Jangmi, Gigs, and Globalization

We had ANOTHER typhoon, Jangmi, this time hitting central Taiwan, and it was worse than the last one. We actually lost our power for a little while! On Monday, all schools and offices were closed! The winds were very intense and everything was cancelled for safety reasons. So the children were happy—they got an extended week-end!

John and I are simply IMPRESSED with our students. We are getting SPOILED! They have such wonderful attitudes, they work very hard, and they're so SWEET! During John's last rehearsal with the wind ensemble, John gave them a 10-minute break, and he was astounded that many of the students actually used that break to PRACTICE for the upcoming piece! But, please--our students back home--don't take this the wrong way--we adore and miss you!

Since John’s host university, National Chengchi University (NCCU) does not have a music department, he is being housed by the Department of Education. The dean, Dr. Jason, (one of the pics is Dr. Jason and us) had a retreat for the department this past week-end. As part of the retreat, John and I were invited to perform. This retreat was held in a large meeting room in the Arts and Culture Building, which does not allow shoes. In the Asian culture, it’s understood that you never wear shoes in someone’s house—as soon as you enter someone’s home, you put on slippers. This was the case in this room in the Arts and Culture building. So John and I performed in slippers! This was definitely a first! We brought the children with us, and Teacher Linda watched them while we were at the retreat—they were just one floor up. Luke and Lauren actually did very well, but at one point Luke got frustrated with Teacher Linda because he wanted to come see me and she prevented him. We heard him yell, “I’m VERY ANGRY WITH YOU!” to Teacher Linda, and I was thinking, uh-oh, please no meltdown, but he quickly got over it. Later Luke apologized to Teacher Linda and gave her a hug….but of course I had to blackmail him into it….

John and I actually went to a concert together for the first time in a very long time. Since John taught at Taipei National University of the Arts the day of the concert, I met him at the recital since it was about halfway between us. Greg, the Ph.D student, and K.C., that wonderful high school student, watched Lauren and Luke. This is awkward for me because I REALLY wanted to HIRE someone. Greg and K.C. refused money, and I felt HORRIBLE about this. Since K.C. and Greg have been around us so much, they're almost like our family here. So to offer them money to baby sit would practically be an insult—Asians commonly think this way. I would rather pay them so I don’t feel like I’m taking advantage of them. In fact, I requested to HIRE a student from NCCU to baby sit, but NCCU just wouldn't hear of it--they went ahead and got Greg and K.C. to help us. But the nice thing about Greg and K.C. is that they’re very sincere and absolutely do not expect ANYTHING in return, and they NEVER make me feel like I owe them anything—they’re extremely genuine. But I will ABSOLUTELY have to get them something really nice before we leave!

The reason we went to this concert was because of our connection to Kuo-Pei Lin, our staff piano accompanist at Clemson University. Kuo-Pei is from Taiwan, so she contacted me and told me her friend, a cellist named Celine, was giving a recital in Taipei. Celine contacted us and invited us to her recital--she also teaches at Taipei National University of the Arts, where John teaches. So naturally we accepted! Anyway, this recital was INCREDIBLE!! Celine and her pianist, Wen-Chuan Wang, were absolutely PHENOMENAL!! They should be teaching at the Juilliard School! What was astonishing was that Wen-Chuan was a doctoral STUDENT—I thought she was a professional or a professor! It was WONDERFUL to hear such a BEAUTIFUL recital! John and I enjoyed this concert IMMENSELY!! People who know me well know that I don’t gush over performances very often, so I really mean this—it was GREAT!

We did manage to get the kids out of the house right before the typhoon. Since it was raining on and off, we decided to check out the Taipei Main Station subway area since everything is indoors. I’ve mentioned this before, but Taipei Main Station has a gigantic food court and indoor malls. I’ve provided a couple of pictures of us at the food court, but the pictures do NOT do it justice. IT WAS HUGE. Take a typical food court in a nice shopping mall in the U.S. and times it by FIVE. We had fun just walking around the perimeter of the food court—it seemed like a mile! John estimates that there were probably 80 restaurants!

Afterwards, we ventured outside of Taipei Main Station—at that point it wasn’t raining—and had ice cream at a Cold Stone Creamery. Yes, the Cold Stone Creamery is quite common here—evidence of globalization! For the most part, as a family, we’ve avoided the Western chains, but I will say we have had ice cream (NOT HOT FOOD) at McDonald’s (it’s so cheap). The one chain John and I still frequent is Starbucks—they’re everywhere! We also see many chains such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Mister Donut, KFC, Barista Coffee, Burger King, and Ponderosa. BUT the ruling chain is DEFINITELY 7-Eleven! They’re on EVERY block, and you can do everything at a 7-Eleven—pay bills, add minutes to your mobile phone (they say that instead of “cell”), buy or add money to your MRT card, and buy convenience foods, even ready-made meals. A Taiwanese chain I’ve enjoyed is Come Buy—a tea place. Come Buy has a huge variety of tea drinks, all SWEET. The Taiwanese don’t snack much, but they do love sweet coffee/tea drinks, and many of them have this jelly-like substance. I’m really starting to love milk tea, which is served cold, and you can have it in many varieties. Usually when I get something from Come Buy, I get hazel milk tea, WITHOUT the jelly stuff (I’m still a little scared of it)!

I also want to note—Luke has been GREAT since that melt down! We’ve been walking an AWFUL lot, not just on the week-ends, but to and from his school, and he’s been a complete trooper--so far I’ve barely had to carry him. And he’s become a pro at getting on and off the escalators, busses, and subways!

Next up….John’s review of Fulbright candidates, more teaching, and PROBABLY more kid drama…..