Nothing Cures the Blues Like Cotton Candy!

Noelle all decked out for our walk in her new
giraffe outfit and giraffe hat. Looking so cute!

Today is Monday. The Taiwanese people are super into the idea of the “Monday Blues” – I guess they really don’t like their jobs or they just really love their weekends… Anyway, today I had a rough day. I was running behind, Jimmy’s scooter broke, the electric bill was worse than I feared, and my cell phone (which I paid to have fixed on Saturday) started messing up AGAIN! Needless to say, I needed a pick me up!

So after work Noelle and I decided to go for a walk. We walked to the cell phone repair shop…which was CLOSED. **sigh** (Evidently he is always closed on Mondays there just wasn't a sign -- in English that mentioned that fact. **grumble**grumble** Another reason why we have to start learning Chinese--FAST!)

HOWEVER, I was SUPER excited to see that the cotton candy artist was still there! I ordered a giant cotton candy mushroom for 60NT (approx. $2USD) and filmed him making this yummy creation. Not only was it fun to watch and looked great, it also tasted delicious! Yum. Yum! It was just what I needed to make me feel better!

Here's a picture of the guy's cotton candy stand. The man was nice, but didn't seem to speak much English. So if you venture out in this direction be prepared to point and do charades (hopefully that won't be necessary!). Also, as promised the video is also posted below.

This is the cotton candy guy's stand. He has a variety of different designs he can make. It's really, really cool!

I hope you enjoy!

I am including a map that shows approximately where the cotton candy man is. Please keep in mind that these stands change frequently so I cannot guarantee he will be there if you go. He is inside the New City shopping area near the first escalator on the left (next to the Mexican restaurant).

Celebrating Moon Festival

This weekend we celebrated Moon Festival! You may be wondering "what's a moon festival?" so please allow me to fill you in.

Moon Festival or more properly Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) is one of the two biggest festivals in Asian culture. It is a time for family, thankfulness, and prayers. Some say it is the Asian equivalent to Thanksgiving in America. Moon Festival is a lunar holiday which is held each year on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month during a full moon.

There are many different stories and traditions which surround Moon Festival. I am going to focus on the ones we participated in this year.

Traditional Stories:

In my class, we watched the story of The Ten Suns. It was one of the easier stories for my young students to understand. If you would like to hear more of the traditional stories you can visit my Moon Festival Playlist on Youtube.com.

Pomelos:

Other popular Moon Festival traditions center around the Pomelo. Pomelos are a citrus fruit which can range in size from a grapefruit to as large as a human head! The majority of Pomelos are harvested around Moon Festival and are very, very common. This is part of the reason that they are used to symbolize good luck/good fortune, bountifulness, family/fertility, and more. According to China Post, this is how you know you are picking a good pomelo: "Old farmers say choosing a delicious pomelo is like finding a good wife - it should be cute, not too big, have an oval face and round bottom."

Two of the most common pomelo traditions are decorating the pomelos with faces and wearing the pomelo rind as a hat. The pomelo hats are so much fun that we did this in class and I did it at home with Noelle!

Mooncakes:

Mooncakes are very common gifts to give and receive during Moon Festival. They symbolize family unity and togetherness. Traditionally, mooncakes were made by you in your home and then given to friends. This tradition has given way to commercialism and most mooncakes are now purchased but the meaning is still the same.

My students and I made a very simplified version of mooncakes (more like cookies) in class this week. It was a fun activity for them, and according to one of the Taiwanese teachers it is a unique experience that they may never have again. If you watch the making of a traditional mooncake video on my playlist, you will know why we did a simplified version in my kindergarten class! If you are interested in making mooncakes with your children, you can find the recipe we used on DLTK.

Lanterns:

Lanterns play a minor role in Moon Festival versus their major role during Lantern Festival. However, you can see lanterns and lantern parades during Moon Festival. One of the traditions is to write a riddle on a paper lantern, go around, and try to have people solve your riddle. My class made lanterns but skipped the riddles :)

BBQ!:

Moon Festival is a major BBQ holiday in Taiwan! Families and friends get together, eat, and enjoy one another's company. It's not like BBQ in the United States but it is definitely delicious--plus it's lots of fun! This is our family's favorite part of Moon Festival because we love nothing more than spending time with all the friends we have made and love here in Taiwan.

What I'm Thankful for this Moon Festival:
This is a tradition that I have carried over from my family back home. I wanted to stop for a moment and remember to be thankful on a holiday that was originally designated to that purpose. So before digging in I want to share what I am thankful for this year...

#1 My Family - Jimmy and I are so blessed to have Noelle. We waited for her and prayed for her for a long, long time before she actually came into our lives. Now we don't know what we would do without her. We are also thankful for our family back home who support us as we live and teach in Taiwan.

#2 New Opportunities - Jimmy and I both started at a new school this fall. So far we love it! It's nice to see Jimmy actually be happy at his school and not miserable. It's really nice that he has finally found a good fit.

#3 A Bright Future - We don't know what the future holds for us but we know it is full of endless possibilities and we look forward to each and every one of them!

FOCUS #2 Pt 1: Building Relationships and Learning the Culture

Building relationships.  The core to any ministry whether is pastoring, music, missions, students is building relationships.  Which happens to be one of my best (and sometimes worse) strengths.  I "dont know a stranger" I "am friends with everyone" I "am too trusting".  Christiana on the other hand is "takes longer to open up".  So its no surprise that we have been able to build some close relationships already while here in Taichung.

Acts 8 tells the story of Phillip. Who God used to meet with and talk to a Ethiopian.  Never more in my life has this story been more real or meant more to me.  Verse 27 starts with Phillip got up and went.  He had no clue why The Lord sent him south.  He just went. There he was at the perfect place at the perfect time. The Lord used him for a purpose. It was no accident.

The people that The Lord have brought into our lives. The relationships we have built (which locals and foreigners) are of no accident.  It cant be. A year ago I never thought I would ever even leave the country.  So we are taking it very serious and very purposeful the people that God brings into our path.  Everyone from the guy we buy tea from (Jon) to the security guard at our building (Mr. Wan!). There are no accident.

So as we continue to get to know people.  We continue to pray for them.  We love them and they return to the love.  We love going to LAX Burger not just because the burgers are great because they are! But because we love and adore Jamie, Linus and Lily.  We are there as their friends and we love them. It goes both ways. When I was in the ER, Jamie came up and took care of us.  We desperately needed someone who spoke Chinese. Call me Phillip.

- Jimmy -

WHAT IS THE FOCUS?

We have in our new home of Taiwan for 2 months now! I cant believe it. Going from the mindset of thinking there is no way I could ever live in a foreign country (pre surgery) to actually living, working and acclimating to a different land is still mind blowing.  Very thankful to The Lord and everyone who helped us get here. Blessed we truly are (a little yoda for ya)

So what is the focus of these past two months? Well coming in we knew that three was a three part focus for the first 6 months.  I will write about each one in depth a little later but now I can give you a quick overview of what we are up to.  

1. Getting settled and finding work. 
HA? Are we settled? Settled in the sense of having a place to live, cell phones and jobs. Settled in the sense of relaxed and comfortable. Not quite there yet.  We both have jobs which we are extremely grateful.  There are pros and cons to each of our schools and work but overall we are pleased. Still yet to get paid but still pleased.  We are slowly still learning our way around Taichung. We know at least around neighborhood now.  I think. 

2. Building relationships and learning culture. 
This is my favorite part about the move here. We have met the most amazing people.  Not just locals but amazing helpful foreigners that dont know us at all but have lent an helpful ear and hand to us.  This is the most important aspect to me.  I am people person and i think its very important that when we do find or start a ministry we have already built a support system.  We have found people here that we already feel will be life long friends. Just stunning and amazing that God brought us here. 

3. Find a ministry. 
After 13yrs of working in the local church it is very freeing and scary to be wide open in what God wants and can do.  Seriously, just going to church as a regular church attender is a very foreign experience (ha, see what I did there!). So we feel that God is going to show exactly where and what to do. Is it a drama ministry? Is it concert ministry? Youth? Children? Teaching a bible study? Dont know that is the scary and great part about it. 

So that is and was the main focus of the past two months. Please continue to pray for us.  

Jimmy and Christiana