Always an Adventure...

It seems like this is the typical drawing style here. Even for "stick men" they'll have distinct anime-like characteristics, influenced by the cartoons from Japan (think Sailor Moon). One of my students gave this to me at the end of class one day. I was touched, but couldn't help but wonder if that meant she didn't actually pay attention to the lesson! hmmmmm

Now that I'm in Taipei on Fridays, it's harder for me to get down to Yuli for a weekend. While only 3 hours from Yilan, it's more than 4.5 hours from Taipei... and with only 2 days to do it, it just hasn't been practical. But last weekend, I didn't have a choice! Why? Because my good friend Vivian (Suhan) got married! Vivian used to come to our adult English class when Hope and I were in Yuli. She also went to the same church. She took us on a memorable trip to Taidong, and taught us some aboriginal dance moves. When my parents came to Taiwan, she took time off and brought us to her hometown, which is in southern Taiwan. She's a really sweet and generous person. When I lived in Yuli, she was battling cancer. In fact, she had more than 10 surgeries. Through prayer and treatment, she is now cancer free. I was really excited to hear that she was getting married, though the wedding was the first time I "met" her husband, since they only started officially ...

"Disengaged turkey" Some kind of restaurant..... not sure if the turkey is free from obligation, separated from from its body, or simply apathetic

Chinese New Year is over now, and did it ever fly by! I spent the first part of the holiday on a trip to Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan with two of my colleagues. We really had a fun time, despite a bit of rain. Sun Moon Lake got its name because of its shape, since one part of the lake is round and another section looks like a crescent moon. It's the largest lake in Taiwan, and quite a popular tourist spot. We took a 4 hour bus ride from Taipei to get there. We stayed in a little B&B where we got great Taiwanese hospitality, including breakfast, free fruit, and discounts at some nearby places. It was a pretty nice place and soo cheap, we paid about $130 (Canadian) for 2 nights, divided among 3 people! We rented scooters the first day and cruised around the lake. We stopped at a temple and a stairway with 366 steps. It had a day of the year on each step, along with the names of famous people who were born on that day. We had a good time hopping down the steps and stopping on ...

Chinese New Year is coming!! Yilan has set up a "New Year's Street" which has some performances, food, and vendors selling tons of holiday wares, including new clothes, dried fruit and fish, candies, tea, and nuts. These are all things that you would find yourself snacking on during a visit to a Taiwanese home during CNY. Most towns have their own small New Year's streets, but Taipei has a huge one called 'Di Hua Jie'. I went there a couple of weeks ago with Michelle and Lauren who were up from Yuli. The main events at the street hadn't begun yet, but we still got to see (and sample) tons of interesting things! Here are some fish ovaries, which are dried and... well I'm not exactly sure how they're prepared or consumed, but I won't make it for you, don't worry! We also saw dried seahorses, shark fins, and giant dried mushrooms: At one end of the street is a temple where young people go to "pray" and burn incense, what are they pr...