Earthquake

A 5.7 earthquake just shook Taiwan about three hours ago. There are no reports of damage or injuries. An after shock just hit about an hour ago. It was centered about 40 miles from where I live. The first quake hit while I was in school. The second while I was watching TV at home. My adrenaline is in overdrive. I felt my first earthquake in the middle of the night just after moving into my apartment in Wuci. And I wonder why I have trouble sleeping sometimes. An earthquake is a very unnerving experience, and now there is somebody in my neighborhood lighting off fireworks. They're lighting off the big boomers and the 'maching-gun' style crackers. Yeah, like that is just what I need to relax the nerves. They finished round four about 10 minutes ago, but I think they're done for the night. They usually stop before 10 PM.

Typhoon Without The Rain

I've been warned about the windy winters in Wuci. Well, now I know what everyone has been talking about. Sure, I've noticed that it's a windy city. It's a coastal city, but today was some of the strongest winds I've ever felt. The weather for Taichung says 39 kph winds (about 20 mph), but Taichung is 30 km inland and there is a mountain between it and the coast. Wuci is a port town so there is no protection from the wind. Anyway, I've felt 50-60 mph gusts in Colorado in January in the mountains. I think the winds in Wuci are approaching 75 mph or hurricane winds. On my way to the bank, on the north side of town where there is no protection from buildings, I had to get off my bike. As I stood there waiting for the wind to subside (and trying not to get blown over) a woman got blown off her scooter next to me. I laid my bike on the ground to help her get out from under her scooter. As I was lifting up the scooter, my bicycle was getting blown down the street. Luckily, another man stopped and got out of his car to help so I could chase my bicycle blowing down the street. Small trees along the road were getting uprooted too. What I find interesting about all of this is that the Taiwanese are so cautious about typhoons, but apparently typhoon strength winds when it is sunny is no big deal. It is very curious indeed.

A Taiwanese Wedding

I was invited to a Taiwanese wedding reception. Like many things in Taiwan, it is familiar but different. In the United States, the wedding schedule goes ceremony, reception, honeymoon. In Taiwan, the wedding schedule is reception, honeymoon, ceremony. The reception is how you would imagine. There is lots of food, drinking, and music. The bride and groom are announced and walk the reception tent getting pelted with that spray string stuff and confetti. Infact, they make three walks; first in their ceremony clothes (suit and wedding gown) and then two more times where the bride dresses down into more casual dresses. And, just like the United States, after the reception the bride and groom race off to their honeymoon. They will have the official ceremony when they get back. I won't even try to speculate.


This is how shrimp is always served, head legs and all. They like 'em big too. Notice the small drinking cups too. That is because you will hear 'gambei' a lot and that means 'finish' or bottoms up. If someone your senior toasts you and says 'gambei' you need finish to save face. The older teachers like to mess with the younger teachers this way. I had a couple of old dudes with something to prove at my table. C'mon...bring it! Anyway, these are just a few of the foods we ate.


This is a soup with clams, garlic, duck, ginseng root, and shark fin tips. Shark fin tips are about the size of a fingernail and don't look anything like what you would expect. They looked like little jellyfish. Anyway, I guess it's expensive stuff since you don't get many shark fin tips per shark.

Here is the soup with the sushi platter.
Check out this short video. Yeah, it's alive! Even a few Taiwanese people were snapping photos of this dish. We did cook them on the hot plate before eating. They're some kind of oyster or clam. The rough translation I got for these was 'nine holes' because they have, of course, nine siphons along the edge. After digging the critter out you'll find a bright green sac of something underneath. A teacher at the table said, "Don't eat that." Yeah, some things you just know.

Halloween

This week I have been teaching Halloween vocabulary and a lesson called Let's Draw A Monster. Let's Draw A Monster is a great way to practice adjectives, body parts, and listening skills. I'll say something like, "Let's draw a monster with a big head, three small eyes, and a big nose." You can be as simple or detailed as the class will permit. I draw one too and then use it for review after we are done with the lesson. Most of the classes really enjoyed this lesson.

Some students came by my apartment on Saturday for Halloween. I wasn't too strict with the costume enforcement. Halloween is not as popular or well-known as Thanksgiving or Christmas, but it's probably number three. Besides, it was Saturday and many of the students had class (I know...it's no wonder that I've noticed a few middle schoolers with grey hair!). I am the Clone Trooper who look like he's on vacation.


One of the students brought me a dish full of fruit. The shirt was a gift from the school for their Sports Day celebration. I got one in grey too.

Wuci JHS 45th Anniversay-Sports Day

It was the 45th anniversary of Wuci Junior High School last week. The classes show school pride and compete against each other in sports. The winning classes get cash awards to spend on their class (materials or a class dinner or something like that). The school board changes on this day too. The school board is not elected and doesn't have much power over the school's curriculum. People get on the school board by donating money to the school. Show me the money, eh. The activities include a student parade around the track with each class performing a dance and a chant. They also compete in various races like the 100m, a relay-race, and the three-legged race. There is a teachers relay-race too which I had to run in. I guess I ran fast, or so I was told. My team got second place.




I was asked to walk in the parade with the advanced 6th grade class. They made Indian uniforms. Here I am doing my serious Indian look.

Some of the boys running the 100 meter race.


The three-legged race is always good for laughs. I've been teaching the students about rhythm and language. I told them they needed rhythm for the three-legged race too.

Some of the girls running the 100 meter race.


Here are the students in formation after the parade listening to board members and administrators. You'll notice that each class has their own flag. The green flags are for the 1st grade classes (6th graders), the blue flags are for the 2nd grade classes (7th graders), and the red flags are for the 3rd grade classes (8th graders). Each class stays together from year to year and they stay in the same room all year. Teachers move around from class to class, but the students stay in the same classroom together. I teach all the 1st and 2nd graders. That's about 500 students I see every two weeks. Oh yeah, and the students standing on the blocks to each side of the stage are not being punished, well, at least not formally. They're the student 'guards' who stand at attention during the entire ceremony. I don't know how they did it.
Here is the advanced 1st grade (class 106) posing for the camera. The two finger salute is like making a Y for "Oh, yeah!" It's not the 'peace' gesture.Here I am posing with class 106. The student on my right lives next door to me. He loaned me a decent adolescent book called George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt by Lucy and Stephen Hawking. Yes, it's that Stephen Hawking.
This is class 107 posing before the parade.
This is class 104 posing before the parade. They were wearing some great hats. Budweiser and Keep On Trucking hats made an appearance.Here is another 1st grade class getting ready to march in the parade.

Taichung Jazz Festival-Opening Night

The Taichung Jazz Festival is the biggest jazz event in Taiwan. It happens every evening and night for eight days. There are two side stages and one main stage. It could be called the Taichung Blues and Jazz Festival but I'm not being critical. Check back for more videos.


Jimmy and Tammy perform 'Watermelon Man'




The Rich Harper Band performing "Hot Dog"? Not the best sound or camera work, but it's hard keeping a camera steady when you're holding it over your head. Makes me appreciate professional camera work.




Jimmy and Tammy performing "Smoke On The Water"

Fengle Sculpture Park

These pictures are from Fengle Sculpture Park on the south side of Taichung City. It has a small amusement park with carnival games too.

Peek a boo. I like how many of the sculptures are designed to be sat on.

The classic ring toss game.



Star-crossed lovers. I think there is something coming between us?
The waterfall wall up close.

The waterfall wall from the wavy bridge over the paddle boat pond.

An artist making cool stuff out of colored clay.
Sculptures are even in the paddle boat pond.
This sculpture begs to be viewed from every angle, but I thought this was the best one.

Anyone for a Coke?
The sculpture on the right reminds me of Mayan steles.
I think Spinal Tap wrote a song about this sculpture.
Selling goat milk and a small petting zoo.

The wavy bridge over the paddle boat pond.

Biking Around Taichung Harbor-A Hydrophilic Park

Here's a map of the bike path around Taichung Harbor. A 'Special Hydrophilic Recreation Area'...well, I gotta check that out.


This is the entrance by the road for the 'Special Hydrophilic Recreation Area'. I guess it's known as Harbor Park too.

This is what they mean by hydrophilic recreation area. The Taiwanese love ponds and water. I guess you could call them hydrophilics.
I've also notice that the Taiwanese like stepping stone bridges across their ponds.
Leave your fire-breathing pipes at home.
Nature wins every time.
This tree is taking a rest, but I don't think the stone bench is up to the task.

The Garbage Truck Plays Music

Yup, the garbage truck plays music. Not to lighten the ambiance or create a happier work environment for the garbage men. It's to let everyone know that the garbage truck is coming. In Taiwan, the people throw their trash into the truck. There is no leaving your can at the curb for the garbage men to heave into the back. What's funny about the whole thing is that the garbage truck music sounds like an ice-cream van. In Taipei I heard some garbage trucks playing Mozart, but, again, it's not a recording. It's like an ice-cream van playing Mozart. You know, like an electronic harpsichord blasting through a megaphone. Let's just say it doesn't have a lot of tonal quality. I have learned to play the Wuci garbage jingle on my guitar. I like playing it in the park, you know, to warm up.

All That Glitters and Gold- Moon Festival Party Meets Vegas

This is a photo from a Moon Day Festival near my apartment. The woman in the gold dress was the MC. She had a side kick with an outfit that resembled a glittering maid's uniform. There were flashing lights in sync with salutations and introductions. While I watched an old man was invited on stage to sing to the crowd. The MC in the gold dress would fill in and round off some of the long notes. But, never loud enough to take the center stage. She was good. Some people were sitting nearby as I snapped photos. They were obviously jealous that they weren't at the party. In the dark, crouching over their puny grills, they had the attitude of chastised children. They wouldn't even acknowledge my presence beyond a glaring glance. I couldn't blame them. It was like being in the desert outside of Vegas with no money or water or transportation. I'd be cussing and kicking the sand too.

The Moon Festival party I went to the following night was quite mellow by comparison. A teacher's dad invited the extended family to his house, but imagine thanksgiving with sandals. On the sidewalk, crouching over hub cap grills and cooking shrimp, clams, oysters, pork, ribs, thin sliced beef, sweet sausage, and kabobs. I was given the honor of flipping the meat on one grill. Dad would come around occasionally and make sure you weren't over cooking anything, but the job came with regular beer deliveries and first pick of the meats. I smelled like a campfire when I got home...what a great smell. Later in the night, dad pulled out the Japanese whiskey and sat down next to me. We proceeded to 'talk' with the help of my teacher friend, but mostly we toasted each other or our families. That lasted about an hour before dad had to hit the bed. That was the cue to pack up and go home. It was good because my head was floating about three feet above my shoulders. With a full belly and a warm head I hit my bed and slept.