Only 3 full days left in HOT Taiwan! Summer officially arrived today (just on time) with intense and unrelenting heat. I must say that my Northern blood is looking forward to cool Pittsburgh temperatures soon!
A few notes: -- The semester officially ended this past Friday. The students moved out and I had to move out of the new dorm, as well. I spent most of Friday moving all of my stuff (which was quite a task) to the old girls' dorm building. Two girls will be arriving at the college the day that I leave to help with summer school and will be staying in the old dorm building. It's my job to have their room (where all of my stuff is) ready for their arrival. The old building is.....old, and very secluded on the backside of campus. I quickly decided that I wasn't thrilled about the idea of staying in a dark, empty room by myself for my last week here. Thankfully, the Father always provides for our needs and one of the couples here offered to let me stay in their spare bedroom. They're an elderly missionary couple that has literally been all over the world. I've been having a blast listening to their stories (and eating their homemade meals)! Much, much better than being stuck in a room by myself every night :) --I'm hard at work preparing lesson plans for the "Intercultural Communications" class that will be taught during summer school in about a week. An MTW worker will be teaching the class, but he doesn't arrive til Thursday night. My job is to have as much of the prep work done for him as possible. This will take up most of my spare time in the next 3 days. --I'm going to the zoo tomorrow!! Yay for pandas! One of the students, Grace, will be accompanying me. I'm very much looking forward to this :) --No idea what I'm doing Wednesday or Thursday. Meeting with a student who is doing make-up work...dinner with two dear friends here....hopefully dinner at the teacher's favorite restaurant (and mine, too :))...who knows what else. --I'll be leaving Christ's College at about 3 am on Friday morning {3 pm on Thursday, Pittsburgh time}. My flight leaves Taipei for Hong Kong at 6:25 am {6:25 pm Thursday night}. I then fly from Hong Kong to Detroit {I'll arrive in Detroit 12:15 pm on Friday, Pgh time} then onto Pittsburgh! My connections are EXTREMELY close. I only have about 1.5 hours in between flights on both stops. Please be praying that there aren't any delays and that I don't have any difficulties getting on my flights. I reeeeeeally don't want to be stuck in any airports.
Well, that's about it. See you soon, Mei Guo {America}! :)
As I was taking a walk around the neighborhood yesterday, the realization that I'm leaving in a week finally hit me. A week. Time has gone by so quickly. This realization was quickly followed by a wave of sadness. It's just starting to really feel like home here and now I have to leave :(
So, in order to cope with my sadness, I'm blogging :) Below you will find two lists: 1. Ways that I have "become Taiwanese"/things I will miss, 2. Things I'm excited for in America (in 9 days!)
Becoming Taiwanese/Missing Taiwan: - Umbrellas: It rains a lot here in general, but I came during a particularly rainy season, so umbrellas are everywhere. I've grown accustomed to having one in my purse at all times (something I never did at home). - Milk tea: As I realized that I'll no longer have this at my disposal in a week, I have been intensely craving it. Seriously delicious stuff. My goal is to have it at least once a day until I leave. - Walking: I LOVE walking everywhere. I'm really gonna miss being able to walk to the grocery store. - Chinglish: <3 - My room: This is the first time I've lived "on my own" (I'm in a dorm with a hundred other girls, but I've had to buy my own groceries, etc.) and I've grown attached to my room here. I have to move to another building this weekend and packing up my room has been super sad. - Food: Despite the random duck blood and squid tentacles, I've really enjoyed the food here and will definitely miss it (especially all the fruits and veggies). - Students: Sweet smiles....Chinglish....bringing me food....asking me how to pronounce words....everything.
American Things I'm Excited For (in no particular order): - Family and friends - Worshiping with my Providence family - My bed - Ranch dressing - Pizza - Boneless meat - Fewer mosquitoes - Driving - Summer cook outs - Unlimited texting - Dairy Queen
I had the AMAZING privilege of visiting a Christian orphanage yesterday. I went to the orphanage with a sweet girl named Sam who graduated from Christ's College a few years ago. She spent a lot of her life living at this orphanage and has an INCREDIBLE testimony. I loved getting to hear her story and share some of my own, as well.
I still don't think I've really wrapped my mind around this trip. If you know me (or my family) well, you know that there are few things that stir my heart more than orphans (especially Asian ones). I kept having to silently say to myself, "You're in an orphanage in Asia, Jamie. The Father has finally brought you to exactly where you've longed to be for years."
I was only able to stay for a few hours and actually ended up being there during nap time (as you can tell from the pictures). I only was able to hold and feed a few babies (they have a total of 17 right now), but it was enough. The home also takes care of many older kids, ranging from elementary age all the way to high school. These kids were at school while I was there, so unfortunately I wasn't able to meet them.
As I sat in an old rocking chair with a hungry and sweating child in my arms, I couldn't help but reflect on the goodness of our Father. We are all orphans--helpless and in need of care--and we've been adopted by the greatest Father ever. A Father who will never leave us and will always care for our every need. What an amazing gift!
"My whole life I thought I was an orphan. But then I found out that I have been adopted by God and he will never leave me! This gave me so much happiness!" --from Sam's testimony
I can't wait to see what opportunities the Father gives me in the future to serve in Asia. As I sat in the damp and hot nursery that smelled of baby formula and sweat, I felt a great assurance that the Lord's not done with me yet (and that Asia and I won't be separated for long) :)
For those of you not on Facebook (or at least not friends with me), here are the links to all of my photo albums (you'll be able to view them without a FB account):
The Taiwanese love their food...and I mean, LOVE. The streets are lined with independent food stands and restaurants. I think you could stand anywhere in Taipei and, at the most, have to walk 30 seconds to find food. Here's a little sample of the food I've been enjoying:
{Above: Super tall ice cream cones that cost roughly 30 cents USD.}
Hot Pot: I had heard a lot about this and was very excited to try it for myself! Basically, you have a pot of boiling water at your table, then you take your plate to a big freezer and pick out as many uncooked meats and veggies as you'd like. Throw everything in the pot and voila! A delicious Chinese meal :)
Sha bing: This is AMAZING. It's a big bowl of shaved ice milk (creamier than just shaved iced) covered with fresh fruit. I got strawberry and mango and it was fantastic. This is probably Taiwan's most famous dessert.
Fresh fruit....mango....smoothies: Taiwan is an island. It's really hot and humid. The upside to this fact: delicious fruit.
Sketchy Malaysian food: After we ordered this food at a night market, the students confessed that they'd never tried it before. Great. The rice on the left wasn't terrible, but the soup on the right...."not good," as the students would say. After finding out that the brown things in the soup were pieces of duck blood, I quietly set my spoon on the table :)
Half-eaten Korean food: For the most part, I enjoyed this meal. Korean barbecue is delicious and there were some really yummy veggies. Kimchi is a popular Korean dish that you'll find in Taiwan a lot. It's usually made from fermented cabbage and is rather spicy...I'm not a big fan. Do you see the triangle shaped bread-like things on the left side? I was breaking one of them apart (to eat it) and quickly discovered shrimp head + antennae and little tiny squid tentacles inside. Ew.
Indian food from the food court at Taipei 101: YUM. My naan and chicken curry was spectacular.
Auntie Anne's!: This was an exciting treat from the food court (also at 101.)
This past week, the senior music students here at Christ's College gave their final recitals. I was able to see seven students perform. There is some great talent here! Here are my favorite photos from this week's recitals....
It's an emotional weekend here at Christ's College. A dear couple (that I've been privileged to spend 2 weeks with,) Jim & Sandy Vargas are moving back to the States after eight years of service here at CC. It has been wonderful for me to see the students and teachers here send them off with much love and affection. They're heading back to the US on Tuesday and I'll be taking over some of their teaching and tutoring duties for the remainder of the year. On Friday in Chapel, some of the freshman class sang "Amazing Grace" for Jim & Sandy. Enjoy the video....
I've attended the school-wide chapel services twice so far (they have 3 a week) and was able to take some photos, as well as videos. The services are almost completely in Chinese, so I wear a headset and someone translates for me. Enjoy the worship of the Lord in another tongue :)
I'm living in the girls' dorm building, but I have my own room. There are usually 6 girls to a room here, so eating a meal or hanging out in my big open room is a nice break from the chaos for most girls. I'm happy to open up my "home" to them :) Here are a few pics...
Above photo: My workspace :)
Closets and hallway
Bed and bookcase
My make-shift "living room"
Perfect for sharing a meal :)
My "kitchen"
Hallway
VERY thankful for a normal, Western bathroom (with hot water!) :)
The above poster of my face is hanging up all over campus (and on my door.)
I had some free time this afternoon, so I walked around campus with my camera to give you a better idea of what my new home looks like! :) Enjoy a few photos of the campus....
This is the dorm building that I'm living in.
This building is where the auditorium and the Education Dept. office are located. I hear music playing from the auditorium every time I walk past it. So fun :)
Ni hao {hello}! After almost a year's worth of preparation, I am finally in Taiwan! It's been a busy and tiring (jet lag is not fun,) but encouraging first few days. I've been meeting lots of people--teachers, students and other staff at Christ's College. I've also had several meetings and observed a few English classes. I thought I'd share a sort of random list of initial cultural observations, highlights, things I love and things that are hard about my new home (for the next 2 months.)
First Impressions of Taiwan: --The photo at the top of the page is of the Danshui River and the Goddess of Mercy Mountain. There is a walkway next to the river that stretches across most of Taipei. I've taken a walk along this path twice now and I absolutely LOVE it. So beautiful. I love that you can be in the middle of a busy and noisy city, then walk about 5 minutes and be on a quiet tree-lined sidewalk, looking at the mountains. It's the perfect combination of natural beauty & the excitement of city life. (Below: another photo of the Danshui River and G.o.M Mountain)
--The town is like a county fair in the States....except all the time. The photo below is a street in Danshui within walking distance of Christ's College. It basically always looks this crazy. --If you hear cheesy music coming from a truck, don't expect to get ice cream. It's the garbage truck. Very odd. --My least favorite thing about Taiwan, as of now, is that they recycle EVERYTHING...paper, plastic and even food. You have to save all of your wasted food and put it in a special trash can. At this point, I really don't know what I'm actually allowed to throw in a general trashcan. --So far the only Chinese food I've eaten is jiaozi (dumplings) and a local restaurant specialty--shaved noodles. Both were delicious. My chopsticks skills are improving by the minute. --I've finally gotten all settled into my little apartment in the girls' dorm building. It's very nice and already feeling like "home." I'll share some pictures of my room soon.... --I ate lunch in my room with a student named Emily today. I learned from this lunch that Pride & Prejudice crosses all cultural boundaries. Even Taiwanese college students love Mr. Darcy! Now that my apartment is cleaned up, I'm looking forward to many more visits from students! --Even after a mere 3 days, I've learned that living in Asia is always more hectic than you expect. I planned to have some time to relax this morning before my first meeting of the day. Instead, my shower head broke and I spent most of my morning finding another place to shower and getting my own shower back in working order. --If you're walking in the town, it feels like you're going to get hit by a car or motor bike at all times. Asians have a very different (possibly non-existent) concept of personal space. --Squid on a stick looks super gross and I will not be eating it. --What's considered warm/nice weather in Pittsburgh, is considered "really cold" in Taiwan. It's been rainy and foggy the past few days, but it's very warm and humid. --I've had two older Taiwanese women who work at the school (neither speak any English) tell me that I'm "so cute" and that they have sons who are my age. It's rather hilarious. (Above: Another view from walking along the Danshui River) --I got some sort of mango shaved ice drink from the above shop. Yummy. I also tried pearl milk tea (or bubble tea) for the first time. If you don't know what this is, wikipedia can tell you. How the Taiwanese thought of putting tapioca balls in tea is beyond me, but I'm glad they did. I'm excited to try more tea concoctions...
Thank you all for your support and for sharing in this adventure with me! I'm excited to continue sharing my thoughts, stories and photos with you. Feel free to drop me an email (jamie.l.stuart@gmail.com) or message me on Facebook or Skype (jam.ie.stuart.)
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