the everyday stuff

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)

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.

reflections on coming and going

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: march and april

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. :)

praying for Taiwan

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

salivababy

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?

infant potty training

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

At first I was shocked.  Sounds impossible.  But, then I started asking questions and talking to Lawrance more about it.  Then of course I had to google it.

Here is what I found:

Throughout much of the non-Western world, infant toilet training is the norm. In India, China, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the arctic, and parts of Africa and Latin America, parents leave baby bottoms uncovered (Boucke 2003; Sonna 2006; deVries and deVries 1977).

Diapers are considered unnecessary-—even disgusting. When babies have to pee or poop, parents hold them over a preferred target (e.g., a toilet, an outdoor latrine, or simply open ground) until business is done.

How do parents know when their babies need to go? By paying close attention. In these “bare-bottom” cultures, babies spend much of their days being carried around. Mom learns to read her baby’s cues. 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 “elimination communication,” this method is now being adopted by some parents in the United States and other Western countries.

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

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

So, perhaps it’s not as shocking as I thought it was.  But one thing for sure is that it takes LOTS of time on the 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 very vigilant about “reading” and “learning” the child’s signals.

And, it might be labor intensive, time consuming, 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 a baby or young one over a toilet–made easier if you are using a squatty potty.  Many in Taiwan also let their children go outside over a drain.

And, in case your wondering, the vocalizations 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 parents using this concept:

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

three calendars

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

run, gilby, run

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.

a trashy thankfulness

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!!

of leaves and grass

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.

heaven’s eight blessings 天國八福

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)

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!

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.

a wedding–prepping the home

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. ;)