One of the many cultural shifts from Japan to Taiwan was the more family type culture. Because in Japan so many people we met were new to us, being with family and friends in Taiwan that we know and love was a big culture shock as it involved more of our heart and emotion, wearing us out a bit more. Another thing was the language shift! We had already experienced Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese and now were into Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese. Hahaha....our poor brains. I still remember trying to say something and trying 3 or 4 different languages before getting the right one! =) Plus we also had a major food shift! Although I prefer Chinese food to Japanese food (they are both good though!), it is sometimes harder to find food that those of us on the team with food allergies can eat. Even still, we grew to love the Taiwanese and people from Living Waters Church even more.
The Shao family: Jess, Alice, Abby, Moses, Nemo, Jojo
One of the evenings, we were able to go to the Huang's restaurant. It was incredible, both the building and the food! We also got so see Elaine Lee. She used to live with the Kawases about 3 or 4 years ago but was not re-issued another visa and so had to return home. It was so good to get to see her, hear how her heart was doing, and love on her. Elaine, being just over 30, expressed her desire to be married. So we said that we would pray for her. In all seriousness, Kenon said, "Let's pray in tongues: hubby hubby hubby hubby hubby hubby hubby hubby......." Hahaha......=) We did get to pray for her and bless her and her family.
Joy Maas
Another afternoon, we got to go shopping with Emily Hong (in school at ORU currently as a Senior) and Sarah Wong. It was fun to see her light up as she was showing us all the fun places to shop in her hometown. The boys also got very Taiwanese stylish hair cuts! It was quite the shock at the difference in their appearance when they came back! I also got to go with Kirsti and Natalie to the night market with Candy and Amber. It was my first time to experience that and was so much fun! It's kind of like an outdoor, overcrowded Walmart and an Oriental market where you can haggle prices and find literally everything! I got to try a cranberry drink with Candy (super yummy!) and bought a few little nic nacs/Christmas presents for some of my family. The smells and sounds are like nothing else! So many different things, all at once, all at different times. I love Asia!
and are everywhere!
space in the hot, humid outside
On Sunday we were able to attend morning services at Living Waters Church. It was so good to get to experience Taiwanese church! That afternoon we helped pack everything up so that we could head on Monday (2nd) to the college where we were going to have the conference.
with us)
they remind them of the old men's beards a lot in Asia-kinda like Gatorade
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