My 24th Birthday!!

This year I got to celebrate my birthday 4 times! Definitely a first for me! When I went home for a week in March, I had cake with my family at home. (Yum!) Annette gave me Starbucks* coffee beans and a grinder to take back to Taiwan with me-- so I should be all set with coffee for a few months!!
My birthday weekend arrived and Eddie did a really good job of surprising me! He took me to the Taipei flower market on Saturday afternoon. It was spectacular! I've never seen so many orchids in one place at once! Unfortunately, he wouldn't let me buy anything because I'll be moving to a new apartment in a few short months and it would be pointless to buy plants now!

Taipei Holiday Flower Market

That evening, I knew we were meeting some friends for dinner-- what I didn't know is that they had found a Spanish Tapas restaurant in Taipei!! It was delicious!! Really made me miss all the good food I got to eat everyday in Spain!! (Dr. Yien once told me you can find any kind of food in Taipei-- I'm starting to think he's right!) I thought the birthday celebrating was complete. But on Sunday, Eddie dragged me to the "middle of nowhere" in Taipei - a inconspicuous street and address- which just happened to be a dance studio. My birthday gift from him was a month of Salsa classes for the two of us! (We had our first lesson last week and it was a blast!)

Tapas (jamón serrano & queso)


My birthday cake (I LOVE the "??"s!)

As if that wasn't enough, my classmates surprised me with cake and 'champagne' (really lemon green tea) on Monday! We had a great time singing "Happy Birthday" in different languages!

Party with my classmates!

I'm really grateful for the thoughtfulness of all my friends here! I had a WONDERFUL birthday!

Green Island Spring Break Adventure!

Last week I had my first visit to a real tropical Island. Kay, Lorenzo, David, Eddie and I went to Green Island, about a 45 min. ferry ride from the south-east coast of Taiwan. We had a wonderful time exploring Taidong and Green Island.

We spend a day in Taidong County enjoying being in "country". Our hotel in Taidong included a hot spring/spa area. So we relaxed in the hot springs in the morning and again before bed. We visited a pre-history museum that introduced ancient archaeological sites in Taidong. We also visited Taiwan's most famous dairy farm-- it reminded me of spending summers in Wisconsin. :-) Finally, I got to eat yet another exotic fruit called a "shi jia" -- or Buddha's Head fruit-- I'd never seen anything like it before, but my translator says its English name is a "sugar apple"??!!??

(Picture compliments of Ian Maguire at http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/fruitproducts_sw.htm)

The ferry ride to Green Island on Thursday was an adventure! There was strong wind, rain, and the sea was pretty choppy. Fortunately, we'd all taken motion sickness medicine, so we had fun getting wet and flying over the rolling waves! Thursday afternoon, I got to go snorkeling for the first time in my life, and it was incredible. Seeing the fish and coral reef was exactly like on the Discovery Channel only much better in person!! After snorkeling we relaxed in natural salt water hot springs while enjoying the beautiful scenery and listening to the pounding surf.

The last day of our vacation, we took our scooters and drove around the island, stopping to take pictures and enjoy scenic spots. Before long it was time to board the ferry and head back to Taiwan, then take the train to Taipei. It was an amazing trip that I'll never forget... and maybe someday I'll go back again!

Pictures of our trip are online at:

Green Island

Ming Chuan's 51st Anniversary!

Happy 51st Anniversary MCU!

This week was crazy! After a great week at home, I left Michigan on Monday afternoon. I arrived back in Taiwan late Tuesday night and had normal class on Wednesday... then on Thursday we had a "field trip!"

Thursday was Ming Chuan University's 51st Anniversary, so since no one else had to go to class- we decided to practice our Chinese in the "real world"-- A.K.A. attend MCU's birthday party!

Quen and I decided to embarass the tuxedo boys!

All of my classmates (minus the only boy Michael).
6 nationalities represented!!

And I can never make fun of Eddie for being a "cheerleader" again. (Well.... yes, I still can ;-) But it turns out that "cheerleading" in Chinese can also mean like a hip-hop dance squad/aerobatic team. Somewhat more "manly" than what I had pictured! Each of MCU's departments put together a different act for the annual cheerleading competition. I was really impressed by how creative their themes and costumes were! It's great to see that kind of school spirit!

Happy Lantern Festival! 元宵節快樂！

Falling just on the heels of Chinese New Year is the Lantern Festival.
One Saturday afternoon in between going to the park for some exercise and going to the grocery store, Eddie and I stumbled up this local exhibit for 元宵節！

Because it's the year of the rat, Mickey Mouse & friends are extra popular!

No resemblance there!?!?!

National Palace Museum...

First off, it's never a good idea to visit a museum on an empty stomach. You'll be too busy thinking about your next meal to enjoy the art!

Taiwanese sausages...

"Where are the buns?" you may ask...
The larger white "sausages" are actually made from rice (duh!),
when sliced in half they take the place of what we normally think of as a bun.

Visiting the National Palace Museum is always a pleasure. The collection contains so many fine artifacts that it can be overwhelming, but the newly renovated museum makes the collection much more accessible. Unfortunately, photography is prohibited inside the museum (understandably as many of the art is over 1,000 years old!). If you have time I suggest renting the digital headset with prerecorded guide and exploring the museum on your own. I was not impressed with the English-language tour. *TIP* Visiting the museum on a weekday morning is your best bet to avoid large crowds!

For more information about the museum click here!
This is one of the most famous artifacts in the NPM.It's so impressive because the artist used the natural color of the jade
to carve a very realistic looking Chinese cabbage.
(Photo courtesy of NPM http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/collection/selections_01.htm?pageno=3&catno=12)

In addition to many wonderful examples of Chinese art the museum also regularly hosts visiting exhibits of art from different parts of the world. You never quite know what you'll find!

Pictures in front of the National Palace Museum.

Lin Family Mansion

Every day while taking the MRT (read: subway) I pass a stop that proudly advertises the Lin Family Mansion. Interestingly, my surname in Chinese is "Lin"-- but I never knew my family had a Mansion! One Saturday afternoon (after a traumatizing haircut) Eddie decided to cheer me up by visiting the mansion.

The buildings and gardens reminded me of some of the mansions we visited in SuZhou in China. Everything was designed taking balance and feng shui into consideration, the man-made mountains are reflected in a man-made lake.

For me the highlights of our visit were: the peacocks (reminds me of being a kid at the Saginaw zoo); the theater, which is two large covered porches set across from each other with a man-made pond in between; and the calligraphy inscribed on some of the walls, I can read some of the characters now!

Would I make a special trip to Taipei just to visit the Lin Family Mansion?? Nope. But if you're spending some time here and it's a great place for an interesting and relaxing afternoon.

2008 Taipei Flower Show

Being from Michigan it seems strange to hold an outdoor flower show in JANUARY, but this is Taiwan :-) My hometown is still buried under a foot of snow, and I'm spending a sunny Saturday afternoon exploring the 2008 Taipei Flower Show in Daan Park in Taipei City.

The flowers themselves were beautiful. I proudly showed off my limited gardening knowledge by identifying the flowers I recognized, i.e. lilies, petunias, roses, etc. I was surprised how BIG some of plants were. I'm always seeing "exotic" flowers that we attempt to grow in Michigan that are huge here. Poinsettias grow like weeds here!











In addition to the flowers, I really enjoyed seeing the creative displays - including a Peter Pan pirate ship complete with a giant crocodile! It was a treat to see Taipei natives relaxing as families in the park. Too often everyone here seems so busy! (It's a big city;-) So seeing parents playing with their kids on a Saturday afternoon was nice.