About 30 minutes after Keely got home last night the wind died down dramatically. It has rained non-stop, though. It's a "holiday" here in Taipei today, but assuming this things moves out of here toward Japan we'll get back to normal tomorrow. Now excuse me while I go get some coffee (not good Granbury coffee, mind you, but some brand here in Taiwan that is just "okay").
You can get a live satellite of things from wunderground.com, which is a cool site by the way and now that I've found it I'll be able to make sure these things don't sneak up on me again.
We'll touch base in the morning.
All joking aside, we're staring down a pretty major storm:
Taiwan braces for Typhoon Jangmi as storms strike By ANNIE HUANG
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Authorities evacuated villagers from landslide-prone areas in Taiwan and residents boarded up windows amid torrential rain and wind as Typhoon Jangmi roared toward the island Sunday.
The usually bustling capital of Taipei was eerily quiet with only a few cars on streets buffeted by the stormy weather.
CTI Television showed villagers evacuating the scenic mountain resort of Lushan in central Taiwan, clutching small bags of personal belongings. The area was badly damaged when Typhoon Sinlaku hit two weeks ago, with massive mudslides destroying at least three hotels.
Hundreds of fishing boats sheltered at ports, and domestic flights and rail services were canceled, television stations reported.
Taiwan's China Airlines and EVA Airways said several flights to Asia were canceled or rescheduled for Monday. China's Southern and Hainan Airlines
canceled their flights to the island from Beijing and Shanghai.The Disaster Relief Center said authorities were closely monitoring the water levels in rivers, particularly at 19 major bridges that will be closed if necessary.
"The storm's fringes are covering most of Taiwan, and is gaining strength," said Wu Teh-rong, a meteorologist with the Central Weather Bureau.
Sanli Television showed thousands of birds flapping their white wings above the Hengchun Peninsula in southern Taiwan as the storms forced them to halt their seasonal migration north.
The bureau said Jangmi was centered about 75 miles southeast of Hualien
in eastern Taiwan on Sunday morning. Packing sustained winds of 118 miles per
hour, Jangmi will likely make landfall in Hualien in the evening, the bureau
said.Jangmi is the fourth typhoon — and likely the most powerful — to hit the island this year, the bureau said, warning of "super torrential rains" in several mountainous areas.
Typhoons frequently hit Taiwan between July and October, causing flash floods and deadly landslides. Typhoon Sinlaku killed 12 people and left 10 others missing.
Evidently this is a Category 4 storm and see the red square? That's Taipei:
Amy and I did our "typhoon shuffle" to the local convenience store to stock up on as many essentials as you can get from such a place. Amy called the school's athletic director and evidently they were still scheduled to land this afternoon.
We'll update at least once more before we hunker down for the night.
(I've got to pay more attention to local news.)
*What in the world is a Super Typhoon? Jeez, that sounds a little extreme and frankly, a tad bit alarmist. Turns out:
"Super-typhoon" is a term utilized by the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center for typhoons that reach maximum sustained 1-minute surface winds of at least 65 m/s (130 kt, 150 mph). This is the equivalent of a strong Saffir-Simpson category 4 or category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin or a category 5 severe tropical cyclone in the Australian basin.
Yep. I guess "super" is a good word for it.
This just in... I was just about to hit "Publish Post" when Amy got a phone call from Keely - they just landed. She reminded us that we needed to come "pick her up". I hope she didn't fall on her head while she was gone and forget that we don't have a car. This could be interesting...
This week I went to Camp Taiwan with my classmates and Ms.McDonald's class. We had a lot of fun. We did rock climbing,we rode horses, we and we also did the zip line. Twice! We had a harness on and we got hooked on to a thing like a telephone line(but it wasn't) and then we jumped off the platform. It felt like you were flying! And then when we rode the horses I got to feed it, touch it,ride it, and got to watch it poop. And man did it smell bad. At night we had a campfire and casino night. At the camp fire we had smores. They were different, because instead of two gram crackers they were two Chips Ahoy cookies. But I still ate them. Then at casino night I learned how to play blackjack. It is really easy. I was good at it too. Once it was over we had to walk down to our cabins. Guess what. When I got to the bathroom, got in the stall scared that there was bugs all over I saw it . Price Charming. The toad that roams the girls bathroom.It was right next to my foot. It started jumping all around so I screamed bloody murder. It scared me half to death. My heart had skipped a beat. By the time I got back to the tent my heart was still racing. And the next morning we left. I was happy to get home ,but I was sad to leave.
Yep that's it. The P.E. mat and table. That's what I slept on. It was actually comfy.
This was the outside of our safari tent. They are really cool. Except for the part that we slept on P.E. mats!
Look at that a black and yellow spider lays there helplessly while I take it's picture. This spider was there all week long. It stayed in the same position all week. It was one of the biggest spiders I had ever seen!
That sign is the name of the cabin I stayed in. And guess what there was a cocoon on the window.
This is the ice cold outdoor showers.We took 1 icy shower everyday with 20 other girls.Don't worry we had are bathing suits on. I was so glad to have a nice warm shower when I got home.Tired of only 1 major weather event every 2 decades? Semi-predictable weather patterns got ya down? Frustrated by having 24x7x365 access to news about the weather? Well come on down to Taiwan where the weather does what it wants to when it wants to like a sultry teenager out to prove the world a thing or two.
You know, I guess we're just not plugged into the news enough around here. Earlier this week, Typhoon Hugapit grazed us and we got a bit of wind and rain, but nothing major. I wake up this morning and it sounds kinda ... familiar.
Evidently Typhoon Jangmi snuck up us and now we're smack dab in the middle of it and right in the path. Keely's in the Philippines this weekend for her cross-country meet and is supposed to return home today. I'm sure they will figure it out and get her back safely. Typhoons around here are nothing to sneeze at, but they seem to be a bet more commonplace.
We'll keep you updated.
(The really bad news is that we're out of Pop Tarts...)
We've taken recently to recording little notes and things like the one above. Sometimes they can capture the feeling of a moment around here much better than a blog or a photo. I can tell you that there's no shame in being afraid during a hurricane or a typhoon. The sound of the wind whipping around the building, looking for any opening is downright freaky and will drive you insane.
Thank goodness we had a good supply of Pop Tarts. The kids had electricity and Pop Tarts. What else do you need during a storm? Not much... And if they had to choose between Pop Tarts and electricity ... ?
Parents of the Year
The following weekend we were ready to get out and do something - anything. On Thursday I happened to be working from home and Amy and I were walking back from lunch when her cell phone rang. All three of the kids had lice. I'd never had lice growing up and neither had Amy. The magnitude of what was about to happen didn't set in at first.
Sure we knew somebody who had lice several weeks before we even left the U.S. I guess we were a little pre-occupied at the time so we didn't give it much thought. Besides, it's never your kids who get lice. It's always the other kids.
Anyhow, Gavin and I had it easy. I just shaved his head and we were done.
As if the situation wasn't stressful enough, Keely was supposed to leave that week for the Philippines for a school trip and Reagan was supposed to go to Camp Taiwan for a few nights and days as well. Evidently the school has a really annoying policy that people with Lice aren't fit to be around.
I'll fast forward and let you all know that they successfully passed - eventually. The important thing is that Reagan got to go to camp and Keely got to go to the Philippines.
What sucks is that we could have nipped this in the bud a few months ago when a responsible parent told us about it. It would have been a minor event at that point.
What sucks is letting everybody know your kids had lice. And then what really sucks is when somebody you tell checks their kids and bingo they got it too.
There was actually an episode of South Park that dealt with lice a year or so ago. It's pretty funny and it's all I could think about all weekend. If you've ever dealt with lice, it captures all aspects pretty accurately. You can view it here if you like.
Let me just end by saying simply: lice suck.
Now We're Home
Ever since we had our family portraits made way back in March, we haven't been able to hang them up because our house has been on the market since April. So we've been very excited about being about to hang them up here in Taiwan.
Even thought it's been a few weeks now since we got our shipment, it took us a while to hang up some of the things we had shipped because we can't put nail holes in the walls. This would drive Sandra insane, but I'm sure our landlord is in league with 3M.
And since we weren't just hanging up any pictures, we were very concerned about things like earthquakes and the Command hangers falling of the wall, so we decided to use two for every picture. $100 dollars later...
Today we got bugs! A Rhinouserous beetle larva and another larva of another beetle. I don't know what it is called. A lot of girls were scared of the Rhinoouserous beetle lava. I got to hold both kinds. Each table had one of each. Some tables got 2 of one type of bug and my table was one of the lucky ones. I got pinched by the rhino beetle. My table named our bugs. The small larva not the rhino beetle we called one of them Bugster and the other Bussy. We called the rhino beetle Bugsy. Bugster is my favorite one. This is a picture of me holding Bugster.
We finally got our stuff on Thursday last week. In my mind I packed a lot of things that I could not live without for the next year. I was also proud of myself that I did not pack anything that we would not need for the next year. When the the movers brought it all in it only consisted of about 20 boxes and a few pieces of furniture. I think they were only actually here about an hour which included them putting together our office chairs and my desk we sent over. I thought to myself, "This is it? Surely I packed more than this!"
I quickly got busy unpacking the kitchen items first. Our own coffee pot, red tea pot, our Texas dishes we bought from HEB before we left and a few pots and pans and baking sheets (that I won't need because I have no oven), measuring cups and utensils and a crock pot. It wasn't much but it was "home".
I then unpacked the kids rooms so that their stuff would be ready for them when they got home. It is funny they did not pack much more than clothes, but there were a few items that just said "home". A few transformer toys, a shot gun shell from Kansas and keys were just a few things in Gavin's box it made me think of Alex. "home" Books and nail polish were in Keely's box which are "home" for Keely. A soccer bag and slippers were in Reagan's box. "home".
Ronny spent the day unpacking the electronics like the game systems and the apple TV which are "home" for the whole family. We only packed a few decor items that consisted of our new portraits, Texas wall hanging from Grandma, our clock from my parents, and a Texas sign from Brookhollow. Somewhere in the moving process we lost the winder to the clock so we will have to get a new one, but it is nice to at least look at a little piece of "home".
We have no where near all of our things from home and it is funny the few little things we do have somehow make here so much more "home". I guess it is more of a state of mind as opposed to a location.
"Home" is here in Taiwan for awhile we have each other and our few "home" items. "Home Sweet Home"
I think the worst of the storm has passed. We spent most of yesterday in our apartment just chilling out with our recently delivered household goods. It's amazing how much our quality of life has improved the last few days. Things like the Apple TV (don't leave the country without it) and our own coffee maker really make this place seem like home.
The rain and the wind seemed to come in bands throughout the day. It seemed to be in 10-minute cycles: 10 on, 10 off. We just assumed from the news on the radio that everybody was hunkered down just like us. We had been getting emails and calls from people at church as well telling us that activities had been cancelled. Some people were even without power the majority of the day.
For whatever reason, we didn't stock up on essentials, like, you know, food. We were actually IN the store on Friday and what did we buy? Batteries. But not batteries for an emergency, batteries for Wii Remotes, Wii Fit Boards, and Bluetooth Keyboards.
So at some point yesterday we considered our status. We just don't keep a lot of food on hand here as we do at home - there's just not room for it. We had some rice, some eggs, enough bread for a few sandwiches, and 1 package of ramen. If worse came to worse we had some snack food I had bought to take with us on a mission trip that got cancelled.
So we had breakfast for dinner. Pancakes and eggs. Not a bad dinner and the kids loved it, but after a week of the grind, it wasn't satisfying. On top of that, we're still trying to figure out the finer details of using the utensils we have and as a result, something delicate like an over-easy fried egg isn't as easy as you think it is.
To me, a good fried egg is the critical piece to a successful breakfast for dinner meal. I like to have 1 or 2 over-easy fried egg on top of my pancakes so I can poke holes in the yolks and have the pancakes soak up all the heart-stopping goodness.
Needless to say, I didn't get that so I was left wanting for more on a Saturday night.
During dinner I noticed that it hadn't been raining for a while, so I decided to head out quickly to stock up on some essentials in case the storm lasted throughout the day on Sunday. Amy came with me because I suspect we were both a little stir crazy being trapped in the apartment with the kids all day.
I've been through a few of these types of storms before and I know that they can be extremely deceiving. It will seem perfectly calm outside and the sun could even poke through, luring novices outdoors to take a look and then whammo!
It looked quite peaceful outside when we emerged from our apartment. There were some people milling about and quite a few cars. It wasn't raining at all and there was no wind. We hurried to the main road and suddenly felt, well, deceived. It wasn't as busy as it normally was, but cars were going up and down the road. Shops and restaurants were open like normal. Heck, even the beauty salon was open!
I quickly recovered from my pout attack (hey I had to eat breakfast for dinner without any runny yolks!) and we hurried to the local convenience store before it started storming again. We bought some milk, some eggs, some dried beans for Sunday lunch, and some ice cream (to soothe our disappointment).
We noticed that our favorite bakery was still open so we ran across the street and stocked up on some bread and some items for breakfast. You could tell that she was about to close up and was
trying to sell the last little bit of what she had available. We gladly helped her out.
Right as we were almost home, the rain and wind picked up almost like a shot. No warning or anything. I was comforted a bit by realizing that this is why we didn't go out yesterday with the kids, even when it seemed calm from inside our apartment windows.
Back home we settled in with anticipation and a little bit of anxiety, but not much. The eye wall was supposed to make landfall around 10 PM or so. About 8 PM our doorbell rang and it was one of our neighbors.
This particular neighbor has a son about Gavin's age and whenever she comes to talk to us she brings him along to translate. He does a great job and you can tell she's proud of her son for learning English so well. We eventually figured out that she was saying that water was in the walls and she showed us in our apartment where it was. Evidently when you have Forrest Gump rain ("Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath.") it finds little cracks and crevices that haven't been closed by the caulk monster.
We put fans on the areas and even fired up the de-humidifier just to be safe. If we weren't nervous, we were now.
The night went relatively well. We didn't lose power at all and the leaking walls never got too much worse, even when the storm hit with full force from about 11 PM to 3 AM. I woke up several times throughout the night, listening to the wind and the rain pound the building. It quickly brought back memories of Hurricane Alicia in 1982. Sleep came intermittently and I kept getting up to check the walls for more water.
In all of the entire world today there are two major storms preparing to batter two coastlines: one hitting the Houston, TX area in the U.S. (Hurricane Ike) and one hitting the Northern coast of Taiwan (Typhoon Sinlaku).
All week they've been saying Sinlaku was going to miss Taiwan, but in the last 24 hours that has changed. It now looks like we're going to get a good dose of weather in the next 48 hours with much of wind and rain hitting us Saturday Afternoon and into Sunday morning.
What are the odds? Two homes - two hurriphoons. We'll keep you updated, but it looks like it's going to be a pretty low-key weekend for us here.
On Wednesdays I usually go on a day trip with the ladies from church. Today we met and went to the Maokong Gondola. I am also getting smarter as I have been here longer because I shopped for two days yesterday so that I would not have to run errands today.
I met up with the ladies at 9:00 to walk to the subway station. It was a beautiful morning with no sign of rain so of course I left home without my umbrella. ( This part of the story will be important later) We walked to the station and were ready for the adventure. We were a group of about 17 if you count the sweet little baby of my friend Kika who goes everywhere with us in his stroller. It was pretty crowded on the subway and of course we stand out because we chat the entire time. We had to make two transfers today on the MRT. I am glad I had someone leading me otherwise I might not be as brave.
We arrived to our location at about 10:15 where we met up with a few more ladies. I was a little nervous about our gondola ride because I forgot to bring my dramamine and I was concerned that I might get sick on the ride but got on anyways. The ride was about a twenty minute ride up to the top of the mountain. The view was awesome. I was able to see Taipei 101. The gondola car held about six people. Here is a picture of my friends Ellen, Primrose, Joyce, Kim, Peggy and me in the car. Primrose and I kind of got a little motion sickness but not too bad.
Here is a picture of Taipei 101 from the gondola.
I tried to get a few shots of the scenery.
The tree line below the gondola.
Here is another shot of the trees.
When we got to the top we walked around to see the tea farms. I took a picture of this temple that was there because I thought it looked cool.
We did not have a lot of time to spend at the top because we wanted to eat at a tea shop and get back down so we could get home in time. I did take a few scenery pictures from the top.
This is a picture of the Zhangshan temple from the top. On the gondola ride there is a stop that you can get off and go to the temple but we did not do that today.
Here is a picture of Taipei 101 from the top.
We found a tea shop to have lunch I just happened to take a picture of the sign as we came up not knowing this is where we would be eating lunch.
As we were walking to our table I saw their pet pig tied to the side. I took his picture because I thought he was cute.
At the tea house she performed the tea ceremony which was really cool. We ate on the balcony and had a gorgeous view. It was a very nice experience, good company and beautiful surroundings.
I was not really looking forward to the trip down but knew I had to go. The trip down was not as bad except that it was pouring rain so we had to close the flaps in the car so we got very little breeze from outside. We made it down and had to walk back to the MRT station in the rain. Since I did not have an umbrella my friend Amanda shared with me.
When we boarded the MRT I looked at my watch and saw that it was 2:00 at that moment I knew I would not be at the school by 2:30. I knew the little ones would wonder where I was but I could not change my situation so I sat back and enjoyed the air-conditioned MRT.
When I got off the MRT it was 2:40 and pouring down rain. I knew that on a good day the school was a good 25 minute walk. I thought I would try it but I would need an umbrella so I purchased an umbrella at the station and headed out. Once I was outside I realized that there was no way I would make good time walking in the rain and wearing flip flops so I bit the bullet and took my first taxi ride.
I did it. I survived, I had not taken a taxi since I have been here because I always thought it was easier to walk. It was nice to ride in the taxi in the rain knowing that at times it was moving much faster than I could have walked. I must say there were a couple of momentes when we were sitting still that I wanted to just get out and walk but I knew that with my shoes and the weather and my tardiness I needed to stay put in the taxi. The taxi ride was only about 10 minutes long so today it was much faster.
I now believe I have pretty much used every mode of transportation in Taiwan. I am settling in.
But I guess today I was taught the lesson of don't leave home without an umbrella again, maybe this time I will learn only time will tell.
Yesterday I needed to go to the market early because Ronny and I had doctor appointments and then I was going to Costco with my friend Terri. I got to the market about 8:00 am. I have decided that this is my favorite time of the day to go to the market.
The market is just beginning to open and people are still setting up and walking around greeting one another. Each stall is definitely run by family or friends. You frequently see several people busily working and visiting. You also see children of all ages as well. People with young children do not have to worry about day care they just bring their kids with them. On the weekends the older children are there helping, this is nice because a lot of the teens here can speak pretty good English so that comes in handy.
Yesterday I walked in and felt that energy of community. This market is a small community within Taipei. People know people, relationships are built and they watch each other's families grow and prosper. People help each other communicate with silly Americans who come try and shop there. It is a wonderful feeling it is very hard to explain, but even now I feel I that I might get to be a very small part of that community. I go to the same stalls to purchase my vegetables, pork and chicken so the people are starting to get to know me as well. I saw my friend saying good morning to a couple of people and playing with a baby and her toy. It was so cute to see. When I arrived at my favorite vegetable stand I saw the young guy that works there. He had made me a list of all the vegtables in English and in Mandrain. It touched me that he thought enough of me, his customer to do that. It made me feel like I was a part of the community.
I then went to the pork stall to get bones for my beans and she recognized me and welcomed me and helped me make my choice of meat for the beans. After that I went to a fruit stand that is actually on the street beside the market but is technically part of the market and bought fruit there.
I left the market filled with joy that I am beginning to feel at home. Later that day I went to Costco with my friend and it looked just like a Costco or Sams at home and it was nice to see some American brands. I bought a few things and I wouldn't mind going every now and then but I think I would much rather go shopping at the market any day.
I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. It was raining pretty hard and it did not seem to be letting up. Right then I decided not to waste my time straightening my hair that it would definitely be a pony tail day. I thought to myself, well if it is raining it might be cooler so I will wear jeans. I also thought that I would wear flip flops because they could get wet and then dry out later. I did not feel like wearing wet tennis shoes.
So there I was dressed in jeans and flip flops, which are two of my very favorite things to wear and I told the kids I would walk with them to school so I could take home their umbrellas so they would not have to worry about keeping up with them at school. I know I scored some major cool mom points with that. The traffic was terrible and it was raining pretty good and I thought I wore the perfect outfit for the day. I was feeling really good.
Today was also the day I was going to walk with Ronny to Carrefour and the MRT station near Carefour. Ronny was curious about Carrefour and how far that MRT station was from the house. Why did we choose today? I began to ask myself as we were on our way and it really began to rain. The bottoms of my pant legs began to get wet and I began to slip slightly as I was walking because the sidewalk was very wet and my feet were very wet because I was wearing flip flops.
We finally arrived at Carrefour and realized it did not open for another 30 minutes. I was soaked from the knees down and really had nothing to show for it. Ronny headed on to the station and I turned around to go home.
On my journey back home I decided to do my shopping (without my cart because I thought I would not need it in the rain) for the day because I knew I was going to a Bible study and then to lunch afterwards. I stopped off at a German bakery first that my friend Julie told me was the best in Taiwan. I then walked to the Shin Dong Market to buy meat and vegetables for supper.
I definitely shopped wiser today because I knew I would be carrying my bags plus an umbrella.
By the time I got home I was soaked pretty much everywhere and my arms were killing me but my shopping was done.
I put away my purchases, changed into crocs, quickly checked my email and saw that Keely forgot her shoes for running and needed them before 10:30. So I gathered my stuff for my Bible study and her shoes and headed back out in the rain so I would not be late for Bible study. Just to let you know the school is not on my way to Bible study, but I did score some more cool mom points.
I was pretty much dry by the time the Bible study was over and it had quit raining. I enjoyed a nice lunch with the ladies and headed home for a brief break before I had to pick up the little ones.
I survived my first major rainy day in Taiwan.
Lessons learned today:
1. When it is raining jeans are not necessarily the best choice of clothing.
2. Flip flops are definitely not wise to wear in heavy rain.
3. You can and must run your errands in the rain because come rain or shine you still have to eat.
4. Crocs are great to wear in the rain.
5. I will dry.
