Blogs from Dajia, Taichung, Taiwan, Asia

Ok, I'm standing in the library lobby typing this. Air conditioning is a blessing which you cannot fully appreciate until you come to Taiwan. Seriously, you do not know the meaning of heat until you've been here. I just checked the weather for the first time-It says that its 84 degrees here, but feels like 94. I find this hard to believe as I feel sweat pouring off of me. The only comfort in this is that everyone here sweats, a lot. I can hear a thunder storm rolling in (Yes, they have thunderstorms! Yay!!) and I hope it will bring some relief as I can't see how it can get anymore humid-but it probably will get more humid. This UV index is 10 plus-everyone here (the girls anyway) carry around unbrellas to help get shade ... read more

What to say and where to start, my time is almost at its end here in taiwan. I have so many emotions running through my heart and mind. There are good and bad feelings, and Im not sure how to describe them. Let me start by saying I am truly sad to be leaving this country and all the people I have met and become friends with. Each person has touched my life and made an incredible impact whether they know it or not. I am so grateful and blessed to have this chance to live and work in Taiwan. There have been many ups and downs, days where I cried my eyes out because I was upset and sad and days I have laughed so hard I cried. I have so many fantasic memories ... read more

So I forgot to mention that 2 weeks ago I was in an accident. I was riding the bus to the city and our crazy bus driver hit a BMW. I'm not really surpised since people here drive like maniacs. Anyways, we were on the short bus so it was a pretty rough impact. Unfortunatly for me I have long legs and the seats are Asian sized, meaning my legs already dig into the seat in front of me. So with the impact my knees were crushed into the seat in front of me. I didnt notice much and nothing would keep me from shopping. So I ignored the dull pain. The past week the pain has been worse but I was like I'm just being a wimp. But it got so bad where it hurt ... read more

I have to say that I have never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras but I am taking a wild guess that the small town of Dajia, Taiwan on the Saturday night of Mazu's departure might have resembled close to that! Mazu is known in Taiwan as the popular goddess and guardian of the sea (to be exact the fishermen and sailors that surround Taichung). Mazu rests in a temple called Chenlan Temple in Dajia, and then once a year, she proceeds to make her way south down into the surrounding Taichung countys for 8 days, stopping by over 70 Temples, where people will pray to Mazu for goodluck. Since Rachel lives in Dajia, she had been hearing about this event since the day she stepped foot into her town--and not a lot of ... read more

Easter comes to Wen-Chang Asia » Taiwan » Taichung » Dajia By Rachteach22April 12th 2007Rachel Mathewsurl='/Videos/2684.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/2684.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'Taiwanese Puppet Show *****Puppet show video**** Heres some pics of my students coloring Easter eggs last week and going on the Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun and they were really into the coloring and hunting of eggs. Easter is one holiday that is not over here at all. There is nothing in the stores and most people dont understand any part of it. I had the chance to sit with my tea... read more