Day 3, January 27th

Day 3, January 27th

"Do not crouch on the toilet to prevent accident"

"Do not stand on the toilet."



No Explaination Needed.

Day 2, January 26

Day 2, January 26th

This is the Tourism Slogan for Taiwan.

"Taiwan - Touch Your Heart"

When my sweet friend, Kalie, came to visit almost a year ago, she loved these signs.  Everywhere she went, she would comment on the funny slogan.

Well, last night after I took the picture, I started thinking about how Taiwan really has touched my heart.  I know that I will forever be changed because of my time in Taiwan.  I have met some of the most giving, kind hearted, loving, unique, special people in the world.  The Lord has blessed me with so many sweet friendships that I know will last for a lifetime.  He has provided many opportunities for me to love on those people and for them to love on me in return. The Taiwanese have taught me a new way to love.  They give everything they have.  They don't just give what they have leftover.  They give their best and most precious items.  They give their time so freely.  I still struggle with making sure that I get the best of whatever it is or that I make sure to guard my time to myself.  But I am so convicted by that.  Did He send me to Taiwan so that I could sit at home and have time to myself?  No.  Are any of these items mine anyway? No.

I have been more challenged and fallen even more in love with my God and Savior through the love He has given me for the Taiwanese.  I have been and continue to be blessed through God using me here.

That girl that left Lubbock International Airport on December 2, 2009 will never ever be the same. 

Taiwan touched her heart.

Day 1, January 25th

My good friend, Erica, told me about this project a couple of her friends are doing for the year of 2011.  Clearly, I felt compelled to jump on the bandwagon.  Let's see how long I last.

Here is the deal.  I am going to (or going to really try hard to) take a picture everyday and post it, kind of like a photo diary.  So...here goes.

Day 1, Tuesday, January 25th

Buty shop

This is a chain store with locations all over Taipei. 

 Check out the website.

I see this shop every single day on my way to work.  It cracks me up.  I am sad to admit that I have never been inside.  I am fairly positive that it is supposed to be "Beauty Shop!" 

If only they knew what "buty shop" sounds like to American's!

Ghost Month

This lunar month is called "Ghost Month" in Taiwan.  I have asked several of my Taiwanese friends and language teachers what exactly this whole ghost month thing is about.

Ghost month is always the 7th lunar month.  This year that falls from August 10th - September 7th.  Basically, the Chinese and Taiwanese believe that the gates of Hell are thrown open at the beginning of this lunar month and the ghosts, or spirits, are free to roam the Earth.  During certain times of this month, more specifically the 1st day and the 15th day of the lunar month, the people set out "offerings" for the ghosts.  The streets are frangrant with the intense smell of incense.  All along the sidewalks, tables are loaded with snacks, sodas, tea, noodles, chips, chicken, etc.  There are containers bursting with flames as the 'ghost money' and 'ghost clothing' are burned for the spirits to bring back to Hell with them.  Businesses have these areas set up right outside and the workers will come outside to 'worship' or 'praise' the ghosts.  If they provide enough offerings and praises to appease the ghosts, they will be assured of a year of prosperity and peace.  Pictured above is one of the smaller tables of the many set up and down every street.

I asked one of my lau shi (teachers) about death and what that meant to her.  She told me that everyone went to the 'ground.'  There was no way to get straight into 'heaven' with the Gods.  She told me that only heroes got to go immediately to be with the gods.  The rest of the people all went to the 'ground.'  Based on how 'good' of a person you were and how much people praise you, you are placed into a level (for lack of a better word).  The really really bad people have to work in the heat of the ground with very little food and no clothing.  The people that were really 'good' do not have to work in the 'ground,' but get to stand in the doorways waiting to be reincarnated.  So I asked my sweet teacher if her ancestors were in the 'ground' and she simply replied, "Well, yes, but they aren't working" and smiled sweetly at me.  But she was quick to assure me that it wasn't religion, but just tradition.  Pictured above is the burning of the "ghost money."

As I walked through the streets with the incense frangrance nearly choking me and the smoke from the burning ghost money stinging my eyes, I was so completely overwhelmed with so many emotions.  Thankful that I have faith and hope in the one true God and I don't have to burn money, clothing, or give Him food so that He will provide me with peace and prosperity for the next year.  Broken hearted that so many of the Taiwanese people that I have come to love and care about are so trapped in this type of bondage.  Blessed to have a personal relationship with my Savior.  Frustrated that I didn't have the language capabilities to stop immediately and share the hope that I have from God with the people standing around, 'bai bai'-ing (worshipping) to the ghosts.

Please lift up my Taiwanese friends, believers and not-yet-believers, especially during the last few days of Ghost Month.  Please contact me if you would like to know more specific details to be lifting up to Father!              

Amazing...

This last week, I was so blessed to have the opportunity to head to the east of the island to a place called Taitung.  It was extremely hot the entire time, and I am pretty sure that I didn't stop sweating for 5 days straight.  It's a record somewhere, I'm sure. 

God used our team to share the Gospel with around 65 students and many of their parents.  It was definitely one of the hardest weeks in my life.  I was completely overwhelmed, um, 95% of the time.  I was humbled constantly by my need of interpreters, and many of those interpreters being much younger than me.  It was really hard to not be able to adequately communicate with the kids.  I used my broken Chinese, but most of the time no one understood me.  And they spoke so fast and quietly, I didn't understand ANY of their Chinese.  I don't think I have ever felt so useless at times.  I was thrown out of my comfort zone, and was challenged more probably than I have ever been before.  Above, Sady was a sweet little girl that I connected with.


Our team was blessed to see 7 new brothers and sisters join the family through baptism.

 We shared the Gospel in so many different and unique ways.  This is a technique where you fold a sheet of paper and rip down the middle.  Once you unfold the paper, you find a cross and scraps.  Without using the cross, the scraps spell "hell." With the cross added it spells "life." 

One of the nights, we were taken to Taimalie, where a typhoon caused a huge mudslide last August.  The amount of devastation is still unknown.  There was an entire village of more than 600 people that was completely wiped away.  These people lost EVERYTHING.  Luckily, the government built temporary housing that is available for all the survivors for 2 years.  Our group did VBS for the kids in Taimalie in 2008. 

 Above - this is where a village used to be.  The entire thing was swept away and buried.  The village is buried several feet below the mud.

Top 6...

Today marks my first 6 months in Taipei, Taiwan.  I truly love this country.  The people I have met are so wonderful!  I am so thankful to be spending time in this great country!  My heart is broken for the people that I have come to love and adore.  I thought I would celebrate this monumental day with my top ten most memorable/funny moments in Taiwan, so far!


6. Getting proposed to by an old man for his son on my first day here.  He literally starting telling me how awkward his son was, but that I should marry him anyways (all in Mandarin, of course).  I kept nodding my head like an idiot, agreeing to marry this awkward son who was standing right behind me.  Oops!  As soon as my supervisor's wife informed me of what I was agreeing to, I started shaking my head vigorously towards the man and his awkward son. 

5. Having an amazing birthday party thrown for me by my new Taiwanese friends.  They completely overwhelmed me with gifts, food, and fun!  I tried hot pot for the first time, and liked it!  We played Nertz (only my favorite card game ever) and made awesome music dance videos!  Anyone who knows me knows that nothing could be better!!!!

4. Learning my first sentence in Chinese.  "Wo bu chi chou dofu!" This translates to --> "I do NOT eat stinky tofu!"  Stinky tofu smells like the water (or what used to be water) of a porta-potty that has been living in the sun, baking, at a construction site with thousands of nasty men using it every hour.  Yeah - pretty terrible!  It tastes pretty terrible, too!  I have officially tried it twice now.  The first time, it was steamed and especially horrible.  The second time, it was fried and not as horrible.  It wasn't bad until the after taste.  That was pretty disgusting.  I immediately needed water to get that nasty reminder out of my mouth.



3. Nearly falling into the Pacific Ocean - in front of my boss, my coworkers, and about 300 Chinese tourists.  And I didn't just daintily slip.  I slipped on a massive seaweed covered rock.  I hit hard on my knees, my shoulder, and my forehead.  My purse even flew over my head and into the Pacific Ocean. Had a massive bruise for several days on my shoulder.  Definitely not awesome. 


2. Getting trapped in a birthday celebration for Matsu, a sea goddess, while visiting LuGong.  We were trapped for nearly 45 minutes or so.  Many people dressed up as gods and tons of fireworks.  There were several "scape goats" that were literally beating themselves with knives, pokey weapons, and burning their hands with incense.  It was intense.  It let me truly see how much bondage the people are caught in.  This continues to break my heart.

1. Seeing a scooter accident.  I know this sounds pretty morbid, but it was definitely eye opening as to how the Taiwanese handle these events.  We literally saw someone crash into a bicycle and fly over the handle bars of her scooter.  She skidded across the road on her head without a helmet.  Someone was checking to see if she was alive, but she was only knocked unconscious.  By the time we got near her, she was trying to sit up.  Our friend dialed 119 (Taiwan's 911) and thrust his phone at a Taiwanese man.  The biker that she hit came rushing over and made a gesture with his hand to show that the lady had been drinking alcohol.  She finally sat up and blood was streaming down her face.  She was a large woman, so it took several people to get her standing up.  She grabbed my hands and started to kiss them (yep, with her bloody face!)  She said, in perfect English in her drunken stupor, "Thank you!  Thank you!  You need to come to my house!"  We kindly refused.  The ambulance showed up, and she refused service.  We told them that she was drunk, and they said that they knew but couldn't do anything.  They left.  The police showed up and the lady said she didn't remember anything.  They let her go.  It was crazy!  In America, she would have been taken in, atleast for the night, to sober up.  Not here.  They let her go home.  She almost killed herself. (no pictures...sorry!)


DISCLAIMER ------>  I could have made a list of Top 600 and included my first concert, Kalie's visit, the Lantern Festival, Taipei 101, hot springs, etc. and so many other great events and people.  I thought I should limit it to the top 6 though.  Hope you enjoyed the stories as much as I enjoyed going through them.

Concerts, CosmosPeople, and Culture Shock...

(Culture Shock, the hip hip clothing store)

About a month ago, I went to my first Taiwanese concert.  I had a blast!  My friend Jenny called and asked me to attend a concert with a group of her friends that I had never met before.  I immediately accepted.  I had no idea what kind of concert I was attending, but who doesn't love concerts?!?!? 

Once we got to the concert, I found out that there were no chairs.  You have to stand the entire time.  Awesome!  Who really wants to sit at a concert?

The first group, OverDose, came on (LEFT).  Should have known by the name that it was a heavy metal group, singing in mostly Taiwanese, partly in Mandarin and one verse in English.  Honestly, I didn't even notice the English until halfway through the verse.  I know NO Taiwanese and not much Mandarin, so it was interesting. 

The second group, Cosmos People, came on (RIGHT).  They were more my style, even though there was NO English.  They sounded kind of like "Fall Out Boy" meets Jason Mraz.  They were really fun!  And they must have been pretty funny because everyone laughed at them.  I found myself giggling with them even though I had no idea what was funny!  I ended up leaving early because I was exhausted.  Turns out that I didn't love standing for several hours on end after being at work all day.  Ah, the joys of being a grownup.