Strengthening My Feeble Knees

It so happens that taking the kids into the complete unknown on a regular basis is not the easiest thing to do. Even getting us out the door - getting everyone fed, clothed, shod, and with emptied bladders is a labor all unto itself. Then, regardless of where we ultimately want to go, it means a 10 minute hike to the train, generally a long ride, and after that, still only a hope we find where we are going after a lot of asking strangers and stopping to orient ourselves to the maps, bus schedules, or landmarks that help us make our way around.

We almost can't go anywhere without stopping several times to find and use more bathrooms. It's almost like the girls think of this trip as the toilet tour of Taiwan. I've begun to joke with them, "Oooh. There's another bathroom. Should we go use it just to see what that one is like?" AND our trips are also not brief enough to make it home without needing to eat.

Managing all of these unknowns with four kids in tow in a country where I don't read the language, and where speaking and understanding still take mental exertion can be enough to make me feel I should just stay home. Of course, staying home isn't really an option because I still have to grocery shop and find and provide for the other family necessities, but with all of that, why torture myself with expectations that we will ALSO go see and do anything beyond what is necessitated for survival!?!

That is exactly how I was feeling the other afternoon. We'd been cooped up in the house due to rain for a few days, and after things dried out, I used all my "going" energy to restock our cupboards and fridge, and to get the kids to and from a few ballet classes. I hardly had energy for more going. But we didn't travel all this way to sit in our apartment. So Thursday afternoon I suddenly declared to the kids that we were leaving and to get their shoes on. No one had eaten lunch, but I told them we would grab something on the way. I was afraid if I didn't leave the house at that very moment, I wouldn't have the energy or guts to go after taking the time to feed the crew.

We hiked down to the train station, but I was tired of all the offerings we'd enjoyed there recently, so, hoping I could find a fast plate of friend rice, we walked into a restaurant that had never seemed very promising for all the beer advertisements wrapping it's walls and the tipsy, red-faced businessmen at the tables inside when we'd passed before.

This time perhaps we'd just missed the lunch rush. There were 3 older men at one table, and at another a husband, wife, and small daughter whose faces lit up when we entered so much so that I thought we must know them. We were the only other group in the restaurant and as we sat down, I began to kid-manage and try to order. "Sit down. I have to order before they can bring the food. Do you have fried rice? I don't know what flavors I want. No, I don't need a menu, I can't read Chinese. Take your sister to the bathroom in the back. A shrimp and a pork fried rice please. What veggies do you have? I'm sorry, I don't understand those words. Do you have kongxincai? Yes, that will be all. Yes, the kids can eat with chopsticks. No, I am not ordering you ice cream. We're all sitting right here so please stop yelling. Yes, they are all my children. Don't stand on the chair." Etc, etc, etc.

Taking the kids to eat anywhere at home can be crazy enough. Here, with a whole foreign world swirling around us, trying a new place alone with just the kids and myself can seem like the straw that, while it may not break any backs, perhaps pokes one too many holes through a mother's stream of conscious.

But on this occasion (and truly on so many others) I am saved by the kindness of strangers a long the way. The family at the table nearby WERE strangers. I confirmed with the husband, who came over to our table, first to treat us to two bottles of Apple Cidre (a carbonated beverage the kids like which I never buy for them). No, he was not the same stranger who gave us a ride home Sunday. No, he didn't go to our church. He looked familiar because his family had been eating in another restaurant Sister Wu had pointed out after a ballet class one afternoon. But we'd never spoken before.

After our food came, he stopped by the table again to ask if we always ate so simply or was it that we just didn't know what to order? I tried to explain to him my craving for fried rice that afternoon, but he insisted on treating us to a plate of tomato and egg as well. The kids now luck out twice in a row! This is one of their favorite dishes!

Finally, he came back to the table to inform me that at this particular restaurant, the white rice was free, and if you order two-three dishes or more, the ice cream was free too! Now the kids were in HEAVEN! (I almost never buy them ice cream either.) When we had eaten our delighted fill, I went to pay, and this gentleman had already confirmed with the waitress that he was covering the soda and extra plate of food.

His actions may not seem like any great and important act of service, but to me on that day, it meant the world. I walked into the restaurant very uncertain I would be able to face all of the unknowns that are a part of any adventure we go on. I am used to being alone with the kids, but sometimes being here, I feel especially alone. I have felt, and on this day was feeling almost too overwhelmed and had thought to myself, "If we only make it to eat, at least we will have gotten out of the house."

After being the recipient of such thoughtfulness, my spirit was renewed! Leaving the restaurant, I thought, "I STILL don't know exactly where we are going, how we will get there, what we will find once we arrive, or if any of it will feel worth it, BUT there will be help along the way! If and when I have a need, there will be an answering of that need. I CAN do this!"

So off we went to the Botanical Gardens of Taipei, and those pictures I'll include below. But I just want to add for the record how moved I am by the kindness and generosity of the people here. How often we are helped and even saved by strangers, who, on the way to somewhere else and living their very busy lives, find the time and resources to make the big and little differences in MY life. This attribute of the Chinese people here reminds me of my Savior, Jesus Christ. And I am filled with a desire to be more like Him, and more like the people here and all around me!

Okay! Enough story-telling! On to the pics already!

Another lovely pagoda. Taiwan is rich with these, but I never tire of them.

The kids in front of a Japanese zen garden. Do they look SO "zen"?

If I got the sign right, and if it WAS a sign for this tree, this may be what agave comes from...?

Wow! Cactus too, in all the moisture of Taiwan...?

Giant yucca. Seriously.

Oh, and it was a great adventure, enjoyed by all. And we made it home safely. And the garden was magical. And we wished so many of our loved ones could have been there to see different bits and pieces of what we saw. Loved ones, we love you!

Any Given Day

If you are just waking up, wondering, "What are the Caspersons up to right now?" the answer is, we are probably going to bed. That's how it works, see? BUT if you wake up in the middle of the night wondering the same thing, well, that's where it gets more interesting!

We are still in Taiwan, and STILL marveling that we are here. We are truly strangers in a foreign land! I thought this post could be a small window into what life looks like here on any given day. (Thought it would be a nice way to include some pictures that had not yet found a reason to be posted.)

On any given day, we are enjoying (or not - see below) public transportation. We don't have a car due to the expense and hassle of driving and parking. So we trade those hassles for another, which sometimes seems about as painfully inconvenient.

Arthur looks so big all by himself - a lone foreigner in a sea of locals....

The emptiness you see in this picture is exactly why we love mid-week, mid-afternoon errands. (Kids in Hongshulin station)

No matter the destination, we are bound to come across at least one temple, if not a whole fat handful. Some of the family are "over-it!" (again, see below)

Arthur and Eloise at Longshan temple.

Less often, we are treated to the sounds of worshipers doing their thing. The temple below is on the ground floor of the equivalent of a strip-mall. If you aren't picky about your deities, worshiping here is very convenient!

Certainly MORE so at tourist destinations, but not infrequently when we are just doing our thing, the cuter among us get cameos in the picture reels of total strangers. I had to snap at least ONE total stranger to document this phenomenon. At least the girls SMILE. Arthur is willing, but just pulls the most hilarious forlorn face. I can't help but wonder what folks DO with these shots!

This woman asked for a picture with the girls. This is near where we sent off the lanterns.

No matter where we go, we usually find it quite easy to amuse ourselves with our own sense of the wacky. Eloise wins the award in THIS photo. Somebody, put these adorable nerds in a frame on a wall!

Shopping in Tamsui. How this shot warms the cockles of my heart!

Kids with guard at Martyr's Shrine

Depending on the day, we try to get out into this amazing country and see the sights that can only be enjoyed HERE. The outing documented to the right and below combined a trip to the Martyr's Shrine with a stop at the Grand Hotel. The highlight of the shrine was these "frozen" army guys. I didn't want to be disrespectful but I did try a tiny bit to get one of them to crack a hint of a grin. My efforts were in vain, and the kids were WAY impressed.

Below we managed a selfie with ALL FIVE of us. It was quite a feat to get a pic where we all looked THIS cute. I am beginning to think I am as amazing with these 4 kids as everyone, everywhere we go, tells me I am. ;)

Me and crew below the Grand Hotel.

Generally, after our adventuring, we like the same relaxation we enjoy if we've been too lazy to go anywhere: a dip in our community hot spring. Sadly, the pool closes at the end of this month, but it's mostly been too cold recently to swim anyway. (Too cold being temperatures in the mid 70's.) Thankfully for us, we can enjoy this hot tub for our entire stay. Arthur loves turning on the bubbles. He calls it his "root beer." But after a long day, the root beer on the left is far more refreshing.

Deep Thoughts on Cliff Jumping

If someone told you to jump off a cliff, would you? What if everyone you knew told you to jump, would you then? What if everyone you knew and everyone you didn't know was 100% convinced you needed to jump off the cliff? What if you were completely new in town, could only barely understand what they were saying but could grasp that they had all jumped off and were very confident in their recommendation that jumping was right for you - not only right for you but ESSENTIAL for your KIDS. On what grounds would you opt OUT of cliff jumping? How would you respond to the scoffs that clearly you didn't know much about cliffs, certainly not THIS cliff, because jumping off it was the only sensible choice and all other options amounted to failure?

As it turns out, I learned about myself that given the circumstances, I would strongly consider cliff jumping.

Here we are in Taiwan and everyone is curious what we are doing here. Because it IS unheard of that a family would take a 4 month vacation - no job expediency, no calling, no relatives, no specific objectives. So the answer that we are here to live life and learn more about living life is beyond comprehension, or maybe it just requires more Chinese than I currently posses. Or perhaps my Chinese IS adequate but the answer is so unfathomable that people assume they don't get it because of a communication barrier (like people from China assuming my tones are wrong when the same tones coming out of a Chinese face would just be heard as a Taiwanese accent).

So I thought I'd keep things simple and began telling people we'd come for the kids to learn Chinese. In fact, that is a major hope. And that's when all the cliff jumping suggestions came. Only it wasn't cliff jumping but getting the kids in school.

I don't mean to compare sending the kids to school is like killing them. In fact, if the right circumstances should present themselves, we would be very open to school or cliff jumping! The overwhelming, abundant advice from ward members and perfect strangers has been: get the kids in Chinese school or they will never learn Chinese. So, for weeks the fact that we could not find the right circumstances was down right depressing. I began to think that the trip was a bust - that the end of it all we would be failure.

By a gift of the spirit, I am sure, it suddenly was brought to my mind that we are not everyone else. Why this fact should become blurry here in Asia where we stick out like sore thumbs and are referred to as outsiders, is beyond me. Home in our safe Utah, I am quite skilled at ignoring pretty much everyone and simply doing what I think is best. I remembered that fact too, and thought I'd get back to the practice of it.

Immediately the cloud of discouragement and dread lifted. Not only did I have renewed energy to continue to attempt to teach the kids myself, but I also felt a new hope that if the right school circumstances were out there, we WOULD find them. I remembered that Chinese IS NOT the main priority to us. If it WERE, they would already be in perfectly good, free, and available PUBLIC immersion schools in Utah. Furthermore, while we have a hope that the kids learn Chinese, I have in no way sensed it is essential in any of their future lives. I DID sense this trip was. Of course, what I sense can be wrong, and I may misunderstand the why's behind many of my promptings. Even so, living life according to the dictates of my own conscience has proved a FAR happier way to go.

I can hardly imagine the unpleasantness others may feel, constantly living under the weight of the should's of well-meaning family and even strangers. We are NOT, in fact, anyone but us. That this country, or anywhere on the face of the earth, is filled with free advice, and even when ALL the advice sounds the same, it still does not make it GOOD advice. A cliff jump, no matter how many times it is suggested, may still not be the right move. Though completely obvious, oh, how these were wonderful things to remember!

Casper-Headlines

Casper-daughters Participate in Primary Program - Audible Gasps When Evelyn Recites Scripture in Chinese

The fam about to get a cab to church on Oct 25.

Sunday, Oct 25, EV and Eloise participated in the Tamsui ward's primary program. The program was a smashing success. The 17 children, including 2 from our family, sang their hearts out and put the Utah primaries of over 100 kids to shame. Also impressive was the participation of each child. Each shared a scripture from that year, told of a personal experience, and bore a unique and simple testimony. This was done from smallest to oldest without any help or prompting from parents or primary leaders.

The spirit could be felt through the entire meeting. I was brought to tears when one boy said simply, "I'd like to bear my testimony: I feel Jesus Christ's love for me. And I love him." Later, this same boy sang beautifully the versus of "I Feel My Savior's Love" with the entire primary filling in the chorus.

Evelyn and Eloise went at the very end. Their assignment, which I had not fully understood, was to prepare a similar thing to share. What we DID prepare was for the two of them to say together, in Chinese, the following scripture: "And now, after all the testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony last of all which we give of Him, that he lives," spoken by Joseph Smith. I thought this would be their part in the primary sharing time.

Instead, they took turns separately standing in front of the ward. Eloise had less of a handle on the scripture and a kind primary worker prompted her to share each part of what she said in English, which is too bad because, had we known English was okay, and that this was for Sacrament Meeting, we could have done our own preparation and kept our family code of "no help."

EV spoke very last, directly after Eloise, and perhaps because of the help her sister received, and after Evelyn's self intro in English, there was an audible gasp from the congregation when she started into the scripture in Chinese. She only left out "and now" but otherwise nailed it all. The testimony that she bore was that Jesus Christ loves us and we will have happier lives if we follow Him.

(Below: the girls and their scripture, with Arthur as back-up scripture reciter)

It was a great Sabbath, and confirmed our feelings that the church seems "truer" here in Taiwan.

The Ballet Beat - Casperkids Find Ballet Classes

Kai preparing for his second class.

By another miracle, we have found what we hope will be a workable situation for all the kids to progress in their talents. First, the community in which we live has a grand piano for the access of it's residence. For EV, this has meant she can practice everyday. We considered contacting her teacher for lessons over the phone as well, but decided to save the money on her lessons for other adventures here. We hope she will be able to stay even in that skill.

Perhaps more rare than a piano is access to a dance studio - finding the open space alone can be a challenge. Add to that the preference for floors with some give and even mirrors, and it becomes a tall order. So you can imagine our delight when Sister Wu from our ward brought us to the "studio" in her community, which is not only quite large, but has wood floors, mirrors, AND barres!!! For the past two weeks we have been able to use this space twice a week for a class for EV and Kai. Furthermore, the fee of $5/hour has so far been payed by Sister Wu AND she has taken Eloise and Arthur to other play areas in the community so they are content - even delighted to go, safe, and occupied. I am hopeful with some focused coaching both older sibs will make good progress in their ballet technique! I'm seeing improvement already! (God bless Sister Wu!!)

Can you believe the size of this baby!?! A very LARGE blessing, indeed.

Finally, Eloise has also asked for ballet classes. I clarified with her and her request is as I suspected: she wants time to play with other little girls. We hope this can be accomplished as I offer a free class in this same space to anyone we come across who is interested in taking. The first of these classes (after a few false starts) will be tomorrow OR next Tuesday. It will be a good stretch for my Chinese. (I am not too worried remembering how much I grew from Russian teachers who didn't speak English.) And hopefully it will be the "ballet" experience Eloise will enjoy.

As post script to the Taipei ballet entry, Kai HAS been back for a second ballet class with the Taiwan Royal Ballet. Between knowing his mother didn't expect miracles, between appropriately setting his own expectations, attending an earlier Saturday afternoon class, two other boys in the class, and a male teacher for the last half whose combinations, while still plenty advanced weren't such a choreographic nightmare, a MUCH better experience was enjoyed. We'll be back for more, and we are hoping to make it a weekly event. (Though Saturdays are SO precious, so we'll see!)

Out My Window in Poetry and Picture

Here is what I hope will be a delightful slice of Taiwan.

A hidden path takes us down the hill by our Tamsui home.

As to the poetry, I wanted the kids to get some learning work done. I wanted them to take a moment to remember Taiwan. I wanted them to work on being more descriptive in their writing (ie: less "it was fun" or "we saw some stuff") so I asked Eloise to tell me 20 things she could see out our window. She and I worked it into a poem.

Here's the little cutie taking in another view. We didn't see the accident, which I assume happened to a parked scooter. We came across this walking down to the MRT. ANYWAY, with Eloise's list, I challenged us all to use more words to paint a picture. Here are the works of her sibs.

The night view as you continue up another hidden path which winds up from our home.

Here are the big three walking to ballet class taught by mom in the studio of a neighboring community.

Back to poetry, I liked the works of the kids so much, I created one of my own. Enjoy!

An aging shack nestled in the jungle and in the shadow 
of the high-rises. Q and Kai saw a 
big screen TV delivered here. Civilization has arrived!

Out My Window, by Steffanie:

A silky, muddy river slides by, but far enough away I can’t make out it’s voice.

Or what it might have said is drowned in the hum of busy, swarming, buzzing scooters

Yet even their voices are soft and only a stray worker bee or two makes his way up our hill on a muggy afternoon to pester my ear with his whine.

From the top of a good-hike of a hill, a rippling stream of treetops try to find their way to the river’s edge but keep getting dammed by buildings blocking their way,

Blocking my view.

Above the trees, roofs of houses, like plateaus of productivity, terrace the jungle and abruptly punctuate homes stacked room on room, story on story.

And

Marking a straighter path than the tangled streets below, the power lines stretch up the distant hill against the down flow of the trees, illuminating and civilizing the gnarled jungle.

A grown-man sandbox heralds another building’s arrival

It’s littered with with tools - power-toys - and heaps of metal resting, lying down before they are permanently laddered to the sky.

Another building has already risen in it’s cage of scaffolding and net,

Waiting like a bride to be made beautiful before the veil is pulled back,

Hiding now it’s concrete countenance.

And above it all, like a benevolent father, a crane elevates with sweeping arm the stuff of the earth, and finds it a new home a little nearer to heaven.

Our buildings from the hill behind them.

Taipei Ballet

The grin BEFORE ascending 4 flights to his first class.

The ballet world in Taiwan is small. The ballet world in general is small. Perhaps it should have come as no surprise that when I sought out a ballet school here in Taiwan that I would find I had a connection to it.

But I do, and Kai has taken his first ballet class with the Taiwan Royal Ballet School. Ooh. Ahh. Actually, the studio is smallish, with two large padding-wrapped pillars right in the middle on the 4th floor in an old building in an armpitish area of Taipei. NOT very "royal" feeling.

Squint to see a few familiar names on this poster of the Utah Ballet tour to Taiwan.

I found the school by an internet search and blindly contacted them via the info on their web page. I heard back from the director who studied ballet at the University of Utah. While she danced there, Utah Ballet (the company connected to the University) toured in Taiwan. In fact, the director performed a piece I have also performed, "Good-bye is So Hard to Say," choreographed by a former colleague of mine and current professor of dance at another American university, Jiang Qi.

Given all this, even the fact that Qi is currently here in Taiwan and the three (director, Qi, and myself) have expressed an interest in getting together, nothing has come of any of it and the reception at our arrival to class was cool. I chalk it up to the director, whom I still haven't met yet, being within a few weeks of delivering twins and Qi's busyness teaching class at a local university.

Kai and I met the director's mother - a VERY graceful, much older lady (maybe in her 70's) who is STILL in a leotard for class and can still do the splits! She gave Kai's first class, which I got to stay and spy on, and she recommended we come back on Saturdays for another class with more boys.

I told her we'd like that, and that we'd have to check our schedules because our coming took an hour by public transportation. She was not impressed. She pointed to a dancer walking by and told me she too came from over an hour away. Then she told me of her students for the Saturday and Sunday classes who come from Tai Zhong, probably a two-plus hour commute.

My view of the goings on.

This was all before the class began. This Friday evening class was small if you counted the serious dancers. Including Kai, there were 7. Added to these were older women, some who seemed to hardly be dancing at all but using class as an excuse to... raise their arms? I don't know - one woman moved very much like a primate imitating a ballerina, which sounds terribly rude, and I wanted to laugh out loud at times, but I honestly could hardly tell if she was trying and her effort was just that bad, or if she had a whole other, less evident idea about what she was going for. So THAT was interesting.

And the class was in Chinese. I assumed we'd be fine for all the French that is ballet's common language, but we actually heard very little of that either. Or if it was used, the pronunciation was so different you could almost miss it.

Finally, the pacing of the class was incredibly fast and complicated. Rather than being a class of drills to focus on specific skills or build strength, it was more like a variations class, each combination having it's own variation complete with classical, but very choreographed arms, direction changes, and the kinds of fudges usually only found in choreography. WHEW! As a professional, it would have been a difficult and unfulfilling class, based on the dancing alone. I could hardly believe Kai endured it all to the end... but what choice did he have?

I think he felt MUCH better about how things went when I told him MY take on it all. He told me he didn't like it at all, and I could hardly blame him!

Our heated meal, purchased and eaten at 7-11.

Finally, when it was all said and done, it represented a 5 hour commitment for the both of us. Between the time for class itself, which ran long by about 15 minutes, AND the time it took to get there, AND allowing for enough time before class to warm up, AND getting dinner after because we left the house at 4:30 - a bit to early to eat on the front end - and the trip home (which there weren't seats for the both of us either way), we got back a bit before 9:30. ALL for $400, or about $13. Worth it? Well....

My take: Kai got to take from a teacher who knew ballet, evidenced by her own demonstrations. The serious dancers in the class were strong and had great extension. I don't know how the class they took gave them these gifts, or IF it did, but there is A LOT to be said for peer pressure. And they either had enough familiarity with the teacher's style to quickly grasp all the quirky combinations OR they were ALSO gifted at lightening memories. Either would be an asset to Kai (versatility or fast mind to body translation of choreography). Then there is endurance factor - and the class wasn't just advanced, but it went practically NON-STOP AND must have been incredibly taxing to try and absorb in a foreign language. So Kai also gets to polish his fake-it-till-you-make-it skills which are a boon to audition, early company, and corps de ballet experience. And speaking of dancing well in those settings, the class had ZERO structure when beginning and ending combinations. Dancers simply stopped dancing and bled through the dancers whose turn was just beginning, so it was incredibly chaotic, and must have been frustrating. So THAT was great prep for being able to aggressively claim a space on the dance floor in class or auditions too.

If these aren't reasons enough to go again, then the power to not let something difficult and uncomfortable get the best of you IS. We'll be back.... the next time I have 5 hours to spare! :)

Kai takes a seat on the way home after dancing and being on his feet for HOURS.

Boating to Bali - a (very honest) Day in the Life

My brother asked what a day in the life looks like for us right now. It's a very good question because we have really struggled to establish any regularity in our lives. We are AIMING to wake-up, have a morning devotional with a song, spiritual thought and prayer, eat before hunger melt-downs strike, study Chinese for a half hour, provide Kai time to stretch and do ballet exercises, provide EV time to practice the piano, and make sure our place is cleaned up before we head out anywhere. (The cleaning I am much stricter about here because there are cockroaches, but also because we can't cook in the kitchen if any space is taken up by mess, we can't eat more than one meal without dirtying every dish we have here, and if anything is out of place, I begin to feel very claustrophobic.)

Laying out the wish-list like that, it is easy to tell why this ideal feels like a daily impossibility. Q is up to his eyeballs in new work requirements. He has been able, via ear-plugs or ear phones, to drown us out. But we are rich with resistance around here which probably stems from a lack of structure, so between lousy kid attitudes, no space for autonomy, and silence requirements which diminish our space, or our ability to battle it out, or both, AND parents with too many hopes for the day, what life actually looks like is a daily escape into whatever activity we can find or make. (Less the papa, who is making it happen, just at home on the computer.)

Boy was THAT therapeutic! But escape is what we are currently good at, and here is a taste of Friday's adventure!

We headed out first thing because I thought we were on a time constraint for a commitment that afternoon (only remembering later I got the day wrong). We stopped for "Chinese pizza" - a pastry-like burrito skin with green onions cooked into it and wrapped up with egg, which we took to a quieter, less cigarette-butt filled location: the nature reserve behind our local MRT station.

It's hard to imagine, enjoying views like this, that we could still find things to fight and gripe and complain about, but somehow we were successful. Eloise's face here is her being grumpy about something on the way to our adventure.

After we polished off our breakfast, we took the MRT to Tamsui where we bought Arthur the "sunglassers" he'd seen on an earlier outing so he could quit whining it was "too bright!"

Then we hiked down to the ferry dock to take a boat ride to Bali, a town across the river. Or at least that is what I hoped we were doing. As we approached, we could tell the boat was loading and I didn't know how long we would have to wait for the next one, so I hurriedly reported our ages to the ticket lady, payed, and boarded, putting us at the mercy of whatever the ferry's destination was.

So though I didn't confirm anything, we did in fact wind up in Bali. I wasn't sure what we would find there - in fact going was the plan for the novelty of the boat ride - but the boat ride was pleasant and brief and we found ourselves on a pleasant strip of river front and a small town feeling a bit like Catalina. First thing we noticed there were the many bikers, including smaller kids who looked like they were on rented bikes.

This peeked my curiosity because I had actually inquired about bike rental at a bike shop in Tamsui, but it didn't have the seats or size of bikes to accommodate my two non-riders and shorter legged people. So as we got off the boat, a lady asked in Chinese if we were interested in riding bikes, I told her I was, so we wound up following her to a bike shop with kids bikes, baby bike seats, bikes for 2, and even bikes for 4. As we walked there, however, and old, toothless gentleman followed us on a motorized scooter and told me in English that the next bike shop down the way would be cheaper.

We kept on with the woman so I could get a price comparison point, and it was easy to walk away because I was in a skirt and without Q our only option was the 4 person bikes which I didn't want to do without Q's muscle.

However, at the next shop, when after hearing prices, I told the old toothless gentleman (who turned out to be the front man for the shop and not a friendly passerby with helpful tips for the unsuspecting tourist) my same excuse, he pointed out a motorized four-seater. Now THIS we could do! Still, I figured it might be best to pass on it for the day and come back when Q could play with us. But I just told the man I'd look at it first. After he showed us the bike and explained how to work it, he gave us the price of $500/hr, or about $18/hr.

I was ready to walk away because I hadn't brought very much cash on me, thinking our adventure would be much shorter than it turned out being. But I told myself if we could get it for $300 we might be able to afford it. When I gave him the number I was thinking, he told me no way. I told him we'd come back a different day with the dad. His price came down again to what he said was the lowest - $400. I told him if he could do it for $350 we would. So we got the bike for 1 hour for just over $11.

And we were off! A bike full of foreigners, and kids at that, drew a lot of attention, and we got a lot of waves, pointing, friendly calls of "Hello!" and thumbs up from the people around us. The ride was a lot of fun and very beautiful. I first drove down in the direction of what we knew. It was fun to see our home bank of the river from such a distance. I didn't realize just how close the national park was to us. We are near the base of a hill here in Hongshulin, and from so close, all we can see is the hill. But just over the hill is the HUGE mountain/park, Yangminshan. Seeing it made me all the more excited to find out about exploring a bit more there.

The gold roof on the left is the Tamsui MRT station. The left cluster of buildings is Tamsui. The right cluster is Hongshulin, and the peak between is Yangmingshan, and a national park.

Eloise on work out equip near playground.

We headed in the opposite direction and on to the less-familiar about half-way through our time. We came across 2 playgrounds that Stew wanted to stop at, but I wanted to use our time to find out what we could see and possibly come back to, so we only stopped very briefly on the way to return the bike.

We almost didn't make it! As it turns out, the bike's battery was ALMOST out of power. At first, we thought it might be a little glitch the bike guy had warned us about and had proactively helped us to trouble-shoot if we had issues. But eventually it became evident it was just that the battery legitimately was spent.

Thank goodness for Kai! Not only did we need to get up a few gentle rises, but heading back, we were heading into a steady wind. Our last rise came right before the bike shop and the battery went completely out. If I had been in shorts, we might have been able to muscle through, but my motion was limited by my skirt and modesty, and we started slipping back. At that point, Kai hopped off and was able to push while I let off the brake and pedaled. We made it within the time given us.

The bike guy apologized, and I might have asked for our money back, or at least some, but there was no harm done, and in fact, was a bit more exciting with the little challenge to overcome. So I hope the bike guy remembers next time and gives us a better deal, or at least makes sure the battery is fully charged!

Walking back towards the boats from the bike shop, once again we realized the boat was leaving, so we hustled, hopped on and came back to Tamsui. After we polished off 4 bowls of beef noodles (niu rou mian), we headed home to rest before Kai's ballet class in Taipei that evening. But THAT adventure is for another post.

Another Tremor

Just now, at about 7:54am, I felt another gentle rocking. I was reading my scripts and could hear the kids softly singing as they played in the other room. Their singing didn't stop. In fact, they didn't notice it at all. We are fine. Kai and Q were out on a walk - they got back just now - and they didn't feel it either. Don't know if you'll hear about this one, but if you do, don't worry about us. We're fine.

Interesting to me is that I felt this at all! Check out this link:
http://www.cwb.gov.tw/V7e/earthquake/quake_index.htm

Anyway, chances are this one will NOT make your news, as it seems to be a small one in an incredibly frequent stream of small ones. I wonder if I looked, if there would be little ones like this back home....

After Happily Ever After

I'm not one for Disney movie references, but....

Do you remember in Tangled when Rapunzel finally is getting to see the lanterns and she is a little scared because she has dreamed about that moment her whole life and she isn't sure about what comes AFTER her dream comes true? Do you remember Flynn Ryder telling her she will have to find a new dream?

Well, that is pretty much our story. (We say that about ALL movies, I know, including ones that aren't remotely our story, but THIS time I'm serious.)

This past weekend was Taiwan's Independence Day (10/10). The celebration marked 105 years for them, apparently. AND apparently I didn't know my Chinese or Taiwanese history as well as I should because I wasn't too clear on what event happened 105 years ago.

But like most National Holidays, what we are celebrating isn't as important as the fact that it's VACATION from school and work!

For us (on semi-permavacation), it meant our friends had time to play, and play we did!

Sammi and Alan were kind enough to take us to Sammi's home town of JiLong (spelled Kelung) for the weekend. We stayed with Sammi's folks.

My men in the market.

But BEFORE we got there, we ate a FABULOUS lunch in Taipei (seriously, some of the best food we've had in Taiwan) and headed out, all 11 of us (4 adults and 7 kids) in the 6 seater car to stop off at the mountain town of Pengxi, where apparently it is all the rage to go on National Holidays. The place was PACKED! We took a short, very crowded tourist train ride, walked through a touristy market, and finally made it to the.... LANTERN SHOPS!

Here, Alan bought our group of incredible size (Sophia's 2 cousins plus 2 best classmates plus their parents and a sibling in one of the families AND all our family - 27 in all) a lantern on which we could paint our hopes and dreams, light it up, and send it heaven-ward where it would be noticed, at least, by God, and maybe even reach him with all our wishes.

Our group, ready to launch!

What that moment looked like for Rapunzel:

And, less calmly and less musically, what it looked like for us (and most likely, for the people in the village NOT privileged to hear Rapunzel's lovely duet):

Kai by his Chinese name.

So amidst the massive throng of our family, our group, and all around, I suddenly found myself wondering what it was that I wished for - what I wanted to paint on our lantern - and I felt almost moved to tears as the reality hit home that all of my wishes have come true.

JUST LIKE RAPUNZEL, I have wished for this Taiwan trip for as long as I can remember. By my calculating, about 18 years, or since I set foot in Taiwan for the first time. What DOES one do when one marries the kind of guy to support such a crazy idea, has the children who share the desire, has the health and wealth and (most precious of all) TIME to make it possible?

Well, I don't know what anyone as blessed as me does, but what I did is this: breathed it all in, tried to sink it into my memory deep to never forget the gratitude of that moment. AND I splurged on a $1.50 souvenir lantern to remember the moment. AND I bought the girls their own lantern lamp for their room because it was so pretty. Finally, as Flynn Ryder suggested to Rapunzel, I found a new dream too. I've found true love, and I'm having this amazing life experience, so my new dream is far less "romantic" sounding, but I'd like to pay off the house in a year or two. And given my blessings so far, I can't help but think, if this is truly the desire of my heart, that God will help me see it come to pass in maybe a less dramatic, but perhaps no less miraculous way, just as He has orchestrated the rest of life. How I love Him! How He loves me! So that was the Happily Ever After moment of the trip. And if this were a movie, we'd role credits now.

But since this is real life, after launching our lantern and watching it rise, and then smoke and fade, and slowly drift down and out of sight to litter some tree top, we piled back in train and then the car to finally get into Jilong and dinner with Sammi's parents. And this was MORE INCREDIBLE food. (Right: two of my new favorites. A veggie called Xuelian and a cookie made from something a bit like a sweet potato with a sweet, nutty flavor.)

We enjoyed more traditional seafood. It was SUPER yummy, and all of Sammi's family, less her older brother and his wife were there, but we hardly talked to them. This was due to a unique phenomenon of the Taiwanese dining experience.

From left to right, it's Alan, Sammi's parents, the daughter of her older brother, and her younger brother and his son.

We ate at a restaurant where the presentation of the food indicated this was dining in high class. However, there was no back-ground music, no sense of ambiance, and in fact, the din of the entire place was SO LOUD that we literally had to shout to be heard by anyone we were not sitting directly next to. This amused me quite a bit, and it was nice to consider that my own rambunctious children would hardly disturb anyone.

The most interesting moment of the meal was a dish actually served to another table. I posted earlier about our lunch leaping in the bucket after being selected to be cooked up for us. Well in THIS instance, to the other table was brought a plate of fish SO RAW that the lobster, which had only moments before been chopped in half, was STILL moving!!!!!!!! It wasn't actually eaten on that round. It was just cool decoration - the kids exclaimed that the whole dish looked like a pirate ship, which was what caught our attention in the first place. Alan explained that after they finished the raw fish, the lobster would be taken back and put in a soup.

Whoa. I was glad our own table's plate of raw fish was relatively small. My kids went to town on it - the cucumber fan part of it!

After dinner, we took a stroll with the kids to work off our full bellies and got back to Sammi's parents' around 10 and in bed after 11.

The next morning, Alan got up early and picked us up traditional Chinese breakfast. They were a little bit like green onion filled fried biscuits and they were THE best I've had. Alan said he had to wait in line because the place was very famous for being the best in Taiwan.

The little crew in a mining cart

After breakfast we headed to Toufen, which is a gold mining area developed during the Japanese occupation. More pretty mountain side we could barely make out for the throng in some places. In other places, for example the quarters of the Japanese prince, there was so little to see I could hardly believe so many thought of this place as a destination. Still, the kids were delighted to chase each other around, and I wondered if the parents were just delighted that the kids were so easily entertained by each other. Here we snacked on traditional snacks - pink potato gluten covered meatballs and gluten deserts served hot or cold. Q noted that of all the things our kids haven't really been into, it's been the traditional deserts and snacks, which is fine by us. (I never learned to like them either, so thankfully I was able to suggest we only get enough for my family to have a taste and thereby reduce the waste when they also concluded gummy, taro flavored gluten balls aren't as delicious as the long line of Taiwanese people waiting to buy them might suggest.)

One of the views we enjoyed over the holiday weekend.

Before we left the beauty and headed back to civilization, we stopped by a mountain side elementary school with ocean views to ride on a very fast, two story high slide the builders of the school so kindly installed for the use of the children. Needless to say when it was time to go, Arthur wept with sorrow that he would miss the slide. I could only agree that perhaps even when he was a grown man he might think of it as an amazing, faint memory and wonder if he only dreamed it.

Non-blurry pics were a trick to take, as you can imagine, because no one was still long enough in this entire area - certainly not MY kids!

Dinner was our first Thai food since coming and it was delicious, different, and served to all 27 of us (yes the whole crew was back for a glorious second day "reunion") in a little Thai food shop. At last, we all ate our full (or in Kai's case, left the meal early due to burning his throat with the green curry, or in my case, going to get papaya milk from the heavenly 7-11 to cool down Kai's throat) and went our separate ways. Sammi and Alan brought us all the way home before going back to their home to rest up for going back to work on Monday.

So once again, I am moved by the kindness of our friends. And delighted with the fun stories these memories are making!




PS.......................................................

Our lantern of wishes heading strait for the hole in the clouds towards the sun.

Now I'm here, blinking in the sunlight,
Now I'm here, suddenly I see
Standing here it's all so clear
I'm where I'm meant to be!

And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the world is new

And it's warm and real and bright
And our family's somehow shifted
All at once, everything is different
In Taiwan with the kids and Q!