A Place to fall in Love with: Taiwan

Happy New Year! from Taiwan: On spending the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 in another country and returning having learned much about travel, beauty, new friends, and places I want to return to

Three Things Taiwan Taught me

 1.) I learned what it means to make a friend in a foreign country that you have never been to before.

On the subway on the way to the New Year’s Eve celebration at Taipei 101, I was not sure of the exact route to get there. I went over to look at the map of the different stops, which two girls were sitting by. I asked them if a certain stop was the right one to get where I wanted to go. The stops had also been changed due to the crowds that night. They told me the stop and said that they were also going, so I could go with them. I happily went with them and we started talking, as much as we could with the language barrier. I do not know Mandarin Chinese and they spoke a little English (they understood more than they could speak, which seems to be common) But we communicated well enough for the most part. We hung out together for the New Year’s Eve party and played cards on the stone floor of the balcony outside of a building across from Taipei 101 where everyone gathered to watch the fireworks. It was very crowded and we squeezed in between different groups so we could get a spot to sit down. As we played cards, I tried to learn whatever Chinese I could, and learned (or heard at least) the words for 'Happy New Year', 'two', 'liar', 'yes', 'ask',  'him/her' and 'your welcome', among others.

 My two new friends went out of their way to show me around, help me have a good time and make sure I had a place to stay for the night. The people in Taiwan in general are very welcoming and extremely helpful, not giving a second thought to helping someone they don’t know or just met get where they have to go or helping them, not concerned about going out of their way, but happy to help all they can. This is similar to how people in Korea interact as well.

We had a great time together watching the fireworks, as well as playing with sparklers afterwards. I was looking at the sparklers glowing in the dark, then was surprised when my new friends got some for us to play with! I ended up burning my finger and palm a bit, but nothing serious. I still have the mark on my palm, though. I was happy to have a "battle scar" or 'memory mark' of my time in Taiwan!

We then got tea from a street vendor. There was a big stand set up by the area of the crowds. There were several young guys who were trying to sell the last of it, so they were having a friendly competition with each other. Since they each had a different flavor, they gave us samples and cheered when we chose their tea, which was quite amusing and added to the celebratory air of the new year and the chaotic crowds. I said 'Happy New Year' to them in Mandarin and one of the guys joked that my tea would be free. I chose the berry flavored tea, which was quite strong and thick, kind of like a juice or wine.

2.)  I learned what it means to go with the flow to make your adventures even more fun!

I did not go to Taiwan with a detailed itinerary, or with a very strict one. In fact, you could say I did not go with much of one at all. Because of not knowing too far in advance what days I would have off and not deciding on the location until a few days before (it was Taiwan or Japan) I did not do much in the way of planning an itinerary. I like to go with the flow for the most part and am not a big planner usually. By taking opportunities as they came, I was able to make new friends, explore and learn more and have an awesome and fun time!

3.) I learned what it means to trust God.

Since I went without an itinerary or plans on where to stay other than the first night of my 3 night trip, I prayed before I went and trusted God to provide me a place to stay. I stayed at a hostel the first night, which was booked the other 2 nights, before New Year’s. God amazingly provided a place for me to stay the last 2 nights, through the new friends I made, as well as an awesome itinerary full of new adventures and experiences!

For this trip, I had a goal of exploring what I could and seeing the beauty of the country. I had one contact that I wanted to meet while I was there: the YWAM team of Taiwan. YWAM is a group with bases around the world that has the mission of sharing God’s love with the world around them. I had heard good things about it before from several people who had been in it. To learn more about YWAM, click on the YWAM link or to learn about Taipei, Taiwan's YWAM, click here. Read on for my ocean adventures and future travel plans!

I wanted to learn more about the program firsthand as I am considering being a part of one of their classes/outreaches/adventures (that is to say, being part of DTS- Discipleship Training School, which is the first adventure/discipleship program you can take in YWAM)

Talking about adventures and seeing the beauty of the country, I was very happy that I got to see the ocean while on the island of Taiwan. It was off season, obviously, but that did not stop me from getting to the coast and going in the water! (Okay, I put a foot in the water…then got soaked from a wave crashing onto the shore, as the high tide was coming in! J It was a blast though and the water was not very cold at all, aside from the shock of getting wet without expecting it!

 Once I was “baptized” by the water, (Ask me about this!) I then made my way back to the capital city of Taipei to get there in time for the New Year. I almost did not want to leave the spot I was at, as it was so beautiful and peaceful. That is what I love about the ocean and why I want to live there one day. Now, with my new travel plans of going around the world, back-packer style, anywhere can be my home and I can certainly live by the ocean- this year, in fact! This is the first step of the new year in my many travels and adventures to come!

I would like to hear what countries you have traveled to that you loved. Where do you want to travel?
Where would you want to celebrate the New Year? Please answer in the comments!

Stay tuned to hear more about my time in Taiwan as well as my plans to travel and where I may go next- just click to follow on the righthand side of the page or sign up for email updates.

Korean Thanksgiving, Monsoons (or the lack thereof) and Magic

I apologize, my dearests, for not writing for so long.

I love to write, as you know and I see writing as magical. At least I hope it to be so. That may be one of the reasons why I put off writing for Monsoon Mind. (Lack of monsoons? Lack of "magical" things to share?)

 I hope it to be magical. If not magical, at least to have a little uniqueness and pizazz. I wish it to be even the slightest inspiring or at least to make you think.

I would like to share my journey, though, every step of the way. And so, as we all know, everything is not magical. This is not Disney, after all. (I do not know if everything is really magical all the time there either...the last I heard about Cinderella's stepsisters...but I digress, that is another story.)

So I will continue this blog and I will try to post at least every other week for now with the hope of writing a little more often in the near future, after I finish my online class.

But as I was saying, I will be real and will share my journey with you each step of the way, whether it is magical or ordinary.

This week will be is the third week of the new curriculm program that our school has implented. It is going very well so far. It was definitely a slight process to say the least to switch over. I like it better though, for the most part.

The program has the students watch animated stories online and practice speaking the dialouge. It is kind of like a power point program and a movie blended together. For the younger kids, it works really well. They enjoy watching for the most part and it helps them to understand the words more by seeing them firsthand instead of just using a book and pictures. They are able to see actions and then practice on their own.

On Teaching Teenage Boys and Kings (Or the teenage version of Where the Wild Things are)

The older kids, in particular the older boys class, does not enjoy it so much. They are very hard to motivate.Nothing seems to motivate them. The King of England couldn't motivate them. The King of France couldn't either. (Why the royal references? I am watching The Other Boleyn Girl- I read the book- very thrilling and is what got me more interested in historical fiction! It's based on Ann Boleyn (and her sister Mary's) relationships with King Henry VIII(also a wild thing in his own right) who has always fascinated/horrified me. He killed two out of six wives. How did he get 4 more wives after he killed his second wife? How did he get his last wife after he killed 2 of his wives? She almost got beheaded too. Curious on more King Henry the 8th history? Find out more about his wives here. )

On Giving Thanks, Contests, Ancestors, Sweetness and Wrestling

Last weekend, as you may or may not know, was the Korean "Thanksgiving" called Chuseok (see picture above for how to pronounce it). There are several theories for the origins of the holiday including a month long weaving contest in which the one who weaved more cloth would be treated to a feast. It is also said that it was the day of a great victory of the Silla kingdom over their rival kingdom of Balhae. For the original celebration of this victory, there were weaving contests, archery competitions and martial arts demonstrations.

The main reason for the holiday though is to pay respect to their ancestors for the abundant harvest (this is where the Thanksgiving feast comes in-the most told about food to eat for their thanksgiving is a type of rice cake with a sweet filling served on steam pine needles) and so it is tradition to travel to the husband's hometown to pay respects there. They go there to clean the area around the tomb, decorate and plant, as well as to offer food and drink to their ancestors, as the crops (and what they have today) are seen as being a blessing from their ancestors. That is a good way to see things, I think. Would love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments!

There also is wrestling involved with this holiday season (or there was). It was custom for villages to wrestle to see who was the strongest man of their town and then they would win cotton rice or a calf as the take home prize. This led to the modern version of wrestling competitons taking place close to Chuseok to determine the strongest man in Korea. However, this is no longer as big a part of the celebrations as it once was.

A big part of Chuseok tradition was also Ganggangsullae or the Korean circle dance. This dates all the way back to 1392 (the Joseon dynasty) until 1910. The Korean army would have the women of the village dress up in military gear (where the trend of those army pants may have come from) and circle the mountain to make it appear that their army was that much bigger and scarier and thus, unbeatable. This method worked very well for them, as they are reported to have won lots of battles with the army getup!

While I was not able to go to my own hometown, I decided to go to the country's "hometown".  I traveled to Seoul, being sure to plan my trip to avoid the mass exodus and return of people traveling back and forth from their hometowns. Success on that! I was just there for one night and went to Itaewon, the city for foreigners with food and shopping reminiscient of home so much so that it seems almost like New York City, although on a smaller and safer scale. I am glad I got to visit the city that never sleeps (SIDENOTE: this title is being contended for by major cities in Korea, as it is quite common to never sleep and I for one, have taken up the trend as well, so this nickname for NYC is currently under investigation) one more time before I left for Korea and it is a nice memory of spending time with friends.  ~Shoutout to southern gentlemen! JK ;)

So that is my not so magical  update on my life in South Korea.  I am enjoying my time here though and I like to see the magic in the small and seemingly unimportant things as well as things that are larger than life. It can be a once in a lifetime opportunity everyday, right? Not just here, either. Wherever you are. It's what you make it.

In honor of Chuseok, a list of things I am thankful for:

• sunshine
• coffee
• water
• ocean waves
• the kids' smiles
• my coworkers kindness
• not having to wake up early
• walking 1 minute to work
• going on the roof above the school to get some sun and look at the city
• learning something new everyday
• korean/english translation on the internet/people's phones
• the super sweet deal this is to be here and get this great opportunity
• kids greeting me and hugging me and saying they love me
• how the kids make me smile and laugh
• my family and friends and how much they encourage me
• the opportunity to travel here (that I will definitely take advantage of!) and see beautiful nature- mountains, ocean, waterfalls, here I come!

I look forward to finding the magic throughout South Korea, in the land and in the people. 

I challenge you to make your own list of things you are thankful for in honor of Chuseok.

Where do you find the "magic" in your own life?

And would like to hear what you think about what I posted about Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving. If you are Korean, how do you celebrate or is there any insight/comments you would like to add?

Also, for anyone reading this, I would love to hear about where have you traveled or lived that you especially loved (or hated)? Would love to hear your thoughts on this and anything related. (Or unrelated of course!)