Taiwanese generosity

Just seeing this picture makes my mouth water. This is the reason I go to my yoga classes and wake up after a restless night to run. I love food!
This cheesecake was given to us by a member family who owns one of the best (famous) beef noodle shops that we know of. This is an extra special desert here because the ingredients to make this are quite rare, as is the oven needed in order to bake it. It is truly a good example of how generous and kind people are here. We rarely leave our house without getting something from someone. Amazing. It is a trait I am trying to acquire as well. It is a little awkward for me right now; like, am I giving the right type of gift to the right type of person? It seems to me that you almost can't go wrong with giving someone fruit here, so I am starting there. Then I may work my way to the ultimate, which happens to be hand cream, at least that's what I've heard.
Here is another example. Meili's principal commented on how Meili's Teddy looks a little shabby and so she bought her this new one.

And to make sure that Sophie didn't feel bad, she bought her this Minnie Mouse.

And here's the girls giving their new friends a ride on the teeter-totter at Mei's school.

A Mother's Sacrifice

This afternoon I noticed that Euan had disturbed one of the mosquito's resting places under our couch/bench and that the mosquito was swarming him. I'm always on the prowl for a good mosquito killing because last time we lived in Taiwan mosquitoes were the main source of midnight wakings (why DO they buzz your ears right before they go in for the kill?). We are luckier here on the 8th floor but occasionally a mosquito rides the elevator up and finds it's way into our house. And I knew that we had a couple lurking in our shadows because I found 3 or 4 bites on Euan this morning when I got him up. I was not a happy mama. So I poised myself to get that blood-sucker. Now, I should mention that the mosquitoes here are a faster, smarter species than any I knew in America (Scott calls them "bionic"). They aren't very easy to find and kill; they don't linger on their prey for very long. So I hovered over Euan and he laughed with joy as he watched mommy play what he thought was a clapping game, but what was really a mother hen pecking at the danger. I was so excited when I looked down after a minute and noticed a squished mosquito on one of my fingers. I went back to playing and noticed a second mosquito begin to swarm Euan. Again the clapping game. And I finally squished him next to our hard tile floors! Yeah! But wait, there was a little blood when I squished him so I got perturbed again and checked poor Euan for where he was bit. Nothing. Hmmm, must have been from someone else...Back to playing with my sweet baby. Wait, why am I itching? In protecting my baby, I didn't even notice that those darn mosquitoes had bitten me FOUR times! Ahhh, a mother's sacrifice.

Not Representin'

Last night was my first yoga class that I am taking through Daliao's community class program. I was excited because I love yoga and I know that I am in need of some serious exercise regimens (ie I have some weight to lose). Now, even in America, every yoga class is a little different so there wasn't much that surprised me in the class as a whole. But there were a couple of things about the class that I didn't like. First of all, it is surrounded by mirrors. Second of all, it is surrounded by mirrors.
I saw once on Biggest Loser that even after people lose a lot of weight, they still think like they are a fat person. Like, they still go to the fat section of a store to buy clothes, or they still are worried about whether or not they will fit in a seat on the plane, etc. Well, I'm opposite of that. For some reason, I think I am thinner than I really am. When I go to buy clothes, I find all the cute tiny clothes and then I am disappointed when they don't fit me. I think that I can fit in little tiny kids chairs and then I am shocked at how poor the craftsmanship is when it breaks! True story.
Back to yoga. When I came in the class, I did the normal panning the crowd that all women do, and I am thinking "I am so glad I am not fat like Asians think all Americans are". But then class started and as I am doing my bending and twisting, I look in the mirror and realize that I AM a fat American (and with 180 degree mirrors, there is no hiding any ounce-or pound-of fat).
Since I've been in Taiwan I feel a little like I am a lab rat. People watch me and my kids wherever we go. They see what we buy, how we walk, how we do our hair, what we wear. Strangers on the street know where I live because I am the only white person in the area. And so far I feel like I've been ok at representing my religion, my country, etc. I mean, most foreigners are young early 20s who meet up at the bar after work and just came here for a good time (uh, I mean a good experience) and a quick buck. When you are in a place where you don't understand the culture, noone knows you, and everything you do isn't seen by your family, friends, or coworkers, you tend to have that "what happens in Taiwan stays in Taiwan" mentality and you leave the natives with a bitter taste in their mouth whenever they say the word "foreigner".
So then there is me with my kids, no drinking, and all of my other mormonness; I feel like I have been representing pretty well. But I must say that I wasn't representin' last night at yoga. Anyone who has worked out with me knows that I am the slowest runner, the unbendiest bender, and the furthest from touching my toes than any other person I know. So I'm sorry that I didn't represent all of my friends who are amazing at yoga and working out, very well and I made the small part of Taiwan's population who were at (or stopped to watch b/c of the strange white girl in the class) think that Americans stink at yoga and are both fat AND can't touch their toes.
Sorry no pictures for this post...

Meili the "superstar"

Meili's school had some kind of school pictures last week, and her Principal said that the photographer loved Meili and so took a ton more pictures of her than the other kids. She also said something about how he was going to blow one of them up and use it for his business. That makes me think, "when is he going to pay us?". You can't just take pictures of my kid, blow them up, call her a model, and not pay us! Then we saw him just a couple of days ago when we were picking up Meili and he hopped out of his car and wanted to photograph me and Euan and then Sophie and Scott. The other teachers laughed and called us "superstars" in English. I have never been photographed so much in my life (I do realize it is less about me and more about the baby I am always holding), but I really think we should start charging some money...

I'm a snob

Today I've accepted that I am a snob. I am not snobby about everything, so maybe I'm not "a snob", but there are a couple things that I am snobby about. I am not proud of this and I think that I need to get over it. For a while now, Scott and I have called ourselves food snobs and I'm pretty sure that it's true. But today I realized there is another thing that I'm snobby about: Volleyball. I've been snobby about Volleyball for a while, but I think that I finally have accepted it and put a name to it. (I guess you could also call it prideful, but I'd like to just stick to "snobby"; which do you think sounds worse?).
These are my top 10 reasons for why I am a Volleyball snob:
1. My team won the coveted BYU Intramurals Volleyball T-Shirt.
2. I was recruited for a team in Oregon (can't remember which) out of High School.
3. My high school team was 2nd in the state.
4. I really don't enjoy recreational volleyball (as opposed to competitive).
5. I own kneepads and they just barely didn't make the cut when I was packing for Taiwan.
6. I only recently got rid of my Volleyball shoes from my Senior Year in High School, and I might add that they had never seen the dirt of pavement.
7. I'm still sad that my position of Libero was created after I had decided I was too short to try out for BYU's Volleyball team.
8. I still dream about growing taller so that I can play more competitive volleyball.
9. I trash talk across the net.
10. I sometimes want to be friends with people just because I know they can play volleyball (I dated a guy once because he was such an awesome setter).

Now please feel free to laugh at me because I know most of these things are pretty ridiculous and I do realize that I should get over it. But, can I still dream about growing taller?

Crazy week!

Last week was a crazy week for us. I guess it will always be a little crazy when you are trying to adjust to a new culture. Here are some highlights:

On Tuesday (17th), Meili started Chinese school. And, yes, it is all in Chinese! Here is a cute picture of her in her school uniform and her sister who wishes she could go, too. That was really hard for me to send her because I knew it would be really difficult for her. But we know that it will be best in the long run. The girls will enjoy it here so much more if they can get to know the language and culture. Her progress last week was exponential. We were amazed at how fast she was getting things, though we know how fast kids can learn another language because we have both been English immersion teachers. Today, though, Meili started crying pretty hard and I felt so bad. I know it is so difficult to be patient during this time when we don't understand a lot. She fell asleep yesterday during her church primary class for children because she was so board. Poor girl! But here is a cute picture with her Chinese school teacher (Xiao Min Laoshi).

I had a moment yesterday of frustration as well. I was asked (called) to teach the church sunbeam (3-4 year-old) class and I was really overwhelmed my first day because I don't understand the poor kids who are trying to talk to me. Plus next Sunday I have to do it all alone! Wow! I don't think I've ever had to exercise so much faith in a church calling before! Who knew that being called to a sunbeam teacher would be perhaps my most difficult calling! Though it will help me learn my Chinese and be motivated to study even more!

On Saturday we went to a church activity where they built traditional clay oven things out of their dirt/clay (look in the background of the above picture) and we were so excited because we had done this last time we were here with a family of one of the kids we taught and we loved it and the food it produced. It was fun to hang out with our ward and get to know them better.

Here's a great picture of the girls after a fun day of digging in the dirt
Oh, and for those who saw my videos I posted on facebook about driving a scooter in Taiwan and my serious phobia I have of doing it, I will have you know I drove one to church with Meili and Scott drove Euan and Sophie. It only took us 45 minutes! Luckily I felt more comfortable with the chaos and it only took us 35 minutes on the way home.

Here is something that is a good ending to this posting, FOOD! When we lived in Taiwan last time, I fell in love with the food and learned how to cook a lot of it in the states (thanks to friends, Chinese teachers, neighbors, and our local Chinese store, Chao's!). So this time I am pretty set and so far my family is well-fed. Our kids are eating more here than in the U.S., and Scott of course loves the food, but has actually lost about 15 pounds (that would be the absence of dairy, margarine, mayonnaise, soda, etc.). I'm not quite so lucky, but thanks to the track that is across the street and the yoga class I just signed up for, I hope to copy his results!

Pay it forward! (With an international twist)

THE RULES:

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me. (it will be a surprise but I promise to make it something fun)
2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!
3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Counts!
4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it. If you are not one of the Top Three Commenter's on this post, you can still play along. Start your own Pay It Forward chain and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

Ok, here is my twist. It may not be a handmade item, but I will try to make it something cool that you can only get in Taiwan!