wuhoo!

the everyday stuff

2011-10-28T08:19:00.000+08:00

Cultural differences come in all shapes and sizes. And, one of my favorite cultural differences is keys (I've blogged about them before). They are so different here. My first apartment had a "treasure chest" key that I thought was awesome, now our new apartment has a "retractable key" that also has a "treasure chest" key feel to it and it's super long. The round gray disk attached to the key allows me to enter our apartment complex's main door, our building's door within the complex and access the elevator. Without that gray disk, the elevator will not budge.

The two cards in this photo are also apart of my daily life now. The bottom one is an subway card--we add money to it, and then zap it when entering and leaving the subway stations, and the cost of the fare for the ride is taken off our card's value. The top one is a magnetic pre-paid card that I can use to buy train tickets with without having to use coins at a ticket vending machine (pictured below). If you use one of these pre-paid cards, just remember to always take it from the machine when you leave--sadly, I can give this piece of advice from personal experience to the contrary. :(

room with a view (part 2)

2011-10-27T08:12:00.000+08:00

After showing you what I can see from our home, I thought I'd show you what I can see from one of the rooms where I have class twice a week. We meet in the 9th floor of the "E building. Buildings here in Taiwan are often "lettered."

Tall building to the far right is Dorm #6, while the other building, considerable shorter, on the far left is another dorm. The "track and field" is between these two dorms. The "street" down the middle of the photo is one of the main walkways through the campus.

In this photo you can see the N building (short), the T building (tall), and the school's gym/auditorium. My office and some of the language labs I teach in are in the N building. I also have class twice a week over in the T building.

And, here is part of the soccer field, one of the campus buildings, and the city beyond the campus.

room with a view

2011-10-26T11:49:00.000+08:00

In 2007, I shared the views from my windows:

And, I thought I'd do it again from our new apartment--we now live on the 10th floor, so the view is pretty good from up here.

First of all we have an entry way (which I totally LOVE--a place to store things and to take off our shoes before entering our home).

From this entry way we can this:

and this:

Our bedroom has the worst view of all. We can see this:

and this from our bedroom windows:

Our master bathroom's shower actually has a better view that our bedroom:

And, perhaps our study and guest room have the best views of all. We can see the park right in front of us:

We can also see a department store within walking distance:

And, we can also see down the street in the other direction too:

shine

2011-10-20T21:07:00.000+08:00

A friend of ours introduced us to Micheal Thompson and Oneway. We love the two beautiful worship CDs we got on itunes--Shine and a Brand New Day--that clearly worship the God of all nations.

Here is the title song from Shine; it's based on Psalm 67. Enjoy!!

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!

The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

-Psalm 67

reflections on coming and going

2011-10-14T08:39:00.000+08:00

Lawrance and I recently took a young couple to Meinong for a last outing before they left to go back to Canada. They were here for a year, and now they have returned to North America to pursue seminary and to follow the Lord where He will lead them next.

Later today, I'm meeting with young lady from the UK whose been here for three years for our last heart-to-heart before she leaves Taiwan to prepare for what God has in store for her next.

Meanwhile, we've also recently had other new young couples and single ladies arrive in the last few months, each planning on coming and serving for about a year.

Seeing these guys and gals come and go causes me to reflect, and it stirs up mixed emotions. So, here are some of the things I'm thinking and feeling these days.

One, I'm old. Let's just be blunt about it. I used to be the 19 or 20 year old adventuring in Taiwan and trying to make sense of this foreign place, struggling with the language and trying exotic foods. The place is longer foreign, language no longer quite the struggle, and the foods no longer exotic. (This photo of me in the Hakka outfit was taken in 1997 at the exact same place as the above photo of Lawrance and our friend.)

I'm no longer the newcomer. There will always be missionaries who've lived her longer than I have, so I still feel like I'm new here. But, I guess after nine years, I'm not really that new, huh? Which then makes me question why haven't I learned MORE Chinese? Why haven't I shared the gospel MORE? Why haven't I paid off MORE of my school loans? Why haven't I [fill in the blank] MORE?

I'm not sure I could leave Taiwan and not know if I'd ever be back. Ok, so part of this tie to Taiwan is obviously the fact that I now have family here and this is my husband's homeland, but it is more than that. I've spent my entire adult life living and working in Taiwan. Quite frankly, I don't know how to be a "grown up" in America. I would be willing to live in America for a few years to either pursue further education or allow Lawrance to pursue further education (and give our possible future children the chance to be close to family), but I'm not sure I'd be able to pack my bags and say farewell ilha formosa. Of course, if my Lord asked me to, I would, but it would be emotional.

I love Taiwan. I love living here, teaching here, serving here. But, I am reminded that, even here, I sojourn.

This world is not my home. No matter where I reside physically, may the Father graciously allow and enable me to "proclaim the excellencies of Him who called me out of darkness into His marvelous light" because there was a time when I had "had not received mercy, but now I have received mercy" (1 Peter 2).

catching up: september

2011-10-13T08:40:00.000+08:00

This week we're sharing some of our facebook statuses from the past few months to help "catch up" on what's been going on in our lives this past year.

This post covers September. In September, the Texas wildfires hit close to home, and I twisted my ankle during the first week of school. Plus, we celebrated Gilby's 5th year with me and Teacher's Day.

catching up: july and august

2011-10-12T08:32:00.000+08:00

This week we're sharing some of our facebook statuses from the past few months to help "catch up" on what's been going on in our lives this past year. This post covers July and August. We enjoyed spending all of July in Texas with family, and August was full of changes--packing, moving, and Law starting seminary.

catching up: may and june

2011-10-11T20:24:00.000+08:00

For the next few days, we're sharing some of our facebook statuses from the past few months to help "catch up" on what's been going in our lives. Next up is May and June, which included a lot of the normal "end of the year" goodbyes and ended with some life-changing news (no, no not expecting--Lawrance got accepted to seminary), and we headed to America.

台灣我愛你 taiwan, i love you

2011-10-10T18:29:00.000+08:00

catching up: march and april

2011-10-09T20:17:00.001+08:00

So, since it's been seven months since we last posted, I thought we could share some of our facebook statuses from the past few months to help "catch up" on what's going in the Wus' lives. We'll start with March and April.

If you happen to also be our friends on facebook, there won't be anything new here. :)

it's been awhile

2011-10-08T23:17:00.000+08:00

About seven months ago, our blog was hacked. It was the middle of the semester, and I didn't have the time to figure it out and restore everything, so I just let it go. And, even though facebook allows me to keep up with friends and family, on occasion I still missed blogging .

So, I decided to relocate our blog once again--away from a platform that requires constant attention to keep hackers at bay and free. Hopefully, this will be it's final final home. I'm not sure how frequently we'll blog, but I do imagine it will be somewhere between less than once a day and more than once every six months. :D

I had all the posts and comments up to 2009 backed up, but I had to copy and paste all the posts from 2010 from my google reader's stored memory of the old blog, which means we lost all comments for 2010.

And, while all the posts have migrated over to this new blog's URL, I've not messed with pages or the sidebars yet. That will come in due time.

praying for Taiwan

2011-03-09T14:54:00.000+08:00

To find more videos like this and further info to help guide you in praying for the nations look here: http://prayercast.com/

salivababy

2011-02-14T05:56:00.000+08:00

I’m sorry but a bakery by this name is just not appetizing to this chica.

How about you? Would you want to buy your baked goods from Salaivababy?

proper care and feeding of a Taiwanese husband

2011-01-29T22:45:00.000+08:00

People ask me all the time what kindof food I cook for Lawrance. They want to know if we eat Taiwanese foodor American food. My answer is not simple: To Taiwanese, we eat whatlooks like western food, but to Americans we eat what looks likeAsian cuisine. It is our own unique fusion of east meets west.

I’m slowly learning the art ofstir-fry. I’m learning tricks to the trade and figuring out how to makethings we both love. And, I’m always on the lookout fornew recipes to try to see how we’d like them.

Last week, I made this:

And it was a homerun! Simple anddelicious! Yay for another dish to be part of our regular rotation.

I call it YaoGua JiDing with Peppers(aka Cashew Chicken with Peppers). It’s not quite really “cashewchicken,” but it does have cashews and chicken in it.

Ingredients

· 5 tsp cornstarch

· 3 Tbs soy sauce

· 4 tsp apple cider vinegar

· 2 tsp rice wine vinegar

· 1.5 tsp sugar

· 1 tsp hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

· 1 pound chicken breast tenders

· 1 yellow bell pepper

· 1 red bell pepper

· 2-4 cloves garlic

· 1 tsp fresh ginger

· 1 stalk of green onions

· 1/2 cup unsalted cashews

· 2 Tbs coconut oil (I use coconut, you can use oil of yourchoice)

Directions

1. Combine 2 tsp cornstarch, 2 Tbs soysauce, and next 4 ingredients (through hot pepper sauce) in a small bowl; stirwith a whisk or chopsticks.

2. Slice the two bell peppers, mince thegarlic and ginger, and cut the green onions.

3. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.Combine 3 tsp cornstarch, 1 Tbs soy sauce, and chicken in a medium bowl; tosswell to coat.

4. Heat wok over medium heat.

5. Add cashews to pan to lightly toast,stir frequently. Remove from pan.

6. Add oil to pan. Add chicken; stir-frybut don’t cook all the way (about 85% done). Remove almost cooked chicken frompan; place in a bowl.

7. Add bell pepper to pan and stir-fryabout 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook 30 seconds.

8. Add the almost cooked chicken and thesauce (made in #1); cook until sauce is slightly thick (about 1 minute).

9. Sprinkle with the toasted cashews andgreen onions. Turn mixture over a few times then serve.

One of the keys to stir-frying is toprep EVERYTHING before you get started. Once you start, there is noturning back because it all happens so quickly once you get started. That iswhy I now include the prep in my recipes (#2 & 3) above.

This took me a little less than 30minutes from start to finish my first time making it. It made about fourservings.

happy, shinny people

2011-01-29T15:35:00.000+08:00

Nobody is as happy as he seems onFacebook. And no one is as “spiritual” as he seems in what we deem as“spiritual” enough for Christian worship. Maybe what we need in ourchurches is more tears, more failure, more confession of sin, more prayers ofdesperation that are too deep for words.

Maybe then the lonely and the guiltyand the desperate among us will see that the gospel has come not for the happy,but for the brokenhearted; not for the well, but for the sick; not for thefound, but for the lost.

So don’t worry about those shiny,happy people on Facebook. They need comfort, and deliverance, as much as youdo. And, more importantly, let’s stop being those shiny, happy people when wegather in worship. Let’s not be embarrassed to shout for joy, and let’s not beembarrassed to weep in sorrow. Let’s train ourselves not for spin control, butfor prayer, for repentance, for joy. –Russell Moore

I SO agree with these last fewparagraphs of a recent blog post on Moore to the Point about how facebook is making ussad.

I remember when I first was coming outof a long, deep depression a few years ago. I was at a Christiangathering full of missionaries, as I introduced myself I had no qualmsexpressing my recent struggles and God’s great kindness towards to these nearstrangers because I knew they were sisters in the Lord. My blunt honestywas met with blank stares.

It bothered me then and still does nowthat we are not “allowed” to show weaknesses, not permitted to be frail. But, the reality is I am OH so thankful that my God is a God of mercy whoforgives my wretched sin. The reality is that it is ok to boast in OURweaknesses (2 Cor11:30 and 12:5).

Father, keep my heart soft. Helpme to be transparent with others and honest about my struggles and weaknessesto You, to myself, and to my fellow brothers and sister in Christ. And,when we gather to worship You, let us be a people able to express our emotions,both our joys and of sorrows.

infant potty training

2011-01-14T03:12:00.000+08:00

My mother-in-law told me this pastweekend that all three of her kids shared one cloth diaper and that’s theonly diaper she ever needed. She went on to tell me that she startedpotty training all of her kids on day three. Meaning that when they werethree days old she started potty training them!

At first I was shocked. Soundsimpossible. But, then I started asking questions and talking to Lawrancemore about it. Then of course I had to google it.

Here is what I found:

Throughout much of the non-Westernworld, infant toilet training is the norm. In India, China, Southeast Asia,Eastern Europe, the arctic, and parts of Africa and Latin America, parentsleave baby bottoms uncovered (Boucke 2003; Sonna 2006; deVries and deVries1977).

Diapers are consideredunnecessary-—even disgusting. When babies have to pee or poop, parents holdthem over a preferred target (e.g., a toilet, an outdoor latrine, or simplyopen ground) until business is done.

How do parents know when their babiesneed to go? By paying close attention. In these “bare-bottom” cultures, babiesspend much of their days being carried around. Mom learns to read her baby’scues. And-—eventually—-baby learns to hesitate until Mom gives her the“okay”-—usually signaled by a special vocalization, like “sheee-sheee” or “shuuuus”(Boucke 2003; deVries and deVries 1977).

Sometimes called “eliminationcommunication,” this method is now being adopted by some parents in the UnitedStates and other Western countries.

There is also a pdf that talks more about “PottyTraining” in China, where she gives the four basic steps to get started withtraining an infant to go where you want them to go.

The authors also state that parents inChina can potty train their child so young because “there is an eliminationawareness ’window of learning’ open from birth to about 6 months of age.If parents tap into this sensitive period, they generally have goodresults with toilet training.”

So, perhaps it’s not as shocking as Ithought it was. But one thing for sure is that it takes LOTS of time onthe part of the caregiver (ie. mommy or, in many cases in Taiwan, grandma). It depends on the caregiver always being near the child and being veryvigilant about “reading” and “learning” the child’s signals.

And, it might be labor intensive, timeconsuming, and at times messy for mom, but it sure has other benefits too. Just to start, think of all the money saved on diapers!

There is also a special way to hold ababy or young one over a toilet–made easier if you are using a squattypotty. Many in Taiwan also let their children go outside over a drain.

And, in case your wondering, thevocalizations used here in Taiwan for “elimination communication” are a gentle,breathy whistle or a “shuuu, shuuu” sound for peeing and grunting sounds like“unh, unh” for pooing.

Here’s a CNN video of American parentsusing this concept:

I give props to my mother-in-law forher labor-intensive, money-saving way to raise my husband. I’m impressed! It becomes even more impressive when I realized she had three under threeand used this method with all three of them! She’s amazing!

three calendars

2011-01-11T16:22:00.000+08:00

My life revolves around three calendars. Teachers have their own calendar. Taiwanese have their own calendar. And, then there is the American calendar too. This means twice as many holidays, and three new years.

From Thanksgiving to New Year’s (Jan. 1) are the “American holidays.” Then from New Year’s (Jan. 1) to the end of Lantern Festival (Feb. 17, this year) are the “Taiwanese holidays.” This equals somewhere between 3-4 months of “the holidays.”

Quite frankly, that’s a lot of holidays!

Moreover, as a teacher at a university we have two sets of 18 weeks with breaks in between. Which means our new year is in September, and the first semester goes to the middle of all these holidays.
Jan first comes right in the midst of the end of the semester. So, while many may feel like they get a fresh start on Jan 1st, I feel like I’m in limbo till some unknown point in the future.

So, while my soul is longing for some time to sit down and reflect, to escape and refresh my spirit, the reality is I have finals to grade and essays to assess, then a winter camp to teach, and then a week of national holidays to celebrate with family and friends. Then, finally, I might get a chance to rest.

There are so many longings within my heart, but I keep telling them “shh, just a moment more and then I can acknowledge you.”

So, while I wait for that moment that Lord willing I’ll get a chance to retreat, I sing this song longing to be refreshed, placing confidence in the fact that the Spirit is not bound by any man-made calendar.

Popout

the wu’s year in photos

2010-12-31T16:30:00.000+08:00

I woke up this morning to the shocking reality that *gasp* it is the last day of the year! I don’t know why this year passed so quickly. Why do they keep slipping by faster and faster??

At the end of last year, I dreamed of being able to hold our little one in our arms by the end of 2010. Well, it’s come and gone and we are no more parents today than we were 365 days ago. So, all I can do is cling to the fact that God is kind.

Without further ado, let’s look back at each month of 2010 solely represented with just one photo.
This will be my sixth year to do this:

2005–was my third year in Taiwan, and I started blogging
2006–my sister got married and my brother came to Taiwan
2007–I moved to a new city, and my cousins came to visit
2008–I met the love of my life; we dated, got engaged, and then married . . . it was perhaps the most perfect year of my entire life. :)
2009–our Taiwanese wedding, our first anniversary, and our first full calendar year married

January: Amanda went back to Texas to meet our newest nephew

February: Chinese New Year

March: Daily life as normal (note the use of gloves to eat messy food) :D

April: A Happy Wedding!! We get to officially welcome Cindy to the Wu family

May: We go to two MORE weddings!

June: Amanda’s mom comes to Taiwan!! Wuhoo!!

July: We introduce Mom to as much of Taiwan as we possibly can

August: Gilby gets bit by a mean, nasty dog, :(

September: Lawrance turns 30 and has his 1st Birthday Party EVER!

October: We get to meet Melody, our newest niece!

November: Lawrance preaches for the first time

December: We celebrate our third Christmas together in Taiwan.

Oh, how only one photo a month doesn’t capture everything that happens!! I think we went to a total of 7 or 8 weddings last year and I got to go to Japan for a few days for a conference, we spoke in public multiple times, Lawrance started serving weekly with a missionary in another town, we changed churches in order to increase our ministry, and so on goes the list. We are blessed!!

Happy New Year from our Wu Home to yours!!

i’m forever grateful

2010-11-25T16:32:00.000+08:00

This song has been playing in my head, in my heart, and on my ipod for the last two weeks:

Popout

You did not wait for me to draw near to You
But You clothed Yourself with frail humanity
You did not wait for me to cry out to You
But You let me hear Your Voice calling me
And I’m Forever Grateful to You
I’m Forever Grateful for The Cross
I’m Forever Grateful to You
That You came to seek and save the lost

(Written by Mark Altrogge, Hosanna Music, 1985)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

working together

2010-11-16T16:35:00.000+08:00

One of the things that we both are very thankful for are opportunities to work together. We’ve had quite a few chances recently to speak to different groups on the topic of “Culture Matters.”

And, we also have been working together to lead worship occasionally at New Life Bilingual Church. Lawrance leads, while I get to translate and sing with him.

We both really enjoy these opportunities to work together. We both feel so blessed to have such an amazing teammate and partner to serve with. The Lord totally knew what He was doing when He made us husband and wife.

Nonetheless, nothing has made me more proud than getting to work along side him last Sunday as he preached for the first time. He preached in Chinese, and I got to stand beside him and translate his sermon into English.
What a joy to stand next to him as he shared the Word of God!!

I look forward to hearing God speak through him in future sermons that are yet to come. Praise the Lord!!

run, gilby, run

2010-11-15T16:17:00.000+08:00

I’m thankful for our roof. It gives Gilby a place to run, run, run!! He loves running, even if there is no grass, 11 floors above ground.

love unreserved

2010-11-13T15:41:00.000+08:00

Lawrance is leading worship this Sunday at the bilingual church we are a part of, and below is one of the songs he’s using. I think it is such a pretty song.

In fact, I first heard it when our friends sang it at our wedding. There is another version with the lyrics changed to make a wedding version of the song.

Since the song originates from Hong Kong, I can only find it online in Cantonese and English. (Well, I did find it here, but I think the Cantonese version is prettier.)

Lyrics in Chinese:

常聽說世界愛沒長久，
哪裡會有愛無盡頭？
塵俗的愛只在乎曾擁有，
一刻燦爛便要走！
而我卻確信愛是恆久，
碰到了你已無別求：
無從解釋、不可說明的愛，
千秋過後仍長存不朽！
誰人受痛苦被懸掛在木頭？
至高的愛盡見於刺穿的手；
看！血在流反映愛沒保留，
持續不死的愛到萬世不休！
惟求奉上生命全歸主所有，
要將一切盡獻於我主的手；
我已決定今生再沒所求，
惟望得主稱讚已足夠！

Lyrics of the English version (not a direct translation, so it’s more “singable):

I’ve always been told love won’t survive
Promises will turn into lies
The world just thinks love comes and passes though
It never lasts pure and true
But I still believe can last
It’s your unfailing love that gives me rest
You were there when I needed you most
I’ll never walk all alone
On the cross you died and took away my curse
Love so wondrous no one ever could deserve
Your bleeding hands proved your love unreserved
You’re my greatest joy and treasure on the earth.
Make my life a fragrant offering I pray
Help me Lord to serve you truly every day
Through tears and joy I’ll give you all my praise
Let the whole world know your love and grace

lunch with hubby

2010-11-10T15:43:00.000+08:00

So, two nights ago, after feeling thankful for our trash dumpsters, as I was parking my moped I thought about how I could blog about the trash. Then I decided that perhaps I should blog about things I’m thankful for, and then suddenly I rememered that it is Novemeber–the month of thanksgiving! So, I decided I needed to do it for sure.

So, without further ado–here’s number two–I’m thankful for being able to have lunch with my husband nearly every day of the week. And, I’m also thankful that sometimes he does the preparing of said lunch–like these awesome dumplings with a spicy dipping sauce!

a trashy thankfulness

2010-11-09T15:44:00.000+08:00

Last night as I pulled into our underground parking garage, I saw trash containers, and instantly I had a thankful heart. Not sure why last night I decided to be thankful for the trash containers, but I was.

Why be thankful? Because in Taiwan many (most?) people have to wait for the musical trash truck to pull into their neighborhood on certain days at certain times in certain locations to toss their trash, but we are fortunate enough to be able to throw away garbage whenever we want.

It’s a small thing, but I’m thankful for it!!

microblogging with students

2010-10-15T15:46:00.000+08:00

This is my eighth year to teach a writing class. Each year I thing I change something about my approach.

One of the things I love to include in my writing class is some kind of journal or reflection or discussion. I want them writing on a regular basis something that is not “academic” in addition to the academic essay they are working on drafting and revising.

A couple of times I did handwritten dialogue journals back and forth with my students. Another year I did an online discussion board where the students discussed topics among themselves. I’ve also tried giving a list of prompts and just having students write each week the answer to which ever question grabbed them.

But, this year, I think I’ve stumbled upon the jackpot. I had them all set up microblogs on typepad.

Each week I post a video from youtube, and their task is to summarize the video in less than three sentences and then respond to the video somehow. Typeapad makes this really easy for them with their built-in “reblog” feature. I told them to aim for at least 150 words with each microblog.

I gave them a list of possible ways they could “respond”:

How does the video make you feel? Why?
What do you think is the main message of the video?
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the main message of the video?
How can you apply the main message of the video to your own life?
Think aloud about what the video makes you think about.
Reflect on the video and what it means to you.
Write a short story inspired by the video.
If you were in the video, who would you want to be?
If you can talk to someone in the video, what would you say or ask?
If you could change something about the video, what would you change?
Write a poem.
Describe what the next video in this series would be.
Write a song.
Write an academic style paragraph.
and MORE . . . . . .

So far, I’ve shown them:

Piano Stairs–The Fun Theory
The Black Hole
The Death Crawl (a clip from Facing the Giants)
I Love Living Life (recommended by a student)
Where is Matt? (ok so that’s the title I gave it)

My goal is to show them videos that are either creative or thought-provoking or inspiring. I have a few more in the reserves, and I’ve also required each student to recommend one video that they think their classmates would enjoy responding to. (If you have a suggestion of a video they might like writing about, I’ll gladly take it.)

So far, I’ve been so pleased with the depth of the responses I’ve been getting from my students, and the quality of their summaries (a skill they must have) has improved in just a few weeks. And, a great part is that I think they are really enjoying this assignment.

I am really excited when students enjoy learning!

of leaves and grass

2010-10-05T16:23:00.000+08:00

The summer of 1997 was my first time to see someone drinking tea with leaves. The leaves were literally bursting forth from this man’s paper cup, and it kinda freaked me out a bit.

I also remember that my surprise at the leaves in his glass of tea amused all my adult students. How on earth had this silly girl made it through 19 years of life without realizing that tea came from actual leaves?

For several of the years between 1997 and now, I adopted the attitude of sure you go ahead and have your leaves in your tea. If you offer me some, I’ll drink it, but please just the tea. :) But, this summer I got really excited when Lawrance bought me a special thermos for brewing tea leaves in. So, I can have my tea with leaves and drink it easily too.

When I first tried jasmine tea (also back in 1997), I thought it tasted exactly like what soap should taste like. Now, Lawrance and I also keep a pitcher of cold brewed jasmine green tea in our fridge. (Although, admittedly, the green tea helps with the soap flavor issues of pure jasmine tea.)

And, my newest thing is that I love lemongrass tea. It is so wonderful! I could drink it all day long!! Corrina, our neighbor, friend, and matchmaker, gave Lawrance a lemongrass plant for his birthday. What she didn’t know is that she was really giving it it me! :D (Lawrance’s interest in finding the plant was to help me get one. She didn’t know that; all she knew was that Lawrance wanted some lemongrass.)

Anywho, for two weeks now, I’ve been able to make my own lemongrass tea. I step out onto our laundry porch (balcony), cut some grass, clean it, and then let it boil for a few minutes in our wok.

As I stood there yesterday, watching my leaves of grass boil filling our home with the oh so refreshing scent of lemongrass, I couldn’t help but think of how much as changed in the past 13 years.

What once shocked me is now commonplace.

What once took me by surprise is now normal.

And, this of course, made me marvel at God’s kindness.

responsive reading from our wedding

2010-08-30T16:25:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow is our second anniversary, and I’m finally getting around to something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Actually, I’ve wanted to do it since about 1997, when I visited my New Testament professor’s home. He and his wife had their vows hanging up in their kitchen for all to see and for them to remember daily. I thought that was such a neat idea.

Plus, Lawrance and I are making our wedding vows a part of our anniversary. Each year, on our anniversary we repeat them to each other again. So, as I’m digging through my hard drive trying to find them, I also stumbled upon the responsive reading we used in our Taiwanese wedding. Of course in the Taiwanese wedding, we used Chinese, but for my planning purposes, I used English.

I’m not sure where the idea came from–at this point it’s anyone’s guess. We had a few goals with our weddings–one was to stress the idea of a covenant, one was to stress grace, and another was to make Scripture central to everything. So, I compiled verses from the Bible into a responsive reading–I do remember it being too long and having a hard time cutting it down to a reasonable length. Another couple that got married after us had a man and woman take turns reading aloud these verses at their wedding, and that worked beautifully too.

Then the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him. (Gen 2:18)

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. (Gen 2:21)

And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. (Gen 2:22)

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Gen 2:24)

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. (Prov 18:22)

House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord. (Prov 19:4)

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. (Eph 5:22)

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.(Eph 5:23)

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (Eph 5:25)

Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (Eph 5:28)

You must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (Col 3:12)

You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. (Col 3:13)

And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. (Col 3:14)

And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father. (Col 3:17)

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else. (1 Thessalonians 3:12)

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. (Mat 19:6)

Perhaps I’ll ask Lawrance when he gets home whether or not we also want to make reading these scriptures together a part of either our Aug 31st or our March 7th celebrations.

heaven’s eight blessings 天國八福

2010-08-21T16:29:00.000+08:00

Last night, someone shared a video of the “Eight Blessings of Heaven” on Facebook.

Lawrance watched it, and since it was really catchy I asked about it. He simply said, “oh, it’s the eight Christian blessings.”

And then the cogs in my brain started turning. First I thought: “That’s really cool. Some Chinese person who knows that eight is an auspicious number meaning blessing and fullness created a neat way to share truth.”
Then I thought: “Hmmm, I wonder how they choose only eight. I wonder what those eight blessings are. I wonder if they’re truly biblical.”

Fast-forward to today. Lawrance found another video with hundreds of people dancing in the street at an event called “Kaohsiung for Jesus.”

I wanted to watch it for myself, so he sent me the link. It was only then that I realized that “Heaven’s Eight Blessings” were the “Beatitudes”!

So, um, yeah. That’s pretty biblical. I never before realized there were eight of them. I have no idea if that number had significance to the immediate culture Christ was “opening his mouth and teaching” to, but it sure does have a lot of significance to the Taiwanese and Chinese! How cool!!!

Watch and see for yourself, how Taiwanese have turned the “Eight Blessings of Heaven” into a dancing chant:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

(Matthew 5:3-10 ESV)

taiwan is hotter than texas (on average)

2010-08-17T16:30:00.000+08:00

When my mom was here, usually the first comment she heard was “Wow! You look so young, you could be Amanda’s sister!!” The second comment was then something like “Don’t you think Taiwan is so hot?”

My mom gladly accepted the first comment, but she fought the second one, insisting that Texas was indeed hotter than Taiwan.

Today on her facebook page, she is further trying to prove her point:

Taiwan friends and family…….we, TEXAS that is, win —- we had a high temp of 103 F (40 C) with 28% humidity to make it feel like 107 F (42 C) today!!! It is now 7 PM and temp is 98 F (37 C)!!!…! TEXAS IS HOTTER THAN TAIWAN!!!!

At first, I just agreed: Yes, Texas is hot. We don’t usually get over 40 here in Taiwan.
But, then I started thinking about it. And, while Texas is hotter than Taiwan a few days a year–what about on average or during the year as a whole? So, I did some research and made some comparisons–comparing my two hometowns–Tainan to Bastrop.

As you can see in the charts below–Taiwan is in fact hotter than Texas!
Only for two months does Texas have higher high temps than Taiwan–but during those same months the average temps are the same and the average low temps are higher in Taiwan, so while Texas has high spikes, Taiwan stays hot.

(I only caught the months on one of my charts–so 1-12 is Jan to Dec, and 13 is the yearly mean. And, all temps are in Celsius.)

I used average dew point to compare humidity because as I told my mom, I don’t think comparing relative humidity is accurate for comparison. Then I found this from usatoday.com to back up my belief:

If you want to know how comfortable you’re going to be, you want to know the dew point. Allowing for differences among people and their tolerance for humidity, most people are going to start feeling the humidity is getting out of hand when the dewpoint is above 70 degrees. Dewpoints above 60 are going to make it feel humid, maybe a little too humid for some people.
What’s wrong with using relative humidity?

To see what’s wrong with relative humidity, let’s go to Barrow, Alaska, on an average January day when the temperature dips to -19 and the dew point is -20, the relative humidity is going to be 94.96%. You might be wishing you had another parka to put on, but the 94.96% relative humidity is not going to make you feel sticky.

For more on why relative humidity doesn’t really tell you how humid you feel, and just what is this mysterious “dewpoint” that I’m talking about, go to the USATODAY.com Understanding humidity page.

However, if you are more comfortable comparing relative humidity, go right ahead, and you’ll find that each month, Tainan’s average humidity is higher than Bastrop’s.

When Taiwanese people like to tell me that Taiwan is HOT! I respond with: it is humid, but that both Texas and Taiwan are quite hot. I also make the following analogies: Taiwan is like a rice cooker; you will be steamed. Texas is like an oven; you will be baked!

an admission

2010-08-14T16:33:00.000+08:00

Sometimes the emotional pain of infertility is so strong, it seems like my heart physically aches.

As we journey though this together, I’m thankful for articles like this:The Bible and The Pain of Infertility.

breakfast with the wu's

2010-06-23T16:35:00.000+08:00

On Saturday, Lawrance prepared breakfast for me and mom. He made sweet potato “xi fan” (porridge) and fried eggs.

Taiwanese people eat pickled things with their xi fan. Here are some of the pickled things Lawrance likes on his xi fan.

Wanna know what mom’s favorite one was? She loved the Chile Odorous Frying Fish. She loved it so much, in fact, that she asked about taking some back with her!!

incomprehensible

2010-06-21T16:37:00.000+08:00

Funny English on signs isn’t all that uncommon here, but it is now not very common to find incomprehensible English. Usually it’s just funny grammar or a funny word choice . . . but my mom gets props for finding this rarity in the restroom at the Confucian temple here in Tainan.

Essentially the sign is a reminder to flush.
Lawrance says the second phrase is a poem and has a double meaning. Literally it is something like “spring mud clearly leaves no mark/trace.” So, it’s kinda supposed to be a play on words about making sure you leave nothing behind in the toilet.

mom is HERE!!

2010-06-20T16:39:00.000+08:00

My mom arrived late Tuesday night. Wednesday was a national holiday–dragon boat festival–so we had lunch with friends and then met some other friends at the boat races. Thursday and Friday we did school stuff. Then Saturday we had lunch with close friends, visited the Confucian Temple in Tainan, and ended the day with a Bible study.

Taking different trains
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Vendors set up at the Dragon Boat Races
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While she can claim that she saw some races, it was really crowded and ended up not being as exciting as other races I’ve seen in previous years.
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She’s also been braving my moped. :D
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And, she’s met some of my students.
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Corrina is like my big sister . . . and she is also our matchmaker and neighbor, so lunch with her family was special for all of us.
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Mom has also had her first taste of mango bing (ice). YUMMY!
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At the Confucian temple
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Tea time with some of my adult students included an awesome bowl of tropical and the most amazing tea made from lemongrass, sage, and rosemary.

Ob-la-di ob-la-da

2010-06-14T16:41:00.000+08:00

Life goes on! Brah! La! La! How life goes on!!

This blog probably needs some virtual dusting since it’s been so long since we’ve blogged.

April and May were busy for us. I can’t remember all that happened, but I do know we went to three different weddings–two of them lasting what seemed like all day. I started teaching a new class off campus that eats up my one free weekday for grading meaning my schedule got totally twisted around and my free time disappeared. We also were privileged to watch a good friend baptize her high school classmate in the ocean.

Several people have mentioned that having a baby will solve our lack of blogging “issue.” And, boy are they right!! We would love to have a baby and I’d enjoy blogging all about it, but we are struggling with infertility. And, that is another reason why blogging has taken a backseat. It’s something we’re working through right now, and I’m not ready to write openly to the world about it yet. Maybe one day . . .

And, kinda like when Lawrance and I were dating, when I couldn’t blog about it yet, it made me not want to blog about anything. I’m an all or nothing kinda girl–it’s something I’m workin’ on. If I don’t blog about one of the main things that occupies my mind, I feel like I’m lying. So, it makes difficult to blog about anything.

One other thing we’ve been working on recently is cleaning out our home and getting our guest room ready because we have company coming. My mom is coming!! She arrives tomorrow night Taiwan time. This will be her first time in Taiwan. I’m so excited.

So, we have two weeks of school left, and then I have a month basically off and get to show my mom all around Taiwan. Wuhoo!!

a wedding–prepping the home

2010-05-14T16:43:00.000+08:00

Our Easter Sunday this year was a little different–we were privileged to attend Lawrance’s brother’s wedding.
It started with us going back to Lawrance’s childhood home to help the family prepare for receiving the bride.

The groom, YuHong, had shaved his head into the shape of a heart.

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The groom showed us his transformed childhood home into a room to welcome a bride. He was proud.
Placed on all the items were little red circles with the “double joy” wedding symbol inside.
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Traditionally children are to jump on the new couple’s bed in order to ensure lots of children. They substituted with a small bride and groom statue decked out in traditional Chinese wedding clothes.

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Another new-to-me superstition was that a bride is not to look at herself in the mirror (don’t remember why, will have to ask). However, it really isn’t followed not, but in honor of that tradition YuHong covered the mirror in the bedroom with red paper.

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Double Joys were everywhere–even the front door. And they will stay there till ?? (not sure–a year? till Chinese New Year? till they fall off?).

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This wedding banner was placed over the household entrance. I think it is religious, but I don’t know more than that.

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TongYuan also needed to be prepared. So, Lawrance, the awesome tongyan master, lent a helping hand. Why tongyuan at a wedding? Well, sweet sticky dumplings represent sticking together forever, a sweet life, and fullness of blessing.

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We also had tea and fruit prepared. Serving the tea and tongyuan were my job. ;)

all dressed up

2010-05-11T16:46:00.000+08:00

I was thinking about these photos tonight as I drove home, and I realized I’d not posted them yet the blog. So . . . here is my lovely husband all dressed up in Texas two years ago.

Our dear neighbors and friends, Jerry and Lin, hosted Lawrance while he was in Texas before we got married. Jerry is the one responsible for dressing up Lawrance. Thanks, Jerry!!

redirect: for moms, former moms, and wannabe moms

2010-05-09T16:47:00.000+08:00

I needed this today. It was a perfect reminder of truth.

Keep reading here.

move over, daisy

2010-05-04T17:00:00.000+08:00

I think I’ve fallen in love with a new flower.

For a long time now, sunflowers and daisies have been my favorite flowers. They just SMILE at me! They make me OH so happy!! Lawrance knows I’m not a rose fan. They smell wonderful, but that’s about it. Daisies and sunflowers are just so much more joyful.

Our second date was to a sunflower field.

___We used daisies as the inspiration for our American wedding.

___See? They are just HAPPY flowers.

But, move over daisy . . . and, move over sunny . . . there’s a new girl in town.

I think I’ve fallen in love with the peony.

Deep Blue Peony by geishaboy500 on flickr

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If sunflowers smile at me, peonies whisper to me “Come closer, I have a secret.”

Paeonia, Tree Peony detail byTie Guy II on flickr

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Like all women she is complex. She appears soft and delicate, but she is so full and flamboyant at the same time.

Peony Momo by geishaboy500 on flickr

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She starts out so tight and guarded, yet she bursts with potential, waiting to unfold.

Peony Opening by nettsu on flickr

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The Tang Dynasty saw the first female ruler in China’s history. She declared that no flowers be allowed to bloom. Only the peony broke her orders and bloomed anyway.

peony in a vase by tanakawho on flickr

____In Chinese culture the peony is a symbol of richness because of the luxuriousness and abundance of a single peony bloom, making her a favored subject in paintings. Again, I see why.

rainy day peonies by Pear Biter on flickr

___Sunflower, you will always make me smile. Daisy, you will always hold a special place in my heart. But, move over girls, it’s time to invite Peony to the party too.

Do you have a favorite flower? What does your favorite flower say to you when no one is looking?

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“tai ke” dance

2010-04-22T16:49:00.000+08:00

What started this post was this video posted to facebook by one of my former students. It was filmed at our school:
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___So, let’s back up a little, first what is 台客 (tai ke)?

This is actually quite difficult to answer. I’ve heard the term “tai ke” could be likened to the term “redneck” or “white trash.” Meaning it is a certain subculture that is looked down on by the mainstream culture because of class, economic standing, and/or beliefs.

Lawrance also likened it to the hip hop culture–a subculture that is proud of who they are and where they come from that sets trends in music and clothing.

The New York Times says it is “a phrase that originally meant ‘redneck’ but has now come to encompass a youth-focused lifestyle that celebrates both the déclassé (flip-flops, Long Life cigarettes) and the haute (Gucci, Macallan).”

But, this seemingly simple term for subculture also is seeped in socio-political, historical implications. Historically, tai ke was “used by those post-1949 mainland Chinese arriving in Taiwan with the KMT regime.” At that time, “the term connoted ethnic discrimination towards native Taiwanese and was used specifically to articulate perceptions of their unsophisticated outlook and behaviour” (Taike rock and its discontent).

See, literally “tai ke” means “Tai guest.” So, the mainlanders were calling the Taiwanese and Hakka people who had been on the island longer than them–guests.

But, now, thanks to Wu Bai, who has been called the king of tai ke, and the commercial efforts of music companies, the term’s negative meaning has “been subverted and is now given a positive touch to mean ‘coolness’ and confidence” (East Asian Pop Culture). Wu Bai sees tai ke as a “direct expression of national culture.”

However, if you ask local Taiwanese people about what is “tai ke” they won’t refer to the historical or political implications. And, most won’t tell you that it means “cool and confident.” Instead, they will begin describing stereotypical actions of the people they consider to be “tai ke,” telling you how they drive, speak, and even chew.

Here are some things that are stereotypically thought to be “tai ke”–people who wear white and blue plastic slippers outside, have low education, chew betel nut, smoke and drink heavily, have cheaply dyed golden hair, wear imitation name-brand clothing, and hang out around temples or internet cafes, and participate in temple parades. There are even more stereotypical characteristics and behaviors; but, more than actions and behavior, being “tai ke” is a possessing a certain attitude.

So, nowadays, telling someone who is not “tai” they are “tai” is meant to be an insult. It would be like telling someone they have no class or are being disrespectful. But, those who actually are “tai” find pride in being “tai.”

And, while most people in Taiwan look down on things that are “tai ke,” there is also a sense of pride across Taiwan for some of the things that have come out of the “tai ke” subculture because it is uniquely Taiwanese (This is especially true in southern Taiwan).

“Tai ke wu” is one of these things.

OK. So, that brings us back to what is 台客舞 (tai ke wu)?

It is a group dance–similar to country line dancing in that lines of people do the exact same moves at the same time. And, that lots of people know how to do the dance.

And, like the fact that the subculture is mostly about a embodying a certain attitude so is the dance. As I was searching for videos, I saw one Taiwanese celebrity explain that although the foot work is easy, the arm movements and attitude that one has to portray is what makes the dance so special and difficult.

Lawrance pointed out to me that since the dance originated from people who participate in temple parades and hang out at temples, they naturally incorporated certain movements and feeling from temple parade marches that are made when carrying an idol down the street.

There are several videos on youtube showing students doing the “tai ke” dance. Here is what seems like the most watched “tai ke wu” video on youtube. It starts off as a group dance, but dancers back off one by one because one guy is so much better than the rest. All the shouts and screams coming from the sidelines are people expressing their admiration for how great he is doing. This was funny to me at first because originally I thought he was doing a poor job (kinda sloppy on the moves), but the more I learned about tai ke wu the more I realized it was all about embodying a certain attitude–and this guy’s got it.
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___I liked this one that invited their teacher to join in, and she did. Throughout the video, everyone is impressed with the middle student’s dancing ability–again, she’s got a certain attitude going.
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And finally here is a modified tai ke wu (an aerobic exercise version) on the news . . . with all ages participating and the mayor of Kaohsiung promoting it. In this video, you can see people in costume dancing as gods on stage–this is what Lawrance was talking about . . . and we’ll get into more in depth tomorrow.
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qing ming jie and christians

2010-04-21T16:54:00.000+08:00

The issue of ancestor worship is complex. It would be impossible to express exactly what it is and what it means to the Taiwanese. Each year I’m here I understand a little more. And, now that I’ve married into a Taiwanese family–as a daughter-in-law to the first born son–I understand even more.

And, still words fail to truly express all that is embodied in ancestor worship. It is more than simply worship.
Worship of the ancestors and showing filial piety is of utmost importance to the Taiwanese.

The worship of ancestors is probably the most difficult aspect of conversion to Christianity for new Taiwanese Christ-followers. Giving up idol worship and temple worship is much easier than giving up ancestor worship.

Why?

Here are my thoughts on the matter:

(1) When a young believer (18-35 yrs old) tells his parents he is Christian, his parents hear “I don’t love you, and I am ungrateful for the fact that you have given me life and provided for me all these years. I don’t care what happens to you after you die–rot in hell for all I care!”

(2) Ancestor worship is corporate worship. It is almost never done alone. The family gathers, two or three pass out incense and the worship commences. If you refuse to participate, it appears that you are ungrateful, disrespectful and have no manners. It’s almost as if you are spitting in the face of those who gave you life. So, the pressure–not peer, but rather familial–is STRONG, VERY STRONG.

(3) The social function of ancestor worship is more than just “worship.” The coming together to clean a family tomb and pay respects is a form of family reunion. To be expelled from participating in qing ming jie is perhaps the most severe punishment that could be given in traditional society–it means that you are no longer seen as part of this family.

Dr. George MacKay, the first presbyratian missionary to Taiwan, had this to say:

This venerable cultus, the worship of ancestors, in indeed the most stubborn obstacle Christianity has to face. It is so ingrained in the nature, and appeals touchingly to the heart, that it requires the strongest conviction and the finest moral courage to beak its thralldom and brave the scorn of friends and relatives, to whom neglect of one’s ancestors in the spirit world is the most inhuman and cruelest of crimes. (Far from Formosa, emphasis mine)

In 1925, the author of an article entitled “Chinese Ancestor Worship: A Study of Its Meaning and Its Relations with Christianity” concluded that “the problem [of ancestor worship] will ultimately be solved by the Chinese themselves. Only those who have grown up within a system in which ancestor worship is central can wisely make provision for its future evolution and sublimation. Ancestor worship still awaits treatment at the hands of those who are both truly Chinese and truly Christian. In their hands we may safely leave its destiny.”

One Christian family I know, uses a scroll to maintain the family tree instead of using ancestral tablets. The names are still kept, family history still proudly displayed and the deceased still remembered. We know lineage and family history is important to God–why else would there be so many lists of who begot who in Scripture if it were not?

Another family held a graveside worship service the year after their mother/grandmother had passed away on qing ming jie. They read Scripture, prayed to the Most High God, sang praises to him, and told stories of remembrance.

I think these are great alternatives . . . the advantage these two families have is that they are not alone. They are families of believers. The first one was a first generation believer, but he is the oldest son and now the head of the household, and his wife and children are also believers. The second one is a several generation Christian family (what a blessing!).

So, for those that are first generation believers, the only one in their family, the challenge to show respect to those who have gone before them and yet also want to make a stand for their faith is huge. One alternative for first generation believers who are also the first believers in their families is to attend the ceremonies, but not participate.

This is what Lawrance and I did. We did not hold incense, we didn’t join the group in their prayers and bows, and we burned no paper money. After they had finished their corporate worship and had gone to line up to place incense before the gods who protected the tombs, Lawrance placed flowers inside the structure at the tomb area.

Lawrance has been a believer for 11 years now, so his parents have had time to grieve and accept the fact that he will not worship them after they’ve passed on. Even so, Lawrance still has to stand up to the pressure from aunts and uncles to join in the worship.

My point in this very long winded post is actually quite simple. Your Taiwanese brothers and sisters in Christ need your prayers.Would you please intercede on their behalf? Would you pray for them to have “the strongest conviction and the finest moral courage to beak its thralldom and brave the scorn of friends and relatives”? Ask the Most High God to give them wisdom and courage to say and do the things that are pleasing to Him.

qing ming jie con’t

2010-04-20T16:57:00.000+08:00

After the family had worshiped Law’s paternal grandparents, we all went to the home where Law’s dad was raised.

Honestly, there seemed to be no real purpose for this stop other than to just claim we had stopped by. However, Lawrance took advantage of the opportunity to find out just how many generations of Wu’s have been in Taiwan.
After counting on the ancestor tablet, Law’s dad found that he is the 10th generation of Wu’s in Taiwan and that Lawrance is the 11th generation.

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After this brief stop, we drove about 5 minutes to a grave area tucked between some fields.
Entrance to the tomb area:

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The tomb area was actually quite large. It was a two level area. This photo was taken standing in front of the main “ancestor” structure looking back to the entrance gate.

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Around the outside of the lower area was two tomb like structures. I assumed these were tombs–Lawrance informed me that these were for the gods who protected the tomb and the spirits of the ancestors. One was female and the other male.

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Behind this structure there were 120 people buried.

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The people who gathered to worship at the Wu burial site at 10 in the morning were are all part of the Wu family–so they are all distant relatives. But, for the majority of the people present, Lawrance has no idea how they are related. Some, who had immigrated to the States, traveled from New York City and some from Colorado just to worship their ancestors.

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A few minutes past 10, incense was passed out and everyone (but Lawrance and I) took some. Someone at the front prayed aloud for a few minutes, everyone bowed a few times then they went to leave their incense in the front.

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Then they lined up to leave more incense on the “tombs” of the gods who protect the site and the ancestors.

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Then two stacks of paper money were set on fire–one stack for the ancestors and one stack for the gods.

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After all was done, at about 10:20 or 10:30, firecrackers were set off.

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One thing that dawned on me as we were there waiting for the firecrackers to be lit and were conversing with some of Law’s uncles is that even in death the difference between individualism and collectivism can be seen. In America, we value individualism–being one’s self–we don’t mind doing things alone (ie, it is not necessary to go in a group to get a hair cut).

But, in Taiwan (and many other Asian countries) collectivism is valued–who you are is defined by your relationships. You aren’t “LeEn;” you are “classmate,” “big sister,” and “wife.” And, you probably do feel more comfortable if you could go with a group to get a hair cut–why would anyone want to do that alone?

And so those values can also be seen in how the dead are buried. In America we have graveyards and tombstones for each individual who has lived. In Taiwan, while I guess there may be some wealthy few who do have their own individual tombs, most are buried in mass graves marked with their family names.

qing ming jie

2010-04-13T17:08:00.000+08:00

Last Monday was Qing Ming Jie (清明節), known in English as Tomb Sweeping Day. If I am remembering correctly, it is the only holiday in Taiwan that is not based on the lunar calendar–here it is observed every April 5th. But the Wu family observes this holiday a week early. It was my first time to see a family as they worshiped their ancestors at their tombs.
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We woke up early and were on the rode before 7 AM on Sunday, March 28th. About an hour later, we arrived at the temple that houses the urns of Lawrance’s paternal grandparents.

__It was already quite busy with other families worshiping.

__While waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, I snapped a few photos. This is a tree that is worshiped right outside the temple.

__Families would start by placing their offerings on the altar.

__Then they would light incense–making sure everyone had at least three. First, they would bow facing away from the temple–this would be to the worship the “god of heaven.” This here is a photo of our family worshiping.

__Here is what worship to gods and ancestors looks like in Taiwan. This is called “bai bai.”
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__Next, they would move to the inside incense holder in front of the “main god” of the temple to worship. This might also be one of the only times an entire family worships together. Corporate worship is not commonplace in Taiwan.

__Then they would move on to the side rooms and/or the back rooms depending on how many sticks of incense they were holding. The back rooms house other idols.

__Since it was the proper time to be worshiping ancestors, the rooms where the urns were kept were actually off limits because there would be too many people present. So, the side rooms served as another location to leave offerings to ancestors.

__After everyone in the family had deposited their incense, we waited a few more minutes and then Lawrance’s dad declared it had been enough time, and everyone went back to retrieve the paper money they’d brought to burn and the offerings, this time namely fruit.

__Then we headed over to an open pit for them to burn the paper money.

__Here Lawrance explains some of what we were seeing:

__In this video, he explains one of the papers that was being burned to the ancestors:

__After all the paper money that our family had brought was burned, we return to Lawrance’s dad’s car and drove about 10 minutes to the home where his dad was raised. But, getting out of the parking lot proved interesting. The photo below was taken from inside L’s dad’s van . . . yeah, it was just a tad crowded at the temple that day. What you can’t see is that there are cars parked on both sides of the road–the woman in red got of the red car to help her husband . . . AND we both (our car and their car) and MORE cars lined up behind us. It was one of those surreal “only in Taiwan” moments for me.

__I plan to show photos from the rest of the day, which includes how the Wu family worshiped the 9 generations before grandma and grandpa, as well as reflect on some of the implications a holiday like this has on Christian believers later this week in other blog posts.

stop explained

2010-04-01T17:14:00.000+08:00

Underneath the stop sign it says: “Stop car, then drive.”

Does a stop sign really need an explanation?

seventeen years ago

2010-04-01T17:13:00.000+08:00

Seventeen years ago in late February or early March, I confided in my mother. I finally told her about something I had been secretly praying about for quite awhile.

We were standing at the kitchen sink peeling potatoes when I told her. Her response to my secret prayer? She threw the potato and peeler in the sink, turned to look me in the eyes, pointed her finger at me and very sternly said “Don’t you EVER pray things for other people without talking to them first! Because you KNOW God answers prayer!”

Then she left me standing at the kitchen sink while she disappeared for awhile.

Up until that point, I hadn’t really considered that my prayer for something I felt God had laid on my heart to ask Him for and that I had begun to desire would affect her life. But, in reality, it would affect her life in a HUGE way.

You see, I had been praying for a brother.

On March 30, 1993, Mom and Dad sat my sister and I down to tell us that they were expecting. At first we totally thought Dad was trying to pull an early April Fool’s joke on us. But Mom’s tears and persistence that it was true finally convinced us.

So, we told all our friends and announced to our church on the eve of April Fool’s day that there was going to be a Baby Parmley soon. No one believed us. Many didn’t realize it wasn’t an April fool’s joke till after my mom was clearly showing her pregnancy.

I remember Dad once used Sam as an illustration in a sermon on how God answers prayer. See, Mom and Dad had prayed for a son soon after Sarah was born–that would have been around 14 years before Sam was conceived. To my parents, it seemed like God’s answer was no, but really it was just wait.

So, Sam is the answer to many, many prayers from different people and across time.

A lady at our church was praying for Baby Parmley. As she was praying, God laid the name “Samuel” on her heart. She told us all this story, and soon everyone was calling the baby “Baby Sammy.”

Do you know what the name Samuel means? It is Hebrew for “God heard” or “requested of God.” What a perfect name!

God’s timing is perfect. I can’t imagine life without this kiddo. He’s been and still is a huge blessing!

I love you, Sambo! And that’s no joke.

fighting hard water build up

2010-03-29T17:16:00.000+08:00

In Taiwan–at least here in Tainan–we have really bad hard water problems.

I hate that our bathroom looks dirty from all our stuff being coated in hard water deposits. This weekend, I decided to fight back.

I was actually avoiding using some of my special stuff from the States (gotta love the USA’s outlet stores!! yipee!!) because it just made me feel gross to touch a bottle covered in hard water grime. I know that at the time I was doing it Lawrance thought I was crazy to even attempt to “clean” bottles of soap, but he did appreciate the effect clean bottles had on the “appearance of clean” in our shower–at least that’s what he told me. ;)
So here is what I did:

Emptied out our bathroom’s shower stuff
Filled a spray bottle with lemon juice*
Sprayed down our bottles with it
Used paper towels and elbow grease to rub them down

Now, they aren’t perfect, but I’m happy. :D

*Apparently you can also use vinegar to remove hard water build up, but I opted for lemon juice since it smells better.

house hunting rejects

2010-03-27T17:18:00.000+08:00

First, thanks for the feedback earlier this week. We appreciate it!!

Second, Lawrance and I are praying about moving, and so I spent yesterday afternoon looking through some apartments online.

It’s kinda of fun being able to do this a husband. It was always just stressful before. Also, I’m thankful we found an online site to peruse first to see what is out there before we go looking in person.

Here is what we have decided we are looking for:

around 25-35 ping (approx 890-1,250 sq feet)
3 “bedrooms”
functioning kitchen (providing our own stove top & gas is ok, but we don’t want to have to provide counters, cabinets, and sinks)
not top floor of apartment building (too hot to cool down)
if higher than 4th floor, an elevator would be nice
allows pets
no or little furniture included (specifically, I want to bring our own mattresses, our own fridge, and our own washing machine–other than that I’m quite flexible)

Things that make the apartment more attractive to us but are not necessary:

ceiling fan(s)
a bath tub (Amanda’s choice)
elevator (Lawrance’s choice)
location (close to subway, school/parks, a market)
more than the standard tiny Taiwanese kitchen
wooden floor room (we think this would be a great place to have groups over for worship since they’d feel comfortable sitting on a wooden floor*)

There are several we rejected for various reasons, but I thought I’d show you some of the more “interesting” rejects. (Images can be clicked to be viewed full size.)

*Outside shoes are taken off at the door, and slippers worn inside. But even slippers get taken off before entering a room with a wooden floor. Making it the “cleanest” floor in the home.

getting back into the groove

2010-03-22T17:23:00.000+08:00

I don’t like to blog about blogging, and I like blogging about not blogging even less. However, I just need to work through why I’ve not been blogging recently so that maybe I can start back again.

Here are some of the issues I’m trying to work around:

This blog is no longer just between me and the “great unknown”Before, my family and friends back in America did read my blog, but family and friends here in Taiwan that I work and live among did not. I now have to be more careful about blogging about things I don’t necessarily want people I interact with on a daily basis to know–ya know, like the intimate struggles of our lives. ;) There is something about anonymity that allows us to disclose private things–and there are advantages and disadvantages to that.

This blog is no longer just about me and my lifeEven if it was still Following an Unknown Path and “my blog” . . . the things I deal with no are no longer affect only me. I have to consider what my husband feels comfortable with in letting the world know about our lives.

Our readership is very diverse
It is very hard to categorize the people (I think) read our blog. And, like I teach my students, we write to be read, so as writers we must always think about our readers. When our (presumed) readership is SO diverse it is hard for me to focus on what I should write about.

Unsure focus of our blog now
Actually, I was kinda hoping switching to wuhoo! would help with this. I had a very clear focus in mind for Following an Unknown Path–it was a blog about a single woman living in Taiwan struggling with her singleness and documenting what life was like in a strange land while depending on God and his kindness. Now? . . . well, I’m not sure. Part of the problem is it really could be so many things.

This land is no longer strange
That’s a good thing for me. But, it makes it hard for me to think about what might be interesting to people wanting to learn about life here in Taiwan.

There are SO many other blogs out there
What can I possibly have to add to the wealth of info and mass of words that is already out there on the web?

Facebook kinda fills the need for why I originally started blogging
Facebook allows me to quickly and efficiently keep friends and family updated about what’s happening here.

Any words of wisdom? Any thoughts, suggestions, or encouragement you’d like to share?

(Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.)

on my heart today

2010-03-19T17:26:00.000+08:00

My eyes are dry
My faith is old
My heart is hard
My prayers are cold
And I know how I ought to be
Alive to You and dead to me

But what can be done
For an old heart like mine
Soften it up
With oil and wine
The oil is You, Your Spirit of love
Please wash me anew
With the wine of Your Blood

–Keith Green

Same song recently recorded at a church in Ohio.

happy 2nd 1st anniversary to us!!

2010-03-07T17:27:00.000+08:00

Yep, that’s right . . . we celebrated our 2nd 1st anniversary this weekend. :D

A year ago Sunday–March 7, 2009–we had our Taiwanese wedding and banquet.

Which means . . . we’ve been married-married for a year and a half.

How can that be??

It’s hard to believe that I’ve only known the man who knows me most and best for a little over two years.

All I can say is . . . God is good. He is so very kind.

So, happy 2nd 1st anniversary to us!! Wuhoo!!!!

earthquakes

2010-03-04T17:28:00.000+08:00

This morning started with a jolt–literally. It’s the first earthquake in a long time where I felt like I needed to get to a doorway for safety. It was a 6.4 on the richter scale, with the epicenter in Kaohsiung County, northeast of PingTung City.

As of right now, there have been 20 aftershocks so far. Some pretty weak, while others have been quite strong.
We are ok.

And, while I feared two of our bookshelves were going to fall over, only the photo frames on them fell.

taiwanese tea

2010-03-01T17:31:00.000+08:00

My freshmen English class’ final project last semester was to put together a video introducing some aspect of Taiwanese culture to “foreigners.” These two students–Ray and Steven–made a video on Taiwanese tea.

I enjoyed it, so I asked if I could share their video with yall. They reluctantly agreed (but that’s probably because a good Taiwanese student must show humility in the form of shyness).

new glasses

2010-02-27T17:31:00.000+08:00

Lawrance and I got new glasses over CNY. This is the first time since junior high that Law hasn’t had frame-less/rimless glasses.

Of course I’m kinda partial, but I like them! :)

my handsome hubby makes my heart swoon :D

"i don't believe in love"

2010-02-24T17:35:00.000+08:00

Talking about the topic of “marriage” with students here in Taiwan always makes me just a little bit sad.

Most of of my students–male and female–do not want to get married. They claim they have absolutely no desire to get married. I find this SO hard to believe.

As college students in America, I and my classmates/roommates were all about getting married and there was even the “ring by spring or your money back” saying going around, and we were teased and teased others about getting an “MRS. degree.” (By the way, if that was true, I want my money back.) But, maybe even things in America have changed too . . . I don’t know . . . that was 10 or so years ago after all.

Here are some of the things Taiwanese college students (mostly female) are saying about marriage in my classes:

I don’t believe in love. It’s too good to be true kinda like fairies.
Marriage just ruins dreams.
I don’t want to get married because it just “ma fan” (trouble).
Marriage is the graveyard of love.
I don’t want to get married because of the “shu foo” (shackles) it places on you.

Every time I talk to students about love and marriage, I leave perplexed and saddened. I at least now grasp their arguments, even if I don’t agree. At first I couldn’t even understand their arguments at all.

It’s sad. And even though I’ve heard all different kinds of explanations for why my students don’t want to get married . . . the root of them all is sin. The truth is we live in a fallen world. Scripture tells us that God is love. And, I firmly believe that those who don’t know Him are unable to love others. No wonder my students are so hard-hearted and willing to deny the existence of love altogether.

Marriage and family life in Taiwan weigh heavy on Lawrance and my hearts. We aren’t sure exactly when or in what manner, but we desire to allow God to use us to minister to the broken and hurting families and loveless singles in Taiwan.

We invite you to join us in praying for us as we seek the Lord’s direction in our lives, as we ask Him for guidance and wisdom in the decisions we are facing right now. Thanks in advance!!

chinese new year

2010-02-23T17:41:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year was weird for me this year.

I was looking forward to going back for the annual hot pot reunion at the Wu house. But, instead I was sadly stuck in an airport. Because of the snow in Dallas, 1 canceled flight, 1 seriously delayed flight, 2 missed international flights, and a redirect to a different city, I missed celebrating Chinese New Year’s Eve with family. I was supposed to arrive on Friday the day before CNY Eve, but arrived on Sunday, CNY Day.

I think I also kinda missed all the “excitement in the air” part of the holiday by being in Texas for the days leading up to the holiday as well. So, it just made it seem weird.

I missed all the fireworks. I missed weeks of hearing “gong xi, gong xi, gong xi ni” played over and over in store speakers. I missed . . . I just missed it. It felt like there was no celebration at all.

Happy Chinese New Year!

However, since Lawrance had the entire week off for CNY, we were able to spend the entire week just together and relaxing. We did nothing special or amazing, but it was great nonetheless.

We did go visit my best friend, Ellen and her family for a few days . . . which included seeing all her relatives, soaking in a hot spring, getting a Thai massage, making a Costco run and eating great food.

So, now the holiday and winter break are over . . . and it’s back to work and school we go . . . hi ho. hi ho.
P.S. I’ll take seeing my precious family and spending time with loved ones over feeling “not weird” anytime . . . a little weirdness is good for the soul, right?

time in texas

2010-02-22T17:42:00.000+08:00

I am SO thankful that Lawrance was willing to let me go to Texas for a month so that I could meet my nephews and spend time with the rest of my family too!

I’m thankful I was able to . . .

spend time with my very grown up little brother

spend the mornings with my sleepy nephews

play with this cute, cute, cute little one and stealing all the sugars I could

Climb up into the chic-fil-a playscape and have a little fun :D

Eat Mexican food with these two awesome people several times!! :)

spend precious time with precious ones

have the "washing machine cycle of life" get messed up because the car battery died

hang out with mom and dad :D

the engagement

2010-01-26T18:02:00.000+08:00

YuHong and Cindy were engaged on Sunday. This is an official event in Taiwan between the betrothed’s families.

Lawrance's parents with one of the wedding photos at the entry

There are few different ceremonies preformed at the engagement. One ceremony is the presenting of gifts. Here are the “gifts” given from The Wu family to the bride-to-be.

Then Mrs. Wu helped to place the jewelry on her newest daughter-in-law, and Cindy’s mother placed her gifts to her new son-in-law on him.

Like at a Taiwanese wedding, the bride and groom to be are presented with their parents to all present. This is an opportunity to thank the guests who came as well as offer a toast.

In addition there would be a tea ceremony. (But Lawrance didn’t get any photos of that since he was a participant.) I’ll ask Lawrance more about this, and write about it later. I’ve actually never seen it done before, only read about it.

And, there is also an entire banquet feast as well. But, the groom-to-be’s family slips out before the dessert is served. Neither Lawrance nor I know why this is the tradition, but it is. :)

And, there is dress changing, toasting table to table, passing out of candy from a basket by the door as well–just like at a wedding.

Since Cindy’s family is in Taipei, both sides of Lawrance’s family together took a charted bus to the north.

Newly engaged women also give their friends and family members (on her side of the family) a box of cookies or cakes to help announce the engagement. Here are Cindy’s cakes:

And, here is Lawrance with the happy couple!

Since traditionally the engagement is hosted by the bride’s family, Lawrance and I didn’t have a Taiwanese style engagement ceremony. I actually think that is one of the reasons why Lawrance’s parents so freely let the two of us get married in my hometown with my friends and family–in their minds it was similar to the bride’s hosting of the engagement ceremony.

holding hands

2010-01-24T22:22:00.000+08:00

After dating for nearly two months, Lawrance had still not held my hand–or even really touched me for that matter. I knew he had drawn the line for physical touch for pre-engagment at only holding hands. And, I knew that our first kiss would be on our wedding day. But, what I didn’t know is when he’d actually start holding my hand. So . . the story below takes place after we’d been “dating with purpose” for about a month and a half. I wrote it originally as an email to my mom, sister, and a few close friends right after the event.

Sunday night Lawrance and I went on a picnic with Gilby. We went to a park near my home right at sunset. He found a place to eat, and we sat there for a long time. Eating and talking. Gilby was getting anxious, so we stood up and got him to some grass. Finally, he (Lawrance, not Gilby) asked if I’d like to walk along side the river that runs into the harbor.

When he first suggested this park earlier in the week I actually thought that this would be a good time to hold hands. And, I’d even thought about telling him that he didn’t have to “trick me” into holdinghands (like his brother had suggested); all he had to do was ask for my hand, and I would give it to him, but that I’d wait till he was ready . . . he would have to be the one to initiate. I’d even practiced this little speech in my head.

So . . .we walk. I make sure that my hand next to him is free (leash in other hand, purse on other shoulder). We walked this way all the way to the end. For, oh, about 30 minutes. He kept taking his hand in and out of his pocket as we walked. When we turned around at the end I thought “ok, I’m ready to give my speech now.” I didn’t want to pressure him; I just wanted him to know it was ok with me–hoping to take away some of the pressure.

So, we reach the end, and as I’m switching purse and leash (to once again make sure the hand next to his is empty), I look down and he offers me his hand. Before I took it, I looked at him to double check if it was ok. He just smiled, and I took it. I can’t tell you how sweet it was. So gentle of him to do it this way.

I told him I was about ready to tell him he could have it if only he’d ask for it. He told me that he’d been thinking and thinking about how to do it and when to do it and where to do it. He wanted it to be just right. Well, if I do say so myself, he did a good job of making it “just right.”

Later, as the evening came to an end. He told me, “today is a big day.” And, I was like “really? why?” And he said, “because today is the first day I held your hand.” It was so sweet. He is so sweet.

So . . . a month and a half into dating, and he finally holds my hand. Although not easy, it was worth waiting for.

making pizza in taiwan

2010-01-21T22:24:00.000+08:00

wuhoo! it's wu family pizza :)

If anyone asks Lawrance what his favorite food to eat that Amanda makes is, he answers enthusiastically “pizza!”

Taiwanese people who hear this answer assume it would be a common answer since of course all Americans eat is pizza and hamburgers. But, the looks on some of the American’s faces have been precious. Most assume he has misunderstood the question since it would seem very difficult to make pizza in Taiwan. Then once they realize he totally understood, and I do make pizza here, they want to know how.

Actually making pizza in Taiwan is quite easy. I get both my pizza sauce and crust at a “local” bakery supply store called Wang Lai; it is about a 45 minute ride from our home by moped. I’m sure other bakery supply stores probably also sell pizza sauce and crust–I know the “pineapple man store” in Kaohsiung does too. The small jar of sauce pictured below is our favorite and will cover about 10-12 small pizzas.

The pizza cheese (mozzarella) can be found at the bakery store too, and sometimes we are able to find it at our local grocery store as well. It’s not cheap, but frozen the cheese will keep awhile and this one bag will last us about 16 small pizzas.

products we use to make our pizza

In addition to the cheese, we top our pizzas with ground beef or pork that I have seasoned generously with Italian seasoning that we can get at Costco (thanks Larina!!) and Tony’s that I carry back from the States. We also typically top it with yellow and red peppers, onions, and for Lawrance’s pizza frozen corn (that I purchased at the bakery store too–just for his pizzas).

I then bake them two at a time at 160c for about 10 minutes on our nifty pizza pan that was wedding gift from Sarah and Kevin (thanks guys!!).

a sprinkle of cheese, then they are ready to be baked

Like the Americans who hear Lawrance’s answer, I had always assumed that making pizza (in Taiwan) would be hard. I guess if I had to make the crust and sauce from scratch that would totally up the difficulty factor making it a very special, rare treat. But, the way I do it right now takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish–that’s faster than ordering from Pizza Hut!

I know it is no culinary masterpiece, but I share this here because I am constantly searching for how to easily make things both Lawrance and I enjoy eating, and I thought others who live in Taiwan might be too.

"pizza without corn just isn't real pizza" --Lawrance

be an advocate for marriage

2010-01-20T22:27:00.000+08:00

And to those of you who are happily married, I encourage you to be an advocate for marriage. There are four ways off the top of my head I can think of that would be a great way to be an advocate for marriage.

1. We hear so many people griping and complaining about marriage–the very gift extended singles are longing for. We need to also hear validation from those who’ve already been given the gift of marriage that it is indeed a good gift. Of course, this must be done with care and sensitivity–but I don’t think in all the years I longed to be married that seeing couples in love and enjoying their married life ever hurt, not once. It might have increased the desire, but it always served to push me closer to the cross.

2. In addition, you can explicitly encourage those who aren’t longing for marriage, to consider marriage and maintain hope. I had a very sweet friend who was also an extended single that emailed a year into her new marriage and asked me how I was doing in regards to desire for marriage. At that time my desires for marriage were just beginning to surface, her questions and encouragement had perfect timing. Her love story, her love for her marriage, and hearing her say “you know it’s ok to admit you want to get married” were SUCH a blessing.

3. You can also explicitly encourage those who think they are unsuitable to be married for whatever lame lie(s) they are believing, to consider marriage. Just like Corrina did for Lawrance–he thought marriage was a slight possibility for him but a LONG way down the road. He had no idea what God had in store for him. Even if you don’t have someone in mind for that person, I still think challenging that kind of person to reconsider and encouraging them to consider marriage is a good thing. Lawrance would totally agree. ;)

4. Ask for permission to prayerfully “be on the look out” for your single friends, and then don’t be afraid to prayerfully and wisely offer suggestions for matches. Because we are so thankful for what Corrina did for us, we often ask our single Christian friends if it would be ok if we helped them be on the look out. We’ve even tried to set up double date–with permission from both sides, with all parties knowing what’s going on. We’ve not “made a match” yet, but not once has ANY of our single friends said “no, please don’t help me look.”

matchmaker wanted

2010-01-19T22:29:00.000+08:00

After writing yesterday’s memory, I just wanted to encourage those of you who are in the midst of extend singleness and longing to get married to consider asking close friends and family for help.

Let them know of your desires to be married, let them pray with you and for you, and let them keep their eyes open too.

According the National Marriage Project:

The most likely way to find a future marriage partner is through an introduction by family, friends or acquaintances. Despite the romantic notion that people meet and fall in love through chance or fate, the evidence suggests that social networks are important in bringing together individuals of similar interests and backgrounds, especially when it comes to selecting a marriage partner. According to a large-scale national survey of sexuality, almost 60 percent of married people were introduced by family, friends, co-workers or other acquaintances.

I know I didn’t ask and wouldn’t have asked anyone and everyone to help me find a husband. But, if you have godly friends who love you and love the Lord, ask for help. It is not shameful to get help in finding a husband or wife. And, if that is the way God chooses to bring a marriage partner into your life . . . it will be an amazing blessing to both you and to them!

Candice Waters has this to say about giving others criteria for what you are looking for when asking others to “be on the look out for you” as you search for a marriage partner:

. . . the point is that having someone ask questions on your behalf ahead of time can go a long way to saving you embarrassment, guarding your heart and protecting your time.
It’s a concept similar to the pre-screening efforts used in business settings — especially employment placement. It’s simply a matter of helping someone who wants to help you have a better sense of what’s really helpful. Rather than mumbling “ah, great,” when someone says, “I have the perfect person in mind for you!” — especially if that person doesn’t know you that well, or you them — you can feel confident letting them know more about what your hopes are.

If they really want to help you, ask if you can give them more detail — a better sense of what God is revealing to you to look for in a mate. If they’re on board, be willing to let them know what your “must-haves” are (e.g., must be a believer), down to your “nice to haves” (likes to play board games, etc.). Friends and family members who have this kind of information will be empowered to “pre-screen” any potential candidates for you. You’ll be helping them move from good intentions to being an informed advocate.

It’s also a way to remove any sense of obligation you’re tempted to feel when friends and family share leads. What you need are opportunities, not more dead ends. Once they have an objective standard to go by, they can help discern if “good leads” really are.
With some well-informed help from your advisers, and a lot of bold prayer, you’ll be a lot closer to marrying well. . .

Waters has an entire chapter talking about needing a network in her book Get Married: What Women Can Do to Make It Happen. I highly recommend the book.

the other blog owner

2010-01-18T22:32:00.000+08:00

Hi, this is Lawrance Wu, the other owner of this blog. I wanna say hi to every one here. Sorry for being so late to say hello.

Well….my sweet wife, Amanda is going to America. I am a little bit sad (well….sad a lot in fact), but I am also happy that she can have time with her family, enjoy her favorite Mexican food…etc.

OK….I wanna say…………..Amanda, I LOVE YOU and I’LL MISS YOU here………..

two years ago

2010-01-18T22:31:00.000+08:00

Two years ago . . . on January 15, 2008 . . . a very dear friend of ours, had lunch with Lawrance and asked him to consider asking me out. That night he did.

We know that our Loving Heavenly Father is the ultimate matchmaker, but we are BOTH so very grateful to our friend Corrina helping (ok, begging) Lawrance to consider Amanda as a potential partner.

You see, Corrina was special. Unlike many other people I’d share my longings to be married with, Corrina wouldn’t promise me that “one day I’d find someone.” She never spouted out trite phrases in an effort to comfort me and then change the topic. Nor did she, as some actually did, tell me that I was better off single because I had more freedom and could do as I pleased.

Instead, Corrina would look at me and say, “I want you to be married too. Marriage is so good. You’d love it so much.”

She delighted in her own marriage and felt free to share that delight with me a hurting single. It wasn’t bragging. It didn’t hurt me more. In fact, it was truly comforting because she was longing for me right along side me. Empathizing.

After one night of some deep empathy and tears, I openly asked Corrina for help. “If you know anyone who you think might make a good husband for me, please introduce us.”

Her reply that night (Jan. 14, 2008) was “Amanda, I think you need to go to a bigger church. Go out, meet more people.” But that night after I left, her heart was heavy as she prayed to God for me asking for wisdom in how to help her friend.

The next day . . . totally unplanned, she bumped into and then had lunch with Lawrance, and half way through, she suddenly thought “ah ha, it’s you!”

The rest is history. Blissful, beautiful history. :)

Us with Corrina, our matchmaker, after our Taiwanese ceremony

offensive toothpaste

2010-01-15T22:33:00.000+08:00

Anyone who has been in Taiwan (and several other Asian countries) for any length of time has seen “Darlie” toothpaste, which is still named “black man” in Chinese (hēi rén, 黑人).

It used to be named “Darkie” in English, but when Colgate acquired the company in the mid-80’s, after protests from civil-rights activists, they changed the English name to “Darlie” and the face of the man on the front changed as well, but the Chinese name remains “black man.”

Darkie Toothpaste Over the Years by sinosplice on flickr

This is a very common and well-liked toothpaste brand in Taiwan.

So, when Lawrance and I were out looking for a souvenir for me to take home to our sweet nephews I didn’t think twice when I first saw the pencil case below. There where all kinds of knock-offs of different bottles and tubes–toothpaste, ketchup, chocolate, and so on–that had been converted into pencil bags with pencil sharpeners hidden in the caps. So creative!

But, when I looked again at the Darlie knock-off I actually gasped. Do you see it? The character has been replaced with a photo of Obama and Darlie was changed to “Change.” Lawrance tried to get a photo while I talked to the store owner and actually took a video, so the photo is captured from a cell phone’s video, so it is a bit unclear. But, on the actual pencil bag the the image is clearly Obama.

I was shocked and speechless.

apo

2010-01-14T22:35:00.000+08:00

Us with Lawrance's Apo

Lawrance with Apo

I’m so used to using the euphemism “gone to be with the Lord” to talk about someone who has slipped from this world into eternity, and it pains me that I can’t to described a loved one’s recent death. The sad reality is that when Lawrance’s grandmother, his Apo, died Wednesday she didn’t know the Lord.

This my first time to deal with the death of a loved one who didn’t trust in Jesus for salvation. The hope I can usually cling to at times like this is strikingly absent.

We went back to the homestead yesterday to the viewing (which will take place all week), and Lawrance will go to the funeral next week on Tuesday and Wednesday (without me since I’ll be in the States). The funeral will most definitely be very religious and full of worship but none to the most high God. Please pray for Lawrance and his family too.

Most funerals in Taiwan use white as the color of death, but for Apo they are using red since she died at 88 years old (89 by Chinese calendar). Red at a funeral signifies that there is joy that she lived to such an old age. Five generations (her and her husband count as the first) are listed on the red death announcement that will be given to friends and family. She has lived a very hard life and worked very hard for her family. She lived her entire life in Meinong, and in those 88 years witnessed much change to her town and her country.

She deserves to be remembered, respected, and honored but not worshiped. Again, I ask that you pray for Lawrance this week as his family gathers to worship their deceased loved one.

laura story

2010-01-13T22:36:00.000+08:00

Laura Story is a new-to-me artist, and I am loving her Great God Who Saves cd.
In addition to loving the style of music she writes and plays, perhaps another reason I like it so much is that I can relate SO well.

In fact, I think Laura has been peaking into my journal! I mean seriously!! The lyrics in her songs often capture EXACTLY what I’m thinking and feeling.

Here is my current favorite song that gets played over and over:

My heart is so proud. My mind is so unfocused. I see the things You do through me as great things I have done. And now You gently break me, then lovingly You take me and hold me as my Father and mold me as my Maker.

[Chorus]:
I ask you: “How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down? And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abound?” And you answer: ” My child, I love you. And as long as you’re seeking My face, You’ll walk in the pow’r of My daily sufficient grace.”
At times I may grow weak and feel a bit discouraged, knowing that someone, somewhere could do a better job. For who am I to serve You? I know I don’t deserve You. And that’s the part that burns in my heart and keeps me hanging on.

[Chorus] +You are so patient with me, Lord!

As I walk with You, I’m learning what Your grace really means. The price that I could never pay was paid at Calvary. So, instead of trying to repay You, I’m learning to simply obey You by giving up my life to you For all that You’ve given to me.

[Chorus]

You can hear several of her songs on her MySpace page.

another wedding

2010-01-11T22:39:00.000+08:00

No, no, not another one for us. We’ve already had two–that’s enough for one lifetime! :)

Yu-Hong and Cindy

Lawrance’s brother, Yu-hong and his long time girlfriend, Cindy are tying the knot before this Chinese New Year.

We’ve been encouraging them to get married for a long time–they started dating a few years before us. Within the last week they’ve planned to have their engagement ceremony on Jan 24th and their wedding ceremony Feb 7th. Lawrance’s mom was like “what is up with my sons and their fast weddings?”

We took three months from the time we decided to get married to the time we actually had our wedding; they are doing it in just weeks.

Two major ceremonies in two different cities, hundreds of guests and less than a month of planning! Plus all the other details that must be attended to to make both families happy. Wow . . . I don’t envy them at all. However, I am SO happy they have decided to get married. They make such a great couple.

In fact, Lawrance and I were so confident that one day Cindy would be family that I invited her to be in our Taiwanese wedding even though I didn’t know her very, very well at the time.

Yu-Hong and Cindy at our Taiwanese Wedding

Why the rush for before Chinese New Year? Well, it’s more auspicious. You see odd numbers are bad for marriage–everything should be even (2, 6, 8–but of course not 4, a homophone for death). Even numbers are good for marriage–even numbers symbolize that the two will stay together. After Chinese New Year, Yu-Hong will be considered 29 and Cindy 31. 29 is especially bad (as are all years ending a decade).

There are so many levels of culture to this that would make a non-Taiwanese person’s head spin.

YuHong is actually, right now according to his date of birth and Western counting, 27 (an odd number).
His birthday is Dec 25th. So, he will not be 29 according to his date of birth until Dec 25, 2011.
But, you have to factor in an extra year for time spent in the womb.
Then, you must remember that you get a year older during the Chinese New Year–not on your birthday.

Years ago, I would have thought and thought about this, and the illogicality of it all would have bothered me, but now I think “well, I’m happy for them. Marriage is good.”

The only sad part of this good news is that . . . I won’t be there. I’m leaving a week from today to head back to America for three weeks. So, I’ve instructed Lawrance to take lots of photos for me. :)

Update: Yu-hong and Lawance’s grandmother passed away on Jan 12, so Yu-hong and Cindy’s wedding will be postponed. To counter the “bad luck” of getting married in a bad year, they had to consult with a fortune teller to help them pick a very, very auspicious wedding date. So, the lunar calendar date of Feb 2nd was chosen–2/2–a good day for couples. Ironically this is April 4th–4/4–on the Gregorian calendar. Ironic not in an amusing way, but in a sad way as it reveals just how futile man’s thinking can be.

welcome to our new blog!!

2010-01-01T22:42:00.000+08:00

Lawrance and I are excited about our new blog . . . well, at least I am. I’m sure he wishes I’d take care of the ever growing mound of laundry rather than mess with plugins and widgets. :)

I think that I have nearly all our boxes unpacked at our new home here on the world wide web. :)

There are still a few things I need to do after I’ve finished grading finals and tackled that mound of laundry:

delete some of the imported posts
clean up some of the important imported posts that came over with funky formatting
on important posts fix the links that point to the old typepad blog
create our about pages
clean up the categories
bring over the rest of our engagement/wedding blog stuff before our typepad account closes

But, most of the pixels have settled, and we are ready to start blogging from our new home.

Thanks for joining us!! And please remember to update your links and grab the new feed!

a new year, a new blog

2010-01-01T05:34:00.000+08:00

Lawrance and I have started a new blog called "Wuhoo!" Lawrance picked out the name, and I love it because it includes our last name as well as incorporates a feeling of joy.

Before my year-long contract finishes with Typepad in mid-January, I thought I'd move all 920 blogs and 2745 comments to our new blog. I know that means I lose lots in the realm of being connected and seo-whathaveyous, but since that's not so important to us, that's ok . . . and, currently, all internal links are broken because they will soon point to a soon to be missing blog. So, some maintenance and tweaking is still needed.

I love the concept behind following an unknown path, and I've loved having this little corner of the web to myself, but it's time for a change. So . . . we're making a change.

The wuhoo! feed is new, so if you'd like to continue getting updates from us in your feed reader, you will need to visit us at wuhoo! and grab the new feed. We would also appreciate you updating any links to us you may have on your blog/site.

And, of course, even though we aren't quite settled in yet and even though the pixels are still flying due to us still being the process of "setting up house," we'd love to have you come over, take a look around, and say hi at our new "wu family blog"--Wuhoo!!

the wu's year in photos

2009-12-31T22:13:00.000+08:00

Even though I've let my blog slip majorly in the past few weeks and months, I couldn't let my blogaversary and annual tradition of choosing one photo per month slip past.

This will be my fifth year to do this:

2005--was my third year in Taiwan, and I started blogging
2006--my sister got married and my brother came to Taiwan
2007--I moved to a new city, and my cousins came to visit
2008--I met the love of my life; we dated, got engaged, and then married . . . it was perhaps the most perfect year of my entire life. :)

I think I took less photos in all of 2009 than I did in many of the months of 2008. Kinda makes me a little sad, and makes me want to resolve to take more photos in 2010. Anywho, not analyzing anything right now, which I am OH so tempted to do.

Let me get right to the point . . . below you find a month by month look at our 2009 using only one photo per month.

January: We celebrate our first Chinese New Year together in Meinong

February: New Life Bilingual Church in Kaohsiung starts meeting

March: We marry again . . . well, ok, we celebrate our marriage covenant in Taiwan with our Taiwanese friends and family

April: I have my first birthday as a wife (aka, I turn 31)

May: Some of our friends marry . . . and Lawrance is the MC at their wedding banquet

June: We start our summer Sunday afternoon tradition of eating ice after church

July: We go on several dates during the summer . . . Thai food, the beach and more

August: We celebrate our first anniversary in Kenting

September: Sadly Wu Mama is diagnosed with liver cancer

October: Lawrance is a clown (well, maybe he always is one, but at least he LOOKED like one this time)

November: I start studying Chinese again (This is my awesome Chinese teacher)

December: Law's parents help us to decorate our tree . . . a Wu family first!

apricot chicken delight

2009-11-17T03:04:00.000+08:00

The first half of this semester was hard. Weird schedule, lots of new pressures and responsibilities, and a lack of energy.

Unfortunately lack of energy is a vicious cycle--no energy to cook good stuff = eating out; eating out = not always eating the best foods; not eating healthy = no energy.

So, during the midterm week, when I wasn't grading tests or catching up on laundry. I searched for some recipes to turn into the 30 meals project that Carrie, my RD in college (well, and my college roommate's sister-in-law) told me about on this post. (BTW, thanks Carrie!!)

My requirements were that the recipes:

could be made in less than 20 min,
needed to be low-carbish,
needed to delight mine and my husband's taste buds, and
could be made with things easily found in Taiwan.

Finding meals that meet all four requirements was no small task!

Although Lawrance is generally easy going and not too picky about food, finding things we both love to eat often has proved to be a challenge.

So, my first recipe test was something I found at Cooking During Stolen Moments: Apricot Chicken.

It was SO easy and best of all packed full of flavor!!

I kinda went a bit overboard using freshly cracked black pepper and might have used extra garlic--so our's was not only tangy, but spicy too--she does say to season to taste. :)

This is probably the least low-carb recipe I collected since it uses apricot jam, but it is definitely something I'll be making again before too long.

Side-note to anyone in Taiwan wanting to give this a try: I used half of a jar of Carrefour brand apricot jam (french name on bottle) to cover 6 chicken breast quarters.

my two clowns

2009-10-28T16:33:00.000+08:00

like grandfather,

like husband . . . or something like that. :)

I love my two clowns!!

Besides sharing a similar costume idea, my two clowns both LOVE children and are also both great big kids at heart!! Gotta love my clowns!!

a "what's up" list

2009-10-06T04:19:00.000+08:00

What's up:

Wu MaMa is home for the week, after 2+ weeks in the hospital. If she qualifies, she might be placed on a research project testing a new direct chemo treatment for liver cancer (which is more common in Asia than it is in America).

School started three weeks ago. I've finally been to every class once as of last Wednesday. Several of my classes require students to "test in to" them, so they started a bit later than other classes.

I'm teaching two freshmen classes. I like this classes because I get the upper-intermediate non-English majors. Most of my students don't know each other outside of class--this is a good thing for class dynamics; easier to take risks and not lose face so much. I also like that it is all four skills. Much easier to teach when I can blend all skills together. We talk about what we are reading; we write in response to what we've heard and discussed. Much more "real."

I'm also teaching two really cool classes for junior and senior English majors. One is called International Career Path and the other is called Social and Global Issues. In these classes, the students spend one week preparing to discuss a topic and then one week discussing the topic with students in Japan using the internet and online chatrooms. Really cool. I love that my students are using English for a real reason and that they are using English to learn about their own culture as well as Japanese culture. Let me say it again, really cool.

I strained my back last Friday. We spent our Moon Festival holiday
(this past weekend) watching movies and doing not much more than that.

Law has taken superb care of me when I've not been able to move quickly and take care of as much as I do when I'm feeling better.

I've cried several times this weekend in appreciation for all he does for me. He truly has been so sweet. It's really hard to believe that he knows me SO well--all the good and ALL the bad--and chooses to still love me completely anyway. It is humbling.

I'm studying Chinese again. I've not actually studied language in . . . oh, about a decade. I really wanna work on my reading and writing. And, to improve my oral self-expression. I'm really good at ordering food, shopping, and answering questions about myself, but I fail when it comes to carrying a conversation on a deeper more complex topic. I can listen and understand, but I'm unable to respond in Chinese the way I want to. Hence, the studying again.

I stumbled upon Laura Story a little while ago. I've been listening to her stuff over and over. I've not done that in awhile. Her song "Grace" is available free here (you do have to register though).

I could keep going, but for now, I need to go get ready for my classes tomorrow.

I miss blogging, and hope to get back to it sooner rather than later.

wu mama

2009-09-26T17:55:00.000+08:00

We found out this week that Lawrance's mom has stage 3 liver cancer. We've been told to expect her time left on earth to not be very long.

My husband and his siblings are in the midst of making lots of decisions, trying how to provide the best care for their mother and father right now.

We would very much appreciate prayers for the Wu family right now.

The one praise this week has been that Wu MaMa accepted Christ as her savior on Wednesday. After Lawrance shared his testimony, a dear Christian friend invited Wu MaMa to believe and she did. Father is merciful to the end. I am so thankful for his patience and mercy!! Praise Him!

So, in the midst of a heartbreaking situation there is hope.

Right now, I will just leave it at this . . . we thank you for going to the Father on our behalf.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

(Psalm 121)

please pray

2009-09-23T06:30:00.000+08:00

Today, September 22, 2009, at approximately 9AM Taiwan time, Peter Bennett, sustained a head injury when struck by a car
as he was crossing the street in Yonghe, Taiwan, a suburb of the capital city of Taipei.

I do not know Peter, but it seems like according to the blog set up for him that he worked with Team Expansion. I found out via Scott's facebook who blogs at SQJ Taipei, and set up the site to help others pray for Peter.

I invite you to join others in prayer for this young man who is serving the Lord in Taiwan and is now in critical condition in the hospital.

2009-09-23T06:23:00.000+08:00

I just found--literally stumbled upon--Laura Story.

And, right now, I am enjoying this song because it seems like I could have written it. It's as if she is speaking my story.

My heart is so proud. My mind is so unfocused.
I see the things You do through me as great things I have done.
And now
You gently break me, then lovingly You take me and hold me as my father
and mold me as my maker.

At times I may grow weak and feel a bit discouraged, knowing that
someone, somewhere could do a better job. For who am I to serve You? I
know I don't deserve You. And that's the part that burns in my heart
and keeps me hanging on.

As I walk with You, I'm learning what Your grace really means. The
price that I could never pay was paid at Calvary. So, instead of trying
to repay You, I'm learning to simply obey You

by giving up my life to you For all that You've given to me.

Chorus:

I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down?

And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abounds?"

And you answer: " My child, I love you.
And as long as you're seeking My face, You'll walk in the pow'r of My daily sufficient grace."

great is the Lord

2009-09-22T18:43:00.000+08:00

Running through my head this morning:

"Great is the Lord, He is holy and just, by His power we trust in His love.
Great is the Lord, He is faithful and true, by His mercy He proves He is love."

"For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods" (Psalm 96:4).

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:3).

"But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, Great is the Lord! (Psalm 40:16).

there is hope

2009-09-19T00:18:00.000+08:00

I was crying within 5 minutes of listening to this Focus on the Family program, and tears streamed down my cheeks for the rest of Ann Kiemel's talk.

She talks about her desiring to have a baby and her struggles with miscarriages and adoption.

Just a small taste . . .

I knew I had a choice. I could make sorrow my friend or my enemy. Sorrow could make me hard and cold and bitter or Sorrow could be my best friend and teach me things I had never learned before. I reached out and took Sorrow's hand in that quite moment. She removed all the sham and fluff from my life. She taught me what it is to be real. She taught me what it really is to celebrate because only when you really know sorrow do you know how to laugh. She taught me what it is to love; it is to be vulnerable. It's to hold you hand out and to never hang on to anything. It's to let Jesus take out or put in anything he wants, and it is to say yes.

If you are waiting for a husband or baby or struggling with sorrow, listen. (On the Focus on the Family page click "listen now.") It will be 15 minutes well spent.

HT: Kelly's Korner

repeating conversations

2009-09-12T21:43:00.000+08:00

There was a joke in one of my foreign language education classes in grad school about a student of French who went to France and came back upset because no one in France knew their lines to the dialogues.

I think here in Taiwan, someone actually could memorize "their lines to the dialogue" because they are most likely going to be asked the same questions in nearly the same order . . . .over and over and over again.

However, one thing to be careful of is that the conversation patterns change depending on what phase of your life you are in.

So, since I've been amused by the conversations I've been having lately, it seems that I'm entering a new phase of repeated conversations.

Here is an actual conversation I had yesterday in Chinese (translated to English by me):

Shop Owner: So, hey, why can you speak Chinese? You been here long?

Me: Yes, I've been here 7 years.

Him: Ah, married?

Me: Yes.

Him: Taiwanese guy?

Me: (with a smile) yes.

Him: Oh yeah! Taiwanese guys are good guys, aren't they!?!

Me: (with an even bigger smile) yes. they are pretty good.

Him: yall have a baby?

Me: No, not yet.

Him: Oh, that is just not right! If you really think we Taiwanese people are good. You should make a little Taiwanese baby!

Me: Well, we've only been married a year.

Him: (visibly surprised) Oh! Just a year! I thought it would be much longer than that since you speak Chinese. . . .So, uh, hey, you a teacher?

This particular shop owner cracked me up. He had a very lively
personality and talked with me for a least 20 minutes while I waited in
his shop.

So, as I hopped on my moped leaving his store, I started thinking, and here are my observations/ponderings:

Observation/Pondering 1:

His reply to the baby question was a new one. Usually it is followed by something along the lines of "oh, mixed blood babies are beautiful. I'm sure your baby will be so gorgeous."
Following, Lawrance's example, I reply to that with "all babies are beautiful." He can get away with it--they stop that line of commenting with him. When I'm alone, whoever I'm talking to (especially the grandmas) insist I don't know what I'm talking about because it is a "known fact that mixed blood babies and the most beautiful in the world." At this point all I can do is smile. (Something Lawrance and I have already talked about is how to help our future children deal with all the compliments they are going to receive while in Taiwan. But that's another topic for another day.)

Observation/Pondering 2:

The other place this conversation usually takes me is to the fact that we don't have a baby yet. I mean come on we've been married a full year, surely there is a little one by now . . . or at least one the way! When the shocked listener finds out, that truly the answer is "no, not yet" four out five times they will respond "加油" (Jia you)!!

Jia you is a cheer that roughly translates to something like "Go! Go! Go!" It is often used to cheer on sports competitors at sporting events or to encourage someone who needs a little encouragement in their studies or to show support to someone who is about to take a test or needs to be brave.

At first I found it quite embarrassing . . . that is because I was listening to it with my American ears. Once I realized that it just meant something more like "good luck!" or "hope you get what you want soon," it has become much less embarrassing.

Observation/Pondering 3:

I find it funny/interesting that everyone I've spoken with so far about my language skills since I've been married seems to think that having a Taiwanese husband explains why I'm pretty fluent in Chinese. This is a new one for me and something I've got to puzzle through and figure out. I mean it totally and completely explains everything they need to know about why I'm here. Before people always wanted to know why I came . . . and that leads to a good opportunity to share the Gospel, but now that question is gone once they know my husband is Taiwanese. Hmmm . . .

That's all my ponderings for now. . . back to course planning and syllabus making I must go.

small world

2009-09-10T18:53:00.000+08:00

Years ago . . . maybe about 8 . . . Lawrance was a new Christian. He attended a "One Day Taiwan" conference.

When scanning in photos a while back for our wedding montage, I saw this photo from that conference.

And, after looking at the younger version of Lawrance, looked back a few rows and saw a red head that I recognized! Someone I knew from college was in Lawrance's photo! I even emailed her (ok, facebooked her) and asked if it really was her.

In fact, several people from my college in America were at the same conference in Taiwan that Lawrance was at.

It's a small world.

crab crossing

2009-09-03T14:15:00.000+08:00

Life on a tropical island is never boring!

Lawrance and I saw this really cool street sign . . . "crab crossing."

And, Sandy saw this one for "beware of falling coconuts" that she posted on her blog a few days ago.

how we celebrated

2009-09-03T02:14:00.000+08:00

To celebrate our first year of marriage, Lawrance and I went to Kenting for three days.

We had a great time just being together, relaxing, and being in a beautiful place!!

As for "anniversary traditions," we've decided to read our vows to each other each year and to write and then read a card to each other each year. We'd also like to make it a tradition to just get away for at least one day to be together alone.

This time, Lawrance choose for us to read our vows and cards to each other on the beach. We got there a bit late (after sunset) so we used his cell phone as our flashlight to read to each other on the darkened beach. It was really sweet.

{we first took a tourism train--to kaohsiung--huge seats}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{we had yummy chicken fajitas, just like we did at our wedding}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{we rounded the tip of the island and got to the "other" side}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{our room had a balcony with a view of the ocean}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{sunset from our balcony}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{we couldn't eat our wedding cake (since it's in mom's fridge) but we did get to eat oreo cheesecake}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{natural gas coming up from the ground}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{Law lit sparklers from the natural gas fires and wrote me this message "1-4-3: I Love You"}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{Law got to go Go-karting for the first time}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{Law picked out this really cool bed and breakfast for us to stay in called the "beach house"}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{great view from our third floor room}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{the white and blue is so fun!}

~*~*~*~*~*~

{it's main drawback was that it had REALLY steep stairs}

~*~*~*~*~*~

We did go to the beach twice . . . but those photos are on Law's cell phone.

And, even though we used 50 SPF, we both still got sunburned. :(

i delighted in the lord . . . and he gave me YOU

2009-08-31T14:54:00.000+08:00

I love you Lawrance!! I thank God daily for making you my husband.

What a privilege to walk life next to you, with you. What great joy is mine . . . all because God is kind and gave me to you and you to me.

Happy 1st Anniversary, LaoGong!!

my groom sings to me

2009-08-30T14:44:00.000+08:00

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

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

My Groom Sings To Me from amanda wu on Vimeo.

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

birth day for my new nephew

2009-08-29T22:34:00.000+08:00

I don't have much time . . . but I did just want to shout from the mountain tops that my sister gave birth to a BEAUTIFUL 12 pound 4 oz baby boy on Thursday, August 27!! He shares his birthday with two of his great-grandmothers!!

Welcome to the world Clayton Joe!!

I'm in love with this newest little guy!!!

I can't wait to snuggle with him . . . I just hope he hasn't lost his precious baby smell by the time I get to hold him!!

野地的花 wild flowers (aka the flowers of the field)

2009-08-27T14:16:00.000+08:00

A beautiful song . . .

My unpoetic English translation:

Wild flowers wear beautiful clothes
Birds in the sky have never had to be "busy"

Merciful-Loving Heavenly Father daily watches over us
He so loved the people of the world that he prepared a path to everlasting life

Every single need the Heavenly Father already knows
If your heart is full of troubles, allow him to get rid of them for you
Each day Merciful-Loving Heavenly Father is taking care of us
He is the All-powerful Lord: Blessed are the people who depend on Him

___
The original BEAUTIFUL Chinese version:

野地的花，穿著美麗的衣裳，

天空的鳥兒，從來不為生活忙。

慈愛的天父，天天都看顧，

祂更愛世上人，為他們預備永生的路。
一切需要，天父已經都知道，

若心中煩惱，讓祂為你除掉。

慈愛的天父，天天都看顧，

祂是全能的主，信靠祂的人真是有福。

___
Here is an a capella version of the same song recorded in Taipei during the Franklin Graham conference last fall. (The first 30 seconds is talking that can be skipped in order to get to the song.)

dinner at dudu cafe

2009-08-26T14:43:00.000+08:00

One of our favorite restaurants is called DuDu Cafe. It is a family style restaurant that serves food that is most similar to Chinese dishes you might find in the States.

Here's what we had. . .

{bamboo shoot, served cold}

{cashew chicken}

{kung pao chicken}

{pumpkin seafood soup}

{beef with green peppers}

Now do you see why we like it? DELICIOUS!!!

men worshiping

2009-08-24T14:12:00.000+08:00

We typically sent in the front, so when we sat in the back (yes, there are only five pews and three rows) I noticed something unusual for Taiwan--lots of men. More men than women in fact on this particular Sunday.

Lord, bring more Taiwanese MEN unto Yourself!!! Raise them up as leaders of their families and of this nation. Lord, please let what was true for the jailer Acts 16:33-34 be true for men throughout Taiwan "he was baptized at once, he and all his family. . . . And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God."

how do ghosts eat?

2009-08-21T19:07:00.000+08:00

Sarah Beth, an MK in Peru, asked on my last post:

That's
interesting. Who ends up eating the food? In Peru we have something
very similar. They put tons of food on top of the graves of their
family members and leave it for several hours. But when midnight comes,
the family eats the food! I wonder about the logic... what is it like
there??

Something similar happens here. The food and drink offerings are made first before the paper money is burned. In order to offer the ghosts (at ghost month), ancestors (during ancestor worship), and idols (at temples and Chinese New Year), incense sticks are stuck into the foods or food packaging.

After a set amount of time--it varies from family to family and holiday to holiday and probably other factors too--the offering table is taken down and the food brought inside.

The family will then eat the food. Many college students have told me waiting for the tables to come down at Chinese New Year (after midnight) so that could eat the goodies was one of their favorite parts of the yearly holiday.

I have been told that the "spirit of the food" is eaten, they are after all feeding spirits. Some have told me that because the spirit of the food has been eaten the food tastes bland and stale. Others have told me that because the spirit of the food has been eaten the food tastes better, as if it has been blessed. And, then others admit to the food not being that much different at all.

The offering tables are set up differently from area to area and family to family, just like every American family decorates their Christmas tree differently. But there are also differences in setting up an offering table to idols, ancestors, or ghosts.

At Ghost Month, often a basin of water and a hand towel can be found on or near the offering table so that their "honorable guests" can wash their hands before partaking of the meal being given to them. These two flickr photos (here and here) show ghost month tables with the typical basins with hand towel out front.

Not to be confusing, but I don't have any Ghost Month photos easily accessible. What I do have is photos I took last November outside of my school. I noticed everyone was setting up tables with drinks as the main offering. (I have no idea who or what was being worshiped.) And, at many tables instead of the traditional little red wine cups, there were bottles of coke and tea boxes.

{seven traditional little cups with rice wine}

{seven cans of beer from a restaurant}

{seven lemon tea boxes from a resturant}

{seven bottles of coke}

{coffee boxes from a grocery store}

snacks for the ghosts

2009-08-20T19:04:00.000+08:00

Today is the start of Ghost Month, so this weekend when Law and I walked into Carrefour we saw lots of snacks on sale. Piles and piles of snack food. At first I was like "why?" Then it dawned on me--offerings for the ghosts.

________________
People are setting up tables like this with snacks and drinks and fruits in order to worship their ancestors.