Back to Life...

...but certainly not back to reality.

Today I spent the afternoon at the local Grange Fair.  Since I wrote about the many wonders of the GF last year, and since the main focus of that writing was the FOOD, I was looking for a new angle.

I didn't find it.

I was joined by my good friend Emily, seen here indulging in gooey mozzarella cubes.  [That's right folks, mozzarella sticks are for the weak of heart, both of which you will not find at this Grangiest of Fairs...]

Along with our darling friend Amy, we sat at this picnic table and went deeply into the workings of God in our lives.  [I told you--no weak of heart here!]

When we got done with the gooey and the deep, we headed with purpose toward the foot-long hot dogs we'd seen on our way toward the mozzarella. [Welcome hot dogs...]

After a short meander looking at animals and giant vegetables, we knew it was time for ice cream products

and/or funnel cake.

[Sigh.  Love you too, FC...]

And though next we had a variety of other options available to us--monkey bread, fried vegetables, peach cobbler, popcorn, sugar waffles, sausage, fries, ETC.,

we were feeling a bit weak of stomach.

We voted for lemonade.

We applauded ourselves for our choice.

And, though our weakness of stomach might reflect our physical limits, we found our hearts to be fortified--despite the artery cloggers we'd ingested.
We were together, after all.  

Goin' deep, livin' life.  

Little love bursts everywhere, and not just for the food:

With the support of friends like these, weak of heart I will never be.

An Encorial Pictorial

And now, 

some pictures that I think are fun but haven't made their way in thus far:

Meet the birds at the University of the Arts, Taipei

A nice moment with Yi-Ting

A much more typical moment with Yi-Ting

The beauty of Xitou

You should always have one of these on hand...

The chicken...

...the egg.

My very capable tour guide

Such an interesting [forbidden] garden

The view from our rickshaw

Yes Lotus Market, you are lovely

Yi-Ting makes friends wherever she goes...

Had I known it was called a "sliding car" I probably would have opted out...

Hey lady, hey!

I think we need this on our office door...

Bamboo vandalism

Man [foot stamp]--that's it?!

THE END!

Finale of Favorites: Back to where we started

My very first night in Taiwan was spent sitting on the roof deck of the Mountain Star Hot Springs Hotel with my friend Yu-Chen.  We drank in the blackness of the sky, the brightness of the stars, the lights of Taipei glowing below us.  We caught each other up on the happenings of our lives since last we'd met, and enjoyed the stillness of the night air.

As we sat quietly laughing and talking amidst the night sounds, an unexpected falling star swam gracefully across the sky. I felt it trace across my heart as I spoke a one-word wish--a prayer to the God of the heavens, whose glory was evident in the beauty of the evening and for whom my vision is too small.  [And sorry friends--no matter how much you might want to know it, that prayer is between me & the One who heard it.  Some things are just too precious for blogging...]

Eventually we made our way back down to our room, which included a bathroom unlike any I have ever experienced.  [You could say it was unusual...]    What you see before you is hot tub, shower, and sink in left to right order.  And what I had before me was a luxurious bathing experience, sitting upon a stool in the middle of a stone floor, removing all trace of traveling filth and grime before climbing into a pool of crystal clear hot springs water.

Being submerged in this water was like being wrapped in a thick, warm, blanket.  It was like entering another world, where skin is made of pearls.  It was unexpectedly and unusually heavenly.

After my bath, I crawled into a bed I swear was made from clouds, and woke to find this daytime view as astonishing as it's nighttime counterpart.

I reflected on the beauty of the place and decided that I could go home then and there--I'd seen all I needed to see, experienced all I needed to experience.

Thanks to Yu-Chen I can say--even now, after numerous more days in Taiwan and China and countless wonderful memories--the hot springs are without doubt my favorite.

So, let's end where we started--

with gratitude:

To a God who thought of falling stars, 

for an unusually varied and unexpectedly full trip.

And to you friends, for taking the time to share in it with me.  We may be at the end of all I have to say, but don't go away for long--don't you think we need an Encore?

The grand finale, part 1: What I found to be UNUSUAL, plus some moments UNEXPECTED.

Yesterday I was asked this question about my trip: "What was your favorite?"

I came up with two answers.  One, you will find out about sometime later this week.

The other can be encompassed by this word: Unusual.  To me, anyway.

Being in a foreign place means experiencing some things that feel a little strange, maybe even bizarre, and yet are not all that uncommon to someone born and raised there.  It's one of the reasons why I've decided I need to go to some place really foreign every few years or so.  Just to get a dose of "what you think is normal might be strange to this person/situation you're thinking is a bit off kilter..."  

So here are some of my favorite "unusual" experiences, some things I will probably not encounter again now that I'm settled into my desk chair in the middle of Pennsylvania:

Thing #1:

The Squat Toilet.  

For your benefit, that's all I'm going to say about that....

Thing #2:

Extraordinarily strange food, like these chicken claws.  Say what you will about my courage, but these are on my "no." list.  


Thing #3:

Pushy people.  As I mentioned before, there is no word for "Please get into a polite and orderly line" in Chinese.  It took me awhile to figure out that "When in China, do what the Chinese do" applied to pushing my way [back] to the front when I'd been there first.  Hence, what you see here is me smiling in victory, after defeating the world's pushiest man at the first window on the left. [To be completely honest, however, he pushed me out of the way at the second window.  Still--it was a landslide victory for my first attempt.] 


[I got so good at the pushiness business that I had to remind myself I wasn't in China anymore when I got home--I have a feeling there are some people at Wegman's who are still a bit aghast at my attempts to get a loaf of bread on one of my first days back....]


Thing #4:

The Subway.  This picture was taken just moments before the storm hit, and we were surrounded by a crowd of people unlike any I'd ever seen.  We were packed into an already packed car [a situation which was to recur during our trip--in fact, there was one day where I'm not even sure that my feet were on the ground. I was simply jammed between the people around me...], and when we had to switch trains we merely shuffled along with the surge of people--out of the car, to the escalator, into the next train... [This certainly helped me to develop my pushiness skills, I'll tell you what...]  


Thing #5:

Religious ceremonies.  This event took place in the street outside of Yi-Ting's house.  These dancers were there to protect this god, 

who was being taken on a tour of the country starting at the temple on the other side of the street. 

There was quite a turn-out at 6 in the morning, and an overwhelming feeling of excitement permeated the air. 

I, for one, was glad to be surrounded by Yi-Ting's family because--gotta tell 'ya--those guys were scary.  As in, unusual.  [As in, the only feeling permeating from my direction was downright fear....]


But now for those unexpected moments.
Moment #1:

The presence of my ancestors in Tainan.  Apparently I don't need to go to Holland anymore.

[Here I am with a cannon of my heritage.  I now understand why Yi-Ting is so gracious to me--she's really just afraid.]


Moment #2:
[And this may be my favorite story of the whole trip...]

I was waiting on line at the ticket window of the Forbidden City, and noticed a pretty old man sitting on the ground near me.  He looked like he was just enjoying the view.  I lost sight of him, but about 10 minutes later I felt a tug on my arm, and there he was, asking me for something.  Yi-Ting looked at me and said "beggar".  I had an unopened bottle of water in my bag, so I took it out and gave it to him. He took one sip and made the most awful face I have possibly ever seen, saying "Bah!" as he nearly spit the water out on the ground. Then [and this is my favorite part], he handed the bottle back to me.  


[Apparently the proverb "Beggars can't be choosers" is not of Chinese origin...]


So there you have it--some unusual and unexpected tidbits that I will remember with warm smiles.  


Hopefully some of this has brought you some smiles as well, but if not you get another chance.  You have one more unusual (as in I'd never experienced it before), and unexpected (in that it was a surprise), and HEAVENLY thing in store before my Adventures in Asia are complete. Part 2 is on it's way! 

Let us celebrate you Beijing, because it's nearing our time to mourn you

The Last Morning.

We decided to spend it wandering the Emperor's Gardens, found across the street from the Forbidden City. (And, not to interrupt myself, but to give you pause to consider: this picture might give you a clue as to why I was considered a freak o' nature throughout my trip....)

The first thing we saw when we entered the garden was this lake of lotus flowers surrounded by a ring of willow trees, floating & swaying in the breeze.

We quickly decided we needed to become one with the lotus, so we hopped aboard this boat.

We reveled in the peace of it all, as we slowly meandered through the water.

Then, I fell in love.

It was difficult to part from our prime seating, but when the boat reached the dock we hopped on out for there were many other parts of the park to explore.

Eventually we had to say good-bye to the Garden, because it was about the time for

The Last Afternoon.

Across the street from the park was another Lotus lake, with an even larger attraction: The Lotus Market.

Yi-Ting and I had already scoped out the place, but we thought Yu-Chen should see it.

We settled into some lakeside seating for lunch, and then Yu-Chen and I hit the shops while Yi-Ting went off and amused herself elsewhere.

We browsed and bought for a few hours, until it was time to find Yi-Ting and head to the Silk Market.

They offered much more than silk, as you can see.

After shrewdly bargaining our way through the place, Yi-Ting and I left Yu-Chen there and went to find some food.

We had to face the facts.

 It was time for--

Our Last Dinner.

(I think this is supposed to be me, looking sad...)

After we were nourished by the Chinese for the last time, I made my way home to our apartment/hotel while Yi-Ting went to find some opera.

I packed my bags.

I reflected quietly on the weeks behind me.

I thought: "Good."

The next morning our taxi rolled us to the airport and we flew across the ocean on a long journey home.

Do not be sad, however.  Your time to mourn is not quite here, because there are still a few more moments that I want to share with you.  Goodies like an old beggar man that I bonded with, a Dutch cannon that I found my heritage in, and more about those incredible hot springs.

So, my friends, thank you for reading and for your supportive thoughts.  The Finale is still to come!