2009 December | Taiwaneers

聖誕快樂! (sheng dàn kuài le)

Dec 242009

Merry Christmas! I truly have a great life and this is truly a great Christmas. Here’s our house, all decked out.
Christmas House
Yesterday two packages arrived. One from Emily’s family and one from mine! We found wrapped gifts in one and food in the other. Could a guy ask for a better mother than one who sends him Christmas cookies, fudge, nuts & bolts (our family’s name for homemade Chex Mix), and chocolate? I can’t think of anything better! I guess it just goes to show how highly I value food huh. Now I just have to figure out how to keep Emily from eating it all…

Yesterday was also a big day in terms of busyness. I had to go out to MCU’s Taoyuan campus (where Emily and I lived our first year) for an awards ceremony. I won third prize in the English Prose section of MCU’s 21st Annual Literary Competition. Maybe its a false impression of mine but Taiwanese seem to really go for lots of pomp & circumstance; so there was a big ol’ program to take part in. I was really happy for my classmate, Edineau, who won first prize. He’s from Brazil and beat out all the native English speakers to win first place by writing his life’s story of going from the poorer neighborhoods of Brazil, where his brother was murdered, to two years on The Doulos (a missionary boat that travels around the world helping people) to a student at Ming Chuan. He is a cool guy and I know winning has got to be a big encouragement to him in his English skills. After the ceremony ended a friend and I got dinner at the Thai restaurant there in Gueishan that I still am not over even though I haven’t lived there for so long. The owners still remember me and we talked some as my friend and I partook of incredible eats and Singha (a popular Thai beer). After getting back to Taipei I had to pull myself together and get Christmas shopping done.

This morning Emily and I were able to skype with her family and help decorate the Christmas tree (virtually) and sing Christmas carols and talk. It was great! They wanted us to open the presents that they mailed to us, which had arrived yesterday, and we were happy to oblige. This very moment I am adorned with comfortable and warm pajamas thanks to the generosity of mom and dad M! We also got a dvd of “A Christmas Carol” and a calendar!

This weekend we’ve got so many events planned it’s a little overwhelming. Tonight (Christmas Eve) we are going to go to a Christmas service at a church nearby that puts on a nice little show every year. Tomorrow we are going to skip school and have a wonderful family Christmas with just the two of us. Ending the day will be a trip to a fancy nightclub where a friend is celebrating their birthday. Saturday we are throwing our own Christmas party at our house. Then…on Sunday Emily and I are going to lead worship at church as well as Christmas carolers from our church around Da’an Park (Taipei’s version of Central Park) after the service. And then…we are going to go hang out with my sister Megan, who will be in town for a few hours. Whenever that ends we’ll head home to hopefully get all our homework done in time for Monday. Oh man it’s gonna be crazy.

Consumption

Emily's Posts, Taiwanese Culture No Responses »

Dec 232009

A mountain of polyethylene terephthalate bottles (commonly referred to as PET) collected is seen at the Tzu Chi Foundation’s recycling center in Taipei on Dec.10, as nations continued U.N. climate negatiations in the Danish capital Copenhagen this week.

There was a BIG earthquake, but we’re ok!

Emily's Posts, Our Taipei Life 1 Response »

Dec 202009

Tonight, Michael and I felt the biggest earthquake since we’ve been in Taiwan, a 6.4! At the time I was at a friend’s apartment, on the seventh story – the grand piano was rocking back and forth and the heavily laden bookshelves swayed. The whole building was moving like it was made of jello. The two other women and I grabbed our things and tried to get out the door, but the locks wouldn’t come open and the door was stuck in its frame. This was after more than 15 seconds or so, which is a really long time in earthquake-land! Finally we got the door open, but by that time the heavy rocking had stopped. We waited through the aftershocks, then took our coats off and went back to practicing for tomorrow’s Christmas service.
Michael was in our bedroom at home, in a much older apartment, and said he actually held up his hand in belief it would protect him from the falling ceiling.
What a night!

MAJOR EARTHQUAKE STRIKES TAIWAN; FOUR INJURED, MINOR DAMAGE IN TAIPEI AND NEAR EPICENTER
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP)
TAIPEI, Taiwan — A large earthquake struck Taiwan on Saturday night, causing some injuries and damage in the capital of Taipei as well as damage near the quake’s epicenter.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.4-magnitude quake was centred off the eastern coast of Taiwan, about 15 miles (25 kilometres) from Hualien. It struck at a depth of about 30 miles (45 kilometres). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not immediately issue any warning.
Buildings shook in the capital for over twenty seconds after the quake struck.
“It was the strongest quake to hit Taiwan this year,” said Kuo Kai-wen, head of the Seismology Centre at Taiwan’s central weather bureau.
Local TV reported at least four people in the capital had minor injuries, most resulting from falling debris. The reports said traffic Taipei’s subways and the island’s high speed railroad was suspended.
TV stations also reported that windows were blown out in a Hualien hotel and that there was minor property damage in Taipei.Taiwan is located in one of the most seismologically active areas of the world and registers a large number of quakes every year. Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan but most are minor and cause little or no damage.
However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people. And in 2006 a 6.7-magnitude tremor south of Kaohsiung severed undersea cables and disrupted telephone and Internet service to millions throughout Asia.
December 2009 Earthquake