Saturday, April 26, 2014

No more busy season!

For the past several years, March 15th and April 15th have been more significant days on my calendar since I worked at accounting firms.  Thankfully this year those dates came and went with no significant meaning.

However, we did have to do our taxes for our 2013 earnings in Taiwan.  It was the easiest process imaginable! I attended a one hour tax workshop at my school where I completed tax forms for both James and I.  Then, yesterday we went to the City Tax Office to turn in the forms 15 minutes before the office closed for lunch. The man helping us told us we needed a joint tax form, which we proceeded to complete in about 5 minutes.  In the mean time, we are receiving a HUGE tax refund! I don't know how this country can survive on such a minute tax rate. I can honestly say that doing our taxes was probably the simplest thing we have done since being in Taiwan (and we did not cause too much commotion at the tax office).

James and I celebrated our 4-year anniversary by indulging in this absolutely delicious heart shaped fruit for dessert.  It's called an atemoya.  Wikipedia informed us that Mark Twain said it's the most delicious fruit known to man.  James and I agree with his statement!  We would eat one of these everyday while they are in season but they cost about $4 USD each.


It's soft, ripe and ready to eat. 



The fruit is quite rich and sweet.  It's similar to eating a custard.  Half of the fruit is plenty for dessert!


My anniversary present for James - real coffee (he drinks instant coffee), a steeping pot, and a big bag of peanut brittle treats. 


James' anniversary gift for me - a cute cuddly baby panda!


On a recent hike, we made friends with a couple of Taiwanese hikers who spoke a small amount of English.  They showed us a unique sighting of the crystal orchid.  The crystal orchids only grow for a couple of weeks each year at a specific altitude and climate.  They are actually not a flower.  They are a form of fungus which looks like an orchid.  The crystal orchid is quite small and delicate.


The Crystal Orchid


I've become quite strong since moving to Taiwan. 


James and I decided to run two full laps at one of our favorite running spots, the Baoshan Reservoir.  The reservoir has a paved 10k gorgeous loop which goes around the reservoir.  I believe we posted pictures in a previous blog from our first visit in early February.  We arrived at the reservoir and James realized he forgot his socks!  Unfortunately, there were no 7-11s nearby (which is uncommon in Taiwan because there is always a 7-11) and yes... 7-11 sells socks.  James is such a hardcore runner that he ran the full 20k in his flip flops! He is like the people in the Tarahumara hidden running tribe in the novel "Born to Run" where they run long distances in sandals.


Oops!  No socks!


Flip flop run


Selfie with the fireman

Later that same day James arrived at school.  His manager asked if he ran at the Baoshan Reservoir that morning.  Hsinchu is truly a small place!  While we were running, a group of Taiwanese firemen had a "race" around the loop.  One of the firemen talked to James for a bit and took a "selfie" picture of them.  That fireman happens to be James' student's uncle.  His student's mother saw the picture of James on facebook!

We really enjoyed our Easter weekend although we really missed family and friends at home.  The weekend started with a Good Friday evening service at our church.  It was truly a "Good Friday" for us.  We received early notification for acceptance to National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu! Hopefully we will know more soon about scholarships and the other colleges.  We are patiently waiting. Here's the Wikipedia link to that college which includes a few pictures of the lovely campus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Tsing_Hua_University

On Saturday afternoon, we were transplanted back to America.  A family at our church hosted a potluck party at their home.  Their home is outside of the city.  It's surrounded by rice fields.  Their home is large (unlike most Taiwanese homes) and designed for parties.  Their home includes a ping-pong table, grills, a basketball court, a tennis court, a full drum set, and a small swimming pool!  They plan to donate their home to a church for a retreat center whenever they move.  We really enjoyed the afternoon of fellowship.


Ping-pong table and drum set in the living room


tennis / volleyball court


Basketball goal


An empty swimming pool is just as much fun as a full swimming pool for children!


James and I playing some 3-on-3 basketball.


Good fellowship and music.  Our family away from home. 


Our Sunday morning sunrise service was a hike at Lion's Head Mountain with the other couple in our small group!  We enjoyed a church service in the early afternoon as well as an "Easter dinner" with two of James' TAs (Teachers Assistants) at a local vegetarian restaurant.  James did not get an Easter basket this year.  We did not see any Easter candy for sale. Poor James.  I played Easter games in class but only a few students actually knew what Easter was.


James has a new love for flowers.  Here's a couple of pictures of the unique flowers at Lion's Head Mountain. 


We saw a snake on the hike!!!!!!  April's fools.  This is just an up close picture of a warning sign for snakes at the mountain. 




Enjoying the new lush spring green growth in the Taiwanese jungle. 

We enjoyed another hike from our book on the Southwest side of Taipei yesterday.  We are still amazed how one can exit a MRT station in a huge city and start hiking on a large network of mountainous trails within minutes!  Below are a few of the highlights from our hike.  After almost 7 hours of hiking, we definitely earned our pumpkin soup dinner at our favorite vegetarian restaurant in Taipei!


360 year old fig tree


Are we in Hawaii? 


The first temple we have seen decorated in earth tones.  Normally temples are brightly colored with dragons. 


"A Thread in the Sky" - These stairs were not for claustrophobic individuals!


I am relieved to see daylight again. 


The weather was not very clear but we enjoyed some good city views from the mountain peaks. 


We also have big news! Our dog friend at the coast, Wo Chi, is pregnant!  James told me we can't have any of her puppies though...

Expect the next blog to be exciting!  We are using an upcoming four day weekend to do a lot of big mountain hiking in Taroko Gorge.  Hopefully, we will know more about colleges by then, too.

Happy Easter!

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Danger Zone Hiking!

As the end of our teaching contract draws near (11 more weeks but who's counting...), we thankfully received a national holiday last Friday.  More than ever, I understand why school teachers have a summer break.  The holiday actually covered two holidays that are only a couple of days apart: Children's Day and Tomb Sweeping Day.  In my mind, I find it ironic that these two holidays are so close to one another as they are complete opposites.  One holiday, you celebrate children and the other you visit the graves of your past ancestors.  

As always, we took full advantage of the holiday and hopped on a train early Friday morning.  After visiting the Pingxi area with my friend Michelle for her visit, we knew we would be returning to the area asap.  The Pingxi train line is considered the most scenic train line in Taiwan.  The area is most popular for the lantern festival, waterfalls and hikes on unique pointy crags.  The area is located just east of Taipei.  I find it amazing that mountainous areas like these are located right outside of major world cities!  

We arrived in Pingxi mid-day on Friday.  Immediately upon exiting the train, James got to enjoy one of his favorite Taiwanese snacks (pictured below).  It's a rice tortilla filled with fruit sorbet, peanut brittle shavings and fresh cilantro.  I promised James for his 80th birthday I will buy him a block of peanut brittle as big as the one in the picture below.  



Right after dropping our extra bag at the home stay, we started on a hike listed in our "Taipei Escapes" book.  The hike was very nice and we were able to finish before dark.  Unfortunately, we saw several lanterns (like the one we made with our friend Michelle) in the woods.  


Are we falling off the mountain?!


Sad...

The next day we met up with a Taipei Hikers group.  The group has a facebook page which is led by the author of our "Taipei Escapes" book, Richard Saunders.  We were quite excited to find they were planning a "Moderately Strenuous" hike in the Pingxi area.  We met up with the group off a stop on the Pingxi train line, Sandiaoling, on Saturday morning. Sandiaoling translates to San Diego.  It was nothing like the San Diego in California though!  We started the hike by doing the same waterfall hike we did with Michelle.  However, we did not see our dog friend, Gimpo.  




She's going to fall off the edge! 

After the waterfall hike, we started the main part of the adventure.  We were hiking the famous crags!!!!! 

The group was a TON of fun!  We were all laughing and joking the entire time.  We also got to meet the famous author of the books, Richard.  He is a goofy fun-spirited 50 year old British man.  We should have brought our books for the hike so he could sign them :) 

I actually think the pictures of hiking up the crags really show the danger/strenuous level/fear in anyone's mind who has even the slightest fear of hikes, etc.  I was surprised how well myself and the rest of the group did climbing these THREE crags!  We were encouraging to one another.  The ropes and ladders give a false sense of safety that I appreciated.  When you reach the top of each crag, you feel like you truly accomplished something big.  Richard calls the crags' area an "adult playground."


We went to the peak of that crag!


Just slowly making our way up...


At one of the peaks. 


A rope bridge on the backside of one of the crags. 


Heading back down.


Richard!


Group photo at the peak of one of the crags. 


Ladders, ropes and chains. 

We enjoyed a Sunday morning run/hike as our last adventure in Pingxi before heading home.  We did an out-and-back hike listed in the book (of course) that ended at a farm.  As we were approaching the farm, we saw large tracks in the mud that were bigger than James' hand.  We were trying to determine if they were horse tracks, but from the split toe and lack of a horse shoe we decided that they must belong to a hog.  A really really humongous hog for that matter.  When we arrived at the farm we saw several chickens.  The chickens were surrounding two ENORMOUS hogs that were sleeping.  These hogs were the size of hippos! We quietly turned around and started heading back as fast as possible!  We did not want to be around when those hogs woke up.  Sorry there's no picture but we needed to scoot on out. Good thing we had on our running shoes!

The weekend was awesome!  I can't imagine a nicer way to spend a holiday spring weekend in Taiwan.  We hope to do more hikes with that group again in the near future.  

The weekend before last my school had their performance.  Mine was quite different from James' show from the fact I was up on stage three times.  I was a judge for a contest.  I also had to tell a few facts about myself (along with all of the other English teachers).  When I announced the winners of the contest, I got to pull out their names from a envelope (which I thought was fun and exciting for the students).  My students did great in their performance of the "YMCA" and "We Will Rock You"!  Overall it was a fun day and I have good memories from the show (and I am not too bitter about having to work from 8-12 on a Saturday morning).  


Giving out prizes on stage


My students singing and dancing to the YMCA.  

One of my expat friends in Taiwan posted this article titled "26 Words that have a Totally Different Meaning in Taiwan."  James and I found it hilarious.  Our readers probably won't understand it quite as well as us, but you may find some truth and humor in it from reading our blog for the past 10 months. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/juniperbug/b26-words-that-have-a-totally-different-meaning-f59x

Happy Easter to everyone!  What an amazing holiday that deserves celebration! By the way, we have not seen any Easter candy here yet.  I think James has lost all hopes and dreams of waking up Easter morning to a basket full of chocolate bunnies and jellybeans.