Taiwan, hanging out with Wan Ting (Anny)

I met Anny in January 2006 . We were paired together by ISI (International Students Inc.?). Anny had signed up for one-on-one Bible study with an American while I had signed up for one-on-one Bible study with an international student. For the following 1.5 years, we faithfully met Tuesday mornings for Bible Study and espresso drinks at various coffee shops in Ann Arbor. Slowly, our friendship expanded beyond the confines of coffee shops. She joined us for some family meals, even some holiday meals, and eventually became a regular on the Blaauwmobile's circuit to Knox church Sunday mornings. For our part, we got to go to the local Taiwanese club's Chinese New Year celebration, eat some of her awesome Asian cooking, and received nice gifts from her family in Taiwan. Anny moved to TX for work fall 07, so we were thrilled to be able to coordinate our travels to Asia with her travels to Taiwan this spring; we spent 5 interesting days in Taiwan.

Our time in Taiwan was marked by trains. That was our main mode of transportation. Fortunately, enough Taiwanese spoke enough English that David could actually obtain tickets without too much confusion.

Our hotel was in Taipei, not too far (50 minutes by train) from Anny's hometown of Tao Yuan, which was our first tourist stop. The main attraction: Anny's parents' home, which was quite spacious in a vertical fashion, with 3 floors and a kind of courtyard on the top with a small fish pond and a large collection of orchid plants. Anny's mother has a prolific hobby of raising orchids. After a large snack, we headed off (by car) to a park on the site of one of Chiang Kai Shek's summer homes. What was interesting about this park was that it held an immense collection of Chiang Kai Shek statues. With the advent of democracy in Taiwan, the statues were apparently removed from public places, like school buildings, to this park. Lunch was in a charming town called Daxi. I believe Daxi is known for its tofu, and I ate the best-tasting tofu I've ever had while there. We tasted samples from a couple street food stalls as well; the candied sweet potatoes were popular.

The next day, David spent the day at the National University of Taiwan while the kids and I went to the National Palace Museum in Taipei with Anny and Stefan. The museum was amazing. It has an incredibly large collection of Asian artifacts; we were told that Chiang Kai Shek took most of the Chinese treasures with him to Taiwan when he fled the mainland in 1949. In fact, the museum only has room to display 3% of their collection at one time; the rest is stored in caves in the mountains somewhere. The kids found the museum very interesting, though I think Ian was more interested in figuring out Chinese characters than seeing the items on display. Highlights: some extremely intricate carvings, a ship with 7? people carved on an olive pit and balls of ivory carved within balls of ivory. Our day concluded with a stop at The Modern Toilet, a funky restaurant that specializes in ice cream treats served in. . .well. . .toilet bowls. Miniature ones at least.

Our time in Taipei ended Tuesday morning with a trip to the paper museum where we got to make paper. Even more fascinating, we stopped by the paper store next door and watched some women making incredible pictures out of torn bits of tissue paper. Tuesday afternoon, we took the bullet train down south to Tainan to catch up with a friend we hadn't seen since grad school days, early 1990s. . .

More Singapore

Singapore Day 2: Walking and Sweating

Irene kindly picked us up at the hotel early in the morning and chauffeured us around for the day. We did a lot of walking outside in hot muggy weather. The zoo was the first stop. We were reminded that we were not in a western country when en route, a sizable wild monkey ran across the road in front of the car. Monkey roadkill would have been a novel sight - but was not to be this day. Highlights of the zoo were the white tigers and the orangutans. If I remember correctly, the white tigers, not albino, are a species that is extinct in the wild now. The orangutans are very popular with the Singaporeans; the zoo's mascot used to be an orangutan. There was a collection of about 5 orangutans sitting on the lower branches of a tree out of the enclosure for photo ops while we were there - for a fee, of course. They were happily munching on fruit.

A local hawker center was our next stop. A hawker center is a large open air area with lots and lots of food stalls. Irene helped us order, and we enjoyed what I still remember as the best meal I ate during all our time in Asia! My favorite was a noodle dish with dumplings.

Chinatown was next. There was some great shopping at the market there, and the kids enjoyed some bubble tea. We briefly visited a Hindu temple. At our request, Irene took us into a low income apartment building so we could see what that was like. It looked like it was mainly populated by the elderly. Some of the apartment doors were open so we could peek in and see the rooms, which were quite small. Things generally seemed neat, though quite old and a bit run down.

The last stop of the day was at a stall selling . . . durian. Durian is a fruit, prickly and hard on the outside but oh so very mushy on the inside. Since it is quintessential Singaporean fare, we couldn't leave the country without trying it. (Well, actually we could have. . .) The taste was odd, not fresh and fruity but not too bad, actually. The biggest obstacle for me was the texture. The kids weren't thrilled; I think the girls never even tasted it. It didn't help that we knew beforehand that durian is banned on subways and in hotels due to its strong smell, which resembles rotten fish.

Irene told us some interesting things about Singapore while driving us around. For a while, Singapore was an undeveloped city in the country of Malaysia. The government, however, becoming increasingly concerned about Singapore's high Chinese population, expulsed the island city in 1963. This was a problem for the Singaporeans since they didn't have the resources for viability as an independent nation. Forced to turn to the resources of other nations, they figured out how to attract foreign investors, a practice which made them one of the most modern and industrialized countries in Asia today - and still an Asian financial hub, I believe.

For better or worse, the Singaporean government seems to have a strong say in citizens personal finances. There is a mandatory savings program; I think Irene said that 20% of one's salary is automatically put into a personal fund used mainly for retirement. And there are income level parameters, high and low, on the sorts of housing one is allowed to buy.

Yes, Singapore seemed generally clean and safe, but it didn't strike me as unusually so. Or maybe I just didn't pay attention. It has all the trappings and bustle of a big busy city and an interesting mixture of old and modern architecture. I did notice some large beautiful trees lining some streets, rain trees I think, and beautiful garden areas.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

I haven't posted for weeks. . . I wonder if anyone is still reading? Once we got to China, I couldn't get to my blog - or any other blogspot blogs for that matter. I think they're blocked by the Chinese government? Then, I took a week at home to get re-acclimated.

Yes, 29 flights in 6 months, and we're right back where we started!! We arrived home Sunday, May 25, around 6 pm. Upon arrival, I was feeling pretty carpy after 3 flights in a row, 23 hours straight of travelling (only about 18 of those were in the air) - and this on the heels of 2 flights and 1 taxi ride from Lijiang, China to Hong Kong the preceding day. A habit of insomnia on planes didn't help either. However, I wasn't feeling carpy enough to entirely miss the surreality of being back in a place that seemed like it belonged in a different life.

First impressions of being back in Ann Arbor, Michigan:
1. It is SO green and lush here! Vegetation is just sprouting everywhere out of control (especially the dandelions in our yard) - and the trees are tall. We basically live in a forest.
2. Awaking to the sound of songbirds Monday morning was so much more pleasant than waking to the squawking of cockatoos and crowing of wattle birds.
3. After picking up Peppa (Pepper's new more Aussie name) on Monday, I was struck by how she wags her tail nonstop. She must have some strong tail muscles. I'd forgotten about this.
4. We'd also forgotten about the bad Michigan roads. Lots of potholes and cracks.

I am feeling more human this week. Last week, I was tired and woozy off and on and at odd times. I think I'm done with crashing in the afternoons now.

We got back just in time for some members of our family to do more travelling. David has been to California and back already. Hannah went on her 3 day 6th grade trip to N. Michigan last week. They went out on Lake Michigan and collected and analyzed water samples, among other activities. Saturday, David is heading back to California for 7 days, and Monday, Ian is going on his 8th grade trip to Washington DC for 4 days. So, next week will be girls' week in our home! :-) (I think there may be a lot of chocolate.)

Personally, I'm planning on staying home as much as possible the next few months. Yes, this is home in a way Adelaide never was and never could be with such a short tenure. But there are bits of Adelaide that are stuck to me, fond memories that I relish. Toward preserving and sharing those memories, I will continue blogging here until everything I want to share is up. So, stay tuned, if you wish. . .

Faces of Adelaide

Here are some of the good people of Adelaide whom we will miss. Most of them we met through church, others through schools. Of all the things we'll miss about Australia, I think these new friends rank right on top. To generalize, we found Australians easy going, friendly, down-to-earth, nonpretentious, and possessing great senses of humor. Their ability to laugh at themselves and their relative (to some bits of Ann Arbor culture, that is) noncompetitive natures were truly refreshing traits!

We hosted a BBQ Sunday, May 4 to say good bye to our new Aussie friends. Yes, this get-together was just 48 hours before the shipping co. showed up on our doorstep ready to pick up our boxed belongings, but what can we say other than we're going native. No worries, mate. We did get everything done, though it was a very busy few days.

Logistics

Though I still have much on Australia to put down here, we actually left Australia 2 days ago and are currently in Singapore. As we travel, blogs will be spotty as internet will be spotty, and I'm afraid I may intersperse Australian entries with other topics.

Singapore is. . . tropical! Green, hot, and humid! We went to a very interesting Asian Civilisations Museum yesterday. There are so many different people groups around here that I couldn't keep track. Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and India all seem to have a presence in the cultural melee. Not to mention the past British influence. While David gave a talk at the National University of Singapore yesterday afternoon, the kids and I hung out in the hotel room, braved the bustling streets here to forage for food, and played in the swimming pool. David returned from the University with a friend we knew from church in Ann Arbor. She was a grad student back then and is now a professor at NUS. Irene drove us around Singapore and took us out for real Singaporean food for dinner. It was quite good! Then, we all went on the night safari. Today, we're meeting her again and going back to the zoo in the daylight. We might also stop by Chinatown.

"Strine" Vocabulary Quiz Answers

1. arvo - afternoon

2. busking - street performing

3. fringe - bangs (in hairstyle)

4. lift - elevator

5. texta - felt marker

6. trolley - cart of any sort, including shopping cart

7. recess - snack; I got a note for a field trip Elise was going on saying she needed to bring a water bottle, a hat, and a recess. Fortunately, I knew what a recess was at that point.

8.tick - check mark

9. shout - pay for someone else when eating, having coffee, etc. with a friend; typicallly expressed as, "I'll shout for ya," or "It's my shout."

10. Salvos - The Salvation Army (Australians laughingly acknowledge that "The Salvation Army" is just too long to say.)

11. pacer - mechanical pencil

12. flat white - we think it is an espresso with milk, not much different from a latte.

13. long black - watered down espresso

14. bathers - swimsuits

15. thongs - flipflops footwear. Actually, I used the word thongs as a child but it is new to my kids.

16. mate - friend, buddy.

17. togs - another word for swimwear

18. concession - when paying an entrance fee, this is a non-full price adult, typically a senior or a student.

19. gap - insurance co-payment

20. docket - receipt

21. fairy floss - cotton candy

22. jumper - pullover sweater

23. chook - chicken. Not sure if this applies to a chicken in the grocery store to be eaten, but it is at least a live chicken running around one's backyard, which is not an unheard of thing here.

24. minis - toddlers and preschoolers. (This is a personal favorite.)

25. barbie - the barbecue on which meat is barbecued

So, you think you speak English. . .

Well, you need to specify which English it is that you speak. Just because we all speak English doesn't mean that we all speak the same language!! It was somewhat disconcerting upon arrival in this English speaking country to realize that we couldn't always understand what people were saying to us. Language has been one of our most pervasive cross-cultural experiences here.

Let's start with the letter "r." At first notice, Australians seem to be almost disdainful of this letter as they cast off its pronunciation with shocking abandon. Melbourne is pronounced "Melbun" and Cairns "Cans." In English class, Ian was taught this list of words as a list of homophones, pronounced identically but spelled differently: poor, pour, pore, paw. They are all pronounced without a final "r." However, after further consideration, I have concluded that Australians must not have anything too great against poor "r" because there are other instances where they actually add it to their pronunciation. My informal observation is that this occurs at the end of a word when the last syllable is unstressed and ends in a schwa-ish vowel. Thus, Hannah is often "Hanner," to her great distress, and idea is "ideer."

Besides being a little unclear on what to do with the letter "r," Australians are also not sure what to do with some of their longer words. They have a habit of shortening words and sticking an -o on the end. Thus garbage is "garbo." A musician is a "muso." You take a pesky skin rash to the "dermo." Etcetero, etcetero. The goal cannot be verbal efficiency. Anyone who takes the time to pronounce "al-u-min-i-um" instead of aluminum or "show-en" for shown is not seriously looking for time saving measures.

"Tea" deserves a paragraph of its own. True to its British traditions - and I must add that Adelaide prides itself on being the most British of the Australian cities, being founded by British freemen rather than criminals - "tea" is a serious matter here. First, there is tea, the hot drink, prevalent in most homes here. Then, there is tea, the event, where tea the hot drink is drunk accompanied by nice biscuits, sometimes by scones and clotted cream. Yum! This tea is often social in nature and usually falls into 2 categories: morning tea or afternoon tea. Then, there is tea, the evening meal, synonymous for supper or dinner in American English. We were taught early on that an invitation to tea was an invitation to supper (in American) while an invitation to supper was an invitation to evening tea and biscuits. I never before knew a small 3 letter word could be so complex!

Then, there are those words that are just plain different from our American vocabulary. Here's a short list for you to figure out for fun. Yes, they are all G rated. We'll post the definitions in a week, I hope. .
1. arvo
2. busking
3. fringe
4. lift
5. texta
6. trolley
7. recess
8.tick
9. shout
10. Salvos
11. pacer
12. flat white
13. long black
14. bathers
15. thongs
16. mate
17. togs
18. concession
19. gap
20. docket
21. fairy floss
22. jumper
23. chook
24. minis
25. barbie