I guess turning thirty is one of those things that was bound to happen sooner or later. Well, it’s better than the alternative! And I’ve had a good thirty years – I can’t think of one I’ve had that I’d want to erase from my past, even the hard ones. So, I guess I don’t really have much to complain about!

My students surprised me with a little party at the end of the school day. They had created a long “HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. LIMA” banner, and an artistic card, which they had all signed. One girl (Morgan, at the left) brought in two trays of brownies she had made. A few kids even brought in gifts for me. The ringleaders proudly informed me that they had been planning this for months. It really helped make my day special!

 

Another special part of my day was when Floyd took me out to dinner at an interesting restaurant called Outer Mongolia. (He had asked someone to recommend the most unusual restaurant in Taichung, and this is what they suggested.) We enjoyed great Mongolian food (the lamb ribs were the best) which we ate in a large red yurt. One of the most fun parts was reading the menu.  Here were some of the funniest-sounding items:

mutton tendon salad
fried pettitoes
roasts the pork
shrimp paste low-quality vegetable beef
banana and mutton roll
hundred fragrant fruits fry the lily
alcohol admix goaty milk
sheet iron anise apricot bao ku
the unwearied effort however mutton clamps the cake

Last night we enjoyed celebrating Lantern Festival, the second-biggest holiday of the year, with the family of one of my students. A number of other teachers and their spouses were invited as well. The evening began with a delicious hot pot dinner at their house, which they had undoubtedly spent hours preparing beforehand (and hours cleaning up after!). There was a large pot of boiling water plugged in on the center of the table, with a few meatball-type things already in it. Around it were ranged a number of other foods waiting to be cooked, such as beef, pork, two kinds of fish, giant shrimp, mushrooms, noodles, etc. As the meal progressed, we each added whatever else we wanted to the pot, let it cook a few minutes, then fished it out and ate it with rice and sauce. Choices for the sauce included soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, thick barbecue sauce (no relation to the kind we use in the States), scallions, and hot chili peppers. At the beginning of the meal everyone made their own mixture according to their own tastes, then took it to their seat in a little bowl to dip their meats into. Wow, what a tasty way to do a meal!

After lingering over dinner and conversation, our hosts passed out colorful paper lanterns for all who wanted them. These are a traditional style that apparently are hard to find nowadays (not surprising, since they’re highly flammable, being made of paper with a real candle inside. Apparently the stores mostly sell plastic ones now). You fold down the sides, attach the candle to the bottom of the lantern, raise the sides again, then twist the wire handle around the end of a chopstick to carry it with. Watching the kids playing around with each other’s lanterns outside the apartment, I kept praying none of them would burn down the neighborhood. Surprisingly, only one boy caught his lantern on fire, and his older brother stamped it out before it became a problem.

Carefully carrying our lanterns, we strolled down the street to a large public park, which is one of the city’s major Lantern Festival celebration locations. It was basically a big fair, with colored lights and decorations all over, and a giant lit Mickey and Minnie welcoming us in (in honor of the Year of the Rat). There were booths selling colorful lanterns in various creative shapes (all with little bulbs inside, no real fire). The place was absolutely packed, and most of the people were either carrying or wearing or buying some sort of lantern or glowing object (picture the light-up plastic swords, necklaces, devil-horns, etc. that they sell in Disneyland at night). The park had a huge amphitheater where there was a colorful fountain show going on, but it was too crowded for us to get in, so we didn’t see much of it. I think there were to be fireworks at some point, but it was late and we didn’t want to stay all night, especially in crowds so thick we could hardly move. Finally Floyd and I wormed our way out of the throng in the park and found a taxi to take us home. What a memorable evening!

It’s Chinese New Year! There are decorations everywhere, it seems. The above picture is of entryway of our apartment building – notice all the red and gold velvety banners, and the hanging decorations of various kinds with long red tassles. The pictures to the right and below show a big display (from the front and back) just inside our apartment lobby.

Little shops and stands selling decorations have popped up all over the place. The most common kinds are rectangular or diamond-shaped, with a word or phrase in Mandarin in the middle, and elaborate red and/or gold designs around it. Most of the words are about prosperity or good luck for the new year. This is the beginning of the Year of the Rat in the Chinese calendar, and so many of the decorations we’ve seen feature pictures of cute mice.

 

The funniest thing, in my opinion, is that a lot of them have Mickey Mouse (often with Minnie or other Disney friends), dressed in traditional Chinese clothes! We’ve been told that this is perfectly legal; I guess the company that makes them arranged with Disney to buy the right to use Mickey this year. In any case, it’s fun seeing “East meets West” in the Mickey Chinese New Year banners, which have rapidly become very popular here.

On February 2nd, Floyd and I had the chance to visit an interesting museum with some other expatriates here. It’s on the site of a large junior high school that was totally destroyed in a major earthquake on September 21, 1999. They’ve reinforced the ruins with steel and concrete to keep them stable, but kept them in their original ruined condition for the museum, which is partly indoors (in new buildings) and partly outdoors.

One of the interesting things is the school’s track, which is right on the Chelungpu Fault Line. One end of the track sank down maybe six or eight feet, which apparently helped scientists study the fault. That’s because the lanes were the exact width required by international track and field standards, so scientists can use the lane markings to measure exactly how and how much the ground moved. The track’s polyurethane (or whatever it’s called) surface has remained in great condition,so it’s easy to see the lines twisted, broken and mangled in the two places where the track fell away to lower ground.

“I didn’t mean to!”

Anyway, it was an interesting place, though it was scary to see how totalled the buildings were. Fortunately the quake occurred in the middle of the night, otherwise hundreds of students would undoubtedly have been killed. The three-story classrooms were smashed down to about ten feet high in some places, with the bottom floor only about a foot high throughout.

In one of the indoor exhibits, there were TV screens showing original news coverage of the quake, and it was truly horrifying to see the damage in cities throughout Taiwan. Tall buildings crumbled and burned, with one skyscraper actually toppling sideways to fall full length across a road. (Apparently this earthquake helped inspire better building standards throughout the country, so there would be much less damage now if such a thing were to happen again.) One of the most interesting parts of the museum was the quake simulator room, where we sat on cushions on the floor and felt the room jerk and shake with the exact movements and magnitude of the original quake. That was pretty exciting, though Floyd said it didn’t really feel authentic because there was no sound. The kids in our group said it was their favorite part of the museum!

Pretty much every restaurant we’ve eaten in since coming to Taiwan has been a deliciously delightful experience. We wanted to describe a few of them so you’ll know what you’re missing (and remember, come visit us any time – we’d be glad to take you out to all of them!).

One of Floyd’s and my favorite little restaurants here in Taichung is called the Orange Grove. At least, we call it that, because much of it is painted orange, and it has big round orange lanterns hanging out front. Maybe someday when we learn to read Chinese well, we can figure out what the sign out front actually says.

Although we love the food at this place, unfortunately, they have no English menu or pictures. Usually in the past we’ve gone there with friends who can translate and order for us, but this time we were on our own… but we figured somehow we’d manage.

Well, we stood there looking dumbly at the unintelligible menu and waiting for inspiration to strike while the three or four employees and one other customer watched us expectantly. One of the ladies remembered us from the last time we had come and asked in Chinese if we wanted the sweet and sour fish again (at least, I’m pretty sure that’s what she was asking; I saw her look of recognition and heard the word for “fish”).

However, we felt like something different this time. Finally Floyd asked for “gung bao ji ding”(kung pao chicken), which, as one of the few dishes we know how to say in Chinese, has become our standby for such times. Then I decided I wanted some cashew chicken, which we’d had before and knew they fixed really well. But I couldn’t remember the word for “cashew”, and all I managed to communicate was that I wanted a different chicken dish. They seemed to think I meant instead of the gung bao, and I tried to explain that we wanted both, and they kept trying to guess what other kind of chicken I might want, but of course I couldn’t understand most of what they said.

 Finally the other customer stepped in to help, announcing that he spoke a little English. So we told him in English what we wanted, but he didn’t know what “cashew” meant. Finally, in desperation, I took out a piece of paper from my purse and drew a cashew. The results were instantaneous! Immediately, every face lit up, and they all exclaimed, “Oh, yao guo! Yao guo ji” (a phrase which I have since carefully memorized).

http://mamacatering.com/

We all laughed in relief, and nodded, and they ushered Floyd and me to a table. Well, we were delighted when the cashew chicken arrived, and it was just as good as we remembered. But the gung bao ji ding hadn’t come by the time we finished, and we wondered if they had gotten mixed up after all and thought we’d changed our original order. So Floyd caught a waiter’s eye and said “Gung bao ji ding,” and he said something and walked away. We thought maybe he was telling us it was on its way, until we heard him repeat our order to the cook. We had to wait awhile longer while they cooked it, before our second dish finally came. And then, to our surprise – it was more cashew chicken! We managed to hide our reactions from the restaurant staff, but needless to say, we were somewhat confused! (They were too, obviously.) The best we could figure was that they must have thought that we thought “gung bao ji ding” meant “cashew chicken” all along. And the worst of it was, we assumed they’d remember us again, and next time we came, if we tried to order kung pao chicken, they would remember that we really meant cashew chicken, and that’s what they’d give us from then on!

Oh well, at least it was delicious!

Well, the sequel to that story happened the next week, when we went to the Orange Grove again, but with our friend Elaine this time (who speaks almost fluent Chinese). Not only was she able to order several different dishes for us, but she also talked to the serving staff and explained our last time’s misunderstanding, which she had gotten a big kick out of when I described it to her. She had a long conversation with them, parts of which she translated for us as it went along. Apparently they told her how we’ve been in several times and that the last time especially was a communication disaster because they have no English menu. The main lady asked very seriously if we had liked the food we had just eaten, so that she could remember it and serve it again every time we come, to avoid further misunderstandings. Floyd and I got a kick out of that! We ended up settling on three particular dishes which the staff assured us they would remember, and agreed that unless we brought a translator or found some way to tell them otherwise, they would serve us those same three things from then on whenever we come.

Is that funny, or what?! But so practical! It was touching how concerned they were for us. And I think it’s fun that for the first time in my life I’ll be able to walk into a restaurant and ask for “the usual” and they’ll know what I mean!

As we were leaving, I turned and said, “Yao guo ji hun hao chi” (the cashew chicken was very good), and they were all excited that I could say that (and say it correctly, apparently, tones and all). I was quite proud of myself! I know it sounds silly to make a big deal over such a small thing, but honestly, our language learning is progressing extraordinarily slowly, so I have to take my little triumphs where I can get them. And knowing we can go to the Orange Grove any time we like and to get a meal we’re guaranteed to love is definitely a triumph!

To read more about the Orange Grove and other eateries Floyd and I like in Taichung, click here to read my blog post “Some of our Favorite Restaurants”.

Or, click here to read about one of our previous dining misadventures!
 

It took about two and a half hours to drive up from Taichung, counting a few pit stops and wrong turns. It was a beautiful blue sunny day, and we enjoyed some great mountain views along the way. It’s always nice to get out of the smog and be reminded that there’s more to Taiwan than city. For the last part of the journey, we drove through thick green forest, with strikingly bright poinsettias growing wild beside the road. Huge spider webs stretched from tree to tree or from branch to ground, but we saw no other wildlife.

Once we were up at our destination, we enjoyed a picnic lunch beside a slow green river, near a few restaurants, gift shops, cabins, and a tourist information center. From there we decided to hike to the “Blue Dragon Waterfall” a mile or two away. (I hesitate to even use the word “hike”, since we were on a paved path the whole way, reminiscent of some of the so-called “hiking trails” I remember in Yosemite. But it was a pretty walk, in any case, with the river on one side and forest on the other.)

As we were walking, the mist started to blow in up the river. We were all surprised at how quickly it was moving in. Within a couple of minutes, the sky was no longer blue, and we couldn’t see more than a few yards in any direction. It gave the forest a mysterious, spooky look, and as for the river, we could barely see it at all.

 

It was kind of fun walking through the misty woods. You can imagine our disappointment, though, when we got to the grand viewpoint, with the thunder of falling water all around, and were unable to get even the tiniest glimpse of the waterfall through the fog!

When we returned to base once again, we decided to enjoy the water for just a little longer before we had to leave. We rented two paddle boats for half an hour or so, and Floyd and three of the others had a great time pedaling up and down the river, racing each other, feeding the ducks, and switching boats mid-stream. I ran along the bank, meanwhile, and took pictures and video.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Seoul, South Korea, for a conference on teaching the “Six Traits of Writing” at Seoul Foreign School. It was great; I came away with a lot of ideas and am eager to start implementing some of the things I learned in my own classroom. It was also fun meeting participants from international schools in various other Asian countries, including China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, and (obviously) Korea.

Of course one of the best parts was the fact that the conference was in a country I’d never been to before, thus bringing my country total up to 15. Don’t be too impressed, though; I met an Australian lady at the conference who teaches in Cambodia and has been to over 40 countries. Her three-year-old daughter has already been to 16!

Seoul Incheon Airport is right up there among the great airports of the world, as far as I’m concerned (not as good as Singapore, but much better than LAX).  The city’s subway system is convenient and efficient; some trains even have electronic maps with moving dots to show you what stations you’re approaching when.  The bus system seems good too, or at least it probably would be for those who get on the right bus at the airport. At least the sights of the city are interesting to see while going the wrong way on the wrong bus. And when the bus driver calls out the names of the stops and none of them include Seoul Foreign School, at least he responds in helpful and friendly Korean to your concerned questions in English that he can’t understand any more than you can understand his helpful and friendly answers. And when all else fails there’s always taxis, easy to hail from any random bus stop that you choose to get off at, though of course you can’t expect the drivers to speak English or read English maps. (Yes, we did make it to our destination eventually that night!)

Unfortunately Floyd couldn’t come, but I really enjoyed the few days I was able to spend in Korea with two other Morrison teachers. Marcy and Kris and I (along with our new Australian friend Sheree) were able to go out and see quite a bit of Seoul on Saturday and Sunday late afternoon and evening after our sessions were over. It’s a nice-looking city, a lot like Taipei on some ways, but definitely with its own distinctive flair. It’s far enough north that the climate is quite different from Taiwan’s: it was quite cold at night, cool during the day, and the brightly-colored leaves bore testimony to the fact that autumn is alive and well there.

We took the subway to various places that we’d researched earlier, and ended up in various other interesting places too (some accidentally, others on purpose). It was hard not being able to communicate much; I didn’t realize how much I’ve come to rely on the few words and phrases of Chinese I can actually say now, until I went somewhere where they don’t speak Chinese OR much English. It was still great, though, and we found people there to be really friendly and helpful. Several times we’d be stopped on a street corner frowning over our map, and someone who did know a little English would approach us to ask if we needed help. (In one case, the young man pulled up an electronic city map on his cell phone screen to direct us to the area we wanted.) 

Saturday evening we had a lot of fun – Kris and Marcy and Sheree and I wanted to eat somewhere really Korean, not at one of the international restaurants we’d seen, so we walked all over searching for just the right place.


  

We’d heard of an area called Insa Dong that’s supposedly full of traditionally Korean stores and restaurants, so we went looking for it. I know we got off at the right subway stop, but I’m not convinced we found the right set of streets, because we really didn’t see many shops with anything you couldn’t buy in Taiwan, or the States, for that matter. 




 

But we did find some wonderful-looking restaurants, including one where we finally had a delicious meal at one of their outside tables. Each table had a little grill in the middle, and the waiters bring you pieces of raw meat to cook yourself there. None of them spoke English, and the menu was entirely in Korean, so at first we were stuck. But Kris had bought a phrasebook, so he looked up and said the word for “beef”, and the waiter nodded and went away.

Pretty soon he came back with a big platter of raw beef, along with a large bowl of soup for us all to share, sliced onions, garlic, kimchi, several kinds of sauces, and a bowl of cooked (steamed?) egg which was almost like an unsweetened custard. There was more than enough for the four of us, and we had a lot of fun grilling everything and experimenting with different combinations of flavors. Remarkably, it turned out that the Korean waiter could speak Spanish, having lived somewhere in Central America for several years, so Kris and Sheree, who both speak it too, were able to have a long conversation with him. We thought that was pretty random!

 It’s hard to see too many sights of any city in less than three days (especially with most of two of them taken up in a conference), but we were able to take a look at a couple of Seoul’s many ancient palaces. We just looked at one from the outside, but I paid the dollar entry fee to go into the other. It wasn’t at all like I had expected, and probably not like what you’re picturing, either. Don’t think of a tall building with turrets and spires and battlements surrounded by a moat. Think of a huge yard with a complex of different-sized one-storey buildings, all with fancy roofs in the Asian architectural style, but otherwise not that exciting to look at.
 

There were guided tours going on, and signs explaining what each building had been used for back in the day, but since both were in Korean I didn’t get much out of them. No one was allowed inside the buildings, anyway, as far as I could tell. Not to mention it was raining hard at the time and I had no umbrella or raincoat, plus it was starting to get dark and cold, and Marcy was waiting for me by the entrance to go and get dinner. Oh, well – at least now I can say I’ve toured a Korean palace!

We also got to visit this interesting building, called Sungnaemun Gate.  Apparently it was was once an actual gate leading into the city (now it’s somewhere in the middle of Seoul). 

Well, it was a great trip, especially considering how short it was. I was disappointed not to find many souvenirs available, and that prices were for the most part no lower than in the States, but other than that it was all I could have hoped for. Now I’ve just got to go back for a week or two sometime with Floyd, so we can see and do everything as Korea was meant to be experienced!