On walking where the emperors walked . . . and trying my hand at calligraphy

Still need to do my homework, hence a quick overview again. After a lecture this morning, we went to visit the Forbidden City. (I'll explain more at a later stage how our experiential learning works in case you're thinking I'm really on vacation!)

Our bus dropped us off near the Eastern Gate to the place, and as we walked along the mote, I saw this guy with a funny mound of something in front of him. He's from Urumuchi, which is in Northwestern China. It was obviously some kind of snack from that region, and he sold it per gram. We got him to cut us a chunk and snacked on it for much of the day. More about it later...


Our group inside the Forbidden City. I honestly don't like doing sightseeing in groups like this, so five of us got permission to step away from the group and explore by ourselves. But in the process, two got called back, so in the end, one couple and I explored the place on our own, and had a BLAST!


Scott and Laura, with whom I spent my afternoon exploring the Forbidden City.


The intricate architecture. It was built from 1406-1420, so it's pretty impressive!


Different buildings have different little figures for protection ... The more the figures, the more important the building. This particular roof is to the emperor's throne room, hence the most number of figurines: 11 small ones, followed by the dragon (symbolizing the emperor.) The front one is the empress on a phoenix's back, then there's a whole line that include a horse, phoenix, lion, seahorse and more.


One of the throne rooms. Can't look it up right now to make sure which one this is, but if I remember correctly, it's the one where the emperor would inspect materials prior to his annual prayer to Shang Di, the God of the universe.

Dragons play an important role in Chinese culture. Read more here. It looks like Kiptoo is telling Jeruto, "Don't look now, honey, but there's a dragon behind us!"


One of the many passages to many more buildings. The staff all stayed on the grounds. The emperors had several wives (or one wife and many concubines), and to thus maintain control and to be "the only man" in the compound, all male servants were made into eunuchs.


I saw this old man with a face that begged to be photographed... I asked him permission to take his photo, and he obliged. After taking the photo, I told him how handsome he is ...


... which caused him to break out a smile. :)


The trees are starting to blossom. Beautiful, aren't they?


While Jeruto was off smelling the flowers, Kiptoo explored more of the architecture.


After walking around for 3 hours, we were dropped off at Houhai, an area that my friends and I had explored the day before the others arrived. By then, we were ready to just sit down, have some coffee, talk, and break out the Urumuqi snacks! The main ingredients seem to be sesame seeds and honey. But there are also dates, dried apricots, almonds and raisins in it. Yummy!


Then we walked around some more. Laura (I had walked around with her and her husband all afternoon) loves to do fun things, like she'd go and pose with groups of people all day. (Which they loved!) While walking around the waterfront, she started playing a Chinese version of hacky sack with some waiters. We all ended up joining in and having a blast! Heading back to the main road to catch a cab, we walked past these rows of bicycle rickshaws that take tourists on tours of the hutongs.


But before we could head home, someone wanted to buy a kite from a vendor, so we walked back to the waterfront. An old man was there, doing water calligraphy on the sidewalk. Laura, of course, joined in. And next, the old man invited me to write. Laura had written in English, but when I stepped up and took the brush, the crowd said I should write "China," which I really can't! The first character is simple! I got that right. The second one is more complex. I can read it, but cannot write it! So I started it and then improvised... The crowd burst out laughing, as did I! I love this photo for how it captures the fun of the moment!


We hopped in 2 cabs and headed back to our hotel, from where we went to a nearby restaurant. The food was delicious, and the company delightful. (We didn't care too much for the skewered shrimps, though, so Kiptoo and Jeruto finished them off for us.) Yenenish, my Ethiopian roommate, is in the background.

Yet another fun day of learning, laughter, and contemplation.

The Wall

I'm wiped. Had a full and wonderful day. Still need to do writing tonight and prep for tomorrow, so a very quick update.

Went to the Great Wall today. Had a blast. My friends and I laughed, sang, goofed around, had serious conversations, were polite, learned lots, got sunburned . . . all on the Great Wall.

Then went to a place in the city to visit friends, and after that, had Peking Duck at a famous restaurant. Laughed more. Tried new things. Learned. Thought. Wondered. And got back on the bus for the last stop of the day: The Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, sites from the 2008 Olympics.

Kiptoo and Jeruto went along.

Here are some photos.


"Watch that you don't fall, Jeruto. It's steep!"

It wasn't a holiday, nor a weekend. Yet the wall was packed with tourists - mostly locals!
Yip, there's a Starbucks at the Great Wall!

Scott and Laura, classmates, with the Birds Nest and Water cube behind them
Me, at the Birds Nest.

Sightseeing with Friends

The rest of our group was to arrive throughout today, so the three of us who were here first decided to head out and explore today...

First stop: The Lama Temple. This is a Buddhist temple in the same tradition as the Tibetan Buddhism. Here you see people praying. There were several temples with different sized Buddhas, from small to large. At each, people were praying and were required to leave at least 3 sticks of incense in reverence of the Buddhas in the particular hall.

One of the doors at the Lama Temple

Worshipers - the focus in this photo, though, is the kid in the back. You see this style of baby/toddler pants everywhere. It's called "kai dang kudze," or open poop pants... When the kid has to go, you simply let them squat and voila, it's all taken care of. No poopy diapers to get rid of!

Terry and Rob are from Vancouver. I know Rob from our previous class in Seattle.

One of the doorways at the Lama Temple


This is the biggest Buddha in the world made of a single piece of sandalwood

Pretty doors

Sour milk is a popular drink. It's served in pottery goblets

Old men are seen along the major streets playing Chinese checkers and dominoes


The Forbidden City. We climbed to a high hill at a park to the north of the Forbidden City to take this photo. After this, we hopped in a cab and drove to Silk Street so Rob & Terry could shop. But not before we sat down for a while and had some good coffee.

After shopping we went to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag lowering ceremony. The entrance to the Forbidden City is on the other side of the road.

Justus has been a great sport! He's from Zimbabwe. Rob and I both know him from Seattle.

There was a huge crowd to watch the flag lowering ceremony. It was super crowded and just didn't feel very safe. Too easy to be pickpocketed in a crowd like this. I loved the little kid on her dad's shoulders, waving her own little flag!

The soldiers who came as a part of the flag ceremony. Actually, after waiting for an hour in the sun and the crowd, we stepped back from it all and just watched the flag lowering from a distance!

Before going to dinner, we made a bathroom stop. I found this sign pretty funny. Asian toilets are usually squatty potties, so when there's a Western-style toilet, there are often signs asking people not to squat on the toilet. Whoever wrote this sign must've looked up the word for "step on" and found "trample" as one of the options, but in the sign writing process it changed to "trampie."

So remember, please don't trampie the toilet.

I'm off to bed. We walked for a good 11 hours today!

Tomorrow, the whole group is heading to the Great Wall at Badaling.

The Central Kingdom

I'm in China. The Central Kingdom. The country in the middle of the world. And I'm in the capital. Wonderful Beijing. I'm here to learn about Chinese culture. Part of that learning will happen in Beijing, next week, when friends from all over the world arrive. Then we go to Xi'an (home of the Terra Cotta Warriors) and finally to Shanghai (the world's most advanced city.)

But right now, I'm in Beijing.

To get here, I first had to go to Hong Kong. Since China views Taiwan as a renegade province, I couldn't apply for a visa from there. I had to go to Hong Kong. Spent three days there while waiting for the visa. Got together with old friends (Morris, a former colleague from ORTV, and Sue, the mom of one of the kids who used to be in my youth group in Taiwan, and with Janie, a friend who has a restaurant in China and was in HK for a birthday breakaway.)

I didn't shop. Living in Africa for a prolonged time helps cure you of the urge to buy unnecessary stuff. Instead, I met with people. Watched people. Took some photos. Worked on the darn paper I'm supposed to have done.

Then, yesterday morning early, I headed out of my hotel for the trip to China. Here's the Reader's Digest version of my day.

Carry my rolling duffel bag down 2 flights of steps into Yaumatei MTR. Board a very full train, as it is Good Friday and everyone is taking advantage of the great weather to go have fun. Change trains at Central, thankful for escalators to ease the journey of lugging my bag from one platform to another.

At Kowloon station, I find the ChinaLink bus station (across from Starbucks). Buy a return ticket. Decide that the location means it is time to sit down for a cup of good coffee. Read. Wait for the bus. When the time comes, I board the bus and we ride about 90 minutes to the border.

The driver shouts some instructions in Cantonese, and everyone gets off the bus. Grab your luggage. Go through HK customs for a stamp saying you've left the country. Then go through China customs for a stamp to say you've entered the country. Though, technically, it's one and the same country nowadays.

There are thousands of people. And since I am the only foreigner on our bus, the other passengers get lost in the sea of Chinese faces. I exit on the other side, frustrated at myself for not looking more closely at what our bus looked like, or taking its license plate.

But then I see a group gathering with similar stickers on their arms as had been slapped on mine before I boarded earlier in the morning. We were all hoard onto the bus again, and proceed to Shenzhen airport.

Off the bus. Get luggage. Look for the CZ sign. Check in. Wait for airplane.

I end up sitting next to a family from Iran. The lady (maybe early 30s) is frustrated with her husband and her sister. She wants me to tell her it's OK to get divorced and get on with her life. I tell her I can't tell her what to do. We keep visiting. I ask about Iranian culture, food, traditions. She likes their president even less than she likes her husband.

Off the plane, I grab my bag and continue the journey. I find the Airport Express station. Buy a ticket to the city. Then a subway ticket to Beijing Main Station. Though I can communicate in Chinese, my accent is different, and people at the information desk don't hide the fact that they don't want to bother with my accent. They'd rather just hope I'd go away. Which I don't. Since I need to get from here to there.

A stranger shows up. Tells me which train to take. Tells me not to try and buy a week ticket for the train, since it's virtually impossible to get your deposit back.

I lug my bag downstairs and wait for the train on Line 2. It's late by now. Almost 9 pm. I hope it's easy to find my hotel once I get out of the station... Some beggars show up on the train. One guy sings for money. It's time for me to hop off. The stranger who helped me earlier nods as I get off as if to say, "You'll be OK."

I'm happy to see my hotel's name on one of the signs on the subway map. I head to exit B. Carry my bag up 2 flights of stairs.

"How do handicapped people get around this place?" I wonder.

As I emerge from the underground world, I see the enormous Beijing Railroad Station across the road. I do a 360. Looking up and down the streets with their neon lights, I see the name of my hotel. Though we're paying more to stay in the heart of the city, I'm thankful that our agent arranged for us to make this our home for the week. I just didn't have the energy to go looking for some mom-and-pop place in an obscure side street.

By 9 pm, I'm in my room.

Tired. Hungry.

Not wanting to step out of the safety of my room, I devour half a bag of cookies I had bought in Hong Kong. And 2 bars of chocolate.

Oh well.

At least I don't eat like that every day.

At least most days aren't like today.

For that, I'm thankful.

***
Today, the adventure continued. Had a meeting on the other side of the city. Met a delightful family. Was glad when they sent me back with their driver. He and I had a great visit on the 40-minute drive back to my hotel. He helped me with some of the words I didn't know. At times, when he'd talk non-stop about some of the changes in the past 30 years and I only understood about half of what he said, I'd just say something like, "Whoa. How interesting." And he'd continue talking. And I'd sit there wishing I could understand all he said, 'cause it really would be interesting to hear...

Just got a call. A friend arrived from Zimbabwe. I'm heading over to hear what he has to say about the changes in HIS world!

Life truly is an adventure!

There's something about libraries...

This morning, I hopped on the subway and headed over to TaiDa (or the National Taiwan University). Wondering if it's worth the time I'm spending on the commute, I decided to give it a try, nevertheless. I know I get far more done when I'm surrounded by other students who are focused on their work.

And today was no exception.

Tomorrow, I'm determined to come here again and continue to work on my paper. If I can sit here for a solid eight hours tomorrow, I'd be much, much closer to having yet another paper done. Maybe another eight hours here on Thursday and Friday...

I have choir rehearsal all of Saturday. And I rest on Sundays. On Monday, I might be able to do the last bit of work on the paper, then another choir rehearsal. Tuesday, it's time to pack for my 3-week trip to China. That evening, we have our choir concert. And by 4 am the next morning, I'll be off to Hong Kong to get a visa for China.

And then for the next few weeks, I'll be learning, observing, enjoying stimulating conversations with friends, walking on the Wall, visiting the Bird's Nest, the Terra Cotta Soldiers, even Shanghai. Trying to make my Taiwan-Chinese more understandable to Mainlanders, figuring out where China fits into the bigger picture of my dissertation. And then off to Shendzen to spend some time with my colleagues in the baby goods business. Getting to know them. Planning changes to the Web sites. Writing strategies for the way forward in terms of social marketing. Learning more. Being stretched. Growing.

But before that can happen, my current paper has to be done.

And so, tomorrow, I'll be back at the library to be inspired by the hundreds of studious college kids around me.

Hearing God's voice . . . through the ears of a 3-year-old

My sister recently told my 3-year-old niece Anja (on the left) that she listen for Jesus' voice. Apparently Anja complained for a couple of days that she's hearing nothing, and then one day she announced that Jesus has spoken to her.

When Liesl asked what he had told her, she declared: "He says I should have a cookie right now." Of course my sister gave her a cookie the moment they got home!

Conversation Starter

My Kindle has been the topic of many a conversation on the trains and buses this week. As I take advantage of commuting time to read, I inevitable hear people start talking about it, usually thinking that I cannot understand their conversations... At times, people have asked me questions. How does it work? Where can one buy it? One guy on the subway today had read about it and was keen to see one. "So, can you download books here in Taiwan yet?" I was sorry to tell him, "Not yet."

Earlier in the day, though, the Kindle could've lead into a really good conversation. But I let the opportunity slip through my fingers, I realized as I stepped off the train...

I was sitting reading when a young Taoist monk sat down next to me. The trains tend to be very crammed, and I tend to withdraw into my own world, listening to music on my iPod (as do many of the people around me). This morning, though, I didn't have my earphones on.

I heard the young man clear his throat and politely say, "Excuse me."

It definitely was a young man's voice, but the gray outfits and the shaved heads always make it hard to know if it's a monk or a nun.

"Hi," I said with a smile, surprised that he could speak English.

"My name is Master so-and-so (didn't catch his name). I'm from Pintung (that's in the south of the island.) Do you mind telling me: Is that a computer?"

I explained to him how the electronic book works. After chatting a bit, I noticed we're at my station. "I'm so sorry! This is my station! It was good to chat with you." And I hopped off the train.

As the train pulled away, it hit me between the eyes.

I had missed a golden opportunity right there and then.

I had so many questions for him. I've been wishing I could ask a monk or a nun about their outfits, their beliefs, about things I see around me. Like the fact that the temples have been crowded the past two days, and offering tables have been out on the streets with offerings for the spirits. Is it an auspicious day? Or is it one of the regular, bi-monthly Taoist worship days? What do they believe, really?

I had bought a book on the topic this week, but may not get to reading it for another month or so. (The reading stack is high right now.)

So I missed a chance to learn.

I'm praying that God would give me another chance like that. 'Cause ask about the Kindle, people will. They're curious. Rightfully so. But when they start conversations about my stuff, it may very well lead into conversations about their world, too...

The Wall

This afternoon, it felt like I had suddenly hit a wall. I'm trying desperately to make sense of an incredibly dense book on theology of work. It's a brilliant book, and there's so much richness in it that I feel like I ought to memorize half of the book, at least, before I can even try to speak on the topic of marketplace ministry.

But having struggled for a few days now with this particular book, I hit a wall. Right now, I cannot afford to be hitting a wall. My paper has to be done. Turned in. And done well. If it were just any topic, I believe I could have gotten it done months ago. But since it's my first paper in the field that I finally tend to do my dissertation, I'm trying to learn all I can. I'm taking more notes than I would for other reports, so that down the road (next year?) when I'm finally working on the dissertation, perhaps, just perhaps, things will be a bit easier. I wouldn't have to go back and do double work. I'm not sure.

It probably also doesn't help that the emotions of adjusting yet again to life in a new (albeit familiar) city and culture is also hitting me. I (still) love being back. I love all the opportunities I have to live wholeheartedly. I (still) love life here.

But tonight, I'm a bit tired.

Tomorrow, we have a 3-hour choir rehearsal with the National Symphony Orchestra to prepare for our upcoming concert. Sunday, I'm helping my friends from APU at an educational fair. And then, in this next week, my paper has to be completely done before I can go to China for three weeks. If I can finish his book report tonight, I'll be another step closer to being done.

What on earth was I thinking when I enrolled for this program?

Yikes.

Keep the eye on the goal, right? But more than that, know that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

With Him, I can scale this wall.

Yes.

I wonder what my life would look like if I said "Yes, Lord!" whenever I sensed God asking me to do something.

Anything.

He'd never embarrass me. Never set me up for failure. Though I may (and have before) gotten the message all muddled up. Didn't follow through. Got in the way. Got stubborn.

So, today, as I set out to go about the business of my day (focusing on studying all day, then teaching tonight), I will do so with a wholehearted "Yes!" in my spirit.

Yes, Lord.

No matter what the question?

This Week in Pictures

The photos uploaded in reverse order, so, sorry about that. I'm not going to rearrange them now. You can start at the bottom of the page, if you wish, and scroll up. :)

The photos of many of the cultural items (such as ghost money etc) is so that you can have a better understanding of the beliefs on the island. I do not support any of those practices, but do not necessarily see this as the place to discuss the bondages of much of this culture. Instead, I'm merely sharing the beliefs with you so you, too, can have a greater understanding.

Before the choir concert in Nantou yesterday. As you can imagine, I had plenty of opportunities to practice speaking Chinese. My fellow choir members love that I'm willing to make mistakes.

Kiptoo shared my bien dang (lunch box) with me before we went to get ready for the concert. Usually, you can pick between fish or pork or tofu. Starting up at Kiptoo's corner, going clockwise, this is tofu, pickled seaweed, breaded pork on rice, kale, and cabbage.

This was at the winery. But you see this yuanbao, or (fake) gold ingot in many stores as a wish for good business. (Paper versions are sometimes burned as offerings to ancestor spirits, especially during ghost month.) It's similar to having a maneki neko (lucky cat) or a money frog on the shelf.

Tea eggs are regular chicken eggs that are boiled in a tea mixture for hours. You can buy these as snacks at convenience stores (or, in this case, at the winery). I like them only when served cut up in wedges with thick, pickled seaweed.

Another popular Taiwanese snack: chicken feet. Hmmmm. (I don't particularly care for these.)

Taiwanese are incredible businesspeople, and people here come up with all kinds of interesting ways to make money. Like by having a vending machine near a fish pond where you could feed the koi fish. What's funny about this machine, though, is the sign. Look closely (below).

Lovely animal feedstuff vending machine. Aka Koi Food Vending Machine. But that'd mean you'd have to print a new sign for the Rabbit Food Vending Machine. And another for the Ostrich Food Vending Machine. Hence, the all-in-one "Lovely animal feedstuff vending machine." Brilliant.

I thought these carved stones were beautifully done!

This guy is famous in Nantou for carving beautiful chops. Chops are critical for any important documents. I still have my chop from before, and I've started to use it to sign my printed photos here.

At the bamboo crafts place in Nantou, this lady strips the bamboo of its outer skin. The perfect pieces of bamboo are then crafted into anything from beautiful bags to tea cups to shoes.

I believe this is the start of a bamboo bowl. It was amazing to watch the people make these!

You often see these huge "bouquets" out on the streets next to businesses. Colorful ones like these are sent by friends and business acquaintences to wish a new business all the best with a new venture. Sometimes, though, you'll find them in white, in which case they're for a funeral.

Ghost money, placed in the front of the bus window... According to Taoist belief, the money is burned for dead ancestors "to escape punishment, or for the ancestors to use themselves in spending on lavish items in the afterlife." I've often watched people burn this paper money as offerings to the spirits. I've never seen it placed in a window like this. Interestingly, one can now also find paper credit cards that can be burned as offerings for the spirits to use. I guess that means you won't have to burn stacks of money; just burn one credit card! I wonder if, when you buy those at the temple, they are supposed to have a limit, or if you end up having to burn several with different credit limits... When I was telling my friend Nan about this tradition, she made a funny observation regarding the saying "You can't take it [possessions] with you [when you're dead]." To which she added, "But others can send it to you."

This is at the Hakka restuarant in Miaoli. The dishes served included deep-fried fish fingerlings ...

... that just so happen to have fish eggs inside of them. I'm sure it tastes great, but I wasn't in the mood to try it yesterday.

Another of the dishes: Pork intestines. I have eaten offal since I was a kid, so it really doesn't faze me. I can honestly say, though, that I prefer the way Kenyans prepare goat intestines. It's far more tasty.

Trying the pork knuckles with Oskar, a fellow choir member who I recruited as my cultural informant for the day. We had some very interesting conversations!

Some of the other girls at my lunch table. In the forefront, you can see the pork knuckle dish (at 3:00), then a chicken dish, then at the center, mantou (bland bread) that's used to fold around some beef, sort-of as a Chinese hamburger, and finally, in the left front corner (at 7:00), is the strangest of the Hakka dishes I had. It's super-duper-sticky glutinous rice dumplings, stuffed with pickled radish. They come wrapped in plastic, else you won't be able to pick them up from the plate. Which gives you an idea of how hard it is to get the stuff off your teeth and your palate after taking a bite... I only had one bit. That was enough.

The pork knuckles were really tasty, though.

Close to Miaoli, there's a factory on the side of the freeway where you can buy really big idols...

This is why the drive down-island took us several more hours than the late-night journey home. This is also why I prefer taking the high-speed train when I visit friends on other parts of the island.

On the long bus trip, Kiptoo decided it was a good opportunity to look over the music.

I love Taipei's subway system. When I arrived here in 1995, there was no such thing. It only opened in 2001, if I remember correctly. But building an underground system in a modern city means that existing roads get dug up, and tunnels get dug deep under huge skyscrapers. It truly is an amazing feat of engineering. The city seems to be working on expanding the current system, adding some new lines.

Welcome to the world of an illiterate person. All I understand from this sign on the side of the Taipei Softball Stadium is that something is happening from April 9-14. The upside of this is that I get inundated with about 8,000 fewer visual messages a day than my Chinese friends do. OK, maybe not that many. But you get the picture.

On Friday, I hopped on the MRT (mass rapid transportation system) to Tanshui (on the northern tip of the island to have lunch with Josh and Charis. They were both in youth group when I helped lead it from 1998-2002. When I left, Josh was 13 and Charis 11. What fun to see them as young adults!

The signs in Taiwan will always fascinate me. I'm not sure who "the others" are that you're not supposed to flush down the toilet. And yes, you read it correctly. You're also not supposed to dispose of TP in the toilet. The sewage system here simply doesn't handle paper well. So you dispose of it in garbage bins. Nuff said.

The street on which I live. Quite a change from this, isn't it?

Another street in my neighborhood. The funny thing about this photo is the Taiwan School for the Blind at the end of the road: They have their sign in Braille, too. It always makes me wonder if some giant (and blind, and Chinese, on top of it) might wander past and read the sign in Braille. I know, I know, it's just for the idea, but I still find it funny!

One of the streets close to home. The markets in Taiwan remind me a lot of the markets in Kenya, except that vendors use incandescent light bulbs rather than oil lanterns...

One of many doggie parlors in my neighborhood. Their sign is the great commandment (to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might, and to love your neighbor as yoursel), revised: Love your pets as you love your own children.

I took a really quick photo of this sign as I got on the bus the other day: No birds.
I'll keep that in mind. I bet it's because of bird flu. I'm just not entirely sure how many people try to board a bus with a duck under their arm, or with a fork-trailed drongo in a cage. But then again, I myself had pet birds here before, which means I had to get them from the bird market downtown to my home. I don't think I took a bus, though. In fact, I know I didn't. Back then, I had a car.

... and though I miss having a car here, it's super easy to get around the city by using the MRT and busses, or hopping in a taxi when time is of the essence.

So, that's it. For this week, at least.