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| Dusk over West Taichung after Fanapi |
1. Typhoon - We experienced our first typhoon (Typhoon Fanapi) last Sunday. (What's a trip to Taiwan without a typhoon?) There was a lot of wind (no surprise) but very little rain (big surprise) here in Taichung. In fact, after blowing all morning the typhoon kind of died out and we had a very nice afternoon. It's strange as other parts of the island (Kaohsiung down south) got hit with A LOT of rain and there was some serious flooding as well. The weather has cooled down considerably after the typhoon which has been a blessing.
2. Mid Autumn Festival - We celebrated 'Chong Chio Jie' this week. I didn't realize this but this is the second biggest Chinese holiday next to Lunar New Year. You could hear fireworks going off all night and smell burning charcoal as having a BBQ while watching the moon has become a big tradition. (Taiwanese charcoal is particularly sweet smelling. I don't know what they use (endangered hard woods?) but it smells tons better than normal American 'briquettes' or even 'lump' charcoal.) Both my dad and I took the day off work so we took Moses for a 'Chen men' trip to Taichung Park to go on a row boat. We were the first people there and it was a hot day and my dad had problems getting in and out of the boat. Still it was a pretty memorable experience. (By the way, Taichung Park has had a makeover ... It's actually quite pleasant and no longer the seedy vendor filled backlot I used to remember from my high school days. That said, I'm not quite sure what to make of this giant goat statue ... It gives me the creeps!)
3. Family Time - The four of us got to have a little family time by going shopping for swim goggles over by Taichung First High School. It took us a while but we found the little swim shop near the stadium crammed full of swimsuits, goggles, earplugs etc. We picked up some goggles and earplugs and plan to go to the Morrison (my old high school) pool this weekend. (Swimming is one activity we all really miss ... Our house back in Irvine is less than a block away from the community pool complex. We checked out one of the city pools last weekend ... Not very appealing.) We then went to the Chung Yo Department store food court for dinner. While there, two Mormon missionaries sat next to us while we were drinking our apple juices. Now I have a lot of respect for LDS (Latter Day Saint = Mormon) missionaries. They take two years out of their lives to serve and evangelize in a foreign country far away from family and friends. I was surprised by how much Chinese (and Taiwanese!) they should speak and read even though they'd only been in the country for one and two years respectively. I think I surprised them in that they had sat next to a ('disguised') fellow American. Even though they were at Chung Yo to grab some McDonalds (which tastes 'especially good' after eating 'bien dan' (Chinese box lunches) all week according to one missionary) they were non-stop in engaging me. I was again impressed with their zeal and fervor (True Believers); turned off by how scripted it all was. They are probably trained this way but it just seems so artificial in that they ask a ton of questions about me (making me vulnerable) but give out very little of themselves on a personal level. Anyway, it came down to them asking if I had read the Book of Mormon and if I believed it. I had read it and told them flat out I didn't believe in it. I also had a ton of Christian apologetic reasons why but my mind went blank at that point. Tina saved me by swinging by and telling us we had to go get dinner.
4. Community - It's interesting to note how very different the cultural idea of space and community are different here. While getting dinner at Chung Yo department store, a sales lady sat down in an empty seat in our table and began to engage us in conversation (She did ask permission as most of the other tables were full.) While there she went on auntie/grandma mode and tried to get Moses to eat his noodles. While eating 'dou hua' (a sweet tofu dessert) yesterday a lady in my mom's Bible study saw Tina and paid for our 'dou hua'. Another lady (a 'bien dan' lady) began talking to us and telling us how awesome the 'dou hua' is at this stand. (It is very good. And cheap.) I walked into the 'Hi Life' convenient store the other day and the lady there asked me where my wife and kids were. Back in States this might be considered 'nosey' behavior but out here it's very much the norm.
--- Steve
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