Last night, someone shared a video of the “Eight Blessings of Heaven” on Facebook.
Lawrance watched it, and since it was really catchy I asked about it. He simply said, “oh, it’s the eight Christian blessings.”
And then the cogs in my brain started turning. First I thought: “That’s really cool. Some Chinese person who knows that eight is an auspicious number meaning blessing and fullness created a neat way to share truth.”
Then I thought: “Hmmm, I wonder how they choose only eight. I wonder what those eight blessings are. I wonder if they’re truly biblical.”
Fast-forward to today. Lawrance found another video with hundreds of people dancing in the street at an event called “Kaohsiung for Jesus.”
I wanted to watch it for myself, so he sent me the link. It was only then that I realized that “Heaven’s Eight Blessings” were the “Beatitudes”!
So, um, yeah. That’s pretty biblical. I never before realized there were eight of them. I have no idea if that number had significance to the immediate culture Christ was “opening his mouth and teaching” to, but it sure does have a lot of significance to the Taiwanese and Chinese! How cool!!!
Watch and see for yourself, how Taiwanese have turned the “Eight Blessings of Heaven” into a dancing chant:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:3-10 ESV)
When my mom was here, usually the first comment she heard was “Wow! You look so young, you could be Amanda’s sister!!” The second comment was then something like “Don’t you think Taiwan is so hot?”
My mom gladly accepted the first comment, but she fought the second one, insisting that Texas was indeed hotter than Taiwan.
Today on her facebook page, she is further trying to prove her point:
Taiwan friends and family…….we, TEXAS that is, win —- we had a high temp of 103 F (40 C) with 28% humidity to make it feel like 107 F (42 C) today!!! It is now 7 PM and temp is 98 F (37 C)!!!…! TEXAS IS HOTTER THAN TAIWAN!!!!
At first, I just agreed: Yes, Texas is hot. We don’t usually get over 40 here in Taiwan.
But, then I started thinking about it. And, while Texas is hotter than Taiwan a few days a year–what about on average or during the year as a whole? So, I did some research and made some comparisons–comparing my two hometowns–Tainan to Bastrop.
As you can see in the charts below–Taiwan is in fact hotter than Texas!
Only for two months does Texas have higher high temps than Taiwan–but during those same months the average temps are the same and the average low temps are higher in Taiwan, so while Texas has high spikes, Taiwan stays hot.
(I only caught the months on one of my charts–so 1-12 is Jan to Dec, and 13 is the yearly mean. And, all temps are in Celsius.)
I used average dew point to compare humidity because as I told my mom, I don’t think comparing relative humidity is accurate for comparison. Then I found this from usatoday.com to back up my belief:
If you want to know how comfortable you’re going to be, you want to know the dew point. Allowing for differences among people and their tolerance for humidity, most people are going to start feeling the humidity is getting out of hand when the dewpoint is above 70 degrees. Dewpoints above 60 are going to make it feel humid, maybe a little too humid for some people.
What’s wrong with using relative humidity?
To see what’s wrong with relative humidity, let’s go to Barrow, Alaska, on an average January day when the temperature dips to -19 and the dew point is -20, the relative humidity is going to be 94.96%. You might be wishing you had another parka to put on, but the 94.96% relative humidity is not going to make you feel sticky.
For more on why relative humidity doesn’t really tell you how humid you feel, and just what is this mysterious “dewpoint” that I’m talking about, go to the USATODAY.com Understanding humidity page.
However, if you are more comfortable comparing relative humidity, go right ahead, and you’ll find that each month, Tainan’s average humidity is higher than Bastrop’s.
When Taiwanese people like to tell me that Taiwan is HOT! I respond with: it is humid, but that both Texas and Taiwan are quite hot. I also make the following analogies: Taiwan is like a rice cooker; you will be steamed. Texas is like an oven; you will be baked!
On Saturday, Lawrance prepared breakfast for me and mom. He made sweet potato “xi fan” (porridge) and fried eggs.
Taiwanese people eat pickled things with their xi fan. Here are some of the pickled things Lawrance likes on his xi fan.
Wanna know what mom’s favorite one was? She loved the Chile Odorous Frying Fish. She loved it so much, in fact, that she asked about taking some back with her!!
Funny English on signs isn’t all that uncommon here, but it is now not very common to find incomprehensible English. Usually it’s just funny grammar or a funny word choice . . . but my mom gets props for finding this rarity in the restroom at the Confucian temple here in Tainan.
Essentially the sign is a reminder to flush.
Lawrance says the second phrase is a poem and has a double meaning. Literally it is something like “spring mud clearly leaves no mark/trace.” So, it’s kinda supposed to be a play on words about making sure you leave nothing behind in the toilet.
Our Easter Sunday this year was a little different–we were privileged to attend Lawrance’s brother’s wedding.
It started with us going back to Lawrance’s childhood home to help the family prepare for receiving the bride.
The groom, YuHong, had shaved his head into the shape of a heart. __ __
The groom showed us his transformed childhood home into a room to welcome a bride. He was proud.
Placed on all the items were little red circles with the “double joy” wedding symbol inside.
__ __
Traditionally children are to jump on the new couple’s bed in order to ensure lots of children. They substituted with a small bride and groom statue decked out in traditional Chinese wedding clothes. __ __
Another new-to-me superstition was that a bride is not to look at herself in the mirror (don’t remember why, will have to ask). However, it really isn’t followed not, but in honor of that tradition YuHong covered the mirror in the bedroom with red paper. __ __
Double Joys were everywhere–even the front door. And they will stay there till ?? (not sure–a year? till Chinese New Year? till they fall off?). __ __
This wedding banner was placed over the household entrance. I think it is religious, but I don’t know more than that. __ __
TongYuan also needed to be prepared. So, Lawrance, the awesome tongyan master, lent a helping hand. Why tongyuan at a wedding? Well, sweet sticky dumplings represent sticking together forever, a sweet life, and fullness of blessing.
__ __
We also had tea and fruit prepared. Serving the tea and tongyuan were my job. ;)
What started this post was this video posted to facebook by one of my former students. It was filmed at our school: ___
___ So, let’s back up a little, first what is 台客 (tai ke)?
This is actually quite difficult to answer. I’ve heard the term “tai ke” could be likened to the term “redneck” or “white trash.” Meaning it is a certain subculture that is looked down on by the mainstream culture because of class, economic standing, and/or beliefs.
Lawrance also likened it to the hip hop culture–a subculture that is proud of who they are and where they come from that sets trends in music and clothing.
The New York Times says it is “a phrase that originally meant ‘redneck’ but has now come to encompass a youth-focused lifestyle that celebrates both the déclassé (flip-flops, Long Life cigarettes) and the haute (Gucci, Macallan).”
But, this seemingly simple term for subculture also is seeped in socio-political, historical implications. Historically, tai ke was “used by those post-1949 mainland Chinese arriving in Taiwan with the KMT regime.” At that time, “the term connoted ethnic discrimination towards native Taiwanese and was used specifically to articulate perceptions of their unsophisticated outlook and behaviour” (Taike rock and its discontent).
See, literally “tai ke” means “Tai guest.” So, the mainlanders were calling the Taiwanese and Hakka people who had been on the island longer than them–guests.
But, now, thanks to Wu Bai, who has been called the king of tai ke, and the commercial efforts of music companies, the term’s negative meaning has “been subverted and is now given a positive touch to mean ‘coolness’ and confidence” (East Asian Pop Culture). Wu Bai sees tai ke as a “direct expression of national culture.”
However, if you ask local Taiwanese people about what is “tai ke” they won’t refer to the historical or political implications. And, most won’t tell you that it means “cool and confident.” Instead, they will begin describing stereotypical actions of the people they consider to be “tai ke,” telling you how they drive, speak, and even chew.
Here are some things that are stereotypically thought to be “tai ke”–people who wear white and blue plastic slippers outside, have low education, chew betel nut, smoke and drink heavily, have cheaply dyed golden hair, wear imitation name-brand clothing, and hang out around temples or internet cafes, and participate in temple parades. There are even more stereotypical characteristics and behaviors; but, more than actions and behavior, being “tai ke” is a possessing a certain attitude.
So, nowadays, telling someone who is not “tai” they are “tai” is meant to be an insult. It would be like telling someone they have no class or are being disrespectful. But, those who actually are “tai” find pride in being “tai.”
And, while most people in Taiwan look down on things that are “tai ke,” there is also a sense of pride across Taiwan for some of the things that have come out of the “tai ke” subculture because it is uniquely Taiwanese (This is especially true in southern Taiwan).
“Tai ke wu” is one of these things.
OK. So, that brings us back to what is 台客舞 (tai ke wu)?
It is a group dance–similar to country line dancing in that lines of people do the exact same moves at the same time. And, that lots of people know how to do the dance.
And, like the fact that the subculture is mostly about a embodying a certain attitude so is the dance. As I was searching for videos, I saw one Taiwanese celebrity explain that although the foot work is easy, the arm movements and attitude that one has to portray is what makes the dance so special and difficult.
Lawrance pointed out to me that since the dance originated from people who participate in temple parades and hang out at temples, they naturally incorporated certain movements and feeling from temple parade marches that are made when carrying an idol down the street.
There are several videos on youtube showing students doing the “tai ke” dance. Here is what seems like the most watched “tai ke wu” video on youtube. It starts off as a group dance, but dancers back off one by one because one guy is so much better than the rest. All the shouts and screams coming from the sidelines are people expressing their admiration for how great he is doing. This was funny to me at first because originally I thought he was doing a poor job (kinda sloppy on the moves), but the more I learned about tai ke wu the more I realized it was all about embodying a certain attitude–and this guy’s got it.
___
___ I liked this one that invited their teacher to join in, and she did. Throughout the video, everyone is impressed with the middle student’s dancing ability–again, she’s got a certain attitude going. ___
___
And finally here is a modified tai ke wu (an aerobic exercise version) on the news . . . with all ages participating and the mayor of Kaohsiung promoting it. In this video, you can see people in costume dancing as gods on stage–this is what Lawrance was talking about . . . and we’ll get into more in depth tomorrow. ___
The issue of ancestor worship is complex. It would be impossible to express exactly what it is and what it means to the Taiwanese. Each year I’m here I understand a little more. And, now that I’ve married into a Taiwanese family–as a daughter-in-law to the first born son–I understand even more.
And, still words fail to truly express all that is embodied in ancestor worship. It is more than simply worship.
Worship of the ancestors and showing filial piety is of utmost importance to the Taiwanese.
The worship of ancestors is probably the most difficult aspect of conversion to Christianity for new Taiwanese Christ-followers. Giving up idol worship and temple worship is much easier than giving up ancestor worship.
Why?
Here are my thoughts on the matter:
(1) When a young believer (18-35 yrs old) tells his parents he is Christian, his parents hear “I don’t love you, and I am ungrateful for the fact that you have given me life and provided for me all these years. I don’t care what happens to you after you die–rot in hell for all I care!”
(2) Ancestor worship is corporate worship. It is almost never done alone. The family gathers, two or three pass out incense and the worship commences. If you refuse to participate, it appears that you are ungrateful, disrespectful and have no manners. It’s almost as if you are spitting in the face of those who gave you life. So, the pressure–not peer, but rather familial–is STRONG, VERY STRONG.
(3) The social function of ancestor worship is more than just “worship.” The coming together to clean a family tomb and pay respects is a form of family reunion. To be expelled from participating in qing ming jie is perhaps the most severe punishment that could be given in traditional society–it means that you are no longer seen as part of this family.
Dr. George MacKay, the first presbyratian missionary to Taiwan, had this to say:
This venerable cultus, the worship of ancestors, in indeed the most stubborn obstacle Christianity has to face. It is so ingrained in the nature, and appeals touchingly to the heart, that it requires the strongest conviction and the finest moral courage to beak its thralldom and brave the scorn of friends and relatives, to whom neglect of one’s ancestors in the spirit world is the most inhuman and cruelest of crimes. (Far from Formosa, emphasis mine)
In 1925, the author of an article entitled “Chinese Ancestor Worship: A Study of Its Meaning and Its Relations with Christianity” concluded that “the problem [of ancestor worship] will ultimately be solved by the Chinese themselves. Only those who have grown up within a system in which ancestor worship is central can wisely make provision for its future evolution and sublimation. Ancestor worship still awaits treatment at the hands of those who are both truly Chinese and truly Christian. In their hands we may safely leave its destiny.”
One Christian family I know, uses a scroll to maintain the family tree instead of using ancestral tablets. The names are still kept, family history still proudly displayed and the deceased still remembered. We know lineage and family history is important to God–why else would there be so many lists of who begot who in Scripture if it were not?
Another family held a graveside worship service the year after their mother/grandmother had passed away on qing ming jie. They read Scripture, prayed to the Most High God, sang praises to him, and told stories of remembrance.
I think these are great alternatives . . . the advantage these two families have is that they are not alone. They are families of believers. The first one was a first generation believer, but he is the oldest son and now the head of the household, and his wife and children are also believers. The second one is a several generation Christian family (what a blessing!).
So, for those that are first generation believers, the only one in their family, the challenge to show respect to those who have gone before them and yet also want to make a stand for their faith is huge. One alternative for first generation believers who are also the first believers in their families is to attend the ceremonies, but not participate.
This is what Lawrance and I did. We did not hold incense, we didn’t join the group in their prayers and bows, and we burned no paper money. After they had finished their corporate worship and had gone to line up to place incense before the gods who protected the tombs, Lawrance placed flowers inside the structure at the tomb area.
Lawrance has been a believer for 11 years now, so his parents have had time to grieve and accept the fact that he will not worship them after they’ve passed on. Even so, Lawrance still has to stand up to the pressure from aunts and uncles to join in the worship.
My point in this very long winded post is actually quite simple. Your Taiwanese brothers and sisters in Christ need your prayers. Would you please intercede on their behalf? Would you pray for them to have “the strongest conviction and the finest moral courage to beak its thralldom and brave the scorn of friends and relatives”? Ask the Most High God to give them wisdom and courage to say and do the things that are pleasing to Him.
Honestly, there seemed to be no real purpose for this stop other than to just claim we had stopped by. However, Lawrance took advantage of the opportunity to find out just how many generations of Wu’s have been in Taiwan.
After counting on the ancestor tablet, Law’s dad found that he is the 10th generation of Wu’s in Taiwan and that Lawrance is the 11th generation.
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After this brief stop, we drove about 5 minutes to a grave area tucked between some fields.
Entrance to the tomb area:
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The tomb area was actually quite large. It was a two level area. This photo was taken standing in front of the main “ancestor” structure looking back to the entrance gate.
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Around the outside of the lower area was two tomb like structures. I assumed these were tombs–Lawrance informed me that these were for the gods who protected the tomb and the spirits of the ancestors. One was female and the other male.
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Behind this structure there were 120 people buried.
___
The people who gathered to worship at the Wu burial site at 10 in the morning were are all part of the Wu family–so they are all distant relatives. But, for the majority of the people present, Lawrance has no idea how they are related. Some, who had immigrated to the States, traveled from New York City and some from Colorado just to worship their ancestors.
___
A few minutes past 10, incense was passed out and everyone (but Lawrance and I) took some. Someone at the front prayed aloud for a few minutes, everyone bowed a few times then they went to leave their incense in the front.
___
Then they lined up to leave more incense on the “tombs” of the gods who protect the site and the ancestors.
___
Then two stacks of paper money were set on fire–one stack for the ancestors and one stack for the gods.
___
After all was done, at about 10:20 or 10:30, firecrackers were set off.
___
One thing that dawned on me as we were there waiting for the firecrackers to be lit and were conversing with some of Law’s uncles is that even in death the difference between individualism and collectivism can be seen. In America, we value individualism–being one’s self–we don’t mind doing things alone (ie, it is not necessary to go in a group to get a hair cut).
But, in Taiwan (and many other Asian countries) collectivism is valued–who you are is defined by your relationships. You aren’t “LeEn;” you are “classmate,” “big sister,” and “wife.” And, you probably do feel more comfortable if you could go with a group to get a hair cut–why would anyone want to do that alone?
And so those values can also be seen in how the dead are buried. In America we have graveyards and tombstones for each individual who has lived. In Taiwan, while I guess there may be some wealthy few who do have their own individual tombs, most are buried in mass graves marked with their family names.
Last Monday was Qing Ming Jie (清明節), known in English as Tomb Sweeping Day. If I am remembering correctly, it is the only holiday in Taiwan that is not based on the lunar calendar–here it is observed every April 5th. But the Wu family observes this holiday a week early. It was my first time to see a family as they worshiped their ancestors at their tombs.
__
We woke up early and were on the rode before 7 AM on Sunday, March 28th. About an hour later, we arrived at the temple that houses the urns of Lawrance’s paternal grandparents.
__ It was already quite busy with other families worshiping.
__ While waiting for the rest of the family to arrive, I snapped a few photos. This is a tree that is worshiped right outside the temple.
__ Families would start by placing their offerings on the altar.
__ Then they would light incense–making sure everyone had at least three. First, they would bow facing away from the temple–this would be to the worship the “god of heaven.” This here is a photo of our family worshiping.
__ Here is what worship to gods and ancestors looks like in Taiwan. This is called “bai bai.”
__ Next, they would move to the inside incense holder in front of the “main god” of the temple to worship. This might also be one of the only times an entire family worships together. Corporate worship is not commonplace in Taiwan.
__ Then they would move on to the side rooms and/or the back rooms depending on how many sticks of incense they were holding. The back rooms house other idols.
__ Since it was the proper time to be worshiping ancestors, the rooms where the urns were kept were actually off limits because there would be too many people present. So, the side rooms served as another location to leave offerings to ancestors.
__ After everyone in the family had deposited their incense, we waited a few more minutes and then Lawrance’s dad declared it had been enough time, and everyone went back to retrieve the paper money they’d brought to burn and the offerings, this time namely fruit.
__ Then we headed over to an open pit for them to burn the paper money.
__ Here Lawrance explains some of what we were seeing:
__ In this video, he explains one of the papers that was being burned to the ancestors:
__ After all the paper money that our family had brought was burned, we return to Lawrance’s dad’s car and drove about 10 minutes to the home where his dad was raised. But, getting out of the parking lot proved interesting. The photo below was taken from inside L’s dad’s van . . . yeah, it was just a tad crowded at the temple that day. What you can’t see is that there are cars parked on both sides of the road–the woman in red got of the red car to help her husband . . . AND we both (our car and their car) and MORE cars lined up behind us. It was one of those surreal “only in Taiwan” moments for me.
__ I plan to show photos from the rest of the day, which includes how the Wu family worshiped the 9 generations before grandma and grandpa, as well as reflect on some of the implications a holiday like this has on Christian believers later this week in other blog posts.
In Taiwan–at least here in Tainan–we have really bad hard water problems.
I hate that our bathroom looks dirty from all our stuff being coated in hard water deposits. This weekend, I decided to fight back.
I was actually avoiding using some of my special stuff from the States (gotta love the USA’s outlet stores!! yipee!!) because it just made me feel gross to touch a bottle covered in hard water grime. I know that at the time I was doing it Lawrance thought I was crazy to even attempt to “clean” bottles of soap, but he did appreciate the effect clean bottles had on the “appearance of clean” in our shower–at least that’s what he told me. ;)
So here is what I did:
Emptied out our bathroom’s shower stuff
Filled a spray bottle with lemon juice*
Sprayed down our bottles with it
Used paper towels and elbow grease to rub them down
Now, they aren’t perfect, but I’m happy. :D
*Apparently you can also use vinegar to remove hard water build up, but I opted for lemon juice since it smells better.
First, thanks for the feedback earlier this week. We appreciate it!!
Second, Lawrance and I are praying about moving, and so I spent yesterday afternoon looking through some apartments online.
It’s kinda of fun being able to do this a husband. It was always just stressful before. Also, I’m thankful we found an online site to peruse first to see what is out there before we go looking in person.
Here is what we have decided we are looking for:
around 25-35 ping (approx 890-1,250 sq feet)
3 “bedrooms”
functioning kitchen (providing our own stove top & gas is ok, but we don’t want to have to provide counters, cabinets, and sinks)
not top floor of apartment building (too hot to cool down)
if higher than 4th floor, an elevator would be nice
allows pets
no or little furniture included (specifically, I want to bring our own mattresses, our own fridge, and our own washing machine–other than that I’m quite flexible)
Things that make the apartment more attractive to us but are not necessary:
ceiling fan(s)
a bath tub (Amanda’s choice)
elevator (Lawrance’s choice)
location (close to subway, school/parks, a market)
more than the standard tiny Taiwanese kitchen
wooden floor room (we think this would be a great place to have groups over for worship since they’d feel comfortable sitting on a wooden floor*)
There are several we rejected for various reasons, but I thought I’d show you some of the more “interesting” rejects. (Images can be clicked to be viewed full size.)
This is not the reason this one got rejected, but it is definantly a “half bath” ;)
This would be an example of a “non-functioning kitchen”
Again not the reason why rejected . . . but this kitchen so totally would need a Hello Kitty Theme. ;)
Now, this one looks ok small, but I don’t think I could last very long in this apartment due to the effect the wallpaper has on me.
Come down 3 stairs and then up a flight–huh?
Tiles on bedroom walls is not an immediate reject, but dark green ones? Yes.
*Outside shoes are taken off at the door, and slippers worn inside. But even slippers get taken off before entering a room with a wooden floor. Making it the “cleanest” floor in the home.
My freshmen English class’ final project last semester was to put together a video introducing some aspect of Taiwanese culture to “foreigners.” These two students–Ray and Steven–made a video on Taiwanese tea.
I enjoyed it, so I asked if I could share their video with yall. They reluctantly agreed (but that’s probably because a good Taiwanese student must show humility in the form of shyness).
Talking about the topic of “marriage” with students here in Taiwan always makes me just a little bit sad.
Most of of my students–male and female–do not want to get married. They claim they have absolutely no desire to get married. I find this SO hard to believe.
As college students in America, I and my classmates/roommates were all about getting married and there was even the “ring by spring or your money back” saying going around, and we were teased and teased others about getting an “MRS. degree.” (By the way, if that was true, I want my money back.) But, maybe even things in America have changed too . . . I don’t know . . . that was 10 or so years ago after all.
Here are some of the things Taiwanese college students (mostly female) are saying about marriage in my classes:
I don’t believe in love. It’s too good to be true kinda like fairies.
Marriage just ruins dreams.
I don’t want to get married because it just “ma fan” (trouble).
Marriage is the graveyard of love.
I don’t want to get married because of the “shu foo” (shackles) it places on you.
Every time I talk to students about love and marriage, I leave perplexed and saddened. I at least now grasp their arguments, even if I don’t agree. At first I couldn’t even understand their arguments at all.
It’s sad. And even though I’ve heard all different kinds of explanations for why my students don’t want to get married . . . the root of them all is sin. The truth is we live in a fallen world. Scripture tells us that God is love. And, I firmly believe that those who don’t know Him are unable to love others. No wonder my students are so hard-hearted and willing to deny the existence of love altogether.
Marriage and family life in Taiwan weigh heavy on Lawrance and my hearts. We aren’t sure exactly when or in what manner, but we desire to allow God to use us to minister to the broken and hurting families and loveless singles in Taiwan.
We invite you to join us in praying for us as we seek the Lord’s direction in our lives, as we ask Him for guidance and wisdom in the decisions we are facing right now. Thanks in advance!!
YuHong and Cindy were engaged on Sunday. This is an official event in Taiwan between the betrothed’s families.
Lawrance's parents with one of the wedding photos at the entry
There are few different ceremonies preformed at the engagement. One ceremony is the presenting of gifts. Here are the “gifts” given from The Wu family to the bride-to-be.
Then Mrs. Wu helped to place the jewelry on her newest daughter-in-law, and Cindy’s mother placed her gifts to her new son-in-law on him.
Like at a Taiwanese wedding, the bride and groom to be are presented with their parents to all present. This is an opportunity to thank the guests who came as well as offer a toast.
In addition there would be a tea ceremony. (But Lawrance didn’t get any photos of that since he was a participant.) I’ll ask Lawrance more about this, and write about it later. I’ve actually never seen it done before, only read about it.
And, there is also an entire banquet feast as well. But, the groom-to-be’s family slips out before the dessert is served. Neither Lawrance nor I know why this is the tradition, but it is. :)
And, there is dress changing, toasting table to table, passing out of candy from a basket by the door as well–just like at a wedding.
Since Cindy’s family is in Taipei, both sides of Lawrance’s family together took a charted bus to the north.
Newly engaged women also give their friends and family members (on her side of the family) a box of cookies or cakes to help announce the engagement. Here are Cindy’s cakes:
And, here is Lawrance with the happy couple!
Since traditionally the engagement is hosted by the bride’s family, Lawrance and I didn’t have a Taiwanese style engagement ceremony. I actually think that is one of the reasons why Lawrance’s parents so freely let the two of us get married in my hometown with my friends and family–in their minds it was similar to the bride’s hosting of the engagement ceremony.
If anyone asks Lawrance what his favorite food to eat that Amanda makes is, he answers enthusiastically “pizza!”
Taiwanese people who hear this answer assume it would be a common answer since of course all Americans eat is pizza and hamburgers. But, the looks on some of the American’s faces have been precious. Most assume he has misunderstood the question since it would seem very difficult to make pizza in Taiwan. Then once they realize he totally understood, and I do make pizza here, they want to know how.
Actually making pizza in Taiwan is quite easy. I get both my pizza sauce and crust at a “local” bakery supply store called Wang Lai; it is about a 45 minute ride from our home by moped. I’m sure other bakery supply stores probably also sell pizza sauce and crust–I know the “pineapple man store” in Kaohsiung does too. The small jar of sauce pictured below is our favorite and will cover about 10-12 small pizzas.
The pizza cheese (mozzarella) can be found at the bakery store too, and sometimes we are able to find it at our local grocery store as well. It’s not cheap, but frozen the cheese will keep awhile and this one bag will last us about 16 small pizzas.
products we use to make our pizza
In addition to the cheese, we top our pizzas with ground beef or pork that I have seasoned generously with Italian seasoning that we can get at Costco (thanks Larina!!) and Tony’s that I carry back from the States. We also typically top it with yellow and red peppers, onions, and for Lawrance’s pizza frozen corn (that I purchased at the bakery store too–just for his pizzas).
I then bake them two at a time at 160c for about 10 minutes on our nifty pizza pan that was wedding gift from Sarah and Kevin (thanks guys!!).
a sprinkle of cheese, then they are ready to be baked
Like the Americans who hear Lawrance’s answer, I had always assumed that making pizza (in Taiwan) would be hard. I guess if I had to make the crust and sauce from scratch that would totally up the difficulty factor making it a very special, rare treat. But, the way I do it right now takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish–that’s faster than ordering from Pizza Hut!
I know it is no culinary masterpiece, but I share this here because I am constantly searching for how to easily make things both Lawrance and I enjoy eating, and I thought others who live in Taiwan might be too.
"pizza without corn just isn't real pizza" --Lawrance
Anyone who has been in Taiwan (and several other Asian countries) for any length of time has seen “Darlie” toothpaste, which is still named “black man” in Chinese (hēi rén, 黑人).
It used to be named “Darkie” in English, but when Colgate acquired the company in the mid-80’s, after protests from civil-rights activists, they changed the English name to “Darlie” and the face of the man on the front changed as well, but the Chinese name remains “black man.”
Darkie Toothpaste Over the Years by sinosplice on flickr
This is a very common and well-liked toothpaste brand in Taiwan.
So, when Lawrance and I were out looking for a souvenir for me to take home to our sweet nephews I didn’t think twice when I first saw the pencil case below. There where all kinds of knock-offs of different bottles and tubes–toothpaste, ketchup, chocolate, and so on–that had been converted into pencil bags with pencil sharpeners hidden in the caps. So creative!
But, when I looked again at the Darlie knock-off I actually gasped. Do you see it? The character has been replaced with a photo of Obama and Darlie was changed to “Change.” Lawrance tried to get a photo while I talked to the store owner and actually took a video, so the photo is captured from a cell phone’s video, so it is a bit unclear. But, on the actual pencil bag the the image is clearly Obama.
I’m so used to using the euphemism “gone to be with the Lord” to talk about someone who has slipped from this world into eternity, and it pains me that I can’t to described a loved one’s recent death. The sad reality is that when Lawrance’s grandmother, his Apo, died Wednesday she didn’t know the Lord.
This my first time to deal with the death of a loved one who didn’t trust in Jesus for salvation. The hope I can usually cling to at times like this is strikingly absent.
We went back to the homestead yesterday to the viewing (which will take place all week), and Lawrance will go to the funeral next week on Tuesday and Wednesday (without me since I’ll be in the States). The funeral will most definitely be very religious and full of worship but none to the most high God. Please pray for Lawrance and his family too.
Most funerals in Taiwan use white as the color of death, but for Apo they are using red since she died at 88 years old (89 by Chinese calendar). Red at a funeral signifies that there is joy that she lived to such an old age. Five generations (her and her husband count as the first) are listed on the red death announcement that will be given to friends and family. She has lived a very hard life and worked very hard for her family. She lived her entire life in Meinong, and in those 88 years witnessed much change to her town and her country.
She deserves to be remembered, respected, and honored but not worshiped. Again, I ask that you pray for Lawrance this week as his family gathers to worship their deceased loved one.
No, no, not another one for us. We’ve already had two–that’s enough for one lifetime! :)
Yu-Hong and Cindy
Lawrance’s brother, Yu-hong and his long time girlfriend, Cindy are tying the knot before this Chinese New Year.
We’ve been encouraging them to get married for a long time–they started dating a few years before us. Within the last week they’ve planned to have their engagement ceremony on Jan 24th and their wedding ceremony Feb 7th. Lawrance’s mom was like “what is up with my sons and their fast weddings?”
We took three months from the time we decided to get married to the time we actually had our wedding; they are doing it in just weeks.
Two major ceremonies in two different cities, hundreds of guests and less than a month of planning! Plus all the other details that must be attended to to make both families happy. Wow . . . I don’t envy them at all. However, I am SO happy they have decided to get married. They make such a great couple.
In fact, Lawrance and I were so confident that one day Cindy would be family that I invited her to be in our Taiwanese wedding even though I didn’t know her very, very well at the time.
Yu-Hong and Cindy at our Taiwanese Wedding
Why the rush for before Chinese New Year? Well, it’s more auspicious. You see odd numbers are bad for marriage–everything should be even (2, 6, 8–but of course not 4, a homophone for death). Even numbers are good for marriage–even numbers symbolize that the two will stay together. After Chinese New Year, Yu-Hong will be considered 29 and Cindy 31. 29 is especially bad (as are all years ending a decade).
There are so many levels of culture to this that would make a non-Taiwanese person’s head spin.
YuHong is actually, right now according to his date of birth and Western counting, 27 (an odd number).
His birthday is Dec 25th. So, he will not be 29 according to his date of birth until Dec 25, 2011.
But, you have to factor in an extra year for time spent in the womb.
Then, you must remember that you get a year older during the Chinese New Year–not on your birthday.
Years ago, I would have thought and thought about this, and the illogicality of it all would have bothered me, but now I think “well, I’m happy for them. Marriage is good.”
The only sad part of this good news is that . . . I won’t be there. I’m leaving a week from today to head back to America for three weeks. So, I’ve instructed Lawrance to take lots of photos for me. :)
Update: Yu-hong and Lawance’s grandmother passed away on Jan 12, so Yu-hong and Cindy’s wedding will be postponed. To counter the “bad luck” of getting married in a bad year, they had to consult with a fortune teller to help them pick a very, very auspicious wedding date. So, the lunar calendar date of Feb 2nd was chosen–2/2–a good day for couples. Ironically this is April 4th–4/4–on the Gregorian calendar. Ironic not in an amusing way, but in a sad way as it reveals just how futile man’s thinking can be.
Even though I’ve let my blog slip majorly in the past few weeks and months, I couldn’t let my blogaversary and annual tradition of choosing one photo per month slip past.
This will be my fifth year to do this:
2005–was my third year in Taiwan, and I started blogging 2006–my sister got married and my brother came to Taiwan 2007–I moved to a new city, and my cousins came to visit 2008–I met the love of my life; we dated, got engaged, and then married . . . it was perhaps the most perfect year of my entire life. :)
I think I took less photos in all of 2009 than I did in many of the months of 2008. Kinda makes me a little sad, and makes me want to resolve to take more photos in 2010. Anywho, not analyzing anything right now, which I am OH so tempted to do.
Let me get right to the point . . . below you find a month by month look at our 2009 using only one photo per month.
January: We celebrate our first Chinese New Year together in Meinong
February: New Life Bilingual Church in Kaohsiung starts meeting
March: We marry again . . . well, ok, we celebrate our marriage covenant in Taiwan with our Taiwanese friends and family
April: I have my first birthday as a wife (aka, I turn 31)
May: Some of our friends marry . . . and Lawrance is the MC at their wedding banquet
June: We start our summer Sunday afternoon tradition of eating ice after church
July: We go on several dates during the summer . . . Thai food, the beach and more
August: We celebrate our first anniversary in Kenting
September: Sadly Wu Mama is diagnosed with liver cancer
October: Lawrance is a clown (well, maybe he always is one, but at least he LOOKED like one this time)
November: I start studying Chinese again (This is my awesome Chinese teacher)
December: Law’s parents help us to decorate our tree . . . a Wu family first!
The first half of this semester was hard. Weird schedule, lots of new pressures and responsibilities, and a lack of energy.
Unfortunately lack of energy is a vicious cycle–no energy to cook good stuff = eating out; eating out = not always eating the best foods; not eating healthy = no energy.
So, during the midterm week, when I wasn't grading tests or catching up on laundry. I searched for some recipes to turn into the 30 meals project that
Carrie, my RA in college (well, and my college roommate's sister-in-law) told me about on this post. (BTW, thanks Carrie!!)
My requirements were that the recipes:
could be made in less than 20 min,
needed to be low-carbish,
needed to delight mine and my husband's taste buds, and
could be made with things easily found in Taiwan.
Finding meals that meet all four requirements was no small task!
Although Lawrance is generally easy going and not too picky about food, finding things we both love to eat often has proved to be a challenge.
It was SO easy and best of all packed full of flavor!!
I kinda went a bit overboard using freshly cracked black pepper and might have used extra garlic–so our's was not only tangy, but spicy too–she does say to season to taste. :)
This is probably the least low-carb recipe I collected since it uses apricot jam, but it is definitely something I'll be making again before too long.
Side-note to anyone in Taiwan wanting to give this a try: I used half of a jar of Carrefour brand apricot jam (french name on bottle) to cover 6 chicken breast quarters.
There was a joke in one of my foreign language education classes in grad school about a student of French who went to France and came back upset because no one in France knew their lines to the dialogues.
I think here in Taiwan, someone actually could memorize "their lines to the dialogue" because they are most likely going to be asked the same questions in nearly the same order . . . .over and over and over again.
However, one thing to be careful of is that the conversation patterns change depending on what phase of your life you are in.
So, since I've been amused by the conversations I've been having lately, it seems that I'm entering a new phase of repeated conversations.
Here is an actual conversation I had yesterday in Chinese (translated to English by me):
Shop Owner: So, hey, why can you speak Chinese? You been here long?
Me: Yes, I've been here 7 years.
Him: Ah, married?
Me: Yes.
Him: Taiwanese guy?
Me: (with a smile) yes.
Him: Oh yeah! Taiwanese guys are good guys, aren't they!?!
Me: (with an even bigger smile) yes. they are pretty good.
Him: yall have a baby?
Me: No, not yet.
Him: Oh, that is just not right! If you really think we Taiwanese people are good. You should make a little Taiwanese baby!
Me: Well, we've only been married a year.
Him: (visibly surprised) Oh! Just a year! I thought it would be much longer than that since you speak Chinese. . . .So, uh, hey, you a teacher?
This particular shop owner cracked me up. He had a very lively
personality and talked with me for a least 20 minutes while I waited in
his shop.
So, as I hopped on my moped leaving his store, I started thinking, and here are my observations/ponderings:
Observation/Pondering 1:
His reply to the baby question was a new one. Usually it is followed by something along the lines of "oh, mixed blood babies are beautiful. I'm sure your baby will be so gorgeous."
Following, Lawrance's example, I reply to that with "all babies are beautiful." He can get away with it–they stop that line of commenting with him. When I'm alone, whoever I'm talking to (especially the grandmas) insist I don't know what I'm talking about because it is a "known fact that mixed blood babies and the most beautiful in the world." At this point all I can do is smile. (Something Lawrance and I have already talked about is how to help our future children deal with all the compliments they are going to receive while in Taiwan. But that's another topic for another day.)
Observation/Pondering 2:
The other place this conversation usually takes me is to the fact that we don't have a baby yet. I mean come on we've been married a full year, surely there is a little one by now . . . or at least one the way! When the shocked listener finds out, that truly the answer is "no, not yet" four out five times they will respond "加油" (Jia you)!!
Jia you is a cheer that roughly translates to something like "Go! Go! Go!" It is often used to cheer on sports competitors at sporting events or to encourage someone who needs a little encouragement in their studies or to show support to someone who is about to take a test or needs to be brave.
At first I found it quite embarrassing . . . that is because I was listening to it with my American ears. Once I realized that it just meant something more like "good luck!" or "hope you get what you want soon," it has become much less embarrassing.
Observation/Pondering 3:
I find it funny/interesting that everyone I've spoken with so far about my language skills since I've been married seems to think that having a Taiwanese husband explains why I'm pretty fluent in Chinese. This is a new one for me and something I've got to puzzle through and figure out. I mean it totally and completely explains everything they need to know about why I'm here. Before people always wanted to know why I came . . . and that leads to a good opportunity to share the Gospel, but now that question is gone once they know my husband is Taiwanese. Hmmm . . .
That's all my ponderings for now. . . back to course planning and syllabus making I must go.
To celebrate our first year of marriage, Lawrance and I went to Kenting for three days.
We had a great time just being together, relaxing, and being in a beautiful place!!
As for "anniversary traditions," we've decided to read our vows to each other each year and to write and then read a card to each other each year. We'd also like to make it a tradition to just get away for at least one day to be together alone.
This time, Lawrance choose for us to read our vows and cards to each other on the beach. We got there a bit late (after sunset) so we used his cell phone as our flashlight to read to each other on the darkened beach. It was really sweet.
{we first took a tourism train–to kaohsiung–huge seats}
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{we had yummy chicken fajitas, just like we did at our wedding}
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{we rounded the tip of the island and got to the "other" side}
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{our room had a balcony with a view of the ocean}
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{sunset from our balcony}
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{we couldn't eat our wedding cake (since it's in mom's fridge) but we did get to eat oreo cheesecake}
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{natural gas coming up from the ground}
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{Law lit sparklers from the natural gas fires and wrote me this message "1-4-3: I Love You"}
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{Law got to go Go-karting for the first time}
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{Law picked out this really cool bed and breakfast for us to stay in called the "beach house"}
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{great view from our third floor room}
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{the white and blue is so fun!}
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{it's main drawback was that it had REALLY steep stairs}
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We did go to the beach twice . . . but those photos are on Law's cell phone.
And, even though we used 50 SPF, we both still got sunburned. :(
I am SO excited by what a good friend handed to me last night!! She passed on to me a CD of videos from our Taiwanese wedding!
Here is the first thing I saw . . . Lawrance singing to me a song entitled "Vows" after we had exchanged our vows. I got giddy just listening to it last night!!
We live in Taiwan--a little tea leaf shaped island in Asia.
Amanda is from Texas and Lawrance from Tainan. We met, fell in love and married in 2008.
We both teach English and both love to tell others about Jesus. We also both really enjoy laughing, and we both just happen to enjoy "ching cha," a type of fabulous green tea.
Talking about the topic of “marriage” with students here in Taiwan always makes me just a little bit sad.
