Words I Lived

Skateboarding in Yingga

2012-02-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Anthony Homer Ulsa - fs Noseslide

Michael Mcdonald - Wallride Nollie out

Michael Mcdonald - fs flip

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival - 平溪

2012-02-07T00:31:00.000-08:00

I am not sure of the exact story, but they started launching sky lanterns in Pingxi, because it was a secluded area. It began to have lots of crime after Han had settled there. So they would launch sky lanterns to either let people know there was a bandit attack, or it was to let people know that they were safe. This event eventually became a large scale festival when the coal mines closed in the late twentieth century and the villagers need a new income.

I headed up to Pingxi (平溪) saturday around 1pm with Jacob. When we first arrived in Taipei, we got off the bus, took the escalator down two stories, when I suddenly realized I didn't have my wallet. I quickly remembered where I left it on the bus. I ran back up to the 3rd floor to retrieve it from the bus which had already left. I talked to the guy at the front desk telling him my problem. With no response he waved his arm and started to go down the escalators, he then brought me to the ticket booth. I realized then, he didn't understand any English, and I also realized that none of their employers understood English. Which was fine, because I could practice struggling through my Chinese vocabulary to explain the problem. After a clueless dialogue, back and forth they had found the wallet and I could retrieve it when it returned back to the city in a few hours.

After I received my wallet, Jake and I headed out a little later then we planned. We hopped on the MRT (Taiwan Subway) and after a transfer made it to the bus which then took us to Pingxi. When we arrived there was thousands of people. We walked down a road shoulder to shoulder, 10 people wide for a long distance.

Jake and I bought one of our own after watching thousands of other people send their own up. ($3US).

The whole night kinda felt like this...

...but without the girl

Homer's Birthday Skate

2012-02-06T00:31:00.000-08:00

More Skateboarding

2012-02-05T07:20:00.000-08:00

Here is another recent video Michael posted. The footage is from mid Dec. I have 2 tricks in the video I start at 0:32

Skateboarding in Naili

2012-02-05T07:12:00.000-08:00

This video is made by Homer. I probably skate with these guys once every 1 or 2 months. Most of this footage is from Nov. I beleive.

Year of the Dragon

2012-02-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

Down the road from my house at off of 文心 road at Forest park is a big light display for the Year of the Dragon. On over corner of the park is a different colored dragon. There is lots of food and other activities to do there also. There was lots of people crowding the park, but surprisingly it all ended at 10pm.

Moltres?

Teaching English

2012-02-02T01:05:00.001-08:00

Chapel Time Message

2012-02-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

I shared a message about prayer. I did a little skit in the beginning having Jacob act as an old women as I doubled as a business man and shop keeper.

Tank Bunkers

2012-01-31T05:43:00.000-08:00

Surrounding Taichung is a U-shaped mountain range. The Taiwan military built tank bunkers up on these hills overlooking the city. If China decided to attack Taiwan they would most likely come through Taichung. The tanks would then sit up on the hill able to blast away at the city which I currently live in. But with the advancing military technology, these bunkers have rendered useless against the Chinese.

Hu Tou Mountain 虎口山 (12-12-12 Challenge)

2012-01-30T05:10:00.000-08:00

The first section for my 12-12-12 challenge was in Hu Tou Mountain (虎口山). Hu Tou means Tiger Mouth. It is one of our easiest hikes. It was only about 97 meters most of which we drove up in a car, then the rest was just a few stair cases up.

In the distance you can see the ocean that separates us from China. According to the plaque below, Japan sank a Russian ship off the coast.

On the top of the plaque is a Chinese song. We asked some of the other hikers to sing it for us. In the end we ended up reading the chinese to them out of their fear of foreigners.

12 Mountains in 12 Months (12-12-12 Challenge)

2012-01-29T04:43:00.000-08:00

For 2012, I will be hiking the 12 different mountain ranges in 12 months. I will do 1 a month, along with Marc and Jacob. Some days will be only hiking 1 mountain other days we will be hiking multiple ones in a single day.

Chinese New Year Part 3 (Dora's House)

2012-01-28T04:25:00.000-08:00

Jake and I spent two days with two of our past students. They took us to their home and ate lots of food, spending the day with their families.

6:30 am... Skateboarding

2012-01-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

6:30 am woke up and skated this rail. Not even a warm up ollie, my first actions on the board were pushing and jumping onto the rail. The security guard gave me until 8:30 to skate it. In the process I tore a hole in my shoe exposing my toes. Picture on the left shows how the grip tape on my skateboard wore away at my big toe nail.

Chinese New Year Part 2 (Fu Dog Dancing)

2012-01-27T04:17:00.000-08:00

I managed to show up at the Fu Dog festivities a little late, just in time to catch the end of the show. They are doing construction on the major part of the temple so the show wasn't as extravagant as it was years before, I heard.

After the show they had this little arts and craft thing to do. You basically, get the paper wet, pound it with a brush on top of the imprint, then dab it with a sand bag dipped in ink.

Below the temple was a museum. It shared about the aboriginals, old chinese toys and more.

In the toy store you could buy from a big selection of gods.

Skateboard Gathering

2012-01-25T07:34:00.000-08:00

Every weekend on Saturday and Sunday a group of skateboarders show up at this park. They will bring rails or other things sometimes and there is normally always a couple of benches to grind. I try to make and effort to show up at least once a week, to stay connected with other skateboarders in Taichung.

Chinese New Year Part 1

2012-01-23T00:13:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year has just begun. It is one of the most important holidays for the Taiwanese. They celebrate the western new year, but traditionally their new year starts at a different date. They get about 1 week off of work, while students will get the month off of school. The day before New Years Eve they will clean their houses, throwing away old furnature, etc.

This week I am busy almost everyday going to different people's houses or places. The first day Jake and I went to a married students house. She brought us to her husband's parent's house. We enjoyed an intersting meal with the family.

We ate many strange foods. We had shark and also ate black chicken. After eating we played some games with the younger kids. Traditionally the uncle will give a red envolope to the nephews which contains a little bit of money. Jake and I recieved such an evnolope from the father-in-law.

Enjoy Skate

2012-01-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

I was unexpectedly invited to a private group on facebook of some 21 skateboarders in Taichung. So I started chatting with them, I believe I have only previously met two of the skaters. So I met up with them for some fun street skating.

bs 180

fs 180

SYME Wednesday Activity

2012-01-19T22:10:00.000-08:00

Every Wednesday we play fun games at SYME. All the new students had a lot of fun playing a type of human foosball. Basically all the rules were broken multiple times, and a few things almost got broken as the volleyball hit the ceiling lights and people's faces.

First Day of SYME 2012

2012-01-15T22:50:00.000-08:00

SYME Winter 2012 term has just begun. We have 25 students attending. I ran the game time and shared with them some of the rules about speaking English only and the struggles of foreign students studying in America.

New House

2012-01-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

Once again I have moved to a new building. The first night there I ran into a little lizard scourging around. We have 4 bedrooms, a kitchen and a big living room. Our apartment is right across the street from Mcdonald's, on a pretty main road in Taichung. We will be having 10 male students living in the dorm with us. The past few weeks we have been working on getting SYME ready for the next term which starts Monday morning.

Andrew Chang - Ollie

2012-01-13T18:33:00.000-08:00

BARS - Michigan Skate Video

2012-01-10T00:22:00.000-08:00

I managed to get a copy of the BARS video all the way to Taiwan. A skate video made by Logan Rice of a bunch of locals from the Michigan's Kalamazoo and Lansing area mostly. Lots of the skaters I have skated with a few times. I mostly bought the video just so I could see Martian Fobes part along with Deezle's (which is worth it alone). If your into skating and live in Michigan, you should definitely pick up a copy of Bars. You can buy it from Phono & Company.

Skyrim Pack Rat

2012-01-08T00:46:00.000-08:00

When I began playing Skyrim I realized it was like no other game. I could touch almost any item in the game and take it home with me. As I began wondering through caves unable to leave any items behind constantly being over weight. Traveling long distances through caves walking slower then a snail. I would return home drop the useless items on the ground, sell the ones worth money, and keep 1 of every different kind of item I can find organized in different selves and chest.

Not before long my home was a disaster, and I thought I like it this way. So after I got over the I can take every single item in the game, I still took as much as I could just so I could trash my home.

(There are ways you can cheat and carry infinite amounts of weight, I did not do that, I carried all these items the way the game was met to be played.)

Taiwan Puppets

2012-01-04T01:12:00.000-08:00

Commercial

2012-01-03T00:22:00.000-08:00

Waferlock-Brand Video from MandyChen on Vimeo.

New Years Eve - Taipei 101 Fireworks (Part 4)

2012-01-02T03:04:00.000-08:00

It was a cloudy, cold, rainy day. We arrived at Taipei 101 around time for dinner. After spending some time to eat we walked the rest of the way to Tiger Mountain (Hu Shan). We walked up the mountain around 5:30pm trying to arrive early to get a good spot. Sadly it was already loaded with cameras (Photo below). As I scattered around I finally had to settle with a spot below the deck. I had to pull down some branches and tall grass to keep it out of my photos.

This was one of my test shots for preparing for the New Years Eve excitement. While waiting a long cold 6 hours. We chatted with the other photographers there, took naps and watched different people come and go.

You can view more photos on my flickr page

After the night was over and everyone left, we spent the night in a tent overlooking the city. I slept very horribly from 1am - 5am being woken up by the chatter of some hikers who wanted to watch the sunrise.

Jake at 5:30 in the morning waiting for a bus

New Years Eve - Mr. Ming (Part 3)

2012-01-02T01:48:00.000-08:00

This was a very interesting man we met while watching the Dragons and Fu Dogs dance. He talked to Jake for a long time before I joined in. He told us he became a Christian while in the military. He then showed us how well he could stretch at 82 years old. He proceeded by telling us all the secrets to staying healthy in your old age. It mostly had to do with rubbing your face. Supposedly it only takes 100 times of it a day and I won't go bald. He also told us that he was the Taiwanese's president's junior high-school professor.

New Years Eve - Cultural Festivities (Part 2)

2012-01-02T01:05:00.000-08:00

While exploring we ran into a little Taiwanese cultural experience. This is my first time while in Taiwan actually seeing this kind of thing.

I see statues of this at many of the temples this is a Fu Dog or in chinese, Shishi (石獅).

While in the middle of the performance a man on stage pointed Jake and I out as the Americans who came to take pictures at their show. So I had a small conversation with him while he was on stage, with a camera about 2ft from me.

To see some more photos you can go to my flickr page.

Panda or Giraffe...

2012-01-01T19:37:00.001-08:00

Christmas Child

2012-01-01T19:36:00.001-08:00

New Years Eve (Part 1)

2012-01-01T18:23:00.001-08:00

I spent my friday night up until 5:00am mostly playing computer games, before I hopped on the bus with Jake. After my 3 hour nap, I arrived in Taipei. With little direction to our activities there, we had freedom to just explore.

Our plan was to have a transportation free tour of the city. Everywhere we went we would walk. This really helped me to understand how to get around the city better and also got to see many new places that I wouldn't get to see on a bus or subway.

Total distance walked was about 12.3k according to google, if we walked a pretty straight shot. Also according to google it should have taken us 2 hours and 46 min. to walk that distance without stopping to enjoy everything.

When we first arrived we went to a antique like market, slept out in-front of a technology mall for an hour before they opened (receiving many strange looks), and found this large mall with a ball stinking out the front of the building while also entering into the inside of the building. (photo below)

SYME Student Testimonies

2011-12-30T01:08:00.000-08:00

Tinkering in Photoshop

2011-12-28T00:42:00.000-08:00

Working in Photoshop making new SYME Promotion Material.

Christmas

2011-12-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

Woke up on christmas morning to make ourselves some pancakes...they were awful...

We also made our own egg nog after not being able to find it in stores. It was awful also...

This is our Christmas tree and our gifts underneath it.

Jake and I spent about $2US on each other. And then played a Monopoly Card game that my parents gifted me. After that we played some video games. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Santa Claus in Taiwan

2011-12-25T01:15:00.000-08:00

陀螺 - Ancient Chinese Spinning Top

2011-12-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

Taipei 101

2011-12-22T18:25:00.000-08:00

The Staff Christmas

2011-12-22T06:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas at the bosses house, which amounts to 7 people including the kids. Beth made a great meal for us all then after opening the gifts they let us help decorate the tree. After words we sat around and enjoyed child entertainment and intellectual conversations.

This is a Holiday work Outfits

Jake and I bought the kids planes

Earlier in the year I took some photos of the family for their prayer card. I decided to give them some picture frames with the photos I took in them.

Crooks

2011-12-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

4 for 1 - Scooter

2011-12-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

This is a very common site to see. Four people on one scooter.

Skating Taichung Fountain

2011-12-19T17:16:00.000-08:00

Weekend Warriors Trailer 1

2011-12-19T06:52:00.000-08:00

My friend Michael is trying to put a skate video together for fun. Here is the first video trailer he made.

Taiwan Hospitality

2011-12-17T20:17:00.000-08:00

I took a trip up to Naili to see my friend Michael and go skate with him. I was hungry from my long trip so I stopped at McDonalds to grab a bite to eat. The line happened to be really long and the service was really slow at the time. When I noticed a lady in the very front of the line, look back at me and point. She then points to the ground where she is standing. I realized she was signaling me to come to her, I walk up to the front of the line and order my food. Unsure of what was really going on, I though maybe all the people in front of me had possibly ordered already. I then asked Michael, "did I just cut all those people?" "Yes." Apparently this isn't the first time it has happened to foreigners...just another day in Taiwan Hospitality.

The Winning Ticket

2011-12-12T00:02:00.000-08:00

In Taiwan, every receipt has a lottery number on it. When you buy gum, milk, anything, there is always a lottery number. After saving your receipts for two months they will post the winning numbers online. So after saving hundreds of receipts and searching through the list of numbers to see if any of mine matched I have finally won $200, that is of course $200NT which equals to about $6 in America.

American Treatment...typical day.

2011-12-10T18:58:00.001-08:00

I had to go on a 3 hour bus ride to 高雄 (Gaoxiong) to promote SYME at a Christian Christmas (kinda English) concert called "Friends Forever". Around 2:30 I go get a taxi to take to the bus station. I tell the taxi where I want to go, "Gong Guang"(its the name of the bus station). He tells me to get in, then asks me "在那裡" (Where do you want to go). So I tell him again. He seemed a little confused, and it could be because my tones aren't completely correct and my Chinese accent is overpowered with an American one. He repeats saying some street name, but it seemed like it might be incorrect. So then I tell him "車佔、我要去高雄." (Bus Station, I want to go to Gaoxiong). So he, realizes what I want, and drives me to the bus station.

When I get to the bus station I buy my ticket. I tell the guy behind the counter where I want to go. He gives me the ticket and tells me "Go to information to get your ticket number". I being a little confused, seeing as I already had my ticket and there was plenty of numbers on the ticket already, said "ticket number?" "Yes, go to information to receive your ticket number." Instead of asking questions I just go to see what this ticket number is about. I go up to the counter and hand the lady my ticket and say "ticket number?" She then looks down a list writes the number 12 down on a piece of paper and my ticket. I then realized that it must be some priority order thing for getting on the bus.

After I go sit down a short chubby soft spoken man approaches me and says "The bus will be coming in a few minutes." "Ok how many minutes, like 5 min.?" After he stood silent for a couple moments looking at his watch, he looks back up at me and says "20 min." "Ok, thank you."

When the bus arrives I go to get in line for the bus, I am probably the 5th person in line. The ticket man lets the first 3 people on, then stops at the lady in front of me and makes her stand aside. I try to give him my ticket also, not really sure if it is because he thinks I am with her or not, but he refuses it. During this the ticket man had stopped the line and gotten onto the bus. So my friend from earlier, sees me standing there and comes over to me and tells me to wait a moment. He then goes onto the bus and has a discussion with the ticket man. They get off the bus and the ticket man takes my ticket. I then get onto the bus, with about 3 other people, noticing that there isn't any seats left. They kindly ask the few of us to get off the bus. My new friend tells me, "I'm so sorry the next bus will be coming. "Oh it's ok, what time will it be here?" He leaves to go find out the time, so I sit down. He then comes back over to me and says;

"20 min., I'm so sorry."
"Its fine."
"Sorry sorry sorry."
"Its ok."

Moments later he comes back with a warm drink for me while I wait and apologizes some more. When the bus arrives a line forms and I go to get inline but the man running the tickets puts in me the front of the line. So I can be the first on the bus.

This is just kind of a typical experience I have while traveling around in Taiwan with the language barrier and so fourth.

Taichung Flower Exhibit

2011-12-07T05:17:00.001-08:00

About an hour away from home on an almost free bus ride, I went to see flowers with Anne Marie and Joanna. The Bus dropped us off then it was a kinda short-long walk to the flower exhibit. There was tons of people, fields filled with millions of flowers, and also a lot of food stands.

This is their Thanks Giving display. They actually had a mini corn field, kinda funny, but I guess they don't get to see corn everyday like we do in the States.

The walk back to the bus station was really far and hot. We probably walked for half and hour and had a lot more to go. While we were walking a car pulled over to talk to Joanna. Joanna said something and before I knew it, we were getting a ride from a stranger. She seemed really nice and asked us if we wanted to go somewhere. We said sure. We ended up taking a 1:30 hour trip to some mountain for a hike.

滑滑板在台中台彎

2011-12-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Out with the old, in with the New.

2011-12-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

It wasn't hard for me to find shoes for really low prices in the US. So luckily I brought a few extra pairs for skating in. But my shoes slowly all got pretty thrashed. I held out as long as I could to find a good price. I could find plenty of really cheap shoes for $15 but would fall apart within a week. I finally found a Vans store that sold shoes on sale for $30 and bought myself two pairs.

Skating in Na Li

2011-12-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

Michael Mcdonald - Switch fs 180

Reviewing the footage

Michael Mcdonald - Switch Crooks

Anthony Homer - fs 5-0

Chinglish...No Touch, Please!

2011-12-04T18:53:00.001-08:00

What they mean is "Please do not touch." But the funniest part is that this 'Fragile' object is a t-shirt and you need a staff member to help you handle this expensive piece of luxury.

Taipei Voyage

2011-12-04T18:30:00.001-08:00

Anne Marie went to work at a Orphanage for a few days near Taipei. So we went up a day early to enjoy the rainy day. This is the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial.

Many people gathered to watch the changing of guards. They went through this long little performance to switch the guards posted. After it was done two guards stood staring, across from each other not moving for anything.

Underneath/inside the building is a art gallery among other things and little souvenir shops.

We then were taken to this very populated temple. There was lines of people coming here to worship.

A strange feeling came over me, as I watched one of the students that was with me go over to worship while we were there standing with her. It just helped me to realize the reality of it a little more.

We then walked down to an old street. The old buildings were filled with contemporary strange art. The picture to the left was taken in a room down a strange hall way. The rooms only had a chair in them, with headsets hanging from the ceiling. You sit down and listen to the strange noises.

Is that the Shell gas station logo?

This one was my favorite, though it was hard to photograph. It was in a completely dark room. There was merely a little toy train running on a track with the light shinning from the front of him. He would drove through pencils and by other objects to create beautiful shadows on the walls.

Prayer Letter December

2011-11-29T20:52:00.001-08:00

Kenting Vacation

2011-11-28T04:06:00.001-08:00

After the SYME fall term ended we get a week vacation to relax and get away from work. We decided to go with a group of students to Kenting. Its about 2-3 hours south, known for its beaches. We stopped in Goushang for a day on the way down. In there Subway system is a very colorful room of lights and windows. It kinda shows the artist idea of the evolution of life.

We rode bikes along the cost and hung out in the Market. The picture above has a rode on the right that has collapsed either from an earthquake or poor building.

There is a famous tunnel...do you remember the glow in the dark stars you had as a kid, its kinda like that in there.

This is a cool bridge near the hotel we stayed in

This is our very colorful hotel room. With a beautiful view out the window. The pictures below are within 5 min. of my Hotel room.

While taking pictures this cat mustered from the rocks and came towards me, it quickly grew very fond of me and followed me while I took pictures.

We spent most of the day swimming. The Taiwanese that went with us really liked taking pictures of themselves in very location more then swimming. That night we went to the night market. (picture to the left is a man with a squirrel). After the night market we went out to a field to look at the stars. I haven't seen stars like this in a long time. The sky in Taichung is very polluted and bright from the city.

After staying out late look at the stars I woke up at 4:30 am to go see the sunrise. There was many other Taiwanese there to see the sunrise also. We found a nice location on the edge of the cliff were most people fear to go...

We then went to a very touristy area. The rock formation on the right hand on the picture, I believe is supposed to look like a cat, otherwise known as the "Cat Rock".

Photo from Kim Tsai's iphone

We then went to the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life. The picture does not clearly show how amazing it was. The water was clearing then bath water. I could see to the bottom of the ocean clearly in 12ft deep water. The sand was perfect and the weather couldn't have been better. Everyone went home this day, but we (Jacob, Anne Marie, and Kim Tsai) spur of the moment decided to stay one more night.

The next day we first went to this fire mountain thing. It ended up being an enclosed no trespassing circle with a fire small camp fires. The cool side to it is that the fire is natural from gases in the ground that are constantly burning....probably just a leaky gas pipe.

After spending most of the day at the beach we headed home, but first stopping at one of the largest science museums in the world. As expected you will see things that promote the agenda of evolution even though there is no solid proof for it, however in Taiwan they also promote the agenda of their gods in the science museum.

Friend Day Fall Term

2011-11-14T17:39:00.001-08:00

I know my blog post are a little behind, but the last day of SYME we had our students perform skits, songs, share Bible verses, all being done in English with Chinese translation for the audience.

Christ Steiner shared the gospel as Dora translated it. Many of the students friends and families come to see their children show off their English ability but also learn about Christ.

This is every (staff and student) from the fall term. We have one student planning on going to the WOL Bible Institute next year.

SYME Fall Term

2011-11-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

The Fall term is over. Last week was the last week. I have been doing many things finishing up this term. We have been preparing for Friend Day everyday. (where many people come out to see the students show off their English). I also just began college course with Liberty University this last week to add to the busyness. Our Boss, Chris Steiner and his family will be going back to the States for almost 2 months. We have been getting prepared for his departure and things we need to do while he is gone. I am sorry I have been a little behind in my updates. I hope to get things more up to date next week.

Taking the Stairs

2011-10-20T00:42:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start talking the stairs during the week. Not that I am out of shape or am trying to stay in shape exactly. Each weekend when I go skate my legs are too stiff. I figure if I start using the stairs during the week I could keep my legs more stretched, build up some muscle and endurance. Take the 10th Floor challenge...!
155 Steps both ways.

SYME Summer Testimonies

2011-10-19T03:28:00.000-07:00

Testimony Thing I made for SYME:

Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

2011-10-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

We traveled out to Sun Moon Lake after going to Rainbow Village in the Morning. Jake got sick taking the gondola...actually we never took the gondola. Sun Moon Lake is a very famous/touristy area. Our Student Ryan asked us to go about 2 hours before we left for this all day trip.

The day started out a little rainy and foggy. We were going to rent bikes but they wouldn't let us in the rain.

We took a boat across the lake to a little town on the other side.

Pokemon Tower?

Scooter in the rain...no problem, just pull out the umbrella.

The town has a history of aboriginals, so there is many aboriginal like things for sale.

This is a Christian church, it was built by Chang Kai Shek.

We then went to a German Opera with a Taiwanese Orchestra which our friends friend was performing in.

Afterwords they asked us to stack our chairs. We had the tallest chair stacking tower there...

Pool Party

2011-10-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

Videos...

2011-10-16T07:47:00.000-07:00

I'm working on some videos and plan on start doing a lot more of them. Hopefully some will be up in the next couple of weeks. Some will just be of fun things and others showing around Taiwan and things at SYME.

Rainbow Village - Taichung, Taiwan

2011-10-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

I stumbled a crossed Rainbow Village on the internet, finding out it was in Taiwan near my home. I knew nothing about it but wanted to go see what I saw in the pictures online.

This is the home of the man who did all the paintings. He is currently 88 years old. We were able to go into his home and talk with him. In the photo below he gives me one of his paintings of a rabbit. From my understanding he doesn't sell any of his paintings, he just loves what he does. He lives in a small room that could barely fit us in while we talked.

We needed a translator to help us understand what he was saying. In Chinese he said I know a little English, "Good Morning" and "Mornin" mean the same thing. He then told us about being from Hong Kong. He pulled out a book of photos of Jackie Chan (photo above) because Jackie Chan is from Hong Kong. He then showed us a letter that he wrote to send to Hong Kong. "I still write to people in Hong Kong, he is a letter I am going to send."

As we continued to talk we found out he goes to a church down the road every Sunday. I wish I could have talked to him much longer but we had to leave. We stopped by and saw his church on the way out which also had paintings all over it.

100th Anniversary of Taiwan

2011-10-13T03:23:00.000-07:00

I sadly didn't go camera equipped but I went to Taiwan's 100th birthday celebration in my city. The put on a play (rock opera thingy) displaying them receiving their freedom from China. With out me knowing the President of Taiwan was there. At the end the released thousands of doves (Balloons) into the sky. A few got stuck in a tree. I climbed up to retrieve the dove, impressing many of the locals. (heard from there wows and whispers)

Taiwan Dogs

2011-10-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

You may find it gross, but in Taiwan the dogs go where ever they may. I have been to restaurants with dogs walking around inside, and no its not a health code violation, we don't have those. But just so you know it has not effected my health, I actually enjoy the company.

Katori"s World: Abandoned Theme Park - Taiwan

2011-10-11T02:18:00.000-07:00

Once again I made a voyage to find Katoli's World. I knew exactly where it was on a map. The last time I accidently found a different abandoned theme park.

When we reached the top there wasn't anything but this run down house, temple and an empty parking lot. But I knew this wasn't the end, according to my map we needed to keep walking.

I read rumors of the place being torn down, but I wanted to see for myself. (I had no photo evidence). According to the sign (photo left) Katori's World was torn down 1 year ago.

This is all that remains. Just an empty patch of dirt.

Not to far away, we could see a hill of houses. They all looked very abandoned. Some houses where completely over grown in green shrubbery.

This home is not abandoned though it does appear that way. Many places in Taiwan look as though no one occupies it, but be careful exploring because you might be in invading someone's property.

After walking down this path to reach the houses, we arrived at a gate, with a guard out front. I went to take a picture, but the guard stopped me from doing so. A few seconds later another man showed up to have tea with us. He told us the company lost a lot of money and couldn't build the houses anymore. among talking about other things. After drinking tea with the stranger we moved on.

Using an umbrella to give buddha shade.

This is another little abandoned area, but not much to see here.

Chinglish: Pretty Wife Eat Cheese

2011-10-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

click on the image to enlarge it

Feng Uan Night Market (豐原)

2011-10-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

Our Student, Lilly took us out for a night on the town. She showed us around her neighborhood. Taking us to the places she loves to eat.

Lilly then took us to her eye doctor to get Anne Marie's and Jacob's eyes checked.

We then ate some delicious pie. There was wide variety of any different kinds of bean flavors.

Rainy Weekend in Taipei

2011-10-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went up to Taipei, of course we had to go to our favorite shaved ice place.

The next day I met up with Michael to skate. However there was a typhoon that went by, so it rained all day. We went to a little area under a bridge where guys will go skate sometimes.

Because of the rain we headed out to meet Tim Mingle in Danshui because Michael saw a photo of him skating the spot in the photo below.

The locals told us they skate there all the time and no one cares. So we went to skate it. When we first arrived there was an old man sitting on the end of the bench. We politely asked if he could move down to the other end of the bench so we could skate it. He immediately became very angry and wouldn't talk to us. So we gave up and just skated flat.

Eventually he left, so we began skating, about 10min. later he came back and sat down in the same spot. An employee saw and told the guy we were skating there, so he should move down to the other end of the bench. Eventually he moved down. Within 2 min. Another man came and did the same thing. His initial intention was to sit there so we couldn't skate. So we skated the flat ground, not bothering him or anyone else. None of the skaters pestered him to move after asking the first time, or made any remarks towards him. When he decided to leave he threw down his cup of coffee all over the floor where we where skating. The locals said the employees of the place let them skate there. Whenever they skate there they never had any issues before. Within a few minutes the man showed up again. And began to get into an argument with another taiwanese skateboarder. At this point, Michael and I, along with a couple other guys had enough and just decided to leave because it wasn't worth it. It was all very strange behavior, we weren't poking at him to leave, we asked politely once, and they immediately became angry. I don't know what the issue was, however the employees never had any problems with us skating there and actually suggested to the man to move down so we could skate there.

After all that excitement I took the train to the other end of Taipei to meet up with some friends. We took paddle boats out on the water to get a nice view of the bridge and take some pictures.

The next day after going to church we went ice skating. Yes, we are ice skating with helmets on...why because in Taiwan culture they think many things are dangerous. For example swimming without a lifeguard, climbing trees, among other things. So they take extreme caution. They wanted everyone to wear helmets, knee pads and elbow pads. We convinced them I didn't need any knee or elbow pads. In the end it was really fun, I haven't ice skated in a few years probably.

Bible Club - Baaaa

2011-09-29T22:19:00.000-07:00

First get your sheep hair. 2nd get your Sheep face...?

Then we were herded in by our shepherd and sheep dogs.

Then we played some games...to help us look more like sheep.

Abel then led us in some sheep songs.

Lilly taught us about God and her experiences.

I caught a few sleepers

Speaking for Chapel Time

2011-09-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

Man to Man Fall Term

2011-09-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

Man to Man is a time once a month when all the guys can get together to learn about God and be guys. Jacob led us in some "new" old songs.

After that we entered into a fierce match of arm wrestling. America vs Taiwan. For some reason the brackets caused the 2 Americans to battle it out in the first round. But we prevailed.

Actually America didn't win. This guy did.

I then shared from God's Word with the guys about having Integrity.

Jacob and I then introduced them to some good old American Root Beer Floats. However we had no root beer. I saw Taiwanese using strawberry and chocolate ice-cream mixed into their coke floats.

Chinglish: Danger due to Water Deep...

2011-09-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

SYME Fun Day

2011-09-22T00:36:00.000-07:00

We spent the day out of classes teaching English, to go spend some time on bikes having fun and seeing new places

The days have been getting cooler, so it was a very enjoyable time with minimal sweating, compared to earlier in the summer.

We still enjoyed having Chapel time hearing Dora's testimony and Seo's message fromt he Bible.

We then played a bunch of silly games. After our activities everyone was free to explore and ride their bikes around. We walked acrossed a big dam to an earthquake memorial. Still in ruins is a fallen bridge. (photo below)

SYME Friend Day Summer 2011

2011-09-21T23:34:00.000-07:00

I know this blog post is a little late. I have been really busy trying to do other things. But I have finally gotten around to giving you the update of the last day of SYME from last term.

We started out with Jimmy and Rebecca introducing who comes up next well also being our humor.

Anne Marie directed the Choir as they same beautifully for all to enjoy.

Wei Wei shared her testimony as Jessica C. translated.

We proceeded that with a skit about light.

Gail, from Korea, led us in learning a Bible verse.

The director of SYME Taiwan, shared with us from God's Word while Nikki translated for about 100+ people to hear. Many who have never heard the Gospel message before.

To finish things off was a term of happy hands, which I directed and taught.

SYME Reunion

2011-09-20T01:23:00.000-07:00

I made the invitation for the SYME reunion. It was fun working on something different from just trying to make photos look beautiful. This will be the first SYME Taiwan reunion from the past 3 years. (Click on the photo to enlarge it)

Back at the Market

2011-09-17T23:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't hit the night market in a while. But decided to head over the Feng Jia. Every-time I go with new students they want me to eat stinky tofu. Even though I told them I have eaten 5 times already, they are never convinced. So once again I ate the stinky tofu. The photo to the left is a student and our Korean Intern buying some Pig's Blood.

SYME Compass Magazine Ad

2011-09-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

I am featured in an SYME add among 6 others. Me, being displayed with my shirt off, jumping into the water...The ad is being shown in Compass magazine. It is a local magazine to the Taichung area, translated in both English and Chinese. The ad normally costs a whole lot of money for a full page like so, however they magazine aloud us to advertise for free!

Taichung Science Museum

2011-09-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

I don't know why it took me 5 months to get to the science museum which I so after skateboard near, but I finally made it. Yea for Science!

They had many hands on exhibits some which I have seen already in the free museum in Kalamazoo, MI.

Human Pully System

This machine has you pull a bubble up around you. But it isn't easy you have to be good at it if you don't want it to pop*. I enjoyed many fun little activities and the time with the students I won't be seeing for a while.

Bible Club Robots

2011-09-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

For the first Bible Club the teachers will do an example to show how it should be ran. I was in charge of it. For a while I have been wanting to dress up like a robot. So I made that fit into what I preached on (Discipleship). Instead of the potter on the clay, we get the mechanic and the robot.

We used every type of cord and wire I could find in the building and strung them from the walls and doorways. I collected all the computers I could, took apart old ones, making a master computer podium among other things for decorations. Mrs. Janet had a lot of fun leading the music. She was the funniest robot of us all.

Then I did the teaching time. Overall it was a really fun night and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Serena's Baptism

2011-09-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

To start out the day we got breakfast and watched a puppet show. Well actually the puppet show wasn't going on, but they put on the shows from the little children at the temples. Jake and I decided to take a nice detour to explore the neighborhood, taking a us 2 hours long to walk there.

Candy Singing

I don't know all of Serena's story. But it is cool to see a year after her being here she came to Christ and is now professing her faith by getting baptized.

After church we went to a near by market, with one of the very few places you can by Mountain Dew in Taiwan, and shared the joy of the flavor with the Taiwanese friends. Then we enjoyed walking around the night market getting free balloons and watching a christian music concert.

Little Scouts Adventure

2011-09-13T02:51:00.000-07:00

We spent the day with a couple old students for one last time before the headed off to Word Of Life Korea Bible Institute, the next day.

They had a little rock climbing wall up the side of the house. For us to start out the day.

Anyone who can ride the Unicycle to the end of the drive way gets a free one. We could barely ride it using the hand rail.

This is a Chinese Cobra and it is poisonous. It was slinking around in the rafters of the house.

We then headed out to the rivers, climbing rocks, jumping off of cliffs and stretching in the water.

After swimming in the river we headed to a old village that I went to a long time ago, but had no idea were I was the first time. Here is an early blog post of this village.

Thunder Storm overlooking Taichung, Taiwan

2011-09-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

Today I got caught in the middle of a very bad thunderstorm. The rain blistered down on us with the wind blowing harshly against our umbrella. Walking home from the bus stop, I did all I could to keep my skateboard dry and my camera. By the time I got home, I was completely wet. It was as if I jumped into a pool with all my clothes on. But the weather was right. I have been wanting to get a photo from the roof of the apartment during a thunderstorm and got the chance when the rain died down a bit.

Taiwan Moon Festival

2011-09-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節), also known as the Moon Festival or Zhongqiu Festival is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese people. Dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty, it was first called Zhongqiu Jie (literally "Mid-Autumn Festival") in the Zhou Dynasty.^[1] In Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is in September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. It is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar, when the moon is at its fullest and roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties. The Chinese festival is very traditional and a great way to celebrate.

When an old man begged for food, the monkey gathered fruits from the trees and the otter collected fish, while the jackal wrongfully pilfered a lizard and a pot of milk-curd. The rabbit, who knew only how to gather grass, instead offered its own body, throwing itself into a fire the man had built. The rabbit, however, was not burnt. The old man revealed himself to be Śakra and, touched by the rabbit's virtue, drew the likeness of the rabbit on the moon for all to see. It is said the lunar image is still draped in the smoke that rose when the rabbit cast itself into the fire. (image from wiki)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

In my apartment complex, each building organizes their own food and eats together. We showed up a little late and got the left overs. The courtyard was crowded with people who live in the buildings around me listening to music with major echo effect on their voices. The smoke from all the grilling and worship has tainted my laundry hung out on my balcony and also the inside of my home.

Jake picking up the left overs. (Photo Below) We later went on the roof, to eat our moon cakes, looking at the moon, and watching some of our neighbors setting off fireworks. Later they got kicked off the roof for setting the fireworks off up there. Just before we showed up with our fireworks.

Prayer Letter - Summer Term

2011-09-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

SYME Fall 2011 Begins...

2011-09-05T01:54:00.000-07:00

First day of SYME Fall term has begun today. We have 16 students with a variety of English levels and personalities. I am excited to see what God will do in the lives of the students this term. (Photo: Anne Marie telling the students that if they speak any language other then English they must pay $30NT = $1US.

Learning Chinese

2011-09-04T03:33:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my Chinese teacher (on the right) with Anne Marie who takes classes with me. (by taking classes together we cut the price in half for each of us). I have classes once a week and try to study on my own every night depending on how busy I am with SYME.

New Term Begins!

2011-09-04T02:13:00.000-07:00

We showed the new Korean Intern around town, taking him to our favorite tea shops and noodles. The new term is about to begin. Students start arriving tonight around 7pm.

Skating with Andy

2011-09-04T02:04:00.000-07:00

Andy Learned how to ollie a 4 stair for the first time. His English has improved a lot since I first met him also. I am going to begin meeting with him once a week to disciple him, teaching him more about God's Word.

Video of Riding a Scooter in Taiwan

2011-09-04T01:39:00.000-07:00

Riding a scooter in Taiwan can be pretty crazy at times (though not displayed to much in this video). Scooters don't follow the normal car rules, and many times will go through red lights, weave in and out between cars and speeding by zig zagging around cars.

Modern Toilet

2011-09-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

There is a place in Yi Zhong (一中）called Modern Toilet. Known for there decorations of toilets and bath tubs instead of the normal dinning room table and chairs. You sit on these toilets eating over the bathtub. The food dishes served to you resemble other gross things that might be common to be in the toilet. I didn't order any food, so I don't have those photos. But I enjoyed taking a nice look inside the restaurant.

New Apartment

2011-09-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

This next term, because of the way things work out with the dorm sizes, Jake and I needed to move (to the 10th floor). We changed the girls dorm to a guys dorm and also got rid of two other dorms. We had to move many beds and other furniture to clean out the old locations.

My new view. Now I can see down the street, before I could only see the courtyard.

Burger Joint

2011-08-31T19:16:00.001-07:00

Burger Joint (located near Sogo) is probably one of the best places to get a good burger in Taichung. It would be like the good burger restaurant that everyone takes you too in there home town. The burgers here taste better then a lot of American burger restaurants.

My favorite Burger has to be the Bacon Cheese Burger loaded with pepper jack cheese.

The Pop Search...

2011-08-31T19:16:00.000-07:00

I've been on a mission to find some Mountain Dew and Creme Soda. It has been a difficult journey. We found restaurants that served it, so I knew it had to be possible. (One restaurant puts Root Beer under the Beer section of the Menu). We finally found it! (in 一中 Night Market).

This is the first time she has had Creme Soda and Mountain Dew. She really loved the Creme Soda.

SYME Summer Term Recap

2011-08-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

Friend Day -Chris Preaching to Many guest as Nikki translates

The Summer Term of SYME is now over. We had 40 students from mostly Taiwan, but also 3 from Korea, 1 from Brazil and another student from South Africa. We were able to see 6 of our students accept Christ. Some of our students struggle with making a decision because of the fear of the response from their parents or grandparents.

Friend Day went great. We had many people come out to see the show! A editor of a newspaper came out and was very impressed. He is allowing us to put a free advertising in his magazine worth $7500US.

Looking back I made a lot of mistakes in my teaching, also with other things, relationships and taiwanese culture that I hope to change in the future. I am continuing learning new things about the Taiwanese. And as I understand the language a little more and live hear, I understand a little more why things are the way they are.

This next week we have 3 days before the next term really starts beginning. We have many things to do to prep for the school and the new teachers that are arriving thursday. (Some things we need to do...things that are left over after cleaning for 8 hours...)

For the new term I had to move to a new apartment because our lease was up with the one I was living in. This could possibly happen every couple months depending on the number of guy and girl students each term and the teachers that come in.

So far it looks like we will be having 7 male students and 10 girl students for the next term. Please pray for these students and my ministry among them.

How to make Skateboard Sequences with Photoshop

2011-08-30T02:51:00.000-07:00

I have posted a earlier tutorial on how to make skateboard sequences, but decided to redo it because I have learned even easier and more effective ways of editing a skateboard sequence using photoshop since then. If you want to learn more about Camera specs and set up please read my other post (or just send me a message). This one is only going to focus on editing in Photoshop CS5.

Begin by selecting all your photos in the sequence that you want to use.

With the photos selected go up to your Tools menu and scroll down to Photoshop. Then select the option Load Files into Photoshop Layers... This will load all your files automatically into one photoshop document.

Then with all your layers selected go up to the Edit menu, selecting Auto-Align Layers... This will automatically align the photos in the sequence for you. So you don't have to manually rotate the images trying to get for example the grind rail to line up perfectly while also having the stairs match up.

For organization select all your photos and press Command G to put all your photos in a group just to keep things from getting mixed with other layers you will create.

It is good to begin with your top photo or the photo with the skater behind the other images of himself. Begin by selecting the Layer Mask and press Command + Delete. This should fill the layer mask with black, making the image not visible. (If it doesn't press "x" and try again.) Then begin masking only the skater into the image using the brush tool making the white section on the layer mask the part that is the skater.

After painting in the back skater work on unpainting the other skaters back in that you might have blocked out from painting too much white into your layer mask.

Eventually if you take your time and zoom in (paying attention to the little things) you will have a smooth transition between each skater. Continue to repeat this process until you have the whole sequence finished.

After you get the sequence finished try using some other effects to make your image more stunning...

Taipei Weekend

2011-08-29T06:14:00.000-07:00

For the weekend we went to Taipei to spend some time with some students and have fun. Friday night after we arrived we went to an shaved ice parlor, eating ice cream (some with strange things in them) and wrote our names on the wall.

The next morning while everyone else was still sleeping I spent my time taking pictures and walking around the neighborhood. (photos below)

Man fixing a roof standing on the very edge with no safety lines (photo above). Man playing with a bird on his scooter.

Pigeon racing is big in Taiwan. As I took photos from the roof I was able to capture some pigeons as they circled the building in training for there Million $$$ races.

After taking pictures all morning I met up with my friends, taking buses and trains to see this bridge (photo below). None of my friends understood why I wanted to come here, just to take a picture. The sign has lots of funny "prohibited things" click on the image to take a closer look.

Near the bridge was a castle that turned out to be under construction. Photo below - Man burning money to his ancestors.

Saturday night we hiked up Tiger Mountain in the middle of the night to see the amazing view of the city. I still haven't made it for the sun set, so I must go back a third time to get that shot I want. I also wasn't able to have my tripod to take a good photo this night.

On the way down we ran into a large temple. The architecture was beautiful, every inch of the inside and outside of the temple had dragons or other creatures cut into the walls and pillars.

Sunday I spent the day skating with my Canadian friend Michael. He drove me all over on his scooter to different spots to skate. Monday morning we headed back to Taichung to get reading for the week at SYME.

Chinglish - No Graffiti or Advertising?

2011-08-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Man to Man

2011-08-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

Every term at SYME we have a man night known as "Man to Man" while the girls have "Heart to Heart".

For our game we had to shoot out the flame on the other team with water guns, while getting sprayed in the face.

Jesse led the music. Then after Chris spoke, I showed all the guys what smores were and how to make them.

SYME Hand Motion Practic

2011-08-24T02:05:00.000-07:00

For SYME Friend Day we have many different performances. I was assigned hand motions. This is a video of them that I recorded for them to see themselves. Friend Day is this Saturday! Pray for it to go well and that many people will hear the Gospel for the first time.

Teaching the Boss' Son How to Skate

2011-08-24T00:56:00.001-07:00

Driving in Taiwan

2011-08-23T20:38:00.000-07:00