Asian Adventures

Cheers for a great semester!

2010-06-30T03:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday all final papers were turned in, and I began grading 9 major papers, 5 from the undergraduate class and 4 from the MBA class. It was also the day we said some raucous "good byes" and "until we meet agains," and took many, many pictures. One team of women from the MBA class gave me a wonderful going away card with their personal messages written on it (you'll see them and the card in the pictures). I'll treasure the card and their friendship no matter where out paths will take us. The last packing is done...and are those bags ever heavy! I'm ready to check out of the dormitory tomorrow, and will head for Tian Mu one last time...this time in a car instead of the slow train and MRT, thanks to the Taiwan Fulbright office. It's been a great adventure, and now I'm ready to start the next adventure...safe travels everyone!

My wonderful RA, Tinsley Lin

2010-06-29T16:15:00.000-07:00

My Research Assistant was Tinsley Lin. I met him through a happy accident when I first came to the university and he showed me my dorm room. Tinsley was there to help when my daughter-in-law and I moved my belongings into the dormitory. He was then assigned to me for the rest of the semester. I always had so many questions…principally due to my lack of Mandarin skills…that I became an annoyance to those in the IB office and the HR Department. They were especially upset when I came to the offices during lunch hour. I clearly am not used to such a sacred hour, as my university always has someone on duty to answer questions and address concerns. We believe in offering services at the convenience of our “customers.” I often wondered why services stopped for one hour every day. I don’t think it is a good example for businesses to follow! Tinsley became my go-between so that I would no longer annoy and upset so many people. I would write down my list of questions, and he would return, most times, with the answers. He is the person who pursued the reasons why I was not paid on time. He found me a safe office chair after I fell to the floor not once but twice on the old chair that was in my office. Office personnel thought I was asking them to buy me a new chair! I was NOT. He was able to borrow one from his TA Professor. Tinsley is the one who got me copies of my tax payments so that I could get the Tax Certification paper required to complete my US income taxes. Tinsley accompanied me to the nearest location of the Far East Bank so that I could complete a wire transfer. He is convinced that our good relationship helped him improve his English scores from the mid-400s to the 700.s He is now determined to go to the U.S. to study, and I am clearly supportive of his goals. I was VERY dependent upon his good nature and good will for the necessary help when no one else was able to assist me. And I thank him publicly again...

Farewell Luncheon

2010-06-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

The IB group hosted a farewell luncheon for me this week.My wonderful Chair, Jane Lai, guided the discussion of my teaching experience at YZU, but I surely did most of the talking. And I finally learned I am not supposed to post grades! I am supposed to post only percentages the students earned over the course of the semester. Let's just say we both are still learning how to solve some of those TMs. I greatly appreciated all of their courtesies and kindnesses to me.

Last minute tour stops

2010-06-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

I spent last week going to neglected Taiwan highlights...unfortunately in the rain. The Sun Yat Sen Memorial is very inspiring as he is considered the founder of the republic. He focused on "Sunology," advocating education and culture for the Chinese people. Notice the roof is made of "sun" yellow tile. The grounds and surrounding area are really quite beautiful. People were practicing Tai Chi, and a Falun Dafu (Falun Gong) group was meditating. I was lucky enough to see the ending of the changing of the guard...very impressive. The final pictures show the Taipei Zoo train. I went up the hill on the train, walked to see the penguins, walked back down to the train station in the pouring rain...and left. Even the animals weren't out on such a wet day!

I'm a Day Tripper!

2010-06-20T04:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided I was going to take a day trip to Kaohsiung and finally ride the high speed rail (HSR). Making reservations and paying for the ticket on line was a snap. The hardest part of the entire trip was having the dormitory guard call a taxi and telling them where I wanted to go. I should always add extra time for getting to the station, even though the guard is very, very friendly and laughs at my attempts to communicate! The Taoyuan HSR station is out in the middle of nowhere...halfway between Taoyuan City and the Taoyuan International Airport (formerly known as the CKS International Airport). It is a gorgeous building, and there are excellent bus connections to the city and the airport, but the taxi cabs are faster....even though they always tend to take the long way when my round eyes and "blonde" hair are in the back seat. The trip to Kaohsiung took only about 1 1/2 hours. The train is really very nice, and the signs and announcements are always done in English. I felt like I should buckle up when I found my reserved seat. The ride is fast, and surprisingly smooth as the train only makes very limited stops between Taipei and Kaohsiung. The high speed train runs like clock-work, something the airlines cannot do. I stopped at the information desk in Zuoying to ask them to write Museum of Fine Arts in Mandarin for the trip into town, and Zuoying HSR Station for the return trip, something I have learned to do for the cab drivers. I thought Kaohsiung was a very lovely city. I did not expect it to be so, based on the industrial complex and port work housed there. The museum is a beautiful new building in a city park, and I enjoyed all the special exhibits (although I would have liked to have seen more of their permanent collection). One especially good one featured Josef Albers from the Brauhaus group in Germany who ended up at Yale and Harvard. The museum advertised a restaurant on its website and in its printed literature...alas, another TM, as the restaurant had disappeared long ago. I walked through the park to the snack shop at the side of the lake located in the park. I had a mango frappe and homemade sweet potato chips while I people- and animal-watched, then headed back to the HSR station. I was home by 5...just a day tripper who had a great time looking out the window all the way down and back. South central Taiwan had a lot of farming going on...tree farms (of all kinds), vegetables and fruits, and, of course, lots of rice fields in all stages of growth. This afternoon the farmers were burning off their fields. At first, I thought they were burning offerings, but the burn came from many different stages of rice growing fields. The atmosphere looked as if the ghosts of the ancestors were lingering over the fields and valleys of the farming areas. I was surprised that much air pollution was allowed. I observed temples of all sizes and shapes, some magnificently painted and cared for, others that were small sites in the fields. There were also burial plots nestled into the hills where the ancestors could enjoy a beautiful and peaceful view in their afterlife. I have to say the typical house that I saw was all solid concrete "blocks" layered one on top of the other...3-4 floors with nondescript windows. I could only assume the lack of architectural variety was due to the constant threat of monsoons and earthquakes. Every now and then, you would see beautiful homes or new high rises that seemed to incorporate new and colorful designs. Most homes reminded me of old Singapore block homes..not many changes since back in the day. My pictures are REALLY bad, but I was a very happy day tripper...

Sichuan Hot Pot Dinner

2010-06-19T02:13:00.000-07:00

The pictures show us all having a grand time at the restaurant! The restaurant was very popular, and I could certainly see why. You can see it is very pretty, and every table was full. People were still arriving to eat at 9 PM when we were leaving. One half of the hot pot was Sichuan-style soup, the other half was a mild broth. Guess which side Sandy ate from?! We started the dinner with a green-bean noodle dish that was very spicy...I just needed a straw to eat the sauce, it was so good! You can see Carol and Candy adding food to the hot pot...tofu, meat, fish, dumplings, cabbage, lettuce, pieces of Chinese "doughnuts," mushrooms...even squid paste dropped in balls in the liquid by the waitress. We ate for a solid two hours, and I enjoyed every single bite, but those tiny girls could eat me under the table! I even said hello to Maple's mom while they were talking on the phone. We finished with shave ice desserts. Some had condensed milk poured on the ice before the fruit juice topping. I had passion fruit topping only, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven it was so good! We took pictures both before we started to eat and after we had finished (and please see Maple in tennis shoes like Emma's). We even took a "bunny ear" picture! How could I possible thank these women for such a wonderful night? They have been effusive in their praise of the class, but I appreciated their can-do attitude and their hard work. I truly hope they will stay in touch, and that I will get to see them again. They are a big reason it is hard to leave Taiwan.

Introductions to a very special group

2010-06-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

A group of young women from my undergraduate class did me the honor of inviting me to a dinner. I was picked up at the 7-11 in a rented car by three of the women. The driver said he had retired after 43 years in the military, including 2 years in El Paso, TX undergoing training. He talked fondly about going across to Mexico every week-end, an impossibility now as the Ciudad Juarez now has twice the murder rate of any border city. I want to introduce the special group of young women to you before I tell you about our dinner.
The first one on the left is Elaine Yeh Li-Ling. She is going to be working as a housemaid in upper New York this summer. She is an avid Spurs fan and hopes to stop in San Antonio to see everything in the city that has anything to do with the Spurs. The second left is Tina Chou Hong-Shi. She is planning to finish her schooling in the US and become an American citizen. Her sister is already a citizen and lives in NYC. Her parents hold green cards and will be Tina's sponsor. Third left is Sandy Lee Hui-Yu. She is an excellent student, but is very shy and blushes easily! She does NOT like hot food (part of the dinner story to follow). Peeking between is Maple Yang Wei-Chin. She was clearly unhappy when she got her first graded homework back from me! She still does not like to cite her resources when writing, but she has gained a great deal of confidence when presenting. Maple is one of the kindest and most cheerful women in the class. Navia Chu Hsiao-Hsin is very active in the university's international student organizations and was chosen to go to a special week-long program in the Philippines this semester. Next to me is Candice Liu Ling-Li, the go-to girl on her team. She is always the first to ask questions, and pass the information along to her team. It was Candy's idea to video-tape the final presentations. She is the producer and director of the project and will present the finished disks to my Chair and the President of the university. She will go to university in Belgium next year and plans to travel through Europe while she is there. Carol Wang Yuan-Hsua is on the far right. I was honored when she brought me Dragon Boat Festival treats handmade by her mother. The sticky rice balls were the best I have ever eaten! All the foods are eaten on the holiday to ensure your good health for the year. Carol is also a go-getter and always wants to have challenging work. A number of the women are waiting to hear if they have internships in Taiwan and Malaysia working for Taiwanese companies. They are an exceptional group of very strong young women and excellent students. I expect to hear great things from them in the future. Now on to the dinner story...

My Walk to Carrefour's: A View of Neili

2010-06-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

I walk to Carrefour's, my local "Wal-Mart" to do the shopping I can not complete at the local market. The round-trip pictures will give you a good idea of my neighborhood, the small town of Neili, and all the traffic in the streets...and on the sidewalks! Sometimes the sidewalks suddenly end and you find yourself walking in the streets, around scooters and bicycles. I often believe the scooters are aiming directly at me when I walk facing the traffic! I always go early (9 AM when it opens) to avoid the crowds. The parking lot is still empty, but I had to dodge a car that came within a yard of me as the driver was aiming for the perfect parking spot. The center booths are still covered and will remain so until 10 AM when the mall officially opens. You will also notice that McDonald's and Starbucks are both open before Carrefours! I included pictures of my local train station, reached half-way to my Carrefour's destination. I'm going to miss that train! I am ever so grateful when the train safety bars come down and stop the traffic when the trains go through town. That means all traffic comes to a stop and I can run like hell to get to the other side of the street without the threat of being picked off by a scooter or a car or a truck or a bus. Pedestrians have absolutely no rights here, either on the sidewalks or crossing a street, even when the "green man" is showing. I will not miss being a pedestrian in Taiwan!

A Sentimental Trip to Yingge

2010-06-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

I hopped the slow train to Yingge the day after Dragon Boat Festival Day. The sky was cloudy, but no rain came, so it came as a perfect opportunity. I have told you of my love for the pottery city, and I will miss exploring it on a "regular" basis. The Pottery City is quite large, and I wandered around for over 5 hours picking up odds and ends...batik squares for pillows, a funny business card holder for my office desk, a tea tray and two small cups to remind me of my Beijing tea adventure, some inexpensive cotton tops for the summer, a new key chain with a scholar figure, silk purses, and a variety of shot glasses to add to C's collection. I could have bought garden pots, water wheels, Buddhas, gorgeous vases, jewelry, wood carvings and utensils, tea, and oceans of teapots and tea cups...impossible to carry home, but lovely to yearn over! I took some very strange pictures which do not do the area justice...but you will get the idea.

The CKS Sculpture Memorial Park on Dragon Boat Festival Day

2010-06-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

The Sculpture Memorial Park is located next to the CKS Mausoleum. You use bridges to walk over a waterway that serves as the entrance to the park. The park holds hundreds of busts and statues of CKS that were saved during the Green Party's attempt to purge all things CSK. Many came as gifts, some were put back together after the attempt to destroy them. It is a fascinating look at Taiwan's "founding father." May-Ling purchased white peaches and small plums from the native Taiwanese tribe sellers on the Cihu grounds. Rex said you ordinarily had to travel to the tribes to buy them, but this was special for the holidays. I had mine for breakfast the next morning, and they were excellent!

We walked up the hill to the beautiful flower gardens, but I confess I wilted and had to say no to the walk in the extreme Taiwanese heat. We had cool drinks in the cafe (a mango yogurt shake for me...YUM!), and headed back to Neili. It was a wonderful day for me...I learned Taiwanese history from a very personal point of view. I was humbled by the Ma's generosity, and I think I have made two new friends for life.

Cihu on Dragon Boat Festival Day

2010-06-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

Rex and Mai-Ling Ma continued to serve as my excellent travel guides following a gourmet seafood lunch in the restaurant that can prepare fish in 100 ways. We arrived in Cihu along with many, many tourists including those from the PRC. Jiang Jie-Shie, or General Chiang Kai-Shek as he is known in the western world, used to visit this area often as it reminded him of his home province in the PRC. He renamed the area Cihu in honor of his mother. General and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek came to the lake area to walk and boat, and the area is called The Culture Resort of the Jiang. The information center features an overview of CKS and the Kuomintan from the 1930s until CKS's death. Rex was kind enough to give me some history lessons, as I have many questions about the Taiwanese feelings about the potential for becoming part of the PRC in the future. The KMT settled around Taipei, the seat of government where the Blue (KMT) party is still very strong. Southern Taiwan holds many people who still resent the "invaders," the Green Party. When the Green party was in power for 8 years, they tried to close the mausoleum and take away the military honor guards. They took down and destroyed as many of the busts and statues of CKS as they could find until his supporters sought to save and preserve them. (Just a reminder...the former president and some of his Green cronies are now serving time in jail for being corrupt and "greedy"). The current Blue group that is now in power is seeking to establish stronger economic ties with the PRC. The PRC prepared a burial spot for CKS, and is simply waiting for him to return home. Many people from the PRC come to Cihu to pay their respects to CKS and to honor his efforts to restore a democracy on the mainland. I was honored to pay my respects as well.

The walk to the mausoleum winds around the front lake to the courtyard home that was designed to hold the casket (notice the blue colors). You walk by two military guards that honestly look like statues themselves. The greeter also was in charge of wiping the sweat off the guards and keeping the spit and polish gleaming. The guards change every hour, and many visitors are on hand to take pictures. There is a private back lake where visitors may go if they register before hand. They are trying to keep that area in pristine condition, and access is limited.

Shihmen Reservoir and Seafood Lunch on Dragon Boat Day

2010-06-16T17:33:00.000-07:00

Our first stop was at the Shihmen Reservoir. This project was officially dedicated in Jun, 1964. The site is a "multipurpose hydraulic engineering project that provides irrigation, power generation, public water supply, and flood control." It has become a scenic attraction as the urban areas have grown out toward it. Rex could remember coasting his bicycle down the steep hills when he was a boy growing up in the Jongli area. We walked around the "after bay," then drove the car up to the top of the dam to the tourist's center (please note the "alien" in the garden). We then walked across the Shihmen Bridge and climbed the stairs to the pavilion. The view was amazing, and it is no wonder that people enjoy the outdoors here. I declined a boat ride, but the Mas bought a cake of special tofu that is only offered in this area. It was black on the outside, but cake-like on the inside when sliced. It was bagged and soaked in a soy/garlic sauce. I, who do not like most tofu, enjoyed this tofu when I finally built up my nerve to taste it!

We drove down the hill at noon past many, many seafood restaurants professing to sell the reservoir fish cooked any way you liked it. They took me to a very lovely restaurant that had cloth tablecloths, covered chairs, and small petitions around each table. It was the quietest and most intimate Chinese restaurant I have ever been in! It had won prizes for their seafood, and bragged on a very large poster that they could fix fish in 100 ways. The food was outstanding...shishimi, sweet and sour fried fish, sichuan-style fried fish and tofu, a vegetable dish featuring early leaf sprouts from sugar cane, sea cucumber and vegetables, clam soup, and fresh fruit for dessert, of course. No wonder they won prizes! The fruit plate featured guava and watermelon which you could dip in a salt/plum powder mixture. I had never tasted the dip before, and I said I thought my family would like to taste it. They immediately decided they would stop on the way home to make sure I had it...embarrassing, but, yes, I have it in the suitcase.
Next stop: Cihu, Chiang Kai Sheck's mausoleum and statue park...

Meeting Rex & Mai-Ling Ma and sightseeing in the country side

2010-06-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday afternoon I rode down the elevator after work with a gentleman who introduced himself as Rex Ma, formerly of Savannah, GA. He taught Civil Engineering for over 25 years at two colleges in the city, and continues to own a home there that he visits each summer. He retired to return to Taiwan and care for his aging mother. She is will be 90 next May, has suffered a stroke, and now lives in Taipei with her elder son. Rex applied for a job teaching English at YZU, then became an Associate Professor of Engineering. He is teach Physics and Calculus in English to new students in the engineering program. He has the ear of the President, and tries to keep him informed about the University's progress using English in all classes. He met Mai-Ling at a local restaurant, and they have been married two years. She is very beautiful and a very talented businesswoman. She sells insurance and manages over 100 people. They live in Jongli, a 20 minute ride from the campus.

Rex and I exchanged stories about our teaching experiences in the US and Taiwan. He was shocked that I was a Fulbright (no one even knows there is a Fulbright on campus!), and that none of the visiting professors knew each other. He was appalled that my colleagues had not offered to take me out and about during my stay. I still think they perceived me as having family ties with no need for them to offer me rides or to go lunch with them. I felt quite isolated when on campus, but, as usual, the students, teaching, and research made it all worthwhile. I turned out to be just like all the other professors...work 2-3 days a week, and high-tail it out of town. YZU is truly a commuter campus, not unlike TAMU-CC.

Rex and Mai-Ling invited me on an outing for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, June 16. I had planned on viewing the Dragon Boat races, but it turns out they were held last week-end...another TM for me! The next two posts will show you our day-long adventures that took us out of the city and into the country side where Taiwanese city families go to breath fresh air.

Apple Knocker Week

2010-06-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

Once again, the YZU campus has been transformed with new flags. I call this Apple Knocker week because of the 3 stages of apple eating depicted on the flags. I believe the signs were promoting a staff/faculty health fair. People actually had an opportunity to be photographed as the almost eaten apple with the very long legs IF you stuck your head through the opening in the cardboard stand. Alas, it rained heavily all week, and I failed to get my picture taken!

The Regency Club

2010-06-06T05:32:00.001-07:00

The perqs that came with my room included breakfast, snacks and drinks all day, and a 2 hour happy hour every evening. The setting was fabulous, the Balineasian workers unfailingly polite and helpful, and the food was wonderful. The pink and white water lillies were blooming, and every morning they lighted incense in the basket of mixed flowers. I asked what kind of incense it was because I liked the smell so much, and they brought me a sample of Frangipani. I tried my best to get some of the same, but I could not find any. One evening I watched an alligator step out of the water, climb a retaining wall, slip into the grass, and minutes later do the reverse. I thought I had seen his head the first night while the birds and frogs were shrieking at him, but I was truly convinced of his presence after I saw him walk under one of tables on the terrace.

My last walk on Saturday morning I took a terrible fall on the brick walk trying to avoid an Indian man and his daughter while, unbeknowst to me, a crazy bicyclist came up behind me without ringing his bell. The Indian man told me I needed to be more careful...if I hadn't been bleeding profusely, I think I might have punched him out! Restaurant people helped me stop the bleeding, and I walked the two miles back to my room feeling sorry for myself. I remember telling all the Hindu gods I passed thank you for only blood and bruises...and thankfully no broken bones. I am a sorry, sore mess today, but glad to be home in one piece. And just think: I have a souvenir scar from Bali! Next up is Hawaii...and I started my final packing today!

My trip to Ubud

2010-06-06T05:02:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon I hired a car and driver for 6 hours to make the trip to Ubud, the supposed art center of Bali. Of course, the driver stopped at "factories" along the way...he has to get his cut somehow! The batik factory was a tourist trap, and I asked him not to take me to another location where there were only fixed prices. We drove through a section that had miles and miles of silversmiths...something I was not interested in. He took me to an art co-op after miles and miles of stores selling paintings. I would love to have had a couple of the paintings, but the prices were simply too high...no more paintings for me! Maybe next time??? We finally made it to Ubud, and it was PACKED with tourists. There is an extensive market on one side of the street. It is a filthy place where sellers and helpers yell at you, touch you, grab you, and chase you to get you to buy. Didn't I say I hate to bargain??? I had some things in mind, so it was a little easier to walk by the stands that held "stuff" that I was not in the least bit interested in. I still shopped and walked for over 3 hours in the relentless heat before I had a late lunch of Bintang (ice cold Indonesian beer...and I don't even like beer!) and Gado Gado (a vegetable salad served with very spicy peanut sauce) in an open air restaurant (picture included). I left the restaurant to walk across the street to see the King's Palace (pictures included). Every state has a "King" and a palace...old, venerable places where worship services and celebrations are held. A series of festivals starts June 7 that includes Indonesian musicians and dancers leading the celebrations in the courtyards. I'm sorry I missed that, but I did hear gamalan and bamboo music everywhere..live, recorded, you name it...and I loved it.

The morning walk on Sanur beach

2010-06-06T04:03:00.001-07:00

I can honestly say that I had breakfast time, walking time, beach time, shopping time, and happy hour time every single day. I can only sun during the morning hours (think fish-belly white body after 5 months in the rainy, Taiwanese weather). I walked out of the hotel after sunning to visit the little shops along the drive at Sanur Beach where I stayed. Kuta beach is still the 24 hour a day party beach where everyone parties the day and night away; the other newly developed beach has exclusive new hotel chains. The Bali Hyatt ran a bus to the Grand Hyatt every 2 hours, but I simply did not have time to go. I frankly do not know how any one can make a living in the endless number of small shops. Did I say I hate to bargain? It's the ONLY way to buy anything in Bali..."What you pay, ah? What your best price?" Just give me your best price to start with, PLEASE!

The second day I took my camera with me on my morning walk. You really cannot walk on the brown sand, as you simply sink in and get no traction. There is a brick walk from one end of the beach to the other, a walk of about 40 minutes one-way that I took every morning. The pictures give you an idea of why one would and would NOT like to live on Sanur beach in Bali. I did not take pictures of the worst conditions, but poverty still abounds. I include pictures of the Hindu gods which everyone has at their homes, places of businesses, and innumerable temples. The Balineasian people are very spiritual and superstitious and strongly believe in reincarnation. They take very good care of their gods, and place fresh flowers and burn incense every day without fail. There are huge gods, statues, and fountains at every intersection. You will note that I am also fascinated by the "doorways" to homes on the beach. My "special" house picture is entirely open on the front. The owner sits outdoors and eats outdoors in spectacular carved Balineasian and bamboo furniture and cushions. The owner used Wayang leather puppets in the windows as "curtains." I'm sure the puppet shadows are incredible as the sun sets. Can you tell I loved my beach walk every morning? And I ended every walk back at Frangipangi Court where I stayed. Then it was on to breakfast...the beach...you get it...

On the Road to Bali

2010-06-06T03:41:00.000-07:00

The road to Bali was tortuously long (can you say stand in line for over an hour in an un-air conditioned immigration line after paying US$25 for the privilege of entering the country?). The management said that my room was not ready, but they would put me in a "temporary" room (check out is at noon, I arrived at 5...sorry, but I refused a temporary room). They finally found a Regency Club room with a view...the one I had ordered on line. Unfortunately, the internet did not work after I lugged my netbook with me so I could have access to the "free" wireless. Five hours of work later, the internet was available, but it was going to cost me an extra $15 an hour....sorry, I have never had to pay such an exorbitant internet fee, and I actually lived without the internet for three whole days! As it turned out, it was worth all the wait AND I made it to the Regency Club for happy hour. And now some pictures of check-in and the surrounding territory at the Bali Hyatt...

Graduation Week at YZU

2010-06-01T03:31:00.001-07:00

The campus has bloomed with banners, posters, archways, and pictures honoring the spring graduates. I couldn't help but take pictures, but had to ask Tinsley, my RA, what the banners said. Although each color represents a word or idea in Mandarin, taken together they say the future is bright and beautiful. That's the Mandarin version of "The future's so bright, I have to wear shades!" I told him I wanted one of the banners for my TAMUCC office, but he laughed and said he didn't think he could do that for me!

One of the students sat in on my first day of class then went to OU for the semester. He just returned and came to the UG class this morning. He went to church at OCU every Sunday (my OKC university). He traveled many places that I am familiar with including Arkansas, Kansas City, Dallas, and the long drive to Florida (in his case, Panama City where he observed a naked man jumping on a mattress in the moonlight!). I really enjoyed talking with him about the classes he took and the different teaching styles he experienced. He followed me and sat closely as I worked with each team and their pending final presentations. He indicated the opportunity costs of leaving the class were high, and he wished he could have taken it. That was a nice compliment! Another student has been talking about all the things we have been doing and all the things she has been learning with other professors (including one who "graduated from Yale"). She is now heading a project to videotape the presentations. One copy will go to the President, another copy will go to my Chair, Jane Lai, another copy will come to me, and they may use it for future advertising...although no one else will be doing the same kinds of projects as I have been doing! It's all a great way to end the semester on a very positive note!

Day 3 in Singapore: The American Club, Arab Street, and more

2010-05-31T05:13:00.000-07:00

We arrived at the American Club in time for a 9 AM breakfast. Kathy Tan and Farida Mallal were dear friends at SAS back in the day. Kathy completed her schooling at SAS and will start her 38th year as a teacher next fall. She now has an 8 month old grandson from her eldest daughter and her husband (both SAS alumni), and her second daughter just graduated from Columbia with a Ph.D. in Education. Farida retired a year early to care for her brother who was very ill. She is just as beautiful and funny as ever! She spends a great deal of time in LA and Seattle with her nieces and nephews. She and Kathy had a great trip to Vietnam and were full of ideas for my next adventure! We chatted away for 3 hours before Kathy had to leave to get her end-of-the-year folders done. I do not envy her that work! I called Susan Studebaker Rutledge after brunch, and got caught up with her family. She and Greg are now business owners, and all is going well even in these tough economic times. It was really good to hear her voice, and I hope to meet Asia on my return trip.

Di and I headed to Arab Street...to shop again. We now hold records of 12 and 13 hours of continuous shopping, looking, and learning! We did manage to find many sales even though the stores were packed. We listened to Friday worship, and shopped with all the Muslim ladies. I found 2 blouses and exquisitely embroidered table runners to take home to friends in the US.

We dropped off our purchases and headed to see "Unmistaken Child" at the cinema. It was a true story filmed over a year or more concerning the search for a child who was the reincarnation of a much beloved Tibetan monk. The Dalai Lama is finally shown blessing him before the child must go to live in the monastery to be trained. The photography was unbelievable, and the story quite interesting.

We (Di, Rosemary, Nicholai, and I) had dinner in a vegetarian buffet where the profits are used to support local artists, dancers, and musicians. What is most unusual is that you pay what you want for the dinner. It is very busy, and reservations are required...and, yes, the food is that good. We ended the night with a walk to Chinatown between rain storms.

Saturday I was up and packing and praying that my suitcase was not overweight. I got to the airport and lined up to check in...too early. The manager said it would be another 20 minutes, but I continued to wait in line...where would I go with all of my heavy luggage??? He helped me be #2 at the check-in counter. My suitcase weighed only 18.5 Ks...under the 20K requirement. He looked at my carry-ons and said "You didn't buy enough." Little did he know that my 2 carry-on bags almost weighed the same as my suitcase.

It was a miserable ride home with lots of babies and kids screaming and crying, people talking and yelling, and obnoxious smells coming from some very ill passengers. BUT it was pouring rain when I got home, and it was COOL, at least 20-30 degrees cooler than Singapore! I got my laundry done, packed for Bali, and fell into bed. I was back in Tian Mu with (heavy) gifts, and we had a lovely time watching Adra's dance recital. The Ks had a tough week with terrible colds and stomach problems, but they are recovering and looking forward to the last week of school. I'm ready for my classes tomorrow, and I will head to Bali on Wednesday morning. What a life!

Day 2 in Singapore: Little India

2010-05-31T04:24:00.000-07:00

Di and I arrived in Little India in time to cruise around KK Market and eat a breakfast of Roti Prata (Zam Zam Muslim Food Stall) and Ginger Tea (from the drinks man right next to our table). They were both on my list of things to eat, and I was very ready to chow down. KK Market is where I used to shop, but it is quite grand now. Please notice the premium goat meat stand among the market stalls. The little Indian man who used to pick his toes, then wrap curry mix "for two chickens" in a banana leaf could not be found. He obviously was not grand enough!

I include pictures of the shops in Little India where we shopped after breakfast. We were picking up lovely Indian tops for US$7. I also picked up a pink sarong that will become pillows when I get home. Note the flowers strung for worship, and hung in the shops for good fortune. They always smell so good, and are so lovely. The temple that is pictured is in the neighborhood. The streets and shops seem incongruous in a high rise city that looks like NYC in all other ways.

I must tell you that Singapore was having a heat wave, believe it or not. They have not had as much rain as usual this season, and the temperature was climbing into the mid-nineties. Talk about working up a sweat with little effort!

The last picture shows Singapore's newest gambling casinos...three hotels with a large ship across the top of all three. It is truly ugly, and I was shocked to see it in the heart of downtown along one of the loveliest shorelines in the world. What must the Merlion think!!!

We took a shopping break to go to the Asiatic Cultures Museum. They were featuring a multi-million dollar exhibit of Mongol jewelry that was simply one of the most awesome museum shows I have ever seen. All of the jewelry work...cups, archery rings, blade handles and point covers, turban pins, necklaces, head pieces...were owned by a couple from Kuwait. It was extremely impressive, and I began to learn about the Moguls who ruled India.

Back we went to Little India to drink lots of fresh lime juice eat spinach paneer and a mixed grill...loved the spinach, did not like the mixed grill...although Di and friends eat at "The Banana Leaf Apollo" often. We'll stick with the tried and true next time. We hurried off to Mustafa's to buy lots of curry powder and have a look at their other offerings. Trust me when I say we bought only curry powders and lots of Indian snack foods. Thus ends another day in the Indian neighborhood. We hurried back out to Holland Village to check off the items on Di's errand list and pick up my take-homes. Then it was back home to our nightly wine and chat....

Majulah Singapura

2010-05-31T03:49:00.000-07:00

Singapore is as magnificent as ever! I arrived at midnight, but Di and I managed to chat until 2:30 AM. We are both early risers, so 5 hours of sleep found us up and drinking coffee and chatting away. Our very first stop was the Singapore American School via the MRT. We headed straight to the Alumni Office as I wanted help getting data at our expatriate family survey website. The new acting director, Lauri Coulter, was most gracious. She grew up in India, and now has a daughter at SAS. I think she and Junia Baker will be able to get my survey address online and in the semi-annual newsletter. Lauri took us to the primary area so we could surprise Kathy Tan, one of Kevin's first teachers at SAS. She was clearly surprised to see us, and arranged to meet for breakfast at the American Club Friday morning, Vesak Day in Singapore. We left to find the cafeteria and the ever-smiling Mr. Ho. His digs are sure different...think uptown!...and he wears a white chef coat now. It was Wednesday, and much to my delight, it was still curry day in Mr. Ho's cafeteria! What a treat! We wandered around and found the clothing store, and bought Ch an SAS t-shirt. Ch clearly belongs at SAS. Everywhere we went, the students were extremely polite and helpful...what a great campus! We said our "good-byes" and were handed an SAS alumni bag with a copy of the book written by Coach Jim Baker. It was terribly heavy, but you can bet the book made it all the way back to the K's house in Taiwan.

Di and I wandered off to Holland Village, my favorite shopping center in the old Singapore days. It is still thriving...I shopped three floors and had a pedicure before heading home on the bus, thanks to Di's great directions. Di went off to pick up Ning, her adorable granddaughter at school. They headed to the American Club to buy Garth a birthday cake. Ning spent all her time at her "desk" making a birthday card, and Di could hardly pry her off the chair and out the door. They enjoyed a hot pot dinner, and I jumped a bus to the Esplanade. Singapore has built 2 theatres, fondly referred to as the twin durians, as the double roofs do look like that smelly fruit! It was Singapore Arts Festival time, and I was privileged to see the Twin Clouds performance group from Taiwan, a very avant garde dance/gymnastics group with incredible staging effects. I got to meet Rosemary, an Aussie resident of Singapore for over 18 years, and her visiting Aussie friend, Nickolai. We enjoyed the show together, and they made sure I got on a bus going in the right direction. Di and I arrived home about the same time to end our day with a glass of wine together.

Family time in Tien Mu

2010-05-23T00:21:00.000-07:00

One of the blessings I have had on this trip is the time I have gotten to spend with the Kreilings, in particular Adra and Christian. I've met so many of their wonderful friends from all over the globe. I've been to A's basketball games while K is coaching. I have seen the play for which Ch was in charge of cuing lights and microphones. I have had so many wonderful adventures with Ca I cannot even recount all of them. Attached are pictures of the basketball games (A's team improved so much they soundly beat the unbeaten team their last game!), piano recital (before and after (they are the tallest), but definitely not allowed during the recital...and my camera battery went dead again at the most inopportune time!), and dinner out (be it Indian or Thai or local cuisine). A and I have cooked and cooked and cooked. I love listening to them play the piano, but Ch is just a phenomenal musician who is already writing his own compositions.

I spend 4 days in Singapore next week with Dianne Peterson, so stay tuned for more adventures. I will return on Saturday night, and take the slow train to Tien Mu on Sunday to see A's dance recital. And then it's on to Bali....my time is running out....

Day 4: Last Morning in Beijing

2010-05-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

Maria and the driver picked me up for the short trip to the Lama Temple, the most famous Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Beijing. You walk through a series of Buddha houses. Each worship house contains different Buddhas. Most who entered lighted incense and prayed before entering. The incense was planted outside in containers as each worship house is made of wood. The last Buddha house contains the worlds biggest wooden Buddha statue carved from a single trunk of a white sandal wood tree. It was spectacular, but, of course, I was not allowed to take pictures inside the worship houses. This worship house could also be opened on all four sides so that the head monk could teach and preach to the students/monks. Behind this impressive worship house was a place for women to pray to Quanlin, a female Buddha, and other Buddhas. As we left, Maria asked if I wanted to spin the prayer wheels and make a wish. They are located on all four corners of the temple. Two had been moved as they were in the process of doing renovations. Of course I spun every single one of them and made my singular wish! We walked the two blocks on both sides of the streets outside of the temple. I was looking for a lotus seed bracelet, but could not find one in my size. I left with silk lotus flowers and Chinese roses (peonies) for my home in CC. Thus endeth the Beijing adventure.....and I would dearly love to be able to return some day.

Day 3: The Summer Palace

2010-05-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

The Summer Palace was probably my favorite tourist stop. I have always wanted to see the Marble Boat built by the Empress Dragon Lady with the funds she was supposed to use to build the first Chinese Navy. The grounds are impeccable. The covered open walkway (probably 1/2 mile in length) toward the Marble Boat contained over 1200 DIFFERENT original paintings. When I asked why, of course the answer was because she could. She also was the Empress who had to have 128 dishes prepared for her evening meal every day...because she could. The walk also features stones that are supposed to represent the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. I must tell you the picture of the stone is the Dragon, my birth year. You will note one side of the summer house features windows of similar sizes, but all shapes are different. The inside pane lifts up so a lantern could be lighted in every window each night the Empress was in residence. The outside glass remained immovable so that protected both the Empress and the lighted lanterns.

We climbed to the top of the hill...many steps, many different levels...I had to stop and pant at every level, but I made it to the top! Not many people did, and there was no Mao calligraphy when I got to the top. I'm certain the Dragon Lady was carried to the boat and to the house at the top of the hill where she could see over the entire garden and lake (after all, she did have bound feet). This dragon lady walked, and I was really glad I did. The summer house was beautiful and the sights were memorable. Maria pointed out the hill to the left of the Summer Palace across the lake where the top cadres can go for a holiday. Some things in China have not changed from the centuries of dynastic rule to the present Communist government. There is still a great deal of distance and privilege to be enjoyed by those who rule versus those who do not. The boats...either pedal or long boats...were not being rented out on the day we were visiting because it was too windy. The marble boat seemed to need some renovation, but I was still very glad I got to see it.

We left the Summer Palace to finish up the gift shopping, and met Susie at the end of her long day. Susie recently spent 4 weeks in Vietnam touring the big cities and beaches on her own. She is planning on seeing the Shanghai Exhibition, and will visit friends in Italy. I paid her for her guide services, and she presented Candace and me each with a silver necklace with 2 pearl drops. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think of how kind she was to me, and what personal difficulties she was undergoing. I highly, highly recommend her if you are going to China and need a tour guide: zeng_susie@yahoo.com. My day ended with an MRT ride by myself!!!

Day 3: A Stop at the Olympic Village

2010-05-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

Maria informed me that only Westerners, especially U.S. visitors, wanted to stop and see the Olympic site. I even needed to go inside to see the playing field...soccer on the day I was visiting. The grounds are still very beautiful (note the bird nest lights along the walkway). The Cube had just been refurbished, and was to open for swimming and competitions soon. I include a picture of a "7 Star" hotel next to the Village. I have NO idea why it is called a 7 Star, other than the price you must pay to stay in a room. I just liked the entry building's strange shape and architecture. Maria asked me if I wanted to stop for a McDonald's as we were leaving, saying it was the best McDonald's in Beijing...my response was no thanks, rarely do I stop at a McDonald's in the U.S.!

Day 3: The Temple of Heaven

2010-05-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

The Temple of Heaven is where the Emperor and his court went to worship the God of Heaven and pray for good harvests for his subjects. It was quite a complicated ceremony where both heaven and earth were entwined during worship. The service required many sacrifices that were burned on the ceremonial alters. Remnants of the animal sacrifices were also carefully disposed of in the many artful lacy containers and the green ceramic ovens.

The central worship area is carefully designed using 3, 6, and 9 features as its basis (for example, consecutive levels and rings of those number combinations). Each level of the worship area held assigned court personnel during the ceremony. You will note inside shots that show the Emperor's throne and the stands that hold the containers and various sacrifices.

Even the surrounding area was carefully designed for the Emperor's prayer service, as you may see in the pictures. The gates were all assigned to specific personnel to use upon entering. Even the "perfect cow" had a special entry gate. The tall red lanterns were lighted when the Emperor was present. The lights indicated to his subjects that he was there to pray for them and their harvests.

Day 3 in Beijing: Morning in the park at the Temple of Heaven

2010-05-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

I awoke to an e-mail that said Suzie had taken her Mother to the hospital for her third cancer treatment during the night when the bed became available. She had to arrive at the hospital with US$6000 before the chemo-therapy could begin. A year ago her Mother found a lump in her breast, but kept it a secret as she did not want to go to the doctor. She finally went to the doctor for another reason, the doctor found the lump and wanted to admit her to the hospital immediately. She begged off and said she needed to go home and get ready. She told no one about the need to be hospitalized. The next morning Suzie answered the phone and found out the truth. The doctor was going to call back about the admittance papers, and she and her mother ran all over Beijing that day so they would not have to answer the doctor's phone call. I asked why they would hide, and all Suzie would say was that neither one of them wanted to go to the hospital. Her mother finally had a mastectomy, and is now on her third round of chemo, and she STILL doesn't want to go to the hospital. I asked Suzie about public health care, and she said it is very poor and virtually non-existent. People from the country also come to the city because they think health care will be better. She is covered by the government health insurance, but she and her family are also covered by a private insurance policy she bought. However, once you max out on the private policy, you can never buy another private policy again. Her mother is maxed out, and Suzie must now pay cash. The doctors get low government pay, but they also earn income by recommending and giving treatments such as chemo...a "simple" way to increase their income...so they always want to have their treatment beds filled with cash-paying customers. Socialist capitalism at work in the PRC!

Suzie sent one of her friends, Maria, to serve as my guide. Let me say, no one can substitute for Suzie, but at the very least, I had someone who spoke Mandarin to get me around. Maria is from Harbing where they have the ice festival each year. She started with a jewelry company there after studying two years. She was transferred to Beijing where she met her husband who also works for the firm. The firm does not allow married couples to work together, so she had to quit her job...one reason she became a licensed guide. She has passed all the tests for Beijing, and will be working on her tests for the rest of China's tourist hot spots. She comes from a family of 3 girls and 1 boy. She was sent south to be raised by her grandparents who are farmers. Another sister was raised by an aunt. The three sisters are all now scattered across China, and the 20 year old brother is living at home and going to university. She told me about her wedding...one service first with her husband's family in Beijing, a dinner with her family in Harbing...no official wedding because of the distance between all concerned.

Maria took me to the park surrounding the Temple of Heaven. Every morning the retired folks who live in the surrounding high rises come to the park to dance (ballroom and line dancing), sing, play instruments, crochet, and play cards, dominoes, and Chinese checkers. I just kept snapping pictures as we walked to the Temple's entry...great fun!

Day 2: The Sacred Path and Ding Ling's Tomb

2010-05-18T03:54:00.000-07:00

The sacred path is a walkway that leads to the Ming Tombs. It is lined with 9 pairs of real and mythical animals carved from great stone blocks. One of the pair is sitting, the other is standing. The animals give way to 9 pairs of generals, administrators, and scholars (can you find the general? Hint: he has the drum stick). 9 is a sacred number that symbolizes the Emperor. The sacred walk ends as you pass through the archway of fire, so called because the carvings atop the arch resemble flames.

The same Emperor that built the Forbidden City also started building his tomb, the first Ming Tomb, at the time he was named Emperor. I believe it took 21 years to complete his tomb, many more years to complete the City. There are 13 Ming tombs, but only one, that of Emperor Ding, has been uncovered. The archaeologists dug three different tunnels before they found a stone whose carvings stated that the door to the tomb was so many feet forward, and so many feet to the left....and the stone carving was correct! The door actually had been permanently closed through an engineered stone that dropped into place when the two doors met upon closing. Ingenious, I say!

My camera battery ran out of juice just as we entered the tomb, so pictures are limited. Fortunately, I could plug it in in my room to re-charge for Days 3 & 4!

Day 2: The Great Wall and Lunch at the Jade Store

2010-05-18T02:59:00.000-07:00

The driver made his way through the hutong alleys, and we were on our way to the Great Wall. It has long been a dream of mine to see and climb the Great Wall, so I was very excited about our trip..

Everyone was on their way north to the Wall. The traffic was horrendous, despite the fact that we left by 8:30 for the 45 minute trip. We were surrounded by fully loaded tourist buses. Suzie looked out the window and said "Big noses! Did you know we call Westerners Big Noses?" I could honestly say I had never heard that name, but it certainly made me feel MY big nose!

The wall begins to come into view long before you get to the tourist stop. It is simply beautiful and totally amazing...and it was never used. You can see the guard houses, the lantern houses, and the rest stops if you look very closely. I found the Chinese artists, architects, mathematicians, writers, you name it, to be simply amazing over the thousands of years of the dynasties existence. I think Westerners are quite oblivious to their accomplishments because the "Heavenly Kingdom" was kept so isolated.

Suzie chose to take me to Bandaling, the most famous part of the re-opened Wall. When we arrived, we realized that special guests had caused the closure of one of the Wall walkways. Shiny black limos with blackened windows were lined up in front of the Tourist Center, along with police and Red Army cars...quite an entourage. Suzie bought my ticket and we started to climb. It is an incredibly STEEP walk, and I was being shoved, punched, and pushed by all the Chinese tourists. There were some incredibly MEAN old ladies on that walk, and I could barely hold on to the rail and walk!! I am NOT a wuss...I walk at least 3-4 miles every morning...Suzie kept telling me to slow down, but I am always in fast forward...UNTIL the locals began beating up on me. I made it to the first enclosure, but gave up any thought of walking higher. You can see in the pictures the walkway forward was totally filled up by visitors at 10 AM.

We walked back "down," and Suzie took my picture by the Memorial Rock that has Mao's saying carved into the rock in his own calligraphy brush strokes: "You are not a man until you have climbed the Great Wall." I guess I am half a man as I got half way up!

When we started looking for the driver, the police and Army had cordoned off all the roads. They were making people stand back on the sidewalks. We tried to cross the road to the gift/coffee shop to wait, but we were threatened with bodily harm by the guards moving us back. They kept saying the cars would be moving off the hill shortly...Suzie said that meant 30-45 minutes min. The cars began buzzing by 30 minutes later, and off we went to find the driver.

We drove to the Jade store, where I was forced to have a "free" lunch alone. The drivers and guides may not eat in the dining room, but I am quite sure they do not like the food! May I say I cook much better Chinese food than I ate in that restaurant....and I did not buy any jade! A guide will ordinarily take you to stores that cater to the tourist trade, and they get a percentage of anything that you buy. I was also taken to the silk shop (I bought 2 ties with Chinese writing), the cloisonne factory (interesting tour, but I already knew what I was going to buy there), the porcelain factory (the pottery was gorgeous, the prices were outrageous), the silk rug outlet (I knew I was going to buy a small rug for my bedroom...but I'm also sure I paid too much), and a large shopping center (I only went to 2 floors, and bought small silk gifts to take home). It's all part of the guide's shtick!

Despite the pummeling from the locals, I was thrilled to have climbed the Wall. We then drove through the countryside (very urban, and very interesting) to the Ming Tombs.

Day 1: Rolling through the hutong

2010-05-17T03:56:00.000-07:00

Suzie's lesson: The word hutong comes from the Mongolians. They needed to camp at locations that had water wells...thus, hutong. The Chinese then built homes around water wells. These areas were later made up of neighborhoods of small homes that faced a courtyard. The series of homes with courtyards and alleyways earned the name "hutong." Most of them have been torn down in the name of progress. The government is now trying to maintain and rebuild about 20 of the neighborhoods. I took one picture of a renovation that was occurring across from the courtyard home we visited. The seniors come to visit because that is the way they were raised. The juniors come to visit because they only know high rise living. My guest house was in the Banqiao hutong, but the homes had actually had been torn down and rebuilt, although the name remains the same.

The gentleman you see in the pictures owns the house surrounding the courtyard with his 3 brothers and 2 sisters. He is the only one who still lives there. He has "renovated" 2 rooms and rents them out to visitors. One of his visitors was a French couple who came to watch their son compete in the Olympics. He could not remember the sport, but the son won a silver medal in the competition.

We then walked along a "lake" bank that was close to the hutong. It is a magnet for late night life in the area. Bars and bars and bars lined the streets with overstuffed furniture setting outside. The roofs also had comfortable seating areas. Across the street was not as attractive, as you can see. It was a "happenin'" area in the city.

The closer the hutong was to the Forbidden City, the more the homes belonged to upper class officials who were allowed to live there. As we left the hutong, Suzie gave me a lesson in doors. You will see the door frame with 4 beams showing above the door. The more beams that show, the wider and fancier the door is allowed to be, and the higher up the owner is in Chinese society. The decorations and carvings on the door also indicate the status and title of the owner. This door does not have carvings to indicate how high up the owner was in society, but the carved pieces out front indicate he was a highly regarded general. The carvings show a drum and drum stick. The drum stick is the symbol for the generals. They beat the drums to indicate the battle was on.

Thus ended my first day in Beijing...and what a day it was!

And this was my first rickshaw ride...ever!

Day 1: Leaving the Forbidden City & Going to Lunch

2010-05-17T03:36:00.000-07:00

The shots leaving the Forbidden City are views of the surrounding moat, the Coal Hill lookouts, and the guard houses at the corners of the city.

Suzie asked me what I wanted for lunch...easy answer, local food. She asked me if I like 'Hot.' Easy answer...oh, yes! We took a taxi to the area, and walked to the restaurant. It had changed hands, and after looking at the menu, we decided to leave. My brilliant idea was to have Peking duck in Beijing. Many people had told me I must go to the place where it was invented. Suzie said their was a "famous" Peking duck restaurant near by although it was expensive. "My treat" I replied and off we went.

The ducks were rolled out on carts to be sliced in front of us by a male chef in full mufti...very impressive. We also ordered vegetables and mushrooms, a duck soup, and a pot of tea. I loved the Peking duck...surprise. The soup was just broth with congealed duck fat on top...not what I was used to in Singapore. They also did not stir fry the rest of the duck and serve it with rice...not what I was used to in Singapore (or even Taiwan!). There was enough duck for me to take home for supper. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch...and supper! Suzie told me later that she had lunch in the very same restaurant the day before. In fact, all of her guests ask for Peking duck, and she no longer likes it! Her girlfriend calls her and asks her to go out for Peking duck, and she refuses!!! I found this hilarious, and told her she didn't really need to take me for PD if she didn't like it!!!!

And off we went to the Hutong...

Day 1: The Coal Hill Garden

2010-05-17T03:25:00.000-07:00

I start with pictures of the garden. The stone "hill" feature was built by servants who glued the stones together with glue made from various herbs and sticky rice. The peonies were lovely, and called "Chinese roses." The trees are marked with red and green labels. Those marked with a red label are more than 500 years old. Those marked with a green label are at least 300 years old. The garden was very peaceful. I would have loved to sit in the small pavilions that were built for the Emperor and his family.

Day 1: The Forbidden City

2010-05-16T04:26:00.000-07:00

You will see Mao's picture proudly displayed over the entrance to the Forbidden City. A new portrait is painted each year, and the story goes that he looks younger every year. There are also tall oblisques...some facing inward, some facing outward...but reminding the Emperor that he must attend to matters of state and matters of the people.

I will try to let the pictures tell the story of our entry and walk through the Forbidden City. I knew some of the history, but Suzie was phenomenal. The outer court yard could only be used by those who held great status. The first hall is actually where the Emperor would meet business people and conduct his meetings and make his decisions. He was the only person who could enter the second hall over the center bridge as it was considered sacred. The third hall was where he, the Empress, and his concubines lived...The Eternal Hall of Peace and Tranquillity! One could only hope...

Each Hall had specially carved bridges and doors to be used only by specifically named people in his court. Every year he would choose a new set of concubines who would then replace the "old" ones. The concubines were each assigned a level that indicated their position of favoritism. My favorite is the last Empress who rose from the lowest concubine level to become the "Dragon Lady" who built the marble boat with the funds that were supposed to support the building of a Chinese navy.

The upturned roofs are built, of course, to keep evil spirits away. Each corner holds 9 animals that also help to keep them away. The mantels over the doors have a specific number of beams that indicate the importance of those who live inside. We could see inside some of the rooms in each of the Halls. The artwork is exquisite in every hall. There are large cauldrons coated with gold that were set about the grounds to collect water. Visitors later tried to scratch the first layer off to get at the gold, but they were "only" gold plated.

The Forbidden City is surrounded by a moat, as was the city itself. The dirt was used to create a mountain that held outposts, and became the place where coal was stored, hence the name "Coal Hill."

Day 1: Tian'an men Square

2010-05-16T03:45:00.000-07:00

We continued our walk across the street from the Great Hall of the People by walking in Tian'an men Square. On one side of the square is the Great Hall, while opposite the Hall on the square is the museum. It is now under renovation and will re-open in October. I was very disappointed because I wanted to see the treasures that were left behind on the Mainland when the PRC was born. I've seen the ones that left with Chiang Kai Shek when he came to Taiwan with his followers. They are housed in the National Palace Museum. The little white tents you see house the Red Army and Police who are everywhere. We also went through "airport" screenings before being allowed in the tourist attractions. There were huge crowds everywhere we went...week-ends being the worst, of course. Suzie said the crowds were unbearable during the May 1 holiday.

A third side is a huge hall that holds Mao's open casket. Masses of people were lined up to view the body, although Suzie said on holidays people fill the square waiting their turn. Suzie said Mao was a genius. All I could think about were the people who lost their lives through his genius leadership...I don't think she could read the bubble over my head.

The fourth side holds a huge flagpole where people line up before dawn to view the Red Army raise the flag every day. That side is also looking at the entrance to the Forbidden City.

The center holds a monument that memorializes all the Chinese people who fought for the revolution.

Again, the square is huge, and had just been the center for the celebration of the anniversary of the birth of the PRC. I had tears in my eyes thinking of the people who had walked the square...including the students who protested, and the lone student who tried to stop the tanks. The Square is an amazing place.

Day 1: The Great Hall of the People on Tian'an men Square

2010-05-16T03:24:00.000-07:00

We walked across the street to view the Great Hall of the People that houses the Peoples' Congress meetings (and I do mean across the middle of the street, in the middle of busy traffic...the norm in Beijing). This was also the center of the cultural revolution where people came to beg their important connections for help. One wing at the end is a banquet hall where Nixon, Kissinger, and others have been entertained...that wing is open only to the cadres. The masses are not allowed entrance. The Peoples' Congress had just been held before I got to the city. I am trying to give you the feeling of how majestic the building is, yet how closed off it is to all except the top party cadres. Please note the ubiquitous presence of the military. It certainly brought to mind all the newsreels and TV news programs in which I had seen and felt the building's presence.

Day 1 in Beijing: The National Theater

2010-05-16T03:12:00.000-07:00

We rode the subway to the National Theater on Friday morning. The location was already full of tourists groups. The theater is shaped like an egg to signify new life and creation. It is covered with a thin "skin" and water circulates through it 24 hours a day. It was started in 2002, but construction stopped because it was such a controversial design. It was completed before the Olympics. I tried to get a ticket to a performance, but there were no English performances during my stay. "Carmen" was being presented on the opera stage, but I had just seen it in the theater at home.

We interrupt this report from Beijing to bring you an update from the Congo

2010-05-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

Let's start with last Tuesday when C fell on the tennis court and broke her left wrist. She is now wearing a caste from thumb to elbow, and must keep it in a sling so it is above her heart until next Tuesday when she returns for a check-up. C was helping the Community Center with decorations for the fund raiser for African women: "Congo, A Walk on the Wild Side." She was in charge of decorating the area behind the performance/dance platform and the entrance to the Miami Room which held the market selling articles made by the women. She also designed the water fountain in the pool...had to forego the dry ice blocks. The blocks have left the island until next Halloween.

I came in from Neili on Wednesday night, as soon as the grading and meetings were done. Thursday we went to the American Club to "bag" and tie all the plants were could find in burlap. We had to make another trip to the fabric market to pick up another 15 yards of burlap and 50 yards of mosquito netting. We were allowed into the pool area on Friday at 2 PM to finish up. Di, Malaina, and I developed the entrance as best we could under C's guidance. You will see both before and after pictures. And it turned out quite nicely!

All tables were poolside, and a buffet was served. Entertainment include African drummers, fire dancers, and a terrific fashion show. Our table of 11 won the prize for the most "spirited" table...read loudest and most enthusiastic, but we had friends who were modeling. Our prizes were pins designed by Yoko Ono that said "give peace a chance" in so many different languages even the expats couldn't read them. C was supposed to model, but they gave it to a substitute after she broke her wrist...not very nice, I must admit. It was a very nice event, and I will be curious to see how much money was actually raised.

Today was market day, basketball day, Thai dinner and Middle School Spring Musical night. Ch was in charge of the microphones/sound...quite a complicated job with all kinds of excel spread sheets involved. "A Night in the Museum" had great costumes and super singers and dancers....brought back the old days in my "first life." I enjoyed sitting in the audience much more than directing! It was fun to watch all the "kids" I have gotten to know this spring. Home to Neili tomorrow as I will be holding student meetings Sunday and Monday. And I will get back to Beijing!

PS another TM...at the Thai restaurant tonight they brought us the white wine list. There were four different kinds listed. As Di asked for each one, none was available until we got to the 4th one, so, of course, that was the one we ordered. We had 4 families at the table, and we decided to order another bottle of wine. This time NONE of the bottles were available! They were totally out! Jack went down to the basement to the Japanese grocery store, and brought back a bottle of wine. This is also the same restaurant where C's gourmet lunch gathered after the woman who was supposed to entertain became ill. No one else was in the restaurant, but it took the waitress 30 minutes to polish the glasses and open the wine. The food is absolutely fabulous...the wine, not so much!

Arriving in Beijing

2010-05-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

Friends, let's get this party started. I probably have a dozen different blogs to upload from this trip alone. It is going to take me days to add to my stories and pictures.

I arrived at the Taoyuan/Taipei Airport at 4:30 AM for a 6:30 flight. I was clutch all of my NT$ and looking for a money exchange kiosk. None were to be had until 6 AM, plane loading time. I asked a guard where to go, and he escorted me to the next building to a 24 hour stall. We woke the clerk who was none to happy...another TM. I exchanged NT for US. I exchanged US for RMB in the Hong Kong airport before taking off for the mainland. Now imagine coming back again and reversing the process. No wonder the banks are on their way to recovery!

The plane departed for the PRC almost 2 hours late...no explanation...another Asian moment. At least my driver was able to call ahead and find out we were going to be late.

Beijing was absolutely wonderful, and my guide, Suzie Cheng, was superb. The Kreilings had used her when they visited, and she was very personable and very knowledgeable. This update includes my arrival in the Beijing Capital International Airport. It is the biggest airport I have ever been in to date. Of course, it was all built for the Olympics. The blue gumby figure is the symbol for the Shanghai Expo. I will not be attending the Expo, but I am trying to talk the Kreilings into going next fall before it closes.

The city road system has five rings, and Suzie said they were going to add three more. The MRT system is excellent, and they are trying to get it built up through all 8 rings. It may finally end at the Great Wall.

I have included pictures of myguest house home in the Banqiao Hutong. The driver went in and out of the alley ways in the hutong trying to find the guest house. I could hardly squeeze myself through the lanes in which he drove. If you look at the picture of the front door, you MAY be able to see the name written in English ... but just barely.

The first pictures are of the "great room." Breakfast, computers, English TV, books ... everything in one room. I walked with my camera through the courtyard. The bird cage holds a mynah bird that sings like a nightingale, quacks like a duck, and greets everyone in both Chinese and English! He sleeps in the great room at night, and was always very excited when I would come in early to read mail and papers on the computers. Very entertaining and someone to talk to every morning!

The other pictures are of my room and bathroom ... simple, but perfectly fine for US $ 50 a night, including breakfast. They charged me US $ 7 for a glass of wine the first night I arrived. The next day I bought a bottle of "Dynasty, "Chinese red, for $ 7 that lasted me the rest of the week! They also charged an extra US $ 4 for a cup of coffee ... of course, I drank the tea. They were shocked to find out I didn't have any other charges when I checked out.

The front door was only one block from the MRT entrance ... lucky, indeed.

Undergraduate Competition Strategy: First Presentation Day

2010-04-28T02:57:00.000-07:00

I really like this group of students. They are very savvy, very funny, and their English writing is improving!!!!

Breakfast in Neili

2010-04-28T02:31:00.000-07:00

I go to my neighborhood restaurants when my spirit says I need more than my banana and coffee for breakfast. My favorite restaurant is a block from my dorm room, and offers "dan beng" with ham (CH says my accent is terrible, and that I am asking for frozen egg ice cream). It starts with a Chinese "crepe" that is topped with beaten egg. Ham is added as the egg cooks and the crepe heats up. The cook rolls it up and slices it before putting it in a box. The order clerk puts it in a plastic bag with a set of wooden chopsticks, and I pay NT$35 for my breakfast treat (a little over a US dollar). How's that for a dollar menu? You will see my friends and their restaurant in the pictures, but look very closely at the advertising on the awning...dreams come true here.

My second choice came from a recommendation of a Fulbright's wife who has since left for home in Tulsa. This charming lady (again, see the pictures) has her own stand that she rolls up every morning across from the 7-11. Sometimes her daughter is there to help her. Her breakfast starts with a ball of stick rice. She pats it out, and puts in a filling of 1/4 hard cooked egg, chopped Chinese crispy "doughnut" stick, shredded dried pork, and a chopped vegetable salad. It couldn't be a more well-balanced option for breakfast. It is all rolled back up into a sticky rice ball, put in a plastic bag, wrapped in the latest newspaper or calendar, and then dropped into another plastic bag. I confess I don't like sticky rice, but I like all of the fillings, and I like the cook! Here's to a healthy breakfast!

Shopping Day at the local market

2010-04-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

The local market is down the hill and across the street from my dorm...still a death defying walk when you're trying to dodge cars, buses, and a large number of scooter drivers (many of whom I am convinced do not have a license to drive or to pursue pedestrians). While I no longer have a microwave and I'm one week short of picking up the toaster oven, I still have my hotpot to boil water and the small fridge for keeping foods cold. I needed my fruit and nuts and food for lunch today. I bought my first baked sweet potato, and divided it for two days...really yummy. There are sweet potato bakers scattered all about the streets in Taiwan, but I've either been too early or too late to buy from them. I also bought what I thought was half a baked chicken. The seller actually chopped up a quarter of a baked chicken with her cleaver and cleverly made it look like more by including the baked foot underneath everything...which I did not taste. It is actually pretty dangerous to eat a chicken that has been hacked with a cleaver. The bones splinter, and you are constantly spitting out splinters of bone remnants! I bought my 3 packages of nuts from my usual seller, and she knocked NT$100 off the NT$600 selling price. I coughed because my throat was dry, and she gave me something black and preserved, indicating it would help my cough. Then she threw in the rest of the package for free! I did eat one, and it wasn't half bad and I did quit coughing! I also treated myself to 4 mini custard filled cream puffs for dessert for today and tomorrow The pictures that are attached will tell you why that's all I usually buy in the open market that is at least 2 blocks long in the alley between buildings. There are lots of things to "buy" besides food. I do feel sorry for the caged chickens and live fish waiting to die for customers who want their food to be REALLY fresh!

The broken microwave and Spring Fair

2010-04-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

Last week before I left on spring break, the microwave I purchased less that 2 months ago quit. I decided to make the 24 hour turn-around trip to the big city to return it. I graded on Friday morning, and jumped the train with my 40 pound suitcase in order to go to B&Q, the DIY store modeled after Home Depot...it is even orange! Unfortunately, the taxi card I had meant I made a trip all the way to Neihu, a suburb of Taipei, when I could have gone to one closer to Tian Mu...another TM. After 30 minutes waiting for each level of the hierarchy to hear what my problem was, then proving I was not lying by plugging it in after going for an extension cord, they agreed to credit my card. I could not face carrying that heavy load back to Neili, so I decided to purchase a small toaster oven. Back I went on the long taxi ride to Tian Mu, C waiting with wine and cheese and crackers to fix my worn spirits. Ms. Leanna, their cleaning lady who also babysits for them on most "daddy date nights," took one look at my box and said "oh no! I have a toaster oven to give you from one of my other clients." Unfortunately, she could not bring it until Monday, so I will take the 24 hour trip to the city AGAIN next week to pick it up...and make another return to B&Q. A plus? They are supposed to deliver C's reupholstered couch on Thursday, so I may...I repeat, may...get to see it. I spent the evening seeing "Date Night" and having a margarita at Chili's on my own as K & C had their date night and went to see "It's Complicated." K will be gone to Ireland this week for meetings after the most recent Dell restructuring. C says she will definitely accompany him the next time he has to go to Ireland!

Saturday was the Spring Fair at TAS. A and I walked over early in order to look and shop before the huge crowd gathered. A was dressed in her dance t-shirt, and we were prepared to see her dance at the scheduled time, 11:50. C & I arrived at the dance floor in plenty of time...but this year they were ahead of schedule, and she danced early. I told her I was in tears behind my sunglasses when I found out we missed her. She said "Gram, I had tears in my eyes when I looked out and you were not there." I really was ready to throw up after that....and so many people said "A, I saw you dance and you were great!" in front of all of us sad people. It was hard to take, but I will get to attend her dance recital where they will perform two dances.

I'm attaching pictures of some of the fair that will not do it justice. The cafeteria was full of vendors, the yard was full of things for the kids to do, and food was everywhere. I cannot tell a lie...I bought beautiful jewelry made in Shanghai from Di Halliday, one of C's Aussie friends that I like so much. I bought my lucky lion and the money god carving for my office. I bought a gorgeous modern painting of 3 ladies in cheongsams standing under umbrellas in the rain. I confess...it was hard to drag everything home AGAIN...but I love every single thing. K is going to bring one big suitcase home for me, and I have almost reached my limits. Remember, I still have hand puppets and some pottery vases on my list...and that is before Beijing, Bali, and Phuket! He says he may have to go to the US twice...so maybe?????

Back to work Wednesday/Thursday

2010-04-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

I left early for my 2 hour trip back to Neili on Wednesday morning. I first stopped to pay for my ticket to Beijing, a trip planned for the first week in May. I am still waiting to hear from my tour guide in Beijing...one highly recommended by the Ks and my travel agent.

On the train ride home, a Taiwanese couple from LA talked to me about my experiences. They have lived in the US for 43 years. He has a Ph.D from Michigan state, and is the current President of the Taiwanese Lion's Club. She teaches at a 7th Day Adventist school, and knows Renee Peterson, Di's daughter, and one of my former students at the Singapore American School. They come home each year during the Tomb Sweeping holiday to visit relatives and show their respects to the deceased. They collect hand puppets and pottery. They visited a wholesale puppet supplier 3 stops from Neili. He is going to provide me the name, and I hope to visit and finally get my hand puppets! They got off at Yingge this time in order to purchase pottery for their collection. His wife said "you are very brave to travel alone" as they left. Hmmmm....travel alone or stay home alone? No option there!

A young lady who had been listening to our conversation moved across the aisle to talk with me when they got off the train. She is Philipino and married to a Taiwanese electronics engineer. His local employer regularly sends him to Saudi for 2 months stretches, and she is left to care for 2 children while he is gone. She worked in the factory when she met and married him, and only goes home every 2 years. She clearly was very lonely, but I was glad she shared her story with me. The conversations made for a very, very interesting ride home.

Thursday was seminar day. I really have enjoyed teaching that class....and I am finally on schedule to complete my required 6 classes this month. I had been getting e-mails all spring break week-end from a US PhD student who said he had no access to the powerpoints and learning packets I had the lead professor put up on the portal website over a month ago. Despite a half dozen e-mails concerning the issue, the only English speaking secretary assured me, the lead professor, and the concerned student that all materials were on the portal. I sent them to the student personally because he disagreed with their assertions. A HUGE TM occurred when more than half the class told me during the class break they were unable to get the materials for the class. Imagine trying to teach 55 unprepared students....ARGHHHHHH...all of us were frustrated. 3 students were still not on the official class list. I told them to talk to the lead professor to make sure they were getting credit for the seminar. We finally decided that there were actually FOUR portal websites for this class, and only one site had the material. I have NO idea whether the office was able to solve this problem or not. I have since sent 2 weeks of material to the 4 students who contacted me this week-end asking for them...ARGHHHH again! TMs are falling from the sky! Remember, I am only a guest lecturer and have absolutely no access to the website despite being required to give mid-term grades....ARGHHH again!
ADDENDUM: Who knew? The mystery is finally solved. There are TWO lead professors for this class, unbeknowst to me until now. The second professor received my e-mails, and has posted the final seminar power points and leader packets...a TM with a happy ending for the students and for me!

Spring Break Tuesday

2010-04-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

Everyone was back to school and work today except me, so I went on my final Museum tour at the National Museum of History. The building is magnificent as you will see in the pictures. Unfortunately, only two floors of the four floors were available for touring (another TM). I liked the musuem store, and wanted to purchase a picture, but it only came already framed (another TM...I know other people asked for unframed prints). Back to Tian Mu via the MRT, and I walked to a tea room...and yes, it was open. I had a lovely lunch and TEA at last.

Tomb Sweeping Day & Easter Monday in Taiwan (story included)

2010-04-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

We planned to go to the lily flower fields, but found out they were not open on this government holiday. This event is one I am very unhappy to have missed during my stay. Plan B took us via local bus and MRT to Danshui, the northern most stop of the MRT. Ch taught us how to ride the bus to the MRT station, a new experience for me. The ride north was not too crowded as you will see in the pictures. You will also see why I LOVE taking the MRT...I wish we had more public transportation options in the US. The girl next to A on the MRT is wearing glass frames without any glass...we think it is a fashion statement, but we are not sure! I don't believe it would be so much fun to wear them if they held prescriptions lenses required to see!

Danshui has been compared to the "Jersey Beach." I'm not sure how close that describes it, but it was hectic, dirty, crowded, loud, interesting, fun...all of the above. It is "famous" for its seafood, especially the squid prepared in numerous ways as you will see from the pictures. I still am not convinced I want to eat tomatoes on a stick that have been dipped in candy a la a candied apple (see picture). I took pictures as we walked along the water. Please note that a Chinese opera was being performed in the midst of all the activity. Can you see the musicians and helpers? All are on stage and doing their own thing as the performers are working...including smoking and drinking!

Ch ate his way down the beach, A shopped her way down the beach, and we arrived at the ice cream cone store together. A had already told me about the ice cream cones available for NT10 (around 35 cents). I stood in line to get my mango ice cream cone. 3 people sit facing 3 machines...mango and lemon, green tea and vanilla (?), and chocolate and vanilla. You point to one of 3 pumps...in my line mango, lemon, or mixed. The worker never turned around as I placed NT10 in her hand and pointed to the plain mango pump. S/he hands you a cookie cone with ice cream twists that are almost 10 inches high! The ice cream was absolutely delicious...see pictures as we are chowing down.

We boarded a boat to take the round trip to Bali Island across the bay. We walked along the boardwalk to the end, dodging countless bicycle renters of all ages who drove like Taiwanese taxi drivers on learner permits! The boardwalk allowed us some sense of safety as the bicyclists were "supposed" to stay on their path, not ours. Please note the soldier/outerspace statue at the end of the boardwalk. I tried my darnedest to find out what the statue was called, but found nothing. You are invited to use your imagination as I did. I must tell you that C often rides her bike from Tian Mu to Danshui to have lunch with friends at a Mexi-restaurant with good Margaritas! It's a 15 mile ride, and the Ks have also done it as a family. I will stick with the MRT, even though the Ks have 5 bikes, including one that C won.

All in all it was a very fun day, and we ended it with our curry dinner.

Easter in Taiwan

2010-04-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

The Easter bunny did an admirable job of filling the baskets and hiding the eggs that A and I had colored on Saturday. The Ks went to church, and I joined them downtown for lunch at one of their favorite Italian restaurants. It was right around the corner from the Far East Shangri-La Hotel, their home-away-from-home in Taipei before they moved into their apartment. Sorry...no pictures from lunch...how did we manage that?

We took a taxi back to Tian Mu to look at some art that C was thinking of buying (no deal today), and the Ks had their pictures taken for the ARC renewal. We walked to the movie theater (where I bought a new umbrella), and enjoyed "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3-d...my first movie in Taiwan and my first 3-d movie using the new digital technology...all very enjoyable. We did take some pictures outside of the theater in front of some "greenery"...attached...and had quite an enjoyable family day together.

"Spring Break" Update

2010-04-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Here I sit trying to recall my adventures. I must have had a great time as I had no time to sit down and write. Nor did I have time to take many pictures...the options on my camera are limited at best, so bear with me.

I went tearing into Tian Mu on Thursday morning, dropped off my bags, and took a taxi to the National Palace Museum. It is one of my favorite museums in Taipei as it holds the booty that Chiang Kai Shek and the Kau Ming Tang forces (KMT=the Chinese Nationalist Party) brought with them when they fled the mainland after being defeated by the Communists. I arrived around 11 AM to view my favorite rooms, the pottery room and the small treasures storage boxes room, when the building became INUNDATED with busloads of tourists and students. Trust me when I say the tourist buses were visitors from the Mainland. China is allowing them to travel to Taiwan now, and the Taiwanese government is welcoming them and their tourist dollars with open arms. They behave much worse than the "ugly Americans" who earned their tourist reputation in earlier times. I found I could not walk or even turn around without being roughed up by the gangs of mainland tourists, so I opted to leave and go to the Puppet Museum...just not worth the trauma of bruises and prospective broken bones! I am very intimidated now after an elder gentleman from Taiwan knocked me half way down to the ground at the Flower Market. K had to get between me and the "gentleman," or I would have become the ugly American!

I honestly thought the taxi driver would never find the Puppet Museum. It is downtown on a very busy, very old street in a very old building. The ground floor holds a rather large room where they carve puppet heads and sew their embroidered clothes...and I would love to have had a tour of that room and their operations. A walk up four floors of very steep, very scary stairs led me through carved wooden storage boxes, old portable puppet stages, and all manner of puppets. The Taiwanese are famous for their hand puppets, but the museum also had examples of puppets on strings, shadow puppets from Indonesia, and water puppets from Vietnam. There was a very cramped room that showed what happened to the puppeteers in the PRC during the cultural revolution...not news to me, but still very frightening to hear the video stories. Let me be frank when I say the museum needs a new location in order to highlight the importance of this art. When I returned to the first floor, they had a puppet stage set up and were starting to practice a new story. They also had puppets for sale, but none like the ones I saw being made, so none of them came home with me. Two museums...enough for one day...and I had a deep desire to get into the kitchen and cook...and I had NOT felt that need since December!

I grocery shopped and made White Bean Chicken Chili (with beans from scratch...something I had never been successful at before), Two-Bean Red Chili (with ground chicken for the base...white meat looks odd floating in the red broth, but it still tasted good!), mexi-pork in the crock pot (enough for lunch tacos and a pan of enchiladas for the freezer). I made vegetable curry, chicken curry, and vegetable salad before I left. A and I made and frosted Easter cookies, and I gave her a lesson in making Kerry cookies. I even made an Apple Cake for Candace to take to the Dell Wives' luncheon. OK...so I'm over that urge now!

On Friday I went to the Museum of Fine Arts. They had four visiting shows that were very interesting, yet I'm always disappointed when I cannot see any of their permanent collection. The architecture show of Richard Rogers' work was really incredible. I believe it had already been to the Louvre. There were lots of students at the exhibit, many taking pictures up close and personal of the wonderful 3-dimensional displays and stories. I did say "no" to the honor of having my picture taken with 2 of the young women, but I'm sure I made it on their cameras anyway. The second was a collection of paintings by young Korean artists, many of them I would have liked to have in my home. The third was a room full of wool, hand-crocheted ultra-modern clothes designed by a young man who is winning many honors for his work. The last one was a display of photos by a famous Taiwanese photographer from the 40s-60s that was absolutely fascinating. His history of local family life and some of the famous religious holiday celebrations were irreplaceable. He was also invited to preserve history by the anthropologists who documented the lives of the indigenous tribes as civilization was moving in on their old life styles. One visitor told me he was a member of one of the tribes, and "these are my sisters and brothers."

One of the local western tourist magazines had an article on tea rooms in Taipei, so high on my list of things-to-do-on-my-break was to have a luncheon tea. One taxi driver sweated out a very hard to find tea room in one of the many lanes in downtown Taiwan. When I finally figured out how to get into the building, they told me I had to wait 2 hours before I could be seated...a TM for sure. The room was reserved for a private office meeting. Low and behold, my taxi drive followed me in and berated the staff and owners as someone outside had told him I would not get seated. He didn't wait for me to jump back into his taxi though! I walked out to the street to get a taxi to another tea room on the list, and he left me at #21, Lane 27 on the SOUTH side of the road...wrong end of town...another TM when the people at #21 told me what had happened. The taxi drive was lost and so was I. It clearly was NOT a tea room, and I was the one who was embarrassed! Another taxi ride to #21, lane 27 on the NORTH side of twon got me to the tea room that had absolutely no where to sit down and have lunch/tea. There were plenty of tables, but the crowd was sitting with empty beer bottles and drink glasses and clearly were not ready to depart...another TM. I ended up at a Japanese restaurant for a rice and chicken lunch with coffee...no tea...another TM...and home I went!

Saturday found us cooking and baking (see list above). C wanted to view a garden stool and umbrella stand that she "needed" for her new decorating turn in her living room. The shop...in which she had spent an unexpected 15 minutes when she spied the potential purchases...was four stories of objects crammed everywhere with hardly a place to walk. Everything we professed interest in had an incredibly high price with no room for bargaining. We ended up on the top floor outside in the rain and mist...still more pieces, both broken and whole. Working our way back down, C settled on a price she was willing to pay for the two pieces she needed out of the dirty mess. We continued to look and try to bargain, then announced we were going to leave. Truly, our heads were ready to burst and I know my hair was on fire! And there were NO other customers in sight. SUDDENLY, they accepted C's offer, and also reduced the price of a vase I was looking at by one-third. I was unhappy enough that it killed all interest I had in the vase (and I think I can get it much more cheaply in Yingge). We left them to clean up the pieces C bought, and headed to Sogo's to buy one more pink stool for A's new table. We hopped in a taxi, picked up the newly cleaned and wrapped pieces, dropped them off at the apartment, and headed to the American School to watch A's basketball game. WHEW! Success after all, and you will see the stool in the Easter picture under the new zebra console table next to the new bedroom table in the Easter pictures...coming up next!

Week-end Jade Market and Flower Market

2010-03-28T01:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon, we 3 ladies took a taxi to the week-end flower market and jade market. The Kreilings had not been since we went two Christmases ago. It is a place that I could stay and touch all day, but we were on a mission. We had seen painted lanterns from our taxi window a couple of weeks ago, and we wanted to get some spring lanterns. We started in the Jade market, which I may say is just overwhelming. C bought a long turquoise necklace, and C & A bought glass rings. I bought nothing, although I certainly touched alot! C bought some antique dishes. I fought off the urge, as once again, I'm just not sure how I could get them home. The flower market is still my favorite place, and I am in awe at all the varieties of orchids that are offered...large, small, miniatures, all colors... offered at such reasonable prices, I want one of everything. Then, of course, there are spring flowers in planters and garden starters and cut flowers for vases....on and on and on....C bought a bright pink hydrangea for her coffee table. We found the lanterns, and watched as the artist was painting the one I bought. C bought a large round one painted with peonies (you can see it in the picture) and another rectangle lantern with orange and yellow flowers.

The men joined us after their golf lessons and we headed for a downtown Ikat store, a decorator store we found in Tian Mu. We wanted to see if the downtown branch held more goodies, but found it just "OK." We may jump on the fast train to Kaohsiung next week to go to a couple of flagship stores...the high speed train AND shopping!

We ended up having a lunch of wontons in chili oil, beef noodle soup, and a small plate of chilled vegetables...all just outstanding. Next door we found Lulu's Bakery, where I bought small custards for dessert...custards that tasted just like cheesecake...YUM! Saturday night the kids and I watched "The Proposal," while K & C went downtown to their favorite sushi bar for daddy date night. We had a great chat with the Whitleys, and got caught up on the dances, baseball games, and college choices. GO RED AND BLACK!..a quote from A for her cousin Kara!

I took the noon train home to my dorm room...where it is getting chillier and chillier. I was able to go to the Tian Mu Pharmacy where I helped myself to new allergy meds, cough medicine, and two different kinds of antibiotics...and they are not fakes! No prescriptions required!

Pineapple season has started here, and they are to die for. K says mango season is even better! A short week here, and I will be headed back to the Ks for my "spring break" and Easter holiday. Everyone else will be sweeping the tombs, cleaning the burial plots, and paying respects to their deceased family members for the "Sweeping Tombs" holiday. Ch says many families have already started the process.

Enjoy the flowers!

A Happening on Campus

2010-03-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

I teach for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon on Tuesdays, with a short "lunch" break inbetween. When I emerged from my teaching cocoon, a tent city had started to spring up across the walkways and the quad. Wednesday morning, there was a giant archway replete with dolphins at the school's entry. Red and white striped tents were everywhere, students were directing traffic, and helping "exhibitors" set up their presentations. I saw Avon and the Army before I realized this was a job fair. One exhibitor had on a French maid's costume with thigh-high black stockings. I'm not sure what company or job she was recruiting for. It was a drizzly, cool day...hints of the cold front that blew in for the week-end. The temperature dropped 30 degrees, and we were all coughing again. The antibiotics just don't have a chance before another cold front comes in!

I took the slow train into the city on Friday morning for my regular hair and pedicure appointment. That's guaranteed to make anyone feel better. The Kreilings underwent a closet addition in the master bedroom this week. They were totally displaced for the week, and had to air out the varnish smell. The stainers put two pineapples in their new closet to make sure the smell went away (try that the next time you paint!). Yesterday K was able to put clothes into his new closet. They put away the mattresses they had been sleeping on, and everyone was back in their respective bedrooms. The 20 year old couch is gone for 2 weeks being recovered. The new zebra-striped leather couch table is due to be delivered sometime tonight. The bunnies are out, and spring has sprung at the Kreiling's apartment

C had a lasagna dinner planned, and A made brownies...all very healing! We watched "Crazy Heart" last night, a movie K brought back from his last trip to Shanghai. Loved it and the music!

We are all off running errands today, but we hope to get to the Jade market where we think we saw spring lanterns. K wants to visit the ABC tea store for green tea. The sun is shining and the temp may reach the 70s today...what more could I want? My spring break starts next Wednesday. We get Friday off to celebrate the University's 21st anniversary, and the following week is "Sweeping Tombs" holiday. I waited too long to book an out of town ticket (it turns out the European school is having a two week holiday at the same time), so I will be back to take on Taipei's museums for the week. The Ks may be glad when I finally have to go back to "work!"

"Springtime" at YZU

2010-03-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

The art students created a happening next to the walkway leading to the center of campus. The schizoid weather and bad air from Mainland China threatened to take it down last week-end, but still it survives, if in a somewhat beat-up state. I quite enjoyed being surprised by it on my morning walk to work. The landscapers have been working overtime to plant lillies and hydrangeas. The potted plants are in full bloom, thanks to the rainy, cool weather. I frankly am in need of sunshine on a regular basis.

The Kreilings came to my rescue last Monday when they arrived with love, hugs, and antibiotics. I had the honor of showing them my dorm room, my office, and the YZU campus before we walked to our local shopping center. Ch found new tennis shoes, but that's all we bought. Ch, A, and I just had to have the McChicken special at our local McDonald's, and K found his way to the local Starbuck's. C found sushi at Carrefour's, and we ended the day sitting at the outside tables before their 7 PM slow train back to the big city. I think we all had fun...they got to "travel" on their spring break to see where Gram hangs out, and I got to entertain my first guests to the campus.

The Start of TAS Middle School Spirit Week

2010-03-20T23:16:00.001-07:00

TAS Gala

2010-03-20T23:03:00.001-07:00

TAS Spring Ball and Middle School Spirit Week

2010-03-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

The Spring Gala was very fun...excellent dinner, excellent wines, excellent friends. I am going to upload what few pictures I have with apologies. K,C, and I never had an official picture taken...thus, I have no picture of me in my first long dress since Senior Prom. Oh well....

I did buy a lovely picture (don't ask me how I will get it home, but I love it. I'm hoping Adra will use it until I figure out how I will get it home). I also bought silk bedding and a Franz teapot. I've already invited all the people who have helped me to the Kreiling's home to share the bottles of wine that were mine. I believe Al says "don't tip when you are tipsy." To that I will add don't bid when you have been drinking free libations. K & C had the winning bid for a week's stay in Las Vegas, a very, very nice trip for their family and all of their new friends...new friends who turned up after they had the winning bid. The band that played is made up of TAS teachers, and is very popular wherever they play. In fact, they are so good that some neighbhoods don't want them playing at the local restaurants because so many people turn up...gets way to noisy!

I had another TM when my local bank card ended up on the table while I was paying for my auction items. When I said "I think that is mine," the ladies said "Oh no, we will take care of it." Silly me...it was mine. Fortunately, it stayed locked in the Hyatt vault over the week-end, and I was able to pick it up Monday morning at TAS when I picked up my auction items. I was a wreck after waiting for it for over 5 weeks. World traveler strikes again...

The second set of pictures is Ch getting ready for TAS Middle School Spirit Week. The first day all 7th graders were supposed to wear read. The mohawk was his idea, and I think it got sprayed red when he got to school. He and his friends Patrick and Lucas were going to dress alike on "Twin Day"...make that Triplet Day in his case. C was going to the last day assembly when the MS kids try to blow out the gym with spirit!

I paid for my fun week-end with a terrible cold, cough, and fever that lasted all week. I didn't miss any work, but surely collapsed inbetween. The Kreilings are coming to my rescue tomorrow on the slow train from Taipei. They are finding me some Z-packs, and will bring them down tomorrow afternoon on the Kids' first spring break day. Now that's an exciting holiday...taking meds to Gram. What would I do without them????? I had a few TMs trying to round up meds in Neili, to no avail, so I'm glad they are able to come down and see where I live and work. This is old hat to C who helped me so much when I moved in.

Onward and upward...another two weeks and it will be my spring break! I tried to go to Phuket, but I could only fly through Bangkok, and there are too many demonstrations going on right now. I tried to get to Kota Kinabalu, but everything was booked up. I will just stay in Taipei and hit all the museums...and maybe get to the lily fields and the hot springs. We shall see. I am already booking my Beijing trip after missing out on spring break...nothing like planning ahead.