breakfast with the wu's

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

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!!

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

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!!