Bazaar Thanksgiving

Today was an amazing day and I wanted to write about it while it is fresh in my mind.

My day started with a trip to Chiayi Girls School. One of my young friends invited me to the school for a Charity Bazaar. Not knowing what to expect, I invited some friends to go and we headed into town. Angel met us at the gate and showed us around. Everywhere we went high school students were selling everything you can imagine from stuffed animals to books to bracelets to tea cups. The classes compete to sell the most. Angel was on cloud nine showing off her foreigner friends. She was so happy to be the center of attention and we were happy to oblige. We, the foreign missionaries, cannot go anywhere without being stopped and talked to be strangers and having our picture taken. This experience was no different but this time, Angel got to share in the attention. Having once been a high school student, I know what a self-esteem boost this can be. Hopefully, my friendship with her can continue to bloosom and she will continue to learn about God and His love for her.

This evening, the Practice Hotel (where I live) hosted an amazing Thanksgiving Feast. All of our Taiwanese friends were invited and DeeDee cooked up a storm. We had every kind of American food we could ever want from turkey and mashed potatoes to stuffing and green beans. It was amazing. We sat and talked with our friends and were able to share with them about our families, traditions, and faith. I had such a great time building new relationships and strengthening old ones. I pray every thanksgiving reminds me of all I am thankful for as this one has.

Thank you God for friends, good food, conversation, and most of all, the reason we gather, for the gift of Jesus and for the amazing love that He gives us.

Modern Dance

Taiwan offers us many opportunities to experience new things. I arrived home after a cathartic trip to Starbucks to an invitation to join some of Team Taiwan for a trip to the Min Hsiung Cultural Center. I was told we would be going to a "traditional Chinese dance show." Excited at the possibility of seeing something of the culture, I agreed with enthusiasm.

Upon arriving at the cultural center, however, I found out that we would be seeing Taiwan's renowned modern dance troupe and they would be preforming not traditional dances but a "frictionless modern dance movement." Ok, I thought, why not? At least it will be something new.

Boy was it! The four male dancers were shall I say scantily clad and covered in baby oil. They preformed primarily writhing around on the ground and wiggling. I am still unaware if there was a plot or story line but it was iinteresting to say the least.

All was not lost! After the performance, the audience was invited onto the stage where there was a plastic mat covered in baby oil. We got to play on it. As always in Taiwan, we were given a special invitation to join the nationals. So, five of us went up on stage and danced in the baby oil. It was a blast.

This was truly a once in a lifetime experience and though it may not have been the greatest performance I have ever seen, it was definitely a great memory to share with my team.