Monday... another super hot day! We are still reaching +100 + humidity. SOOO looking forward to cooler weather. It is hard to get into the fall spirit when you have been wearing shorts strictly since June. There is supposed to be a Typhoon by the end of the week. It has the promise of cooler weather with it. Reported cold front of highs of 86 +humidity. Sounds funny to call that a cold front! Adam has people here from Boise and is traveling back and forth to the subcons in South a lot this week. It is a very busy week for him. Lots of early mornings and late nights, but at least he climbs into my bed at night.
Wednesday was an eventful day. On our way out of the school grounds a man stopped me and gave me his card. He wants Lacie to model for him. Several of the kids in the ward model. I checked him out and he is the one that some of them use. Not sure about this yet. Joey is his name .... he said to me "talk to the father and call him." Lacie could make 5000nt (almost $200.00) each time she does it. Emmie wants to know how she gets in on the deal! Having their own money again sounds nice to both of them. They are missing the money from their job with Paul. Just not feeding all the animals, Especially in the dead of winter. Adam and I spent the evening racing around trying to find a wedding gift for a supplier lady that invited us to her wedding. We have been invited to a 40th birthday dinner the same night for some new friends of ours in the ward. This lady was terribly disappointed and Adam felt bad when he told her we would not be attending. He wanted to get her something. We did find her a lovely heart necklace as a apologize for not being able to attend. Then Adam googled what would be appropriate to give the couple. Traditional you give a red envelope called ang pao or lacey.
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| Lacie just after the modeling agent gave us his card |
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| ang pao or Lacey |
Taiwanese weddings are big and extravagant in a very different way than weddings in America are. They mostly involve food, tons and tons of food. Oh, and lots of dresses for the bride.
At a Taiwanese wedding you don’t give cards or presents you simply give a red envelope with money in it. This money goes to cover the cost of the wedding. They money in the red envelope has to be an even number and can’t have the number 4 in it, because 4 is an unlucky number in Taiwan.
As you enter the hall to the wedding there is usually a table full of wedding photos. They are taken prior to the wedding with lots of outfit changes and cool romantic spots around Taiwan. The couples always look like models and are absolutely beautiful. They also usually provide some sort of picture that you can take with you.
Wedding in Taiwan are very elaborate. The bride wears three different dresses through the course of the wedding and you have about a 10 course meal. Their is a small ceremony, if you can actually call it that. To be legally married in Taiwan you have to get married at the court house first.
The bride wears three different dresses throughout the wedding. The first one is to get “married” in. After the ceremony the bride slips away and puts on the next dress. She uses this dress to say great to all of her guests. The bride and groom and their parents go around to each table to introduce everyone to their guests. After introducing everyone around the table there is a small toast and they proceed to the next table. The third dress is to say goodbye and thank everyone who came by handing out small party favors. All the dresses are rented and traditionally one of the three dresses should be red for good luck, although some brides don’t follow this tradition anymore.
A small wedding in Taiwan would have at least 300 guest but most weddings have 500 or more. They invite everyone to their weddings, and I mean everyone they’ve ever had contact with. Weddings are usually in the afternoon. Guest sit around a large table that usually holds 10-12 people with a large lazy susan in the middle to help pass around the food. You literally have about a 10 course meal and many of the dishes have a symbolic meaning, so you usually see the same foods at weddings. The first dish is usually a traditional chicken soup (which I don’t like). This dish is to symbolize that you are going to make a home together because the word for chicken soup in Taiwanese (not mandarine) sounds like the word for home. They always serve some type of fish, because it symbolizes wealthy. It is customary to not eat the entire fish, showing that you are not greedy and welcome wealth into your life. They are also required to serves some sort of expensive food like lobster or a special type of fish, because the couple doesn’t want people to think that they are stingy. The dessert is always a traditional Taiwanese desert, like sweat peas, jello, sticky rice balls, or red beans (I know you are just dying to try some of those). The dessert means that the couple will live happily ever after and symbolizes them living sweetly together.
The dinner usually last 3 to 4 hours and guest slowly file out. As you leave the bride and groom say goodbye and give you a small party favor of candy or something.
Thursday is my day to go to choir. This is a very serious choir. The songs we are learning are super hard, and some in Spanish! I often feel like I am in over my head. Luckily the director sent all of us the music so we can be practicing at home. After choir my new friend Tami Klump took me out to a different Costco than the one we usually go to. It is all on one floor and looks just like home! It was so nice. Not crowded and so refreshing. I see why all the expats shops here! It's a further drive from home, but well worth the extra 7min.
Friday rolls around and Adam is finally done with all the crazy back and forth to the subcons in the South and all around town. The guys from Boise are on a flight home. He worked from home and we snuck away for lunch for a few minutes and visited another import store that is closer to us called Willy's Deli and Grocery. It was very nice. You can buy corn meal there for tamales or corn-tortillas. Rice Crispy Cereal is only $12 US dollars (normal size box)! Outrageous!! The girls both went out with friends tonight. Emmie down to the school to watch one of the boys in the ward named Colton Shiner play soccer and then they all went back to Bishop Becks to have pizza and hang out. Lacie went with Bailey Southam to her house for the evening. Adam and I watched a movie while he did emails (weeks worth! YIKES!) We told Lacie to be home at 10p.m. a first for her. (and not going to be a pattern!) Emmie had till 11p.m. but called at 10p.m. and said they where done and Southams where bringing her home. The rule is... they are to come in and tell us they are home and about their night. Well at 11:15p.m. I started to get worried. They had not come in. Emmie was not answering her phone. The Southam's where not answering their phone. I sent text msg to both and no answer. So I called my friend Belinda, the bishops's wife, where Emmie had been. When I asked if she was still there she said no and that she and Addy at left just after 10p.m. over an hour ago! All the blood drained from my face and my heart started to race. I was no longer irritated I was scared. Where were my girls? Belinda asked what she could do to help and I told her I didn't know. Emmie wasn't answering her phone, neither were the Southams. Then it dawned on me to check their rooms. I had woken Adam up and he was now panicked and trying to get a hold of Emmie and Southams. He checked Lacie's room and I opened the door to Emmie's room and there she was writing a letter to Caylee. She thought we were asleep and didn't want to wake us.! So not a good idea! Then she fell to pieces when she realized how upset and afraid we were. I truly thought we had lost them! I texted Belinda and the Bishop to let her know they had been found and Adam texted Southams so they didn't panic when they saw all our text messages. Saturday morning came and Lacie asked me why I had huge bags under my eyes. So we had a little talk about the night before and how things would be handled in the future. YOU ALWAYS COME TALK TO MOM AND DAD! PERIOD!!!
Saturday was spent with Emmie at dance practice and we were running errands. Adam, Lacie and I tried to go to the flower market by the Neihu Costco. We stopped in there and got some lemonade for the birthday dinner tonight and walked to the flower market next door. Unfortunately the flower market didn't open until 4p.m. It was just after 2p.m. when we discovered this and didn't want to kill 2 hours. By time we left, the line to get into the Costco parking lot was clear around the block. Moral of the story... never go to Costco on Saturday! Damon Potter's birthday party was a lot of fun. We have made some really nice friends here who have just excepted us. We are the new comers. Everyone else has been here at least 1-2 years. We have been invited to do things, to go to dinner at peoples houses. We have felt very welcomed. Grateful for new friends! Happy Birthday Damion. It was a fun night of fun new friends, great home-made Indian food (spicy!), and crazy quizzes!! Got to love English humor. At least we didn't have to karaoke!
This is Damion and his family. Damion is from England and Susanne his wife is from Sweden. Their family is brilliant! (meaning fantastic in 'English' terms)
Birthday wishes..... Happy Birthday wishes to Jett and Benson. Benson had his first birthday!!! Wish we could have been there to celebrate with you both. We thought of you as we do on every family event we miss.
What I love about Taiwan... People are friendly. I always get a hello and more mooncakes and pineapple cakes I could ever want. We do feel welcomed by all. Locals and the other expats in our ward inclusive!
What else we love... although the driving here is CRAZY(!!) its also very patient and forgiving. If you accidentally start down the wrong road it's perfectly okay to stop in the middle of the road, put your hazards on, back up, and then turn onto the right road. It's also okay to turn left from the far right lane or right from the far left lane. If you double park, just turn in your side mirrors as a courtesy- so other vehicles can get by without taking out the scooters passing your car within about 1inch. And the dotted lines are truly just suggestions. If you don't know if you want to turn left or right in the coming block and you want to straddle the lines and take up 1/2 lane each- that's okay because everyone will just flow around you like a boulder in a river. It's fun here!
That is our week. Hope you enjoyed!
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