All Things Chinese

My second week of teaching flew by, bringing with it many new firsts for me.

I discovered that the girls whom I dance with form one out of nine teams competing in a school-wide cheerleading competition. The director saw me dancing with them and asked if I'd be interested in helping. It's impossible for me to dance with all nine teams, so she asked if I would be the judge. I explained the situation to the girls, and we decided that I will be the judge for the actual competition, but will continue to dance with them for fun now.

On Tuesday night I took Leo to the vet's, just to do a regular check-up. I've been reading a lot about hedgehogs online and knew that I would have to have his nails clipped soon to avoid them curling under and injuring his toe pads. You can clip them yourself, but I wanted to make sure I didn't cut them too short and injure his pads--they can lose a lot of blood if cut. I also noticed his skin was dry, which is also a sign of mites, and since Leo's a new pet, I thought it couldn't hurt just to have him checked out.

I got really lucky and happened to stop in to the animal clinic on a day when the doctor from another location was at the one right down the street from me. Dr. Chiu has worked with hedgehogs before and raises sugargliders (another exotic pet, even more so than hedgehogs) herself) so she is the ideal vet for Leo. She also speaks English well, so between using a little bit of Chinese and a lot of English, we can understand each other perfectly. She took a few skin flakes from Leo's back and found that he does, in fact, have mites. It's easily treatable with Frontline, which I only need to put on his neck once a month. I also have to give him medicine twice a day for about a week to hydrate his skin and the rest of his body. Dr. Chiu tried to make it "yummy" for him so that he'd want to eat it. It didn't work out so well the first time--he took a quick lick and then was done. When I gave her a call and she told me to add a little sugar I thought it was a bit odd, but it seemed to be the secret ingredient! Leo eats enough now to make the froth that he puts on his back. When he turns around and is busy licking his quills, I sneak a big dose in the side of his mouth. He usually makes a face and shakes his head, but it works every time!

I'm taking Leo back to the clinic this week to see how things are going, and Dr. Chiu is going to help me find a bigger cage and a special exercise wheel for him. Since sugargliders are not common in Taiwan at all, she orders a lot of her stuff from the States and said she could show me some things. The wheel would be great because it shaves his nails down as he runs. I did manage to cut his nails a bit last night and felt very accomplished. It was during our nightly bonding time when I put a towel on my lap and let him climb around or snuggle down, whichever he prefers.

On Thursday evening after teaching and dancing, I hurried back to San Min where our office is located, to have my first Chinese class. It was really great to be back in a formal sort of class setting. There are only three of us in the class, but the small size makes it feel a lot like my classes at Lawrence. The professor is great and very easy to work with. He showed us news clips and gave us a weekly news summary in Chinese to practice reading and discussing. It was challenging to use some vocabulary that I haven't used in a while, but together we seemed to communicate our ideas. Shana and Billy know a lot of vocabulary, so I sometimes feel out of their league, but it's great exposure for me. I'm looking forward to next week!

Yesterday afternoon (Friday) was my second big experience of the week--acupuncture! Amanda, who works for the foundation here and works to make all of us as comfortable as possible, took me to a place not too far down the street from the apartment. My lower back had been hurting and my shoulders were in need of some lovin', and with a discounted rate from my Taiwan health insurance card, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. I wasn't too sure what to expect, but Amanda gave me a bit of a briefing before I went in. I lied face down on the table and the doctor placed a few needles in my left shoulder and the left side of my lower back. I felt a bit of pressure and a mini prick, but it wasn't painful. After he placed the needle in my skin, he did something that made my muscle feel like it was being twisted. It was a really strange sensation--one that kind of made me squirm but felt good at the same time. After the needles were inserted, a woman hooked them up to a machine that sends little waves of electricity into your body. The pulses felt like someone was gently pounding my skin, and then my arm started jumping. It didn't hurt, although it was strangely involuntary, but I gathered it wasn't supposed to happen when she called Amanda in to translate. They agreed that it might be a little too strong, so she turned it down a bit and the spasming stopped. I thought it was funny (and I suppose I was also a bit nervous too) , so I started laughing uncontrollably. Amanda and the woman both started laughing, while meanwhile I was thinking "I hope I don't lodge the needles into my back!" The electrotherapy went on for 15 minutes, after which I was glad to be done. It wasn't really painful, but I could feel my muscles starting to get a bit sore.

After the electrotherapy, another man came in to give me a sort of "massage." Here, it is crucial to understand that these types of massages (as well as most) are not mean for relaxation and pampering; rather, they are used for medicinal purposes and to increase circulation. They usually involve a lot of hard rubbing. It was pleasant for the most part, but I do feel a bit sore today. Still, this is the good kind of sore, and I feel better overall (I think). He then had me sit up with my back facing him, and before I knew it, he was pulling my arms over my head and bending me back until I heard a loud crack. It was at this time that Amanda said, "now, I think he'll do some cracking. You must be relaxed." He applied some herbal medicinal patches to my shoulders and I was done. For the rest of the night I smelled like herbs and had the feeling you get from using Icy Hot. Reading over my description I'm thinking that many of you might have the impression that it was an unpleasant experience. Actually, I'm looking forward to going back. I want to see what else they can do to me :).

Today I slept in--it was glorious! I got ready in a hurry and headed over to meet Shu-Ting, one of the local English teachers, for lunch. We went to a really nice restaurant that is known for speciality flavored hot pot. I tried the spicy coconut with pork. This specific restaurant puts everything in the soup for you, but normally you place the food into the pot as you like. You most often choose the meat and the soup base that you want, and all types of hot pot will come with cabbage, a variety of mushrooms, tofu, fish balls, and sometimes thin noodles or rice. After lunch we walked next door to a department store and shopped for some skin care products. Shu-Ting also took me to a store that she often goes to which sells more traditional Chinese style clothing with a modern twist. I played dress up for a while, and then came back home to get ready for my first wedding banquet!

This evening Julianna, one of my co-teachers, took me with her family to a friend's wedding banquet. This was my first time going to any sort of wedding event ever, so I was super excited. I got all dressed up in my new bright blue dress, and put my hair up in little twists, which has become a popular demand from all the teachers I work with. I took the bus to the HSR station where Julianna and her family picked me up. We then drove for about one hour to a city called Ping Dong. On the way there her mother, husband, two daughters, one son, and I chatted in Chinese, and I showed them pictures of Leo (Julianna had told them about him).

The banquet was held in a high school gym, which was divided into two sides with about thirty tables each for both the family and friends of the bride and groom. This was apparently an exceptional banquet, as Julianna said it was the first one she had been to that also had an MC/band. Each guest gave the bride and groom a red envelope filled with money, used to cover the cost of the banquet, upon entering and signs their name in the guest book. It's a tradition to offer candy as good luck to symbolize the sweetness of their marriage. Cartons of cold, sweetened tea and bottles of beer and wine were placed on the spinning center of the table (think lazy susan). Most banquets formally start at 6:30pm, at which time waitresses stroll down the aisles with carts filled with the first dish. All in all there are usually about 12 dishes, most of which are found at every banquet. Tonight we had a plate of five different seafood appetizers, most of them containing squid. After the "appetizers," we had shark fin soup with seafood, followed by a whole chicken cooked in a pot, a steamed fish, lobster with sashimi and squid balls, sticky rice with eel and steamed bamboo, steamed shrimp, a taro dish steamed inside a large lotus leaf, broccoli with seafood, fruit with a popular yogurt drink, and a signature soup always served at the end to signal the completion of the banquet. Throughout the banquet, the bride and groom walk around with their parents to toast each table. The bride changes her dress three times to show her beauty. Individuals at each table often offer up toasts to one another as well. We sat with co-workers of Allen, Julianna's husband, and they were all incredibly friendly. One man brought his son who is getting married next month, so they invited me to their banquet as well.

After saying goodbye and congratulating the bride and groom, we went to a nearby department store to allow the wine to wear off before we drove home. Allen, Steven (the son), Vicky (the eldest daughter), and I played arcade games in the basement for a while before we went upstairs to browse the store. I hadn't played arcade games in such long time; it was actually a lot of fun. Vicky and I shot baskets together against the clock, and then we went over to one of the impossible machines to try and grab a really cute frog with a cute watch strapped around his body. Vicky almost had him so many times, and we kept playing until the 25th time when you are guaranteed to catch one. The machine didn't give it up, however, so Allen complained to the attendant who promised to contact the company and have them give it to us. I challenged Steven to air hockey, and then I played the game where you beat down the heads of some animal with a paddle when it comes at you on the screen.

We found out that we all love to window shop, so Vicky, Maddie (the youngest daughter), Julianna and I sorted through a bin of t-shirts on sale. I bought a few more towels since Leo has pretty much taken over my old ones, and a small pillow for naptime at school (I've found that I have no problem falling asleep after lunch, but a pillow would really enhance the experience). About an hour later after we were on our way back to my apartment. We chatted about American movies, Allen made a few great plays on words that sound like my Chinese name (Deng4 Ni2 Qi3), and I gave the kids my new business cards! Steven seemed to think it was pretty cool, and was excited to see that I had MSN.

I had such a wonderful time with Julianna's family; it was like spending time with my best friends and their families from home. I can't wait for our next activity together!

Tomorrow I'm off to Qi Jin, a nearby island famous for its seafood, for my first outing with my host family since meeting them last week. Keyi (my youngest sister) has been texting me all week to keep up with what I'm doing, so I can't wait to see them! I bought the girls two pairs of hair ties with strawberries on them yesterday afternoon, so I really hope they like them. I just got a message saying they want to meet at 9 am instead of 11, so I'd better go to bed!

More about tomorrow along with pictures from today to follow soon!