Taiwaneers

After playing video games to the point of boredom, watching more then two crappy movies on TV one of which was a Segal (need I say more) and getting to the point where I started to contemplate the existence of everything I decided that typhoon or not I needed to get out of our apartment. So where did I go? McDonald’s!

McDonald’s in Taiwan is quite the social Mecca. At the table behind me the guy who had been sleeping for a while has awoken and is reading his book again. However this won’t last long as he’s trying to read an English dictionary and has gone through this read a little sleep a lottle cycle for over an hour now. The table right next to me has four late-teen to early-twenty something guys playing some sort of card game but they are special cards, not like poker cards. Other tables have dates going on, groups talking, etc. Are there children? Yes, but they are the minority and there is definitely no play-places. Don’t worry; they do still have happy meals.

This semester is shaping up to be interesting. It’s hard to tell at this point, unlike last year with the presence of Calculus, which class will be the most demanding. My Statistics class appears to be easy to understand but because of that the teacher seems to move fast and I worry that she will be focused on forward motion and not enough on giving us practice. We are able to use calculators though, unlike Calculus, and I have gotten giddy in class punching in numbers and then pushing a button to get the answer! My Management class is being taught by a Taiwanese professor woman who is in her thirties probably and has the hugest curly hair I’ve ever seen on an Asian. She also whips out one of those hand-held fans in class while she teaching when she feels hot. You know the kind I mean: those little fans that people use while waiting in line at Cedar Point. My computer teacher is such a vast improvement over last year all I can think is I’m ecstatic that the four hours of that class every week won’t be a slow decline into depression over being alive and considering the Amish lifestyle. The Dean of MCU’s International College is my Public Speaking professor. So far I still haven’t made judgment on the class but I have noticed she is one of those ‘there is something positive about everyone’ people but at the same time emits a ‘if you screw around with me I’ll fail you’ tone……..confusing. My Intro to Law class has been the most fascinating so far. The professor is teaching us about Taiwanese law but it’s the basics of the basics which I would guess are pretty much the same anywhere. You know, the definitions of things like: a natural person, a juridical person, a juridical act, rights and obligations. Its fun and that’s not sarcasm!

One story I do have to share. Through a series of unfortunate events that are sorted and complicated the IC (International College) was pretty much going to force us sophomores here in Taipei to take a French class. I decided I didn’t want to do that and was willing to travel to the Taoyuan campus once a week for a different class instead. Well the class I am taking instead is called Classical Myth & the Arts. I went the first day and I was pretty much the only international student (at least going on looks which can be deceiving) in the room. The teacher wanted to know my nationality and when I told her she said the class would be too easy for me. Asking if I could take it anyways she agreed. However instead of actually attending class and using the hand-out that she prepared for the students to use as study material for the semester she and I have worked out an independent study plan for me using a real textbook. What I thought was going to be a blow-off class to give me enough credits to keep my full-time student status and therefore my scholarship has become something totally different. I’m really excited about it and so far have really enjoyed reading my textbook. I have to admit I am completely ignorant of Greek mythology which is basically what the class is on. I’ve only gotten through Creation so far but already I feel like I have so much more context with which to approach literary references and artwork including these themes.

The PE class this semester is at the top of the mountain (our campus is on the side of a mountain), the equivalent from the road as about 14 stories, on the track field at eight in the morning and so far we’ve been learning how to bat baseballs and softballs….you know you’re jealous. Lastly, my Psychology class which got scheduled last minute and started two weeks late. I think I’m really going to like it. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it for the content but most definitely because the professor is a flaming Taiwanese guy who is hysterical. I just laughed thinking about him.

In other news I am just about to finish C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity which has been wonderful. I feel like I’ve found a book I can recommend to Christians and non-Christians alike and I can do so with an authentic belief that it will benefit them. I have also been trying to capture video footage of our summer in the USA from our new (new to us) camcorder onto my laptop so I can put together something for taiwaneers.com. However I can’t seem to get the audio to go with the video and I’ve become frustrated. Hopefully it will work out!

Well, we’re shut up in our apartment on a Sunday evening, due to the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan this year. Typhoon Jangmi has been throwing wind and rain at our house all day, rattling the windows, flinging our hanging laundry all around and flooding the porch. It really sounds scary sometimes when the wind comes whipping by. The rain was coming down almost horizontally a few times. And the few poor people who just had to get somewhere but only had a scooter…! They looked so lonely and unhappy, soaked to the bone and with no other vehicles with whom to fight over the road. I’m glad we decided to have home church today.

Here’s some stats and a few pictures.

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Taiwan braces for Typhoon Jangmi

Jangmi is likely to be the most powerful typhoon to hit Taiwan this year [Reuters]

Taiwan has evacuated landslide-prone villages and cancelled many flights as Typhoon Jangmi roared towards the island bringing torrential rains and winds of up to 227kph.

The usually bustling capital of Taipei was quiet on Sunday morning after residents had boarded up windows and taken refuge before the storm arrived.

“The storm’s fringes are covering most of Taiwan, and is gaining strength,” Wu Teh-rong, a meteorologist with the Central Weather Bureau, said.

The weather bureau said that the centre of Jangmi was about 120km southeast of Hualien in eastern Taiwan on Sunday morning and would likely make landfall in the evening.

Jangmi is the fourth typhoon to hit Taiwan this year, and is likely to be the most powerful, according to the bureau.

‘Super torrential rains’

Local CTI Television showed villagers leaving the mountain resort of Lushan in central Taiwan, which was badly damaged when Typhoon Sinlaku hit two weeks ago, with massive mudslides destroying at least three hotels.

The weater bureau has warned of “super torrential rains” in several mountainous areas.

Taiwan’s China Airlines and EVA Airways said several flights to Asia were cancelled or rescheduled for Monday. China’s Southern and Hainan Airlines cancelled their flights to the island from Beijing and Shanghai.

After hitting Taiwan, the typhoon was expected to weaken but still carry on northwest to China’s Fujian province.

Typhoons frequently hit Taiwan between July and October, causing flash floods and deadly landslides. Typhoon Sinlaku earlier this month killed 12 people and left 10 others missing.

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Today the Taiwanese government announced that all international flights will be canceled until further notice. Some parts of the MRT (subway) are closed. Some mountainous areas are being evacuated, for fear that the deadly mudslides that accompanied typhoon Sinlaku will reoccur. A bus was overturned on the highway, with three people seriously injured. No deaths reported, hopefully there will be none!

And there is no work or school tomorrow in several counties, including Taipei. The only stores open will be a few of the convenience stores like 7-11.

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Today, after sleeping in a little and having a Jefferies Family church morning, we ate a slow breakfast and chilled out. I picked up our once clean, hanging-to-dry laundry off of the muddy, waterlogged porch floor and put it all in the wash again. sigh. Then I spent a few hours cleaning the kitchen/dining room area. It was very dirty (hint: our previous roommates didn’t care, present roommates don’t care too much either. Trash builds up quickly and there are ants). Then studied and did homework. Then got online and found out that this typhoon is a big one!

Things on my list of stuff to do:

~Buy a coffee table
~Buy dining room table and chairs
~Buy queen size bed and mattress (right now we’re sleeping on two single mattresses)
~Pick out a paint color for the common rooms of the apartment
~Paint the aforementioned rooms
~Buy two desks for studying
~Find 4 or more students to tutor in English weekly
~Fix Skype on my computer. For some reason it’s…allergic to the program or something.

So. We’re fine here in our little home, far away from the dangerous coastal areas. All we get is rain, lots and lots of rain! And, of course, the day off from school tomorrow yeah!

Emily

After less than a week in the C class, I got bumped back up to B. Where I belong! Thank you God for answering my prayers! I had asked that He loosen my tongue and hand, so that I could speak and write freely what I had learned before, and so prove that I was at a higher level than they thought. It seems that was the case
So, class went from being insanely easy to reasonably difficult. I love a challenge though, so working hard is not a problem. I am happy! Thank you to anyone who prayed for me.

Love.

It’s hard to say just how much of an effect a first impression has on your future dealings with whatever the subject may be. I’m trying to figure this out as I near the end of my first week in a new school and program: just what were my impressions this week, and are they correct?

I’m speaking in general of my new enviromnent as a whole, but specifically of my school…and I wonder about all of this because I find myself faced with disappointment. As usual, I got over-excited and set my plans on a pedestal, thinking “Why of course it will be everything I dreamed and more, much more…” In fact I have just chosen one out of the myriad paths I could be taking right now, no doubt none of them able to live up to my high, dreamy standards of perfection.  

The main point of discontent lies in not being able to be correctly “fit” into any one of the three levels in my program. I should be intermediate, but because I’m quite a bit less intermediate than some of my degree-mates, I’ve been (temporarily, I hope!) placed in the basic class, where I am not challenged in the least. The school is working hard, trying to do what’s best for all the students, but it just broke my heart to hear that I wouldn’t be able to be highly challenged in my classes, right off the bat. But, there is hope: after speaking in length with the department head yesterday, she agreed to let me join the intermediate classes in my strong subjects, listening and speaking. It’s reading and writing that give me trouble, so I may still be joining the basic class for those subjects, and asking the teacher for special assignments if necessary.

So here I am, wondering how a sinking heart changes into a gladdened heart, holding fast to the words of my sweet Lord and Saviour, who promised “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” I feel Him with me, quietly whispering “Oh my child, how I love you! Did I not give you peace and joy of heart when you made these plans? Why then do you wonder what will become of you? Trust in Me only…look to Me only…cry out to Me only…I will hear the aches of your heart and give you the strength to overcome all in My name. As from the beginning of all time, I still have great plans for you.”

I know that God has to help me not let these first impressions of disappointment cloud my view of all the good things and people around me. What good would it do to be a sourpuss, and miss all the fun? So. Please pray for me. I am forever in your debt

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In other news, since arriving back in Taiwan last week I have:

1. Seen a man walking a hariy, ubly boar on a leash down a busy town street

2. Seen a woman shaving her legs in plain view in the hand-wasing bin outside of a rural factory

3. Walked through the hallways and back rooms of a hospital to get to the bus stop inside of it

4. Had the power turned off on our apartment. The previous tenants so kindly forked us with the bill, due in July

5. Sat around a lone candle in our living room and talked with roomies for hours

6. Lived through Typhoon Sinlaku by staying indoors all weekend and doing basically nothing

7. Traveled by myself by subway, train, bus,, taxi and foot, sometimes not previously knowing how I would get to point B

8. Tried watermelon juice. It’s pretty good!

Love you all! Check out the new pictures from this summer.

Emily

At 5:35am this morning (Wednesday) our plane pulled up to its gate at Taoyuan International Airport and Emily and I arrived back in Taiwan.

After saying goodbye to the Muffett family in Detroit on Sunday afternoon Emily and I journeyed to Los Angeles where we spent 31 hours with Emily’s best friend Genevieve and her husband Kevin in Pasadena. We had a wonderful time seeing them along with Genevieve’s mom and siblings: Penny, David, and Caroline.

The visited included Del Taco, a trip down memory lane walking around Mimeistry’s campus where Emily lived and studied in 2005-2006, Sorbet (I had orange & passion fruit and it was incredible), The Norton Simon Museum, and steak & risotto for dinner cooked by Kevin. This isn’t mentioning all the good conversation time as well!

I do have to ramble a bit about the Norton Simon…….WOW! What a great musuem. If you are ever in Pasadena or near it go. Their Impressionist collection was huge and included all my favorites. Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, the list goes on and on. I was already fatigued when I finished that section and found out that other rooms had Caravaggio’s, De Goya’s, and more. Finally I made it into the modern section only to stumble upon a ton of Picasso’s along with a Duchamp exhibition. Sorry for the gushing but WOW! It was awesome!!!! Oh and I forgot to mention, our student id’s gave us free admission!!!!

Well anyway, we’re back at our apartment now getting acquainted with our new roommates Ken (Taiwanese) and David (French). We’ll be spending the next few days getting over the icky feeling one gets after 13 hour flights, adjusting to a 12 hour time difference between here and Michigan, taking care of odds and ends related to immigration, scooter, yada yada, and getting Emily all squared away with NTNU.

Hopefully we’ll get a chance to write a little more about the summer on here because it truly was wonderful. As you can see the layout of our blog is just a little different thanks to our friend Dennis. This new layout will allow us greater freedom as we organize and expand our site so watch for new things in the days to come.

That wraps everything up for now. Please feel free to make suggestions on things you would like us to write about, take pictures of, explain, etc. Thanks for a great summer! We miss all of you already.