Today is Chinese New Year’s Eve, and here in Taiwan that’s a big deal.  Most schools close for three weeks (ours closes for one), extended families get together, adults give children hong baos (red envelopes with money), and good luck getting any sleep at night with all the fireworks.

I received this chart recently from a colleague and thought I’d pass it on.  I think it’s really interesting how many similarities there are between Passover, in the Old Testament, and Chinese New Year as it’s been practiced for centuries.  You could see it as one of those examples of how God has inserted hints about Himself and His Word into cultures around the world.  Discussing these similarities can be a great way to bring up the gospel and get people here interested in the Bible.

I shared this chart with my 5th graders (most of whom are from Chinese families) the other day.  Though I’m far from an expert on Chinese culture, the kids agreed that these points are pretty accurate.  They did assure me there are some exceptions (one boy told me his family always goes out to buy cookies late in the evening on New Year’s Eve because they always seem to forget they need them until then), but apparently most items on the chart do fit well with how their families celebrate Chinese New Year.

Floyd and I just got back from an overnight getaway in Ali Shan, one of Taiwan’s beautiful mountain areas.  It’s famous for its spectacular sunrise, which is the main reason most people visit.  (However, I must confess that in the picture below, we’re standing in front of a mural!)

http://p2.la-img.com/

This morning at school the electricity went out.

There was a time when that wouldn’t have been a big deal.  Back when I was a fifth grader, it might have meant simply the inconvenience of having a slightly dimmer classroom (which perhaps wouldn’t have been a very noticeable difference – I can’t recall how big our windows were or how much natural light they let in).  If it happened on the day when we were scheduled for our weekly trip to the computer lab, the teacher would have had to plan something else for forty minutes or so, but otherwise, our day would have continued exactly the way it always did.  And considering that power outages are fairly common in Kenya, where I grew up, I’m assuming that probably did happen at school fairly often.  The fact that I don’t specifically remember any such instances just goes to show that they were no big deal.

But here and now, in Morrison Academy in Taiwan in September of 2013, it is a big deal.

I was sitting at my desk in my classroom getting ready for the day, and at about 7:20 a.m., the power suddenly went out. This is a rare enough occurrence here that I had no way even to guess how long it would be out, though of course I hoped it would only be for a few minutes.

I remember years ago, when I was working as a substitute teacher in California, there was a time when we had a lot of rolling blackouts because the whole area was short on power.  One of the schools I subbed at had a list of instructions for teachers to follow in the event of a blackout.  Things like, “Whenever possible, continue teaching normally,” and “If any parents show up in the middle of the day to pick up their children, remind them to sign them out in the office first.”  I remember laughing about it at the time, thinking how silly American schools were to treat a simple blackout like a natural disaster.

But it wasn’t so funny today, and I must confess that the question of whether there was a chance school might even be cancelled did cross my mind.  I immediately started thinking about my lesson plans and all the little daily tasks that involve electricity, and how I would have to change things if it didn’t come back on.

First of all, my parent helpers were scheduled to come in right before school started to make my photocopies for the week.  Some of those were papers I’d been planning to use that morning.  What would I do if the copy machine wasn’t working in time?  In addition, I had promised to print something that my husband Floyd needed for a high school activity he would be helping with in less than an hour, but obviously my own classroom printer wasn’t functioning either.  As soon as I thought of that, I picked up the phone to call Floyd and let him know, but I had forgotten that without electricity, the classroom phones wouldn’t work.

When my fifth graders first arrive in the morning, they’re supposed to do several things to get ready for the day.  One of those is sharpen their pencils, which most of them do on our electric pencil sharpener (those who don’t have mechanical pencils, that is).  They’re also supposed to pull their homework out and get it ready to hand in.  Today that would have meant printing a document they had typed at home on their Alphasmarts, which is accomplished by taking the Alphasmart over to our classroom printer and holding it up to a sensor on the front, then pressing “print”.  When they’re done with that, they’re supposed to read the week’s Bible memory verse from the screen in the front of the room where I project it from my computer and then copy it down onto their Bible verse sheet.  None of those activities would be possible without electricity.

While the students are doing those things and generally getting ready for the day, I have a few things I normally do too.  I always check the school website to check what the two choices for hot lunch entree are, ask the students how many of them want each kind, and then submit the totals to the cafeteria on a Google form.  Then I record any absences or tardies on the online attendance form.

Every Monday morning, the student of the week gets to pick a people group that doesn’t have the Bible in its language, from Wycliffe’s book From Akebu to Zapotec, for the class to pray for.  After I read the blurb in the book about that group and its culture, I normally use Google Maps on the SmartBoard to show the students that part of the world.  They always enjoy zooming in, often close enough to see individual roads and buildings as well as larger features like mountains and rivers.  In addition, as part of the day’s Bible lesson, I had been planning to use the projector to show the students a slideshow about the life of Joseph that I had put together with pictures I’d found online.

At least the reading lesson would be easy enough to do without electricity, but after recess our class was scheduled to visit the computer lab for our spelling pretest.  That’s right, we take all our spelling tests at www.spellingcity.com, where I type in the words ahead of time and the students can take tests, play games, and practice in various ways with the words from our weekly list.  Through their headphones, they hear the words read aloud and used in sentences, and after they’ve typed them all in, the computer grades it instantly.  When they print their tests, it displays their total score both as a percentage and with the exact numbers they got right and wrong, as well as showing each word the way they typed it (marked with an X or a check mark).  (Quick plug: it’s a great teacher time saver, and the basic subscription is free!)

After spelling, our writing lesson would have been fine without electricity for the most part.  But I knew the students would miss the instrumental music I usually play from my computer in the background to inspire them while they write.  In the afternoon, things would get a little more challenging.  When I teach math, I always go to the textbook website and project the particular page we’re working on onto the SmartBoard.  It’s easier to read through the instructions together and work on the practice problems when the students can come up front and show their work right by the problem itself.

In science, we’ve been learning about the different body systems.  In addition to reading a couple of pages from our textbook and filling out a worksheet,  I had two short movies from a science website that I had been planning to have the students watch and take notes on: one about the skeletal system and the other about the muscular system.

In short, my lesson plans for every subject except reading would have to change in some way.  My head spun as I realized how much I count on technology (electricity-requiring technology!) in almost everything I teach now!

But though it would be inconvenient, there were ways around my planned technology use.  However, there was one BIG problem that I could see no way around – one that would make a September day in Taichung very difficult to deal with.  That was the one that made me wonder if there was any possibility school might be cancelled or at least dismissed early if the power failure lasted all day.

We would have no air conditioning.

Already, at 7:30 a.m., with the a/c and fans only having been off for ten minutes and no one but me in the room, I was sweating.  What would it be like in there with twenty-six pre-adolescents as the day wore on?  I opened the windows and door for airflow (at that point it was still a little cooler outside than in) and braced myself to find out.

Before the students even arrived, though, I discovered something else.  The water on campus wasn’t working.  Fortunately I had a full water bottle in my purse, but the students wouldn’t be able to use the drinking fountains or sinks, and the toilets wouldn’t flush.  (I’m guessing this was because, though Morrison has its own water supply, the pumps in our water tower are electric.)

When my kids lined up outside the classroom, already uncomfortably warm and all discussing the electricity problem and how we were to survive the day without any, one of them was already worried about the water issue.  “Mrs. Lima, I just used the bathroom, but it wouldn’t flush, and I can’t wash my hands!”  I directed him to the container of hand sanitizer we keep in the classroom.  First electricity-related problem of the day, solved.  If only the rest would be that simple.

 

When the students were all at their seats, I passed around the little hand-held pencil sharpener I keep at my desk to those whose pencils needed sharpening, and encouraged students who had their own to share with each other as well.  I wrote the memory verse on the whiteboard for them to copy.  I told them just to put away their Alphasmarts and not to worry about printing their social studies review until tomorrow.  And I offered rubber bands to anyone with long hair who wanted to tie it back and keep it off their neck.  (Sweat was starting to drip by this time, and about half the girls took me up on that.)  Four more problems dealt with.  So far, so good.

We started our Bible lesson in prayer today (usually we pray at the end).  There were plenty of volunteers eager to ask God to please bring back our air conditioning, and when I reminded them, to thank Him for the blessing of electricity that we get to enjoy most of the time, which many in the world don’t have.  Afterward, I had them bring their Bibles, workbooks, and pencils, and we lined up and went to go sit outside.  I knew that in a couple of hours it would be way too hot for that to be an option, so we might as well take advantage of the not-yet-scorching temperatures while we could.

The Bible lesson outside went okay, though there was so much background noise out there that I had to half yell the whole time just so the students would hear me.  Many of them were almost completely inaudible when I asked them to read a verse aloud or share an answer.  I was afraid my voice would wear out completely if I taught out there for very long, so it was a relief when we lined up to go back inside after the lesson was over.

But the classroom was starting to bear an uncanny resemblance to a sauna, so I was all set to let the students head back outside again for their silent reading time.  Then, to everyone’s surprise, all of a sudden back came the electricity!  The moment the lights went on, the room filled with delighted gasps and exclamations of relief, quickly followed by cheers when I turned on the air conditioning and all the ceiling fans.  Twenty-six sweaty, sticky students and one very thankful teacher prayed together and thanked God for restoring our power.

Altogether, the electricity was only off for about an hour and a half, and when I think back about it, I have to chuckle.  In retrospect, it really doesn’t seem like a very big deal.  Growing up in Kenya, power failures that lasted for hours – sometimes even a day or more – were a common occurrence.  The greatest inconveniences then were usually having to remember not to open the fridge more than absolutely necessary and needing to use flashlights or drippy candles at night.

But the technology that adds so many conveniences to our lives and makes certain aspects of teaching both easier and more challenging can be very hard to live without when it’s gone!  I felt quite powerless, pun intended, at the thought of possibly going a whole day without electricity here and now.  I think it’s good to occasionally be reminded, though, that life – even life in as technologically advanced and blessed a school as Morrison – is still possible without electricity.  If nothing else, the inconveniences and the sweat can remind us to count our blessings and pray for those who live in much more challenging circumstances.

And I’m glad school wasn’t cancelled after all!

We’re back in California for the summer! Here are some of the things that have stood out to Floyd and me in the last few days since we’ve returned to the States:

Wow, everything is so much more expensive than it was last summer. The price of gas is horrifying!

Look at all the sidewalks everywhere! Why aren’t there cars parked all over them?

There’s so much sky visible (because all the buildings are so short)!

It’s so quiet here. Sometimes at night we can’t hear a single sound.  Where are all the singing trash trucks and screeching birds?

Speaking of trash trucks, they’re all so quiet and boring. Why don’t they play Beethoven’s “Fur Elise”  and “The Maiden’s Prayer” loudly enough to be heard for blocks away while everyone in the neighborhood comes running out with bags of trash?
Most of the streets have only cars on them. Where are all the motorized scooters and wandering dogs?

Speaking of dogs, all the ones we’ve seen here are naked! (See my post about Taiwanese dogs here.)

Speaking of cars, why are they so HUGE?

Why are there so few vegetables on the menus at restaurants?

So many people speak English. It’s weird to understand what’s being said around us all the time, and to actually be able to read all the billboards and street signs.

There are so many white-skinned people here!  When I catch a glimpse of one, I keep finding myself taking a closer look to see if I know them.

How does everyone manage without a 7-Eleven on every corner?

Where can we get REAL Chinese food????

Today Floyd and I traveled to the city of Lukang (pronounced “loo-gahng”), about an hour’s drive south of here, to attend their annual Dragon Boat Festival celebration.  It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I first heard of the holiday six years ago, but we’ve usually already been in the States for the summer by the time.  But since it’s based on the lunar calendar, the exact date of Dragon Boat Festival varies from year to year, and this year we’re staying in Taiwan a little later than usual.  As a result, this time we were able to be here for it!  

Some would say we were crazy to do something like this the day before flying out, but we purposely got ahead on our packing and cleaning, and it worked out just fine.

 

This was another way to beat the heat!  Those teenagers were having a lot of fun in this bounce house/giant wading pool.  I was tempted to jump in with them!

More fun for kids!  (Notice the Oppa Gangnam Style balloons?!)  Below: more adults were interested in the gorgeous hand painted lanterns and dragon-themed art for sale at this booth.

While people browsed the booths and ordered food and gift items, dragon boat races were going on in the background the whole time.  Two boats would race each other and then get towed back to the starting point, and then two more, and so on.  The guys at the back were using rudders to steer, and there was always a drummer at the front beating the rhythm so all the rowers would stay in sync.

When they got near the finish line, the people you see at the very front would balance on their tummies on the dragon’s head and lean way out to reach for a little floating flag on a buoy.  They would grab the flag and toss it in the air to show that their boat had finished the race.

Well, I’ve experienced my first Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan.  That’s one more thing I can cross off my Bucket List!  Now to discover if any place around here is actually open for dinner, and then finish the last of the laundry and packing.  California, here we come!


This post is part of a blog hop.  To enter your own blog in the hop, find out more, or take a look at other people’s featured blog posts, click here.

 

The man’s fire fighter buddies were very enthusiastic, suggesting poses and helping to set up props (and taking pictures of each other with the bride and groom teddy bears in the first picture).  Passersby kept stopping to watch, and one of the tea shop ladies crossed the street to stand there taking her own pictures with her phone right by the professional photographers!  Is it any wonder I was distracted?!

I didn’t make these up, and not all of them apply to Floyd and me, but I think they’re pretty good!  After nearly six years in Taiwan, I can definitely relate to a lot of them (and most of the rest at least make enough sense now to be worth a chuckle)!

1. You can order the entire McDonald’s menu in Chinese.
2. You decide it makes more sense to drive a motorcycle instead of a car.
3. More than one garment has been ruined by betel-nut spit.
4. Someone doesn’t stare at you and you wonder why.
5. You look both ways before crossing the sidewalk.
6. Hsiaohsing Wine tastes good.
7. You turn left from the right lane.
8. 70 degrees Fahrenheit feels cold.
9. You see three people on a motorcycle and figure there’s room for two more.
10. “Squid” sounds better than “steak”.
11. You don’t notice the smell.
12. There are more things strapped to your motorcycle than you ever put in a car.
13. Looking at a dog makes you hungry.
14. You stop conjugating verbs.
15. You drive on the shoulder to pass traffic.
16. The main reason you stop at a 7-11 is to buy tea eggs.
17. You expect a Chinese New Year’s bonus.
18. Firecrackers don’t wake you up.
19. You spend two hours and US$75 to go get potato skins and buffalo wings.
20. You can distinguish the Taiwanese language from Hakka.
21. Your family stops asking you when you’ll be coming back.
22. Taxi drivers are considered “good drivers”.
23. You withdraw your money from the bank during Chinese missile tests.
24. Beer really isn’t so expensive.
25. You stop and look both ways before driving through a red light.
26. “A”, “an” and “the” aren’t necessary parts of speech.
27. You know when the next “big bai-bai” is.
28. Smoking is one of the dinner courses.
29. You don’t mind when your date picks her/his nose in public.
30. You wear out your horn before your brakes.
31. The police call you to get information about other foreigners.
32. You know which place has the best noodles and duck meat at 3:00 a.m.
33. a) You (male) wear white socks with suits and black socks with tennis shorts. b) You (female) wear socks with pantyhose in summer.
34. People who knew you when you first arrived don’t recognize you.
35. You speak Chinese to your foreign friends.
36. You own a karaoke machine.
37. None of your shoes have laces.
38. Chinese stop you on the street to ask for directions.
39. You leave the plastic on new furniture.
40. Forks feel strange.
41. You can spot the differences between the China News and the China Post.
42. The shortest distance between two points involves going through an alley.
43. You wear blue rubber flip-flops at work.
44. People don’t see you for months, and when they do, they don’t ask you where you’ve been.
45. Your deodorant stick has cobwebs on it.
46. You check that the karaoke machine is working before boarding a wild chicken bus.
47. Chinese remakes of Western songs sound better than the originals.
48. You stare at other foreigners.
49. Over half of your clothes were bought at night markets.
50. You become an expert on bug zappers: the best brands and where to get them.
51. The majority of foreigners who have been in Taiwan longer than you are buried here.
52. You find yourself saying, “Oh geez, not ANOTHER Year of the Rat.”
53. You know which turn signal should be on when driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
54. You get homesick for Chinese food while away from Taiwan.
55. Praying at a temple for a winning lottery number becomes a regular thing to do.
56. It becomes a tradition that at least a part of Christmas dinner is stir-fried.
57. Other foreigners give you a funny look when you tell them how long you’ve been here.
58. You can’t think of any good reason to leave.
59. The Statute of Limitations has expired and you still don’t go home.
60. You understand that smiling and nodding is Chinese body language for “Stop speaking bad Mandarin and leave me alone.”
61. Passing a construction site, you realize metal scaffolding is much more dangerous than bamboo.
62. You’ve spent more time on the island since 1990 than any of the Taiwanese you know.
63. The last few vacations you’ve had have been around Taiwan on company outings.
64. You’ve used up more than one phone card on local calls.
65. Locals are surprised to find out you can’t vote in the upcoming election.
66. Your pets are bilingual.
67. Pizza just doesn’t taste right unless there’s corn on it.
68. Your preferred parking spot is on a sidewalk (and you get upset when someone else parks there).
69. Most meaningful conversations take place in doorways or on slow-moving motorcycles.
70. You can de-bone a piece of chicken in your mouth within seconds.
71. Your job title has more than three words.
72. You think the service in the restaurants isn’t THAT bad.
73. You serve Shaoshing wine at home.
74. You’re constantly the first on the elevator to hit the “door close” button.
75. You start cutting off the gravel trucks.
76. You prefer squat toilets.
77. You think having a scooter would be fun.
78. You eat squid on a stick.
79. You no longer find those strange and humorous articles in the paper to send home.
80. Your most commonly used Mandarin phrase is no longer “wo ting bu dong”.
81. Your answer to an “either/or” question is “yes”.
82. The fashions in the stores look really hip.
83. You’re into Sumo on NHK.
84. Chou tofu is no longer stinky.
85. You go to a nice restaurant and look for the rice bowl to put your food in.
86. You wish they had Lazy Susans in the middle of the tables at TGI Fridays.
87. You spend more time driving ON the lines than in between them.
88. You read books from back to front.
89. You start to like Kaoliang brandy more than XO.
90. You think packs of dogs are cute.
91. You are on home leave and you say “hsie hsie” instead of “thank you”.
92. You call it home.
93. You’re ready to name the betel nut as a nutritional supplement.
94. You think that $3,000,000 NT for a golf club membership is a steal.
95. You drive like this all the time.
96. You think the Taipei-Tamsui ferry is world class cruising.
97. You think that Taiwan is really trying to protect endangered species.
98. Your pinkie nail is over one inch long.
99. You stop using spell check on your word processor.
100. You buy round trip air tickets from Taipei.
101. You are worried when you DON’T see the soldiers on a bridge.
102. You think that ICRT is quality radio.
103. You tell the taxi drivers to hurry up.
104. You think your nose IS kind of big.
105. You hum along to the tunes in the taxi.
106.You’ve left umbrellas in more than 3 resturants.
107. You understand ICRT traffic reports.
108. You keep stuffed animals in your car.
109. You think walking up Yangmingshan looks like fun.
110. US $4.00 seems just about right for a cup of coffee.
111. You can tell the difference between Spring rain, the Plum rain, and the rainy season.
112. The last time you visited your mother you presented her with your business card.
113. The latest you can stay out is 11:30 pm, even on a weekend.
114. You can tell, just by looking, which moon cake has the egg in it.
115. You’re getting allergic to fresh air.
116. You get used to being woken up by the “trash-truck tune” instead of a clock.
117. Cable TV reminds you of boring commercials and stock market advisories.
118. Everything you own is pirated.
119. You start to treat your scooter like a spouse.
120. You get used to not paying any tips while traveling.
121. Your first reaction in buying things is to ask for discounts.
122. Your first reaction in hearing the national anthem is to think of the Chinese elementary school.
123. You get addicted to MSG.
124. You get dogdoophobia — the fear of stepping on dog doo when walking around.
125. You say “Wei?” instead of “Hello?” when you pick up the phone.
126. The red light is merely a suggestion to you.
127. You talk on your cellular phone, play Tetris, smoke, and chew betel nut, all at the same time.
128. You always ask your best friend back home when he’s going to get a motorcycle.
129. You greet people by inspecting whatever they’re carrying or telling them how fat they’ve gotten.
130. You can no longer tell the difference between a burp and the hiccups, a cracker and a cookie, or toast and bread.
131. You’re on a first name basis with the staff at the local KTV.
132. The perfect date ends at a KTV.


Can you think of anything else that should be on this list?  Feel free to add it in the comments!