7.24.10 Changhua 彰化市

On Saturday, Erin, Kristi, Katy, Libby and I went to Changhua.  That is where some other ILP teachers live and work.  We were supposed to meet up with them, supposed to.  We got into Changhua an hour later than we were supposed to.  The teachers were not at the train station waiting for us, but who could blame them.  We were really really late.  Thank goodness Erin copied down a map, because we would be completely lost without it.  We went on our way without our personal tour guides. 

On our way, we came across Kaihua Temple, commonly called the Guanyin Pavilion. it is the oldest Buddha temple in Changhua.  It was built in year 1724.  It was really small and didn't look super super old, because of fires and earthquakes it has been renovated several times.  Cool!

We continued on our way and spotted the Great Buddha in the distance.  On the way, we found the Changhua Confucius Temple.  That was built in year 1726.  It was renovated in 1976 and 2008.  It was so cool.  I love Asian architecture, with the swoopy roofs, dragon pillars and intricate woodcarving work.  There was a lot more to see at this temple.  Beautiful!

I stopped in a store to buy a new memory card for my camera.  While we were there, we ran into a couple who were on the train with us.  They were staring at us more than the average person and kept saying "mei guo ren," which I have learned means "American."  Anyway, they invited us to go to the Cultrual Center with them to see an art exhibit.  The artist was the man's teacher.  The paintings were so beautiful and colorful.  The style reminded me of a modern-day Vincent Van Gogh because of the strokes.  I wish we were allowed to take pictures in there.  They were so pretty.  The man who invited us actually had no arms.  He told us that he puts the paint brush in his teeth to paint.  That is so inspiring.  Everyone was so happy that we were there viewing the art.  They invited us to be in a picture. 

Kristi took this picture.

We finally found the Baguashan Scenic Area.  The park was so lusciously green.  There were stairs and trails leading up to the Great Buddha on the hilltop.  Lots and lots of stairs.  The Great Buddha is black concrete and stands 100-feet tall.  It was hallow, so we could go up inside of it.  There were a few dioramas about Buddha's life, teachings and philosophies inside.  Behind the Buddha is a 3-story temple.  I love Taiwan!  There is so much to see and do.  We took tons of pictures.  In front of the big buddha, we could see all of Changhua.  This town stretches on and on, definitely bigger than Fengyuan.

While we were at the great Buddha, we realized we were famished, having not eaten all day.  We stopped at some authentic place.  I am not sure what I ate, but it was cheap and yummy.  Only 60 NTD. 

We decided to go to the train station early.  Earlier this morning we planned on meeting Whitney and Laura in Daqing at 6:00pm and then go to Costco.  We figured we would go to Daqing early, and then explore until 6:00.  Daqing turned out to be kind of a ghetto town.  At least the train station was in a ghetto part of town.  So, we decided not to venture out.  The station had no benches to sit on, so I sat on the dirty ground.  We waited and waited and waited for Whitney and Laura.  We were there for 3 hours!  They never showed, obviously.  But it was all a giant miscommunication.  Kristi put is so nicely in her blog:

"What happens when 5 teachers take a train from Feng Yuan to meet 4 teachers in Changhua, but the 5 teachers are late, so the 4 teachers leave and come back, but the 5 teachers are already gone... and the 4 teachers were supposed to relay a message from 2 teachers to the 5 teachers about the meeting in Daqing, so after taking a train from Changhua the 5 teachers wait in Daqing for the 2 teachers for 3 full hours, when the 8 teachers were actually supposed to be in Taichung?!?!"

Confusing, I know.

Videos from Bike ride

Remember: if you can't see the videos click here.

Bike ride to the longest bike tunnel

On Tuesday, Libby, Laura, Erin and I rode our bikes to the longest bike tunnel again.  It was really nice to be on our bikes.  My bike has issues.  The back wheel grinds against the fender as I ride.  It complicates things.  That day, I asked Allison if I could borrow her bike.  Now, I think, my bike is not so bad.  I realize now that all the bikes have some sort of issue.  We got a little lost on the way to the bridge, but made it with little trouble.  When it started to rain, we decided to head home.

On the bridge

View from the bridge

The Tunnel

The bridge

An attempt to capture the sunset.  The sun was beautiful, but I missed my opportunity to photo that.

I was trying to show the raindrops on my clothes.

Videos by Tony (one of my 1st graders)

Tony is amused because Jeff took pictures of him on my cell phone.

"Can't catch me!"

"You photo me; I film you."

Tony's Cinematography Masterpiece

Classroom Chaos - My First Grade Class

On Monday, I brought some objects into my first grade class for a game.  The idea was to group a few things together and have the kids guess why those things are together.  For example: for the first round, I grouped a clock, a watch, and a cell phone.  The common theme was that they all tell time.  That was the only round that we got through before my class turned into utter chaos.  The kids took my phone and camera and were taking pictures and video.  A couple of boys were playing soccer with a sponge.  I just let it be.  I really need to work on classroom managment.  I have some interesting pictures of the experience, courtesy of Tony.

We found a little lizard.  I couldn't focus in very well.

Jeff, Sharlene and Tony (back facing the camera)

Camera Shy

Tony

Me, Jeff and Mark

Me, Jeff, Sharlene and Mark

Mark and Tom playing soccer with the sponge.

More soccer action

Tom

Mark, Tom, Jeff and Sharlene

Tom

Tom

Scootah!

Today after church, Whitney offered to give one of us a ride home on her scooter.  I volunteered the quickest.  Yea!  It was so much fun.  I love scooters.  It was also a good opportunity to get to know Whitney better. 

Week 3 Videos

If you can't view the videos click here.

On the bus, on the way to Taipei.

We encountered this man at the rest-stop.  He is playing a leaf.

A closer view.

At the Taipei Stake Center.  They were practicing for some sort of concert or talent show.

Third time to Taipei

Today, our ward took a bus ride into Taipei to go to the Taipei temple.  On the way there, I sat in between Whitney Sheahan and Kristi Stephensen.  It was nice because I don't feel like I know Whitney very well, and now I know her a little better.  They are both very peaceful people.  I like it.  It's nice to be around them. 

The Taipei temple was beautiful.  I love the Asian inspired paintings and furniture.  I have never been in a smaller temple.  It was pocket-sized; just like Taiwan. 

After the temple, we went to Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world.  Alex, a girl in my ward, said that it was built like bamboo, in layers.  There are eight sections.  Eight is a lucky number here.  It means wealth and prosperity(?).  We ran out of time to go up to the top.  On another occasion we will.  On the inside it is an upscale shopping mall, with stores like Armani and Tiffany & Co. among others. 

Taipei has a lot more to see and do.  I can't wait to go back. 

Random tidbit: People here stare at us Americans a lot.  But, today I thought, can I blame them.  I do the same thing.  Every time I see an American I stare, because there just aren't very many here.  In fact, when we were standing outside in front of Taipei 101, an asian woman wanted us to stand by her so that he husband could take a video of us with her.  Weird. 

Playing at the Rest stop.

Me and Erin

Can you do the Can Can?

Alex, Me, Libby, Erin and Kristi

Me and beautiful Formosa

Kristi, Erin, Libby and Whitney

That darn squatter

Taipei Taiwan Temple

Laura, Me and Erin

Taipei 101

Libby, Laura, Lien, Erin, Kristi and Me

Inside Taipei 101

Uniform Day

Today was "uniform day."  Berhan gave us each a cotton t-shirt with the Berhan logo on it, which was cool except for the fact that they were all way too big.  It looked like I was wearing a tent.  I was a little embarrassed about it.  When I came downstairs to my first class, I knew that the secretaries were talking about me and my huge shirt.  In Chinese they talked while pointing at me and pointing at their own shirts.  It's not my fault it is the wrong size.  They never asked us what size we wanted.  Well, now I have a new pajama shirt.  I will tell you, I was very comfortable today wearing a "pajama" top.

I look thrilled.

The bench

The most random thing: One of Erin's student's parents gave us an AB bench for the fourth floor.  Apparently she works for an exercize equipment company.  Sometime, we are going to get an eliptical too.  Erin and I had to carry it up the stairs. 

The "Tunnel of Death"

We call this the "Tunnel of Death."  Not sure why.  Other than the fact that this is where I got in my first bike accident.  For my safety while filming this video, I rode through the tunnel much slower than normal. 

A brief account:  "There is an area where the road is really narrow.  At that spot, only the cars are allowed on the road.  The scooters and bikes have to go on a separate sidewalk that goes through a tunnel, the "Tunnel of Death."  The pedestrians have another designated sidewalk.  Anyway, I was riding my bike throught the tunnel and the people in front of me slowed to a stop really fast.  I reacted fast enough, but the people behind me did not.  I was hit from behind, another cyclist.  I was slammed into the wall of hte tunnel.  Erin and Kristi were in front of the me, and heard the crash, but didn't realize it was me.  Remarkably, I came out unscathed.  I can't say the same for my bike.  Now I can check that experience off my list."

For people who get the emails, you can view the video at: http://meg-yancey.blogspot.com/ .

Food

Just got home from grocery shopping, enjoying some chocolate milk.  The milk here tastes really good, however, it is imported.  No cows in Taiwan.

Notice the flavor.  Pineapple flavored cheese!

American brands!

Holy Mangos!  I had no idea there was more than one type of mango.  The one on the bottom is almost twice the size of a mango bought in America.  You can only imagine how big the yellow one's are. 

Candy.  Beware of the Cola flavored Mentos.  I couldn't stomach them. 

Saw these at Carrefour today.  Interesting flavors.