Masks

On my way home tonight, I was listening in on an English conversation that the couple in front of me were having. (I believe this is common practice when living in a foreign country. My friends and I agree, that often the most interesting people on the MRT (subway) are the foreigners. And although we ourselves don't like to be stared at, we enjoy staring at other foreigners.)

The guy was white and the woman was Taiwanese. He noticed someone who was wearing a surgical mask. And commented on how that was kind of embarrassing. I giggled to myself that he was giving himself away as a newbie. People here always wear masks when they are sick. And after two years of this I'm beginning to think that it will be so gross and unhealthy to go home to NZ where people don't do it.

I had fun reflecting on how my attitudes have changed. I remember when I first arrived in Japan and saw people doing that, I thought it was kind of strange and embarrassing. But now, I just realise that when you live in a overcrowded city, it's a very good idea.

Tevas

I wanted to write an ode to Tevas. I bought myself a pair of these fashionable sandals while in Hong Kong. And I am a complete convert and advertise them to anyone who will listen. (I've become what I hate... oh well...)

On Monday, Michael joined my club. So know were are Teva-twins.

Just thought you'd like to hear about how happy my feet are....

Tevas!

An insight into Taiwanese sprituality

I (Christine) learnt from my fabulous private students today (Amy and Cecil) a little more about religious practices here in Taiwan. I commented to them about how lots of the shopkeepers were burning 'money' and putting out offerings of food on the streets today. They explained that it is the 16th day of the lunar month.

Aparently business people make offerings to the gods on the 2nd and 16th day of the lunar month. Twice a month. They pray for good luck for their businesses.

I then asked them about the rumour I've heard about people burning paper cars and houses. They confirmed that this is true. Aparently it is a common practice in the south of Taiwan when someone dies. The family burn paper houses and cars and electrical goods for the deceased. Its so that they have something to live in/use in the afterlife! fascinating. This lead on to a discussion about the Terracotta soldiers....

But anyway. Aparently these paper houses are very elaborate. They are custom, handmade for the grieving family by the funeral director. And have little electric lights and everything (I think I heard that right). The more you pay, the better the house. They reckoned a house might cost about $23,000 Taiwan Dollars. Thats about US$600!!! unbelievable.

They also burn paper cars - if you have the money, that will be a Mercedes Benz or a BMW!

I thought this was a fascinating insight into Taiwanese culture. The pleasing and asking for good will from the gods seems to be a significant part of peoples lives here. Religion is all around here, in many different forms.

Oh yes, i asked Amy and Cecil if their families practice this tradition. Cecil who is from Tainan (down south) said yes, when his parents died his siblings and himself bought a paper house!

I love having these students. I pick their brains about Taiwanese and Chinese culture and so on. They are a huge part of my education here.

NOTE: Amy and Cecil are a married Chinese couple in their 50s, Cecil is a doctor and Amy runs the clinic. I teach them for one hour every Thursday night.

Together again in Taiwan!

Ni Hao! Hi everyone,

Well, the Kirkby-Sings are finally together again. Living in peace and harmony (maybe) in Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.

I (Christine) have been here for exactly 11 days and Mike for almost 3 months! The last few months have been a real 'learning experience' for both of us. Learning to live without eachother's company, Mike having to learn to cook for himself and Christine having to learn how to do the dishes! (I really did miss my house hubby terribly!)

Before I tell you all about our life in Taiwan, I thought I would give you a brief run down of our time in Japan first. I had a great 12 months in Japan, here are some of my highlights:

1. Holidays

We had three major holidays during our time here. The first was with Mike痴 brother and sister-in-law, Aidan and Libby. We went to Kyoto and Osaka. I love Kyoto. It is the traditional japan that we all think of.

Holiday number two was with my mum and dad during my spring holiday (read still snowing!) We had a great time driving around Hokkaido. We ate a lot of great Japanese food and saw many things. My parents especially enjoyed seeing so much snow - and we were glad to show them. This holiday was great for my Japanese language skills too!

Holiday number three was with Kimberley and Dan Enns (from Canada) during Golden week. it started off hard with a 18 hour ferry ride from Otaru to Niigata. From Niigata we drove south to Kanazawa. And then drove north again up to Aomori (the top of Honshu). This holiday was an opportunity to see lots of countryside (some stunning rice paddies), lots of beautiful Japanese tourist sites and to hang out with some really great mates.

2. Yosakoi

I was really privileged to be able to join the Yosakoi team in Mori - 溺ori Soran Zakura・ Yosakoi is a kind of Japanese dance, really high energy and fantastic to watch. The highlight was the huge Yosakoi Soran Carnival in Sapporo. About 300 teams entered and we performed our dance 16 times over 2 days at 5 different locations around the city. In addition we danced in the Soran Illusion. This is where all of the teams do the same dance in the street at night time. I believe there were 10,000 dancers! It started raining during this, so we had a great time dancing in the rain! (singing too!)

My Yosakoi team was made up of entirely Japanese people who only spoke Japanese. So, each practice (3 times a week) was in Japanese, so it was a real test of my lanugage skills to attempt to understand what was happening.

3. School Festival

A couple of weeks before I left Japan the Mori High School festival was held. This is two days of fun. On the first day each class did Yosakoi dances. First at school and then at a couple of locations in Mori town. Its interesting to compare the first year students to the Third years (final year of high School). First years are too cool for school and don稚 really get into it. The third years on the other hand, realise this is their last chance and understand that they look much cooler if they get into it. I had fun just following the kids around and taking lots of photos.

The second day was the fair day. Some of the classes set up food stalls in the carpark outside. Things like yakitori, yakisoba, okonomi-yaki and curry rice. And of course cotton candy (they love that stuff here!) Throughout the day in the hall was a talent show. I had fun hanging out with a few of my 3rd year students, in particular, Tomoko and Miho from an Oral Communication class. They are the sweetest girls.

4. Church

Becoming a part of Mori Greenhill Chapel has been a really important part of our time in Japan. For Michael in particular. We were able to make friends with some people and had people looking out for us. The home group we have been members of has really been great. Lots of practice for our Japanese!

5. Musical

This year I was able to exercise my acting talent again. Me and some of the other Hokkaido Jets performed 鄭nnie・the musical. Although I was basically just part of the chorus, I had perhaps the most number of parts as anyone and consequently lots of costume changes!

This experience was especially great because I was able to make friends with some really great people. In particular, Chelle and Ting from Australia and the two Erins from the States. Erin Murphy and I spent a lot of time together, travelling up from south western Hokkaido to central Hokkaido where the rehearsals were held. She is a great girl with lots of really funny stories to tell and we always kept each other amused while driving. She made me realise how important having a really girly friend is.

6. Karaoke

I think karaoke is perhaps one of the best parts of Japanese culture・I love it. Especially karaoke boxes. I致e had lots of fun singing my heart out to all sorts of songs. In particular, my last night hanging out with Jan, we went to a karaoke box in Mori. We spent 2 hours singing whatever we liked, dancing and giggling! So much fun. it痴 a great memory of hanging out with Jan.

7. Small town life

Also, I知 glad that I had an opportunity to live in a small town. We had the opportunity to see a side of Japan not many people do get to see. I was able to become a part of the community. Anyone can go along to Tokyo and live and teach there for a year. And it would definitely be a fantastic experience. But only a few people can have the opportunity to live in the Inaka. I think I was very very lucky!

8.Teaching

Of course one of the main things of my life in Japan was the teaching. I was lucky to work in 3 Senior high Schools in my district. And occasionally, a junior high, some elementary schools and a special school for kids with disabilities.

With the help of some great Japanese English Teachers, I was eventually able to work out how this teaching thing works and get into the groove of things.


So, those are my reflections on Japan, sorry its so long.... and now for Taiwan.

Taiwan

Mike and I are living in SanChung City (just 20 mins across the river from Taipei City). He is working at Shane English School which is just a short walk down the road, and I will be starting at the same school in a couple of weeks. Its going to be interesting working together, sharing the same office and teaching along the corridor from eachother.

From our apartment, the supermarket is only a 40 second walk. The markets, with lots of fruit stalls etc are only 2 mins walk, the movie theatre is less than 5 mins walk and KFC & McDs are about the same (although I havent been there yet!)

So, everything is pretty handy. and we are happy. Taiwan is quite different from Japan, and it is pretty fun to compare the two. So far we conclude that it is dirtier, busier and hotter! At the moment our Chinese language skills are pretty non-existent so we are hoping to start taking lessons soon. Although I am constantly surprised at how many people speak English here compared to Japan.

I wont write too much as this email is pretty long already. But instead encourage you all to email us yourself with all your questions. Or alternatively, message us at MSN (we are online a lot) or you could even phone us for free through Skype Telephony System (www.skype.com) our ID is kirkbysing (check this out its really cool).

I've attached some photos (which no doubt you looked at first!) The first two are of Japan, and the rest are of Taiwan.

God Bless! We hope to hear from you soon!
Christine & Mike Kirkby-Sing

Spring Holiday

I love holidays so much!

I've just had the past week and a half off work to hang out with my Parents who have come over from New Zealand to visit Mike and I. We have had a fabulous time travelling around Hokkaido.

Day One:
Picked up Mum and Dad from Chitose Airport and drove to Biei. Here we stayed at the Potato-no-Oka YHA. It was great, we had a wee cottage to ourselves, and although we had to share a tatami room with M&D, it was very comfortable. I would highly recommend this hostel. We had dinners and one breakfast at this place, and it was great food. Chicken one night and fish the next. mmmm,mmmm!

Day Two:
Went on a day trip to Sounkyo Gorge. This is a Onsen resort town and although we didnt go to the Onsen we had a great time exploring. Highlights were the rope way up Mt Kurodake, and viewing the ice festival sculptures. These sculptures were quite unlike the Sapporo festival ones, perhaps more 'organic' looking. (I'll try to post some pics soon).

Day Three:
We checked out of Biei today and headed south. Before leaving Biei we went to the Shinzo Maeda Gallery. He is a famous Japanese landscape photographer. Here is one of his photos. We bought a poster of one of his photos. Next we drove through Furano, we didnt really do much here, just tried to find a shopping centre but got lost so kept going. This night we stayed in Sapporo. For dinner we wanted to take M&D to a great Yakitori place we had been to in the past, but alas, we couldnt find it.

Day Four"
Wandered about Sapporo. Went to Tanuki-koji, Tokyu Hands, Odori Park, M&D went up the TV Tower, and we eventually ended up in the Station. Mum and Dad bought a new digital camera, and we got a neck strap for ours (exciting eh?). Today was Dad's birthday so we went to the Kirin Beer Garden for dinner. Oh I love Gengis Khan! meat meat meat!

Day Five:
Left Sapporo and went to a Historical Village just out of Sapporo on Route 12. This was ok, but i think i've been to better places. we just got tired doing all of that walking! We then took our time getting to Bibai where my first Musical performance was to be held. On arrival in Bibai, we checked M&D in to their hotel and then went to the onsen. The "Grotto Azzure" is really nice. Mum and I enjoyed sitting outside in the Rottemburo enjoying the warm water and the snow around us! Tonight Mike and I stayed with the other Musical Jets at the Bibai Catholic Church.

more later... getting tired!