Dragon Boat Racing

There are three important holidays in Taiwan - Chinese New Year, Tomb Sweeping Day, and Dragon Boat Festival. For three years I got to be part of the AIT women's Dragon Boat team. I think it's been my favorite activity that I've participated in during my international travels. It's one thing to be in a country and stand at the edge watching a local parade or festival. It's quite another thing to be a participant and to spend months in preparation. It's a feeling of belonging - of home. 

Start

The first two years Elena and I woke up every Saturday morning and rode our bikes along the river to the practice site. For an hour we were on the water learning to bend, twist, and stroke together as a team. It looks easy from the shore, but even with three months of practice, we couldn't come close to the beauty that a year-around team has. It had been 25 years since I'd participated in a team sport. I'd forgotten the fun of working together, laughing and cheering one another on. I loved the dynamics we had in our boat - singing (thank you coach!), chatting and team mates yelling "Come on ladies, push harder!" There were stretches of peace when we just paddled to the beat of the drum. All the stress of work, lists of groceries that needed to be bought, emails that needed to be written all faded to the background as I bent and dipped my paddle into the water in rhythm with the drum. Just the team, the boat, and the river.

Racing

This year I was on my own for many of the practices. It was one of the unexpected dynamics of the empty nest. Not only do the kids have to learn to do things on their own, but I did too. It added so much to my Saturday mornings when both Maddie and Elena were able to join the team after they arrived home from school. 

Leaving the boat as a team after the race.

 Race day is always a lot of fun. Friends come out to cheer us on. Nerves are high until we get into the boat, then you can feel a quiet focus come over the team. We paddle to the starting area, get in position and wait for the gun. Three hard strokes and 10 fast strokes get the heavy boat moving. Our drummer yells out when to paddle harder or faster. Every year we seemed to go a bit faster on race day until this year where it turned a bit frantic. The flag catcher leans over the dragon's head and grabs a flag as we cross the finish line. We gave it all we had and placed third in our heat by just a smidgen. The first two places go on to the next round. 

I'm going to miss getting on the river every Saturday morning next year. I'll be cheering my team on through Facebook with warm memories of past races.  Good luck ladies!

Xiao Liuqiu Island

 

Memorial weekend - our last chance to enjoy the beauty of Taiwan before the big move rush began. There's an island off the south west coast of Taiwan that we had been wanting to visit. I'll be honest, we dragged our feet booking a visit because we don't speak Chinese and knew it could be a challenge to really enjoy ourselves with only charades. Fortunately, our friends joined us which made the whole adventure that much more fun!

Getting to the island is an adventure it itself. Our transportation included the mrt to the train station, the high speed rail to Kaohsiung, a 40 min. taxi ride to the coast, then a boat to the island. Once on the island, the means of transpiration is your feet or a moped. 

Thanks to some great recommendations we booked a hotel that was walking distance to town and the beach. The whole "theme hotel" is a very Taiwanese thing so we embraced the ship shape of our lodgings knowing that at least we had a good landmark to charade to someone should we get lost. 

The appeal of this adventure was to swim with the sea turtles. There was a little beachy area by the boat docks and our hotel. We didn't know exactly where the best spot to see the turtles would be, so we started there. There is a difference in the way Asians and Westerners travel and enjoy the world. The right hand side of the beach was full of groups of tourists. The were wearing long water suits, life jacket, mask and a snorkel. The proceeded into the water up to their knees holding on to a rope with a guide at the front and another at the back. Most groups didn't go any further. The just laid there in waist deep water looking at the broken coral and maybe a turtle or two. Some groups proceeded in chain fashion to the right for a decent distance, around some rocks and up some steps to the safety of dry ground. That is the Asian experience that we opted not to do.

We came equipped with our own masks. We looked like aliens, but I have to say these masks are amazing. They don't fog up, you have this great, wide view and the snorkel doesn't let water in. Our views were crystal clear. We headed out into the ocean which we had to ourselves. We spent hours just floating, gazing at the turtles. Some were huge and ancient. They slowly pulled and chomped on sea weed with no other care as to what the day may bring. Their shells were thick and covered in allege.  Others were younger, smaller and more colorful. The swam through the deep waters with gentle grace.

We did the 45 min. drive around the island. While trying to find a beach on the map, we stumbled across a small abandoned marina. We walked around to the coral and once again had the ocean to ourselves. What a hidden gem! We put our faces in the water and pushed off. It was some of the most beautiful and undisturbed coral I've ever seen. Small tropical fish darted in and out of their hidey-holes. Brilliant coral colorfully created a dazzling world under the protection of the sea.

I wish it hadn't taken us so long to visit Xiao Liuqiu Island. It's the sort of place you can return to again and again.

Ship House Hotel:    https://www.booking.com/hotel/tw/ship-house.en-gb.html?aid=356980;label=gog235jc-hotel-XX-tw-shipNhouse-unspec-us_mi-com-L%3Aen-O%3AosSx-B%3Asafari-N%3AXX-S%3Abo-U%3AXX-H%3As;sid=c36968375414e393cbb3467030609af2;dist=0&sb_price_type=total&type=total&

Eye Dotting Ceremony

This was my third year competing on the AIT women's Dragon Boat Team. Participating on this team has been one of the highlights of my time in Taiwan. I love starting my Saturday in a boat. We paddle together, working to become as one unit. The peace of a new morning on the water takes the cares of the week and puts them in perspective.

This is the first year our team was asked to participate in the Eye Dotting Ceremony a few weeks before the race. We had enough willing members to create a mixed team and the race fell late enough in the season that Maddie and Elena were able to be on the team this year. We met the team at a local temple and hung around watching and waiting to get in our boat. Nobody really knew what was going on. The event began with a celebration of drums, a dragon dance and of course, lots of firecrackers. The scent of incense drifted down from the upper level of the temple where offerings were made to gods. Then we followed a big parade down to the docks where the ceremony was to take place.

I was a bit surprised to see all the boats lined up on dry ground. Next to each boat stood a nice looking couple with a sign declaring which team would be in each boat. Water was sprinkled on each boat, then the dot was painted in the center of each eye. This awakens the dragon and gives hi good favor towards you. Each team captain then dotted the eyes of their boat.

Part of the event (the reason I had come) was a good long row from the eye dotting site to the race site. Our boat was closest to the water, so the first to go in. On one hand this was good because we had never lifted one of these extremely heavy boats as a team and carried it together. On the other hand, we had no clue what we were doing so there was a lot of confusion and yelling at us in Chinese. It would have been helpful to see how this was actually supposed to happen. Eventually, without a plan to follow, we all needed up in the boat and settled in for our long row up the river.

A Royal Wedding

Who doesn't love a royal wedding? With headlines as they are today - all gloom and doom - it's nice to step into a bit of the fairytale princess world, even if just for an evening. My friend and I had been discussing for months how we were going to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wed.

We were delighted when the British Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan scheduled a royal party to view the event live. One of our big challenges is how to watch events live. The Olympics become a medal winning event just in figuring out how to watch NBC coverage with a VPN in the correct time zone. It's  exhausting sorting it all out. So this opportunity allowed us to simply anticipate. It was great fun following news stories leading up to the wedding. How do they pick the flowers? Who makes the dress? What are the customs and traditions with such an event? It gave us weeks of conversation topics.

We wore cocktail dresses in patriotic colors and fascinators on our heads. Every detail had been taken care of with royal pride. We had such fun, I can't wait until  the next royal wedding, but I'll have to wait for the next generation to grow up. In the meantime, royal babies are just as fun to follow.

Wuji Tianyuan Temple

Early one morning, before sunrise, Chad and I took a little pre-work adventure to Tamsui to see a temple known for its cherry blossoms. The quiet drive though windy roads was peaceful as the sun was coming over the mountains. The Tainyuan Temple is a Taoist temple dedicated to the worship of Yu Huang Dadi, one of the three great deities in Taoism.

The five floors rise 200 meters into heaven which is indicative in its round architectural design representing heaven. This style of temple is not common in Taiwan. The gold columns between arched windows, along with intricate painting cause one to walk slowly, taking it all in.

The Yoshino cherry trees were brought from Japan in the 20th century. The delicate blossoms only last a short time. We were nearing the end so we made a quick decision to scoot out early one morning before the crowds arrived. We only had time for one slow walk around the temple. We didn't have time to go inside.

Longdong

A night away from town refreshes the soul and clears the mind. Chad made the escape several times to hang his hammock in a gazebo on top of an overlook. Longdong offers rock climbing and snorkeling, but we went just for the breath of fresh air and a night of sleeping with waves crashing against the cliffs. You really can't beat waking up to this view - can you?                

Urban Backpacking in Taipei

View of Taipei from our hammocks

I don't know if there even is such a thing as "urban backpacking" but that's what I'm going to call our latest getaway. A day off means a day to rest, relax and enjoy the country we live in. A few weeks ago  we were hiking when we stumbled across this spot overlooking the city. We commented how perfect it would be to hang some hammocks and spend the night. Now that I'm working full time, a day off means a day to get all those little nagging things done so we didn't want to take a full weekend to get away. We packed the bare necessities and walked out of our apartment, across some busy streets where we connected to a road that wound up the mountain. We passed a temple then came to a trail that took us to an awesome look-out. 30 minutes after leaving  our apartment we were hanging the hammocks between some trees. We spent the evening staring at the city. No computers, no cell phones, just simple quiet. 

Mid Autumn Festival

Mid Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. The full moon fell on October 4 this year. The festival began long ago as a celebration of harvest and rejuvenation at the time of the full moon. 

A popular fairy tale helps explain the story of the Moon Festival: 

"A hero names Hou Yi saved his people by shooting down the other nine suns that burned his people to death. He was then bestowed with the elixir of immortality by the Queen Mother of the West. 

He did not want to consume the elixir and leave his beautiful but very mortal wife, Chang Er, so he gave the elixir to his wife for safekeeping. Unfortunately, Hou Yi's disloyal apprentice forced Chang Er to swallow the elixir. She then became a supernatural being. She flew to the moon, and from there watched her husband. 

Knowing that his wife had now been separated from him, Hou Yi was crazed with grief. Looking up at the moon one night, he saw a figure like his wife. He hurriedly took cakes and succade (preserves in sugar, whether fruits, vegetables, or confections) as offerings to his wife. 

Upon hearing this, people developed the custom of watching the moon and eating moon cakes annually on this day."

http://www.officeholidays.com/countries/china/midautumn_festival.php

Today the Moon Festival is celebrated with eating moon cakes, family gatherings, moon gazing and lanterns. Lanterns were not part of the original celebration, but have come to be a festive activity that I had a chance to experience this year. 

I'll be honest, our group was run with such Taiwanese efficiency that much of the fun was sucked out of it. Our group of 80 arrived on two buses to Pingxi, an old mining town near Taipei that is known for its lantern festivals. We were ushered from the buses to a school classroom where we waited for about 30 minutes. We could see and hear the festival beginning in the courtyard below, but they kept us in the room, afraid that we might loose the group. From the room we were taken to a gymnasium where they divided us into lines and gave instructions on how to "do" the lantern process. While waiting in the gym, we saw the first batch of 100 lanterns be released. There was a collective "ohhh" as we watched them float past the windows. Right after the lanterns disappeared, we were taken single file out to a large courtyard where 100 squares were taped onto the cement. 3-4 people stood in each square with a helper to give us our lantern and instruct us. 

Once in our square, we were given our lantern and a marker to write wishes for the year to come on it. We then held the four corners of the lantern while the helper lit the flame in the base. We lowered the lantern to the ground and stepped on the rim to keep it from floating away while the air began to heat and pull the lantern upwards. A group next to us somehow tipped their lantern and it burst into flames. Soon the group was given the signal to release our lanterns. It was beautiful to see the lights in the night sky. They grew smaller and smaller until they mingled with the stars in the distance. Just as they were disappearing from sight, we were ushered back to our bus. We didn't get to see the next group go before we were safely driving away. All in all, I'm glad I went and enjoyed the evening with my friends. It was fun being part of the festival and sending up a lantern, but I really would have enjoyed the opportunity to watch a few other groups release theirs. 

The Second Graduation of the Year

I'm feeling nostalgic, four months after graduation. Summer has passed, visitors have come and gone, she's been taken to college and is off to a good start. So I sit here in a quiet house, looking at these pictures, graduation seems so long past but really it was only a few short months ago. 

Elena graduated from the IB program at the Taipei American School. It was a great day filled with family, friends and pure joy. Grandma and Grandpa came to Taiwan to celebrate with us. I'm so proud of her. The International Baccalaureate program is a rigorous two year curriculum culminating with intense exams at the end. I've watched all my kids go through it and I'm glad I never had to myself! So we had reason to celebrate and dance and sing. We closed this chapter in her book of life with a few tears on mom's cheeks. There's another empty spot in our home, but we are excited for the next chapter to be written as she heads off to MSU.

Michigan State University!