Hello,
So, today we did a little bit of hiking. We just went back up Mt. Bagua in Changhua to explore some more trails. There are quite a few, several miles worth anyways. So today we went up, intending to explore this area with some really cool planes, but instead stumbled upon this exhausting trail. There was easily 150 stairs, just on the section that we hiked. Wasn’t so bad going down, but it was terrible going up. The pollution wasn’t terrible either, so from the top of the mountain we could see all the way to Taichung. We were so tired from hiking back up the stairs that we didn’t even really explore the airplanes very much. We just wanted to get something cold to drink, so we headed back home. I am still scared to try sometimes some of the random things around town, so I mostly stick to bottled beverages instead of the stuff random carts will sell. Plus you don’t know what you’re getting. Matt and I tried a tea up at the Buddha a few weeks ago, that was really unique to say the least. Can’t really even say what the flavor was supposed to be, and it wasn’t horrible, but I like to know what I am getting. This is why we don’t play restaurant roulette as much as we used to. I am hoping to start learning Chinese soon, more than what I just pick up in school and stuff. There are a few places I have been picking stuff up, and I think I will be learning more formally soon. Best wishes to everyone at home!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Scooter!!
Hello,
So we have got a scooter!! Just a day ago, so we just took a few pictures of it so you could get an idea. It’s a 125cc Yamaha something or other. We have been taking it on some adventures around Changhua, which has been a lot of fun! We have spent several hours with just the wind in our hair since we got it…seeing some things we have seen before, but with a different perspective, and many things we have yet to see. We went and visited all of Baguashan Scenic Area tonight, which has some cool stuff. Unfortunately, it got dark so that picture taking became impossible at a point, although there were many cool things we saw we didn’t photograph. We also ate some really good squid, ostrich, and sashimi at a place in town that was before a very long, long walk. Here are a few pictures, I hope you enjoy!!
So we have got a scooter!! Just a day ago, so we just took a few pictures of it so you could get an idea. It’s a 125cc Yamaha something or other. We have been taking it on some adventures around Changhua, which has been a lot of fun! We have spent several hours with just the wind in our hair since we got it…seeing some things we have seen before, but with a different perspective, and many things we have yet to see. We went and visited all of Baguashan Scenic Area tonight, which has some cool stuff. Unfortunately, it got dark so that picture taking became impossible at a point, although there were many cool things we saw we didn’t photograph. We also ate some really good squid, ostrich, and sashimi at a place in town that was before a very long, long walk. Here are a few pictures, I hope you enjoy!!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Baguashan Buddha & Moon Festival
Hello!
So we have had a very busy last two weeks! I told you that there was a typhoon coming, and I have to say, that that typhoon was probably the most boring storm I have ever seen. We woke on Sunday morning, extremely excited, hoping to see some crazy rains and cool winds. Enough that would at least cancel school the next day. Instead we woke up to see that we had winds of about 20 mph and it rained for maybe 20 minutes all afternoon and evening. Needless to say, we had school the next day. However, we only taught Monday before we had a really long training on Tuesday (sad...our day off) and then it was Moon Festival!!
Moon Festival was very cool. One of my favorite things about Moon Festival was Tuesday night and all day and night of Wednesday, there were fireworks getting shot off everywhere. We could sit out on our balcony, under a brilliant full moon, and watch them go off in every direction. There is a wide variety of fireworks that people have. They have the ones that are legal probably nationwide back home that kids, and everyone else, plays with on the 4th of July like sparklers, noise makers, and little fountains. However, they also have the cool illegal ones that people in Minnesota will drive to South Dakota to get. Some people also manage to shoot off the ones that towns buy for the huge firework festivals! Im not sure if there are any laws regarding this, because there was a guy shooting the big ones off in the major intersection right by our balcony, and I watched a police man drive right by! I would have been very sad if the guy had stopped him, but it is a serious public safety hazard!
Moon Festival is actually several different myths important to Chinese culture, in which I am learned because we taught this in my Kindy class. One story is about the Moon Lady. Her husband had done the earth a great favor when he shot down 9 of the 10 suns that were scorching the earth. As a reward, he was given a pill of immortality by the Queen. However, his wife took the pill and discovered she could fly. She flew away in terror when she heard her husband calling her, all the way to the moon, where she remains to this day. Another legend surrounding Moon Festival is the Jade Rabbit. Three fairies turned themselves into old men and asked for food offerings from various animals. They all gave them food, but the rabbit had none, so he offered his body by jumping into the fire. The fairies were so touched that they asked the rabbit to come live on the moon in the Jade Palace, where he became the Jade Rabbit. The big traditions to do on Moon Festival are to eat Moon Cakes and grill with your family. It smelled absolutely fabulous all day on Moon Festival with people grilling outdoors, all sorts of fabulous food. Seafood, tofu, duck, eggs, and basically anything you can put on a skewer.
What we decided to do on Moon Festival was to go up to Baguashan and visit the Buddha. Also explore around as there is a ton of trails and other things to do up there. Its actually Baguashan Scenic Area, and its what is probably one of the most famous things about Changhua. Its what gets it in the foreigners travel guides anyways. It was a very pretty place. I wasn't feeling too well, which is a whole different story, so we didnt get to explore as much as we would have liked. I was just too hot and exhausted for much of that after the mile to 1.5 mile hike to get there, with the last little bit taking you up the mountain. This is the mountain you can see off the balcony pictures, unfortunately a building is in the way of the Buddha. I know this is the biggest Buddha for sure in Taiwan, I couldnt really say about any place else, but its enormous. Since I wasn't feeling well, I left the camera to Matt, so we didnt get the million and ten pictures I would have felt required to take, but we did get some nice ones of the trail we took to get up to the Buddha (which I took before I got too exhausted) and some great ones of the city. The view from up there is spectacular, high above the city with panoramic views. Its not the most beautiful city, but it gave us some idea of how large the place was we were living in. The Buddha looks no where near as huge on the picture as it does in real life. We also found a very cool snail on this really pretty water trail leading up to the top. Some of the bugs, snails, and things around here are just crazy, usually in an interesting way. I just love the tropical trees and vines up in the mountains, although this is not very rugged at all, and actually very well groomed. I hope you enjoy the pictures!
So we have had a very busy last two weeks! I told you that there was a typhoon coming, and I have to say, that that typhoon was probably the most boring storm I have ever seen. We woke on Sunday morning, extremely excited, hoping to see some crazy rains and cool winds. Enough that would at least cancel school the next day. Instead we woke up to see that we had winds of about 20 mph and it rained for maybe 20 minutes all afternoon and evening. Needless to say, we had school the next day. However, we only taught Monday before we had a really long training on Tuesday (sad...our day off) and then it was Moon Festival!!
Moon Festival was very cool. One of my favorite things about Moon Festival was Tuesday night and all day and night of Wednesday, there were fireworks getting shot off everywhere. We could sit out on our balcony, under a brilliant full moon, and watch them go off in every direction. There is a wide variety of fireworks that people have. They have the ones that are legal probably nationwide back home that kids, and everyone else, plays with on the 4th of July like sparklers, noise makers, and little fountains. However, they also have the cool illegal ones that people in Minnesota will drive to South Dakota to get. Some people also manage to shoot off the ones that towns buy for the huge firework festivals! Im not sure if there are any laws regarding this, because there was a guy shooting the big ones off in the major intersection right by our balcony, and I watched a police man drive right by! I would have been very sad if the guy had stopped him, but it is a serious public safety hazard!
Moon Festival is actually several different myths important to Chinese culture, in which I am learned because we taught this in my Kindy class. One story is about the Moon Lady. Her husband had done the earth a great favor when he shot down 9 of the 10 suns that were scorching the earth. As a reward, he was given a pill of immortality by the Queen. However, his wife took the pill and discovered she could fly. She flew away in terror when she heard her husband calling her, all the way to the moon, where she remains to this day. Another legend surrounding Moon Festival is the Jade Rabbit. Three fairies turned themselves into old men and asked for food offerings from various animals. They all gave them food, but the rabbit had none, so he offered his body by jumping into the fire. The fairies were so touched that they asked the rabbit to come live on the moon in the Jade Palace, where he became the Jade Rabbit. The big traditions to do on Moon Festival are to eat Moon Cakes and grill with your family. It smelled absolutely fabulous all day on Moon Festival with people grilling outdoors, all sorts of fabulous food. Seafood, tofu, duck, eggs, and basically anything you can put on a skewer.
What we decided to do on Moon Festival was to go up to Baguashan and visit the Buddha. Also explore around as there is a ton of trails and other things to do up there. Its actually Baguashan Scenic Area, and its what is probably one of the most famous things about Changhua. Its what gets it in the foreigners travel guides anyways. It was a very pretty place. I wasn't feeling too well, which is a whole different story, so we didnt get to explore as much as we would have liked. I was just too hot and exhausted for much of that after the mile to 1.5 mile hike to get there, with the last little bit taking you up the mountain. This is the mountain you can see off the balcony pictures, unfortunately a building is in the way of the Buddha. I know this is the biggest Buddha for sure in Taiwan, I couldnt really say about any place else, but its enormous. Since I wasn't feeling well, I left the camera to Matt, so we didnt get the million and ten pictures I would have felt required to take, but we did get some nice ones of the trail we took to get up to the Buddha (which I took before I got too exhausted) and some great ones of the city. The view from up there is spectacular, high above the city with panoramic views. Its not the most beautiful city, but it gave us some idea of how large the place was we were living in. The Buddha looks no where near as huge on the picture as it does in real life. We also found a very cool snail on this really pretty water trail leading up to the top. Some of the bugs, snails, and things around here are just crazy, usually in an interesting way. I just love the tropical trees and vines up in the mountains, although this is not very rugged at all, and actually very well groomed. I hope you enjoy the pictures!
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