Useful phrases such as 'I don't want to eat pidgeon'

Well, life here has been about as stable as a milk bottle on a tilt-a-whirl. But I am very grateful for the assistance and generosity shown by the dear sisters who have taken us in. (pictured below)

In an attempt to keep this brief...

I have had my first job interview, the results will have to wait until I return from Japan.

Still looking for an apartment, the Taiwanese sister I live with right now has been very helpful in deciphering ads and going with me to meet land lords.

Getting used to our new spot, going on a study tomorrow a.m. with a new friend from the cong. So looking forward to that. We also had fireworks tonight right out our window.

That's all for now... more explanation with the pictures. Enjoy!

The train...

A very ornate temple I saw on my way back from my job interview....

These are my roommates while I stay here... In order: Sue (from Korea), Meija (from Taiwan), Angela (from Brittain). And not to leave out the two kitties BaoBao (who I think is part Ewok) & MiMi (the orange kitty) the two laziest creatures I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

This is the view from the apartment lanai. Taipei 101

building on a misty day & the mountains.

This is our neighbors pretty door. She plays something that sounds like the harp at night. (I think maybe it's called a konghao)

"You have pehn??..( I have a pen??) PEHN! PEHN!"

Hello from a bunkbed far far away. Oh my, what a week. Let me start by saying, if you ever feel the need to be sick in another country... this is the one to do it in. Woke up Sunday morning with a horrible swollen sore throat, after close inspection discovered the dreaded white spots. My immediate thought was 'Great... strep throat.. just what I needed'. After putting off medical attention for a couple days I decided to brave a trip to the hospital. With my trusty Melissa by my side, we wandered into a busy hospital. And after much failed attempts to communicate what I needed, I was turned down. (It was after 3 pm, which is apparently too late to get medical attention) So we wandered some more until finding a clinic. I was admitted right away, sent into what resembled a mad scientist/dentist circa 1962's office, and was asked a bunch of questions by an old man (close talker) in Chinese. After he finally figured out that I didn't understand him our conversation went something like this....

'Whe disconfret at?' (I point at my throat)

'You have pehn?' (I have a pen??) PEHN! PEHN! You have pehn hee?! (uh... OH! pain?? yes!)

'What you tink heff?' (Um, maybe strep? i have white spots)

'Why spa!??' (no... spots... white... back here.. )

'oh, you now have dat.. dis becktria, you not this heff becktria... look! (oh... okay)

'Open mout' (gaaahhhhh) *poke* *jab* *spritz*

'you heving barus' (barus?... barus....?)

'no becktria... bvaras' (ohh... virus!... ok.)

The rest of the visit consisted of him showing me a bunch of stuff written in chinese on his computer, and telling me to go downstairs to pick up my Rx. In total, the visit took about 5 min. including time to get my Rx. The total cost (w/o insurance mind you).. roughly $27 for the whole shibang. Not too stinking bad.

The result... white spots are gone and I'm feeling much better.

Other achievements this week... went to the movies, ate a lot more really awesome food, and did the most ridiculous trek to do laundry I've ever done. Picture Melissa and I squeezing onto the crowded metro train with a bag stuffed to the point of almost overflowing that's so big it takes both of us to carry it. Then walking in the rain for who knows how long to find a laundromat (again, each of us carrying half of the bag). Getting lost in some really rural REALLY Chinese neighborhood, then spending 3 hours at said laundromat, and returning the same way. Nothing is simple.

In other news.. I saw a man walking around with a poodle riding on his shoulders, a lady walking her cat by leash, and an asian man with what closely resembles the 'flat top' or more commonly known as 'MC Hammer' hair-do. We had a hard time telling if it was a helmet.. or just a masterpiece of hair. It looked pretty solid.

Tonight is our last night at the hostel. A sister in my congregation has graciously asked us to come stay with her and a couple other sisters in their apartments while we hunt for one of our own. This will be a crowded situation, and probably a little awkward, but it will save us money in the mean time and get us out of the hostel. So the hunt continues.

By the time I post again I might be in Japan, so stay tuned for news from there! Sorry, not many pictures this week. (Spent most of it in bed)

the importance of fanny-packs

I would love to be able to say that I have successfully made it one whole week without getting lost, but alas, I cannot. The amount of unnecessary walking I've done due to being somewhat directionally challenged... is unreal. But it's a good way to see the city in detail. I have discovered the importance of taking a map with me at all times- thus the importance of the fanny pack.. (because purses are so uncool) I swear some days my internal GPS is on point, and other days it sends me in every direction but the one I want. I've pretty much covered this entire city by foot mostly by accident. But it's all part of the fun.

In general people here don't talk to strangers on the streets, they all just mind their own business and get to where they need to go, they don't even so much as say excuse me or thank you for the most part. But, I have an incredible magnetism for random encounters. (oh man have they been random too) I have had more local people try to strike up conversations with me, whether they speak English or not, but so far I have yet to have a 'conversation' with anyone on the street that made any amount of sense. It usually ends up with me smiling awkwardly and shaking my head saying 'wo bu dong' (i dont understand). But that doesn't seem to stop anyone from proceeding with a full dialogue on who-knows what. It makes for lively outings anyway.

I got a chance to meet more people at the meeting this week. This is an amazing congregation. People from every corner of the globe serve here. We have 4 missionaries in our cong. And every

single person I've met has a story of how/why they are there. I got there super early and met a sister from Russia who is here for a few months to see her kids. I guess her ex-husband is Taiwanese and when she learned the truth he made her choose between the Bible and her kids. She made a very difficult choice but she chose the truth. So now she spends most of the year

saving up money so she can fly to Taiwan from Russia a couple times a year to see them. What a sacrifice. The friends here are so welcoming and want to help you out however they can. They seem grateful to anyone who comes to help. (I have attached a picture of the KH room below)

Also, this was the first meeting I've attended where the council during the service meeting was "If you have more bible studies and RV's than you can handle, how do we make sure they're taken care of"...... Apparently this is an issue that the congregation has as a whole.... I can't even imagine. But I am willing to take on some of that burden! ;) Our territory extends 2 hours travel

in all directions around us. So we get a little taste of the whole northern half of the country. I am told that once or twice a year there is a big service week when all the fisherman come to port from being away for several months so our cong. sends dozens of people to the docks and preaches to them while they are here. I guess most of them are Indonesian and Filipino so their English is a little better than their Mandarin. Reminded me of pg.68 in the BT book, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if that was taken here. The brothers buy fresh fish at the docks and BBQ it for break.

The territory for us is almost entirely informal witnessing- streets, stores, markets, etc. This is an area that I am not particularly confident in, so it will be a challenge but I am glad to have my informal witnessing skills sharpened. I had my first day in the field today, it was quite different

from anything I've done before. We just wander around the city and look for people who might speak English, chase them down, and place whatever we've got with them. It's really informal, but we met some nice people. I'm a little gun-shy just yet, but hopefully I'll get used to the new routine. And the sister I worked with today was very helpful in giving me advice.

Melissa and I are still looking for an apartment, but are on the trail of a couple leads. So hopefully we will be able to move out of the hostel soon. Although I will miss eating lunch & watching Sumo wrestling everyday with Bob (a 70-something year old who lives at the hostel).

More to come likely after the weekend... stay tuned.

Ximen at night....

This is the English KH room...

good advertisement....

this is our neighborhood...

Melissa contemplating dumplings... (or maybe she's staring at the albino sitting behind me)

Funky noodles...

Another round-eye bites the dust

Ni hau! A new adventure calls for a resurrection of the ol' blog. I have arrived unscathed in Taipei! I have only been here for a little more than 2 days, but I've done a lot already. Melissa and I are currently residing in the "World Scholars Hostel" in Zhongxiao Xinsheng....(that's a fun one to pronounce), we share a tiny 7 x10 room with bunk beds. The hostel is a little ghetto, but it's a good spot and the manager is super nice. And we have AC, which is crucial because it is ridiculously humid and hot here. I am sweating constantly (thanks Washington for lowering my heat tolerance).
I am finding that there's not many people who speak English here, so we've been having fun trying to communicate. So far we've done pretty well, Melissa has a handle on basic Mandarin and I just smile and point at things. We're quite a team. We attempted to find one of the Chinese meetings on Friday night, but the Kingdom Halls are just rooms hidden in the upper floors of apartment buildings and stores, so not being able to read Chinese characters- we didn't actually find it. We did find the English cong. today though and got to attend meeting there today. It was PACKED. It's a room full of chairs in the upstairs of an apartment building. It's quite interesting. The congregation is really nice. Mostly Filipinos, but there are people from all over the world helping in that congregation. I am going to attempt to find the service group this week. (The field service groups meet at various subway stations around the city, so you just have to find your way there and locate the brothers and sisters and they send you on your way in pairs) Should be quite an experience.
So far I've done a LOT of walking and riding the underground rail around to the different districts. The city is surprisingly easy to navigate. Melissa goes to school all week, so I get to go exploring. There are an uncanny number of mopeds on the roads, it's something you have to see to believe. And it's a total free-for-all on the road, and they give no heed to pedestrians. It looks like complete chaos but somehow it works, everyone weaves in and out and drives on the sidewalks and darts in front of you and you think "how is it that there aren't accidents happening ALL over the place", but it works! I have to say, I feel really safe in this city. There's not a lot of crime and people just go about their routines here. No one really bothers anyone and there's no seedy characters. It's really pretty nice.
It was a little strange at first getting used to the flow of things in public. There is no concept of personal space, especially on the subways, NOT a place for anyone claustrophobic. And it isn't considered rude to push people aside or cut in front of them if they hesitate for more than a second. So you just move as fast as you can with the crowd and don't be afraid to be assertive. But when you're not commuting the people are very friendly and take time to care for you.
Eating out and shopping has been fun. The food has been AMAZING, and really cheap. Some places have menus with English or at least pictures, but one hole in the wall place we ate at only had chinese words and a price next to the items, so with some difficulty we ordered some sashimi & sushi. The decor was lovely- we sat in front of the preparation area which was covered with various decapitated aquatic creatures staring at us. Melissa and I both ate cellophane wrap by accident (not knowing our food was wrapped in it), we later got chased down by the restaurant employee because we left a tip.. (apparently they aren't used to getting tips and thought we left our money behind on accident). But it was some of the best food I've had since I've been here, cost about $4.
The night markets are really cool. They are all over the city on various side streets. The city lights up at night. Vendors fill the markets, some of which are unlicensed- and at the first sight of the police you will see them pack up their whole operation in about 2 seconds flat and RUN in the other direction with their carts. It's pretty impressive. I will try to get pictures.
We also went on a gondola ride up into the mountains. It was a pretty amazing view of the city. The mountains are very jungley, felt like we were in Jurassic park, only with rice furrows and little shanty's and gaudy temples along the way. Along the ride there are several stations you can get off and hike these boardwalk trails through the hills. At the top there are food vendors and you can hike a road that takes you to a tea house that overlooks the mountain side and some temples. (There's pictures below of that trip).
All in all this place has been really cool. I have yet to see even a fraction of it, but I can tell I will really like it here. I have been told I got the 'golden ticket' visa, because it's good for multiple entries for 5 years, I guess it's hard to get approved for that. So the brothers at the hall said I'm destined to be a 'lifer'. We'll see. :) But I will try my best to keep updates coming and post pictures. Hope everyone back home is well. Until next time...
(click on the pictures to enlarge)

the reason

Home again...
well this trip deserves a good blogging. I arrived back in maui yesterday afternoon, stayed awake for about two hours before crashing for the next 16 hours uninterrupted. I awoke today to lock my keys in my running car (which was rapidly running out of gas) After about an hour and a half of extremely frustrated attempts to break in with three different coat hangers... i got a neighbor to call the fire dept. down the street (why? because they are good citizens who wont charge you 70 bucks for 30 sec. of labor) Within 5 min. they came, all friendly and fire-fightery, & had me back in my car. Although, when i asked if they did this sort of thing quite often... they reminded me that yes they do... however usually its for emergency situations like when a small child is locked inside. I felt cheap. and like i maybe should have thrown a cat into a tree to make them feel like they had used their time wisely.

lesson learned... fire-fighters are much more useful than just being in calendars.. (teehee)

Well... here is a sampling of photos to tell the tale of my visit home and beyond!

(click on picture if you wish to enlarge)

KARAOKE NIGHT!

































AT THE 'RENTS HOUSE... (mia gets to know the outdoors... while pa mows it down)

































TRIP TO OLYMPIA... (stuff, german girl, fam, middle of old ship battle)





































































































































MONTANA!!!! BIG SKY HOOT'NANY...
















































































































































































... viking/cowboy caranial fusion experiment.

Well, there's a quick overview...
admittedly, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to leave every time.
Until the next adventure....
it was a blast. thank you guys for the good times.

(ps: i decided not to post the tragic good-bye pictures at this time.. as i decided they are too gruesome for the public. hehe)

grizzly

I finally got my computer back!!!
So this weeks highlights/lowlights/mid-tones:
been gettin a healthy dose of golden girls ever since the battle with my intestines at colitis bog... two weeks ago.
um.. we have a rather big swirly hurricane heading this way. hopefully we wont get the brunt of it... but im preparing anyway.
*rubber boots.... check
*swim goggles for eye protection.... check
*costco pack of canned tuna... check
*hatches battened... check
and i think if it gets REAL windy... i will finally get a chance to become like mario. (you know when he gets the feather and can fly.. and you can make him glide downward while he uses his cape as a parachute) i've got this big black sheet i think i can tie to my wrists and ankles and i figure if i get one big jump i might be able to take off... i bet the natives will think im some sort of giant bat... they might try to spear me down because of the superstitions- wish me luck.
(i struggle with run-on sentences)
Also.. i think my identity has been kid-napped. odd things have been happening- for example: a random phone call to a person whom i havent seen or spoken to in YEARS bears the news that 'katy left her phone on our boat, we're in seafair... you were on her contact list". I hear this news through distant acquaintance to sister to me. hmm. i have my phone... and ive NEVER lost one.
Also, i found out that my car was not in fact legally mine. or registered. that was a fun one.
well, i guess whoever is trying to take my identity can have it.... as long as they pay my bills.

And yes, the tabloids are true.... i was forced to commandeer gavin rossdale's phone number. yes.. the gavin from the band BUSH, gwen stephani's husband... its a long story.. it wasnt my idea. started with a sandwich, small-talk, my nosey boss, and badda bing badda boom. (if this were middle school i might have puked in delight... well i still might...)

oooh! and i've been asked to round up wild beast-like chickens for an old lady!! of course i said yes! i have to find a net on the end of a stick and some good sturdy chicken-grippin-gloves. this task will require stealth, fortitude, and a cat-like instinct....
i dont have any of those... but i got my rubber boots! no chicken crap between these toes! no sir. My first thought was... what the heck am i supposed to do with em once i've caught them??? Of course my instinct was to put them in a milk crate and toss them into the bay... i mean thats how grandpa Paquet taught us to dispose of pesky birds. Somehow, i think the hippies would catch wind and there would be a lynching in the town square. (thats so ridiculous.... we dont even have a town square) Maybe i'll domesticate them and train them to ride my bike to the store and bring back sushi.
This is like my dream job.

well thats the latest instalment. for now!