church friends for a weekly mountain climbing excursion every Sunday afternoon.

So for four months (longer for Ben), we climbed Mt. Taiwu at least once a week. Always accompanied by great friends and creating wonderful memories.

But, about halfway through last fall semester, Joy (our pastor's wife) found out that the cartilage in her knees was disintegrating. She was no longer allowed to go mountain climbing, and therefore the tradition came to a sudden halt. They tried to replace it with bicycle riding, but it wasn't the same, and after a while we just stopped participating.

Then, this past Sunday, we woke up to a beautiful, cool, breezy, refreshing fall morning. The week before had been the hottest since we've been back, with Google reporting high temperatures as hot as 98˚. You can imagine our joy at the sudden change in weather...and, all of a sudden, my heart began to stir to return to the mountain.

So, we asked if the church people were planning to go that afternoon. Pastor Samuel replied, "do you want to go?" To which he received a hearty YES! 我們很愛爬山! So it was organized...I can't remember the last time I've been so excited about anything.

And it was nearly perfect. The fellowship was refreshing, the Chinese language wheels were turning, and my adventurous spirit was rejuvenated. The only thing missing was Joy. :(

Another funny commercial

2009-09-17T21:19:00.002+08:00

So silly! Col. Sanders is apologizing to all the street vendors because KFC has roasted chicken now. :)

Anniversary Pictures

2009-09-17T14:03:00.003+08:00

Just some photos from our anniversary weekend. :) Ben took us to stay at a cute little hotel on the other side of the island in a town called Shanwai. Even though we were still in Kinmen, it still felt like we were miles away from everything, and was a nice break from our everyday obligations. It was the perfect weekend!

The colonial looking house is the hotel we stayed at.

On Sunday (our anniversary) Ben took me to this port to look at the boats. It was (almost) like going to Prince Edward Island all over again. :)

This yacht had obviously been sunken in a previous life - it was completely covered in barnacles.

Us on the beach

Hei Ren Ya Gao

2009-09-16T14:22:00.003+08:00

This song is stuck in my head at least 4 days a week. Because this commercial is played at practically every break.

I do think the little kid at 0:25 is pretty cute, though.

So here you go - a little Taiwanese advertising culture!

A special prize to anyone who can guess what "hei ren ya gao" means! (And if you already speak Chinese you're not eligible.)

Adult class

2009-09-16T11:27:00.002+08:00

So, if last year's stand-out teaching experience was teaching 20 something sailor-mouthed Elementary school students, then my nominee for this semester's most (at least potentially) rewarding class is my Adult class. I've started teaching a class of thirty or so high school- to middle-aged students every Monday and Friday night from 7 to 9 pm and another one in Shanwai on Saturdays from 9:00-11:30am.

This is by far the best experience I've had teaching so far. They're both government-sponsored classes; Mondays and Fridays meets in the county library and the other one meets in some government building. The students want to be there, and although they're quite shy, part of what makes the class fun is to get them out of their shells and starting talking with one another. There's a variety of personalities and professions: high school students, meteorologists, dentists, housewives, soldiers etc. The variety of motivations are equally diverse: some want to do better on government examinations, travel, make friends with foreigners, some are just bored, and at least one creepy old man mentioned something about beautiful blond-haired women. Anyways, I love the class and teaching them English and being their friend is one of the most rewarding experiences I've had thus far. Here are some highlights:

Talking about our birthdays and discovering that I, the teacher, am the youngest person in the class.
Making them laugh at my examples of "unnatural conversation."
Having people tell me I'm a good teacher, or at least an interesting one.
Laughing with them at their inappropriate English mistakes (or inappropriate intentional English, yikes creepy old man!). For example, one student said it was her job as a housewife to pleasure her father and mother in-law. Ai-yo!
Going out to eat together after class.
And of course, there are many students that make teaching worthwhile with their special efforts.

Little Giant

2009-09-14T17:14:00.006+08:00

Last week, Kinmen had some very special visitors - the Little Giant Chinese Orchestra! They're an orchestra made up entirely of traditional Chinese instruments.

Now, I had heard traditional Chinese instruments being "played" before in Kinmen...but the "bands" I had heard (usually in funeral parades) had no sense of musicality, intonation, instrumentation, or restraint. They just blow their brains out however they want, not seeming to notice how painfully awful they sound.

That's why the Little Giant Orchestra was such a breath of fresh air! The songs they played were beautiful...enchanting...mesmerizing. It was like I discovered for the first time what these instruments were supposed to sound like, when they were not being perverted in the hands of people who didn't understand them.

After the concert was over, we went to ask if they had a cd we could buy, and they gave us one - along with a dvd - for free! It was a magical evening, made complete by the enjoyment of some delicious shaved ice. :)

I took some video, which doesn't capture the magic at all, but it least it gives you an idea:

This one is especially humorous because of the various interruptions:

And finally, some pictures!

The orchestra

This little girl was cute. :)

Kelly and I with the orchestra...the conductor is the little guy in the middle

Becky and Kelly with their shaved ice

My delicious shaved ice :)

One.

2009-09-13T08:30:00.003+08:00

Today marks the end of our first year of marriage. Or, rather, the beginning of our second. What a whirlwind it has been! This past year has been the most frustrating and difficult year of my life...but also the most worthwhile. The most memorable. The most love-filled and joy-filled and beautiful time of our lives.

So at this time, I'd like to take you all on a photographic trip back through the past five years, during which Ben and I went from strangers to acquaintances to fiances to husband and wife. Looking at these pictures, I can see so clearly the hand of God in our lives, bringing us together in spite of our own oblivion. These photos bring me such joy, and make me so thankful for the man I married and the journey we have been on together.

I know it gets said all the time, but I really did marry my best friend. And every day, I love him more than I ever have before.

Fall 2004: College freshmen, at our BCM campout - only a few months after we met.

Oct. 2005: A year later, as Indian and Hobbit, at our BCM Halloween party.

Spring 2006: Swing Dancing together, our sophomore year of college.

Spring 2006: Road trip as college sophomores.

March 2006: In Khabarovsk, Russia on a church mission trip

January 2007: At the Passion Conference in Atlanta

Fall 2007: In Kinmen as exchange students (on top of Mt. Taiwu)

Fall 2007: Us with some fellow members of Jincheng church.

January 2008: The weekend we were offically engaged.

Sept. 2008: Wedding

Sept. 2008: Honeymoon in Prince Edward Island, Canada

Jan. 2009: Chinese New Year at Alishan

April 2009: On the peak tram, Hong Kong

June 2009: At the Lotus pond, Taipei

July 2009: Sailing in Panama City Bay

Aug. 2009: At Chenggong Beach, Kinmen.

Walking the Track

2009-09-09T20:36:00.004+08:00

Tonight, Ben had to go to work, leaving my by myself. Instead of staying home and feeling lonely as is my custom, I decided to go over to the elementary school which is right next door to our house and spend some time enjoying the coolness of the evening.

So, taking my ipod, I meandered over to the school and listened to the entire "Glory Revealed" album* while walking around about 100 times around the miniature track.

A cool wind was rustling through the trees, stars were just appearing in the night sky, some ladies started doing Tai-chi, students were chatting, bats were chirping and swirling overhead, and scripture verses were being gently sung to me in mellow bluegrass renditions...it was about as close to perfect as life can get. :)

I think I'll make this a habit from now on.

*Which, if you've never heard, I highly recommend that you do.

Photo Special: Surfin' Kinmen

2009-09-07T13:33:00.004+08:00

No Reservations: Episode 3

2009-09-03T10:20:00.000+08:00

This is the one you've all been waiting for!

2009-09-02T15:08:00.007+08:00

Finally, it's that time: the story of our big day as movie stars! :)

We were told to dress in colorful clothes and meet at the bus station in Shamei at 1:00. When we got there, the producer told us that our first stop would be upstairs in the costume room. I must admit, when I heard there was going to be a costume lady, I felt a little thrill - this really was the real deal! The thrill left pretty soon, however, when we discovered what the lady wanted us to wear:
Apparently our idea of "colorful" (bright but still matching) wasn't colorful enough, since it seemed that the costume lady's idea was to have as many colors as possible in the worst possible combinations. Becky and I thought ours was bad until we saw Ben's outfit:

For the entire day, I couldn't even look at him without laughing out loud. :)

Me, Ben, and Andrew looking awesome.

After wardrobe, the other producer took us out to the street where we would be filming. The first couple of hours (we found out later) were spent just rehearsing the scenes and learning what we were supposed to do - they didn't actually take any footage until the real movie stars arrived:
Yep that's Shota Matsuda...Apparently he's pretty famous in Japan and around Asia. The other actor was an older man who claimed to be from Hong Kong and a former a co-star with Jackie Chan...but nobody can find anything out about him online, and according to Shota, he's fond of the booze and the weed - so we think he was making it all up.

They did Shota's line first, and he got it on the first take. The next two hours were spent redoing the same scene over and over as "Hong Kong Billy," as we call him, kept saying his lines wrong.

I spent most of the day with a group of junior-high school-aged dancers, who were brought in to play the part of street performers. It was my job to look and clap along and say things like "Wow! So beautiful!"
I did get to do a few more prominent things, though - walk down the street shopping, haggling for some clothes, and having a fake discussion about shoes.

Probably the most amusing thing about the day was that the staff hadn't made any effort to block off the street. So all these old amas kept walking right through the scene, or my favorite, plopping her chair right in the middle of the street, to take in the excitement. The Taiwanese elderly are rather notorious for being stubborn/set in their ways, and it was really hard for the movie staffers to convince them that they needed to stand off to the side. But even though you could see the frustration in their eyes, they were always very polite and respectful in explaining the situation to the curious onlookers.

Those two guys on the left aren't extras, they're just here to watch.

Because of Hong Kong Billy's line amnesia, we were there until 6:20 pm, instead of the promised 4:00. But there was an exciting and unexpected twist, as our friend David earned himself the starring role of extra-dom. His part in the movie was to sit at a table playing dominoes with two other people and Hong Kong Billy. Well, apparently he did such a good job at that that they asked him to come back the next day and gave him a small speaking part!

David in the apple shirt, becoming a big-time star.

Needless to say, we'll be traveling to Taipei to catch this movie in theaters when it comes out. February 6th - Liar Game: The Final Stage. You should all check it out!

Some more various photos of our day:

A view of the set.

Me and Ben, waiting for directions.

The two guys on the far left and right were assistant directors or something - they were the ones who told us what to do.

Too bad for us, we didn't get one of these awesome Staff T-shirts.

I was tagged.

2009-08-31T16:31:00.004+08:00

Rules:
Don't take too long to think about it.
List 15 books you've read that will always stick with you.
They should be the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - My favorite book since forever...I think I relate to Anne more than any other character I've ever read. Also it inspired our honeymoon destination. :)

2. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - Really thought provoking. My favorite book out of the ones I've read in the past year.

3. The Chronicles of Narnia (esp. The Horse and His Boy) by C.S. Lewis - Just good storytelling. The end of TH&HB was the best and most memorable plot twist I've ever read!

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Cliche, I know, but it has always been a favorite of mine.

5. A Little Princess and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - When I was a girl, I had the hardcover editions of these books, complete with big beautiful illustrations. I thought they were some of the most beautiful books I had ever read (and still do).

6. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - Great American literature, a must-read in my opinion.

7. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - Even though I've forgotten much of the story, the part when Francie and her brother go to get a Christmas tree struck a chord in my heart which has never stopped ringing.

8. Christy by Catharine Marshall - It feeds my love for true stories, Appalachian culture, and general adventure.

9. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson - Another really good story that I have loved since I was a girl.

10. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson - Both fanciful and harshly realistic...qualities you don't find very often together, especially in junior fiction.

11. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls - the book didn't stick with me as much as the memory of me reading it...I was in 5th grade, and I remember hiding behind my school building during recess so my friends wouldn't see me crying as I read the last chapter.

12. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Another piece of great American literature. Also a beautiful story of redemption.

13. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - I went through this phase as a kid where I was fascinated by stories about the Holocaust. This one was the most fascinating because it was real.

14. Hind’s Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard - sweet, simple allegory which resonates with my own life's journey.

15. The Veldt by Ray Bradbury - So, it's not actually a book...but it's so creepy and fascinating and intriguing that it had to make the list. :)

Life is full of surprises

2009-08-31T16:02:00.004+08:00

Ever since we arrived back in Kinmen, Ben has been itching to go surfing. Unfortunately for him, however, the waves haven't been up at all. Until last week. Ben got a call from our surfing contact, Brenda, saying some of the crew was out at Chenggong trying to catch some waves.

So, hoping Ben would finally get his chance, we made our way out to the beach. About 1/2 mile from the parking lot, the street began to get really crowded, with cars parked on both sides and policemen directing traffic. We had no idea what was going on. As we made our way toward the beach, we began to see people walking in large groups toward the entrance. When we finally got to the beach, we saw why - the biggest night market I have ever seen in Kinmen was there, filling up the entire parking lot. In addition to the normal stalls and games, there was a huge stage with various performers, as well as various activities set up on the beach itself.

So, even though it turned out that Ben didn't get to surf, we had a really fun time walking through the crowded paths and sampling some of the treats. We also ran into an old friend that we haven't seen in nearly a year - so it was totally worth it!

An elementary school drum team

Ben hanging out with the surfboards that he didn't get a chance to surf on

Enjoying our respective Fanta and Sprite floats. We would have enjoyed them more if the ice cream hadn't been chocolate...

A taste of things to come

2009-08-30T22:28:00.004+08:00

I realize we have been sadly neglecting our blog for the past week or so - but let me assure you all, it's not because we don't have plenty of new stories to share! It's just that we've been so busy experiencing them all that we haven't really had any free time to blog about them. Really, we've been home for an average of 1 hour per day the past week, and never all in one block. So here are some of the things you can be expecting to see in the coming week or so:

- A surprise night market
- Becky's arrival and subsequent adventures (video included)
- Our debut as movie stars
- An all-new No Reservations
- Surfing pics
- KTV fun
- And whatever else might happen between now and then...

So for now, adios and 晚安! Hope this has enticed you to check back soon...

We're going to be stars!

2009-08-24T08:08:00.003+08:00

Well, not stars exactly. Extras. But still, this is big news! The #1 TV director in Japan is coming to Kinmen of all places to film his next installment in the "Liar Game" miniseries franchise, and they asked us to be a part! They're completely re-doing one of the streets in a nearby town to look like a street market. Since it's supposed to be an "international city" (I'm not sure which one), they need westerners in the background to make it look convincing. And voila! Our acting career has begun. Filming is on Thursday, we'll let y'all know how it goes later in the week. :)

In other exciting news, Ben's sister Becky is arriving today, and will be staying until January. We pick her up at noon, are going to eat lunch, and then spend the day house-hunting (she doesn't know this yet, muahaha). Plus, our other friend Kelly is arriving on Friday, and will be staying a whole year! Big things are definitely on the horizon, and this promises to be an exciting semester. We can't wait!

No Reservations: Episode 2

2009-08-21T12:55:00.001+08:00

Random Updates

2009-08-20T16:35:00.002+08:00

Life is still going well for us this year! Despite the minor challenges we have faced (and are facing), I think both of us have maintained a really positive outlook and are really enjoying our time here.

It has still been really HOT. Hotter than it's been since we've been back. This morning we thought we'd get up at 6:30 am and go running - but by that time, it was already too hot to run! So we just went walking instead.

One way we've been beating the heat is by swimming! Swimming has long been my least favorite form of exercise, but in the past 2 weeks I have really worked on improving my strokes and have learned to enjoy it. Yesterday, for the first time in my entire life, I swam a whole length of the pool without having to stop and catch my breath. I felt so accomplished! (Lame, I know)

The good news is that my rash has almost completely healed. In fact, aside from some mysterious itchy bumps on my hands and feet, it has totally disappeared. It is wonderful to not feel agonizingly itchy all the time anymore.

We've also started cooking our own meals! Last night we had chicken spaghetti, and on the menu tonight is steak, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. It's so rewarding to buy the groceries, prepare the steps, and enjoy food that we actually made ourselves. I can't wait to try out some new recipes!

Ben has discovered that he has a real passion for teaching adults. He started teaching a community-ed type class this semester, and it has become the joy of his work week. So much so that he's thinking about pursuing something similar as a career after we go back home. Pray for direction for both of us, as we're having to start thinking about making some big decisions in the next few months.

All in all, things couldn't be much better (air conditioning would be nice). Stay tuned, as the next few weeks are sure to bring many new and exciting surprises!

Our Neighborhood 湖下

2009-08-19T10:29:00.004+08:00

We've gotten in the habit of going walking or running every morning - this week, I brought along my camera so we could share some typical sights with you!

An old broken-down Vespa.

There are lots of gardens and small farms in our area - every morning you can hear the roosters crowing and the sheep...baaing?

Some of the fancier traditional houses in our village.

We really enjoy walking along the water - at night, you can see the lights of Xiamen (mainland China) so clearly! Today it was pretty hazy - Small Kinmen is on the left, and you can imagine China along the horizon to the right.

Mouse lovin music!

2009-08-15T14:18:00.006+08:00

I sat down on this fine Saturday afternoon to get some entertainment/Chinese studying in by listening to some Chinese songs when I stumbled across this gem.

It starts out looking like possibly the most potentially charming Taiwanese music video ever and then suddenly around the 2:46 mark it launches full speed into inexcusable ridiculousness and hilarity. Ah, but what do you expect from a song that repeats the line "My love for you is like a mouses love for rice."

yikes!

2009-08-13T16:57:00.005+08:00

Thanks to our home's permanent residents and their "air conditioning is bad for your health" philosophy, I have developed a severe heat rash affecting at least 1/2 of my body. Three nights in a row now, I have woken up in such anguish that I could do nothing but cry because of the severe itching and pain that I was experiencing.

Today I finally sucked it up and went to the dermatologist. I walked out with 5 medications, including 2 topical creams, 2 oral antihistamines, and a steroid. Plus a huge list of prohibited foods and activities:
- alcohol
- spicy food
- mangoes
- seafood
- peanuts
- mushrooms
- bamboo
- taro
- eggplant
- pumpkin
- exercise
- hot showers
- sweating
- sunshine

So basically, I'm allowed to sit in a dark room with fans blowing on me and little else. The good news is that the medicines he gave me are already seeming to work. I hope his promise that I would "feel better in 3 days" comes true.

So which is worse for your health? Air conditioning or severe heat? I'll argue the heat.

No Reservations: Episode 1

2009-08-13T09:15:00.001+08:00

I need a hobby.

2009-08-10T18:22:00.002+08:00

Because this house is lonely on a day like today. Ben's at work for the rest of the night, it's raining so I can't go anywhere, there's nothing on TV, I finished reading my book...

Any suggestions?

Pitter Patter

2009-08-09T21:02:00.002+08:00

It started raining last night around 8pm. And hasn't stopped since then (it's 9pm Sunday as I'm writing this). Needless to say, it's been a rather lazy day - but it's been kind of nice to have an excuse to just relax for a bit.

The good thing about it is that it's cooled the air off significantly. When you live in a house with no air conditioning in a climate almost identical to Florida's, you realize what a big deal that is. For the first time since we've gotten back, I've gone the whole day without changing clothes and with just taking one shower! haha, the things we take for granted sometimes...

The cool air also allowed us to catch up on some beautiful sweat-free sleep: we went to bed almost immediately after coming home from church and didn't wake up until nearly 5pm. And for once in my life, I didn't regret it one bit.

We spent the evening reading and catching up on the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance. Ben even cooked dinner! It was delightful.

Things are going so well so far this year. Granted, we've only been back a week, but the peace I feel about being here is such a huge reassurance that this really is where we are supposed to be for this phase of our life. I can't wait to see what the rest of our time here holds!

Blog Plug: "Homebody and Woman Adventures in Chicago"

2009-08-07T07:06:00.003+08:00

If you just can't get enough newlywed's moving to new places having new experiences blogs and are seeking general hilarity check out Brad Woodrums blog. Brad is an old friend who is getting married and moving from little old Panama City Florida to some foreign city called Chicago. Brad already blogged about his previous time in Washington DC and Hong Kong (Check out 2007 and 2008 entries), with great success. Now Brad, inspired entirely by us, is going to be not only blogging about his new experiences in the city, but his new experiences in the city whilst being married! Check it out for good times.

Okay peace.

Surprised by Joy

2009-08-06T16:42:00.002+08:00

Coming back to Kinmen after our month in America was hard. I had forgotten how wonderful it is to be surrounded by family - the people who love us most in the world. The thought of leaving them behind again to spend another year in an isolated foreign land nearly threw my heart into shatters.

But now that I'm back, I'm remembering why I fell in love with Kinmen in the first place. I feel like my old exchange-student self again, seeing everything with new and excited eyes and trying to make the most of the time that I have here. I think last year was so lonely and frustrating for us (well at least for me), that I kind of lost interest in doing everything I used to love. But it seems our little month-long respite was just what I needed to kick my keister back into gear and start living life to the fullest!

For one thing, I love living in the countryside. It is so peaceful here, and life really does move at a slower pace. We've decided this year, while we're still suffering from jet lag (i.e. waking up at 5:30 every morning), we're going to get in the habit of getting up and going running along the waterfront which is only a short trek from our house. It has been a really nice time for us to spend together and kickstart our day to feel productive right from the get-go.

Even things which could be frustrating have turned into unexpected blessings. The most obvious one is our lack of air conditioning. I'm not going to lie, the heat is pretty awful. But I've had to learn how to cope with it. Part of that involves just being still at times so that my body has a chance to recover from the heat. I have such a tendency to stay busy all the time, that I have really enjoyed these forced siestas, as a chance to collect my thoughts and reflect on my experiences.

Although we haven't started yet, I'm really excited about learning to cook my own food! This is the first time since we've been married that we have regular access to a kitchen, and I feel like this has been a big part of the married life that I've been missing out on. There's so much more love in homemade food - even if it's something as simple as a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich - and it was something I really hated about living at the church. That we had to eat out for every meal of the day because we didn't even have a refrigerator to keep groceries in.

So, maybe somewhat surprisingly, I'm really excited about this coming year! I can't wait to see what new and exciting experiences come our way, and I'm determined to make the most of the time that we're here, so that I can look back on it with fond memories and not regrets.

I'm also excited about starting the blog back up...stay posted, there are sure to be many more things to come!