settling in...

another retreat picture

(:

things about taiwan...no good chocolate, not even hersheys. instead, we have:

lol...what?!? (btw, it doesn't taste anything like hersheys...or even chocolate for that matter...)

internet!

i finally have internet! skype with me!!! i'm serious. and webcam it (: i miss your faces/voices. haha.

work

to be honest, it's been grueling for me. i was delighted to find that work hours were actually 9am-5pm. but because it IS research, hours have been much longer (can't leave until we finish taking care of the yeast etc etc). the hours have been 7am-9pm, and also to 7pm and it's been draining both physically and mentally.

regardless, i am still extremely thankful for the job, the convenience of only walking 15 min to get to work, as well as the learning experiences that come from it.

prayer requests:

-roomates are pretty much moved in. but i'm usually so tired after i get home that i just lock up in my room. please pray that i would not be lazy in reaching out to them and that i would find ways to show them Christ's love.

-co-workers. that i reach out to them. i'm falling into the "work for money" and not taking opportunities to witness to the people i spend...more than half a day with.

-that i would use internet as a means of communication and necessity, not a means of wasting time. times of reflection and prayer had been good because internet/tv were not there to distract me.

and to end off, ms. karen liu's aunt:

yes, karen, you look much younger than she does.

Prayer Requests, Typhoon, Retreat, Bugs

Prayer Requests

John: He will be starting work tomorrow so please pray for him to work extra extra hard. He wants to be a good teacher in order to be the best witness he can at his workplace. Also, to build good relationships with his co-workers and boss. Lastly, a smooth transition into working life and for time management.

Matt: He will be going to Hong Kong for a week so pray for safe passage to and fro. Please also continue to pray for him to find a job and to trust in the Lord for it.

Bryan: Pray for evangelism here at EBCT. We go out to campus in the mornings of Mon/Wed/Fri, and ET will be starting in two weeks! Also, I finished my first Chinese class so thank you for praying for my studies. God has been graciously strengthening me and allowing me to study diligently.


Thank you for praying for the safety of EBCT during the typhoon. No one got hurt! Praise God!

Warning: Almost half the pictures are of bugs so don't look at anything past the "Bugs" heading if you don't want to see them. BTW, I hate bugs and insects, but the ones in Taiwan are so interesting and SCARY that I am compelled to take pictures of them (and show you).


Typhoon

Despite there being a typhoon last weekend, we decided to walk around outside and possibly grab lunch if McDonald's was open. Yes it was. We saw an uprooted tree, and MattL decided to be all dramatic and pretend the leaves were Persian forces.



Too bad the wind owned him just a little later.



On Sunday, we had a baptism service and two new believers got baptized! Afterwards, we took some group pictures. EBCB should have at least one on the back wall soon or maybe it's already up.

We are so cool.


We are so happy.


We are so kung fu.


Retreat

EBCT had a summer retreat this past weekend and Ben Saetang was our speaker. Our theme was "A God-Kept Heart", and the theme verse was Proverbs 4:23. We went up the mountains a bit so here was the view down to the cities.



This was a rabbit trash can next to the stairs that lead down into the main room. Yeah, it scared me too.






Here is a picture of the guys and girls.





Here is a picture of the tentmakers making a tent. Yes, that is a tent. Pretend please.



Here is our speaker Ben looking intently for bugs!



What a wonderful segue!

Bugs

These are some of the bugs we saw at the retreat site. Some of us went looking for them so don't worry, we don't deal with these on a regular basis. By the way, all these are what I think the names of the bugs are, not official ones.

We found this grasshopper in the guys room.


We saw a bunch of these little crickets. They jump in a curved path , it was really cool.


We scared this mosquito hawk shortly after taking the picture, and it flew into a spider web.

:(



Here is a dead cicada and Matt Lui's finger so you can see how big it is.


This is a shell of an earlier phase cicada chilling on John's face.


A millipede.


A small spider who found its lunch.


This was a MONSTROSITY of a spider. The legs were THICK, and it could run FAST. This one was hanging out by the piano in the main room. Just the day before, Matt Hauck and I just happened to have one run across the table we were sitting at at Xiao Fu. I saw a big blob of brown scurry QUICKLY across the table, and we both jumped out of our seats with the QUICKNESS.


When you think of bugs/insects, don't you normally think of strange, colorful ones like this couple?


Bonus
This is the intestine and coagulated blood dinner I ate after coming back from the retreat. It was good, but the thought of what I was eating grossed me a out a little.


Please pray for us!

* * * i a m p o s t i n g ! ! ! * * *

Don't worry, it's not the end of the world. but YES YES YES, this is Clara Gloria Chiu *gasp* (who?) the tentmaker who hasn't updated or posted since um.... January?!?!?!?!?!!

Hi everyone who reads this blog. I'm still alive, praise God! :) Actually, I've been alive all along, only you didn't know because you haven't heard anything from me. Bethany, are you proud of me, I finally did it!

Special Update on Typhoon: The center (eye) of the typhoon is currently in Taichung (center taiwan) and the range of typhoon is covering the enter Taiwan. There's no work and school today for all of Taiwan. The country is almost stopping... Therefore, Bible Study is cancelled for today. I'm trapped in and am determined to finish this post.

ANYWAYS...
(warning: This post is a little long becuase it's my first one in a looooong time. The future ones will definitely be shorter, I promise!)

><>Work<><

(1) My 3 in 1 Job I kind of have 3 jobs in 1.

1. I teach kindergarten kids (2-6 yrs old) in the "Oxford American School - Bilingual Kindergarten" where I teach 3 different classes (Koala, Snoopy, Melody claass) 4 times a week.
2. Then I teach at the "Oxford Language Center" where I am their after-school English program teacher at a "cram school" teaching five different classes ranging from 1st - 4th graders.
3. I also have six 1-on-1 private students where I have private classes with them once to twice a week. The students are: Angel(6th grade), Julie(8th grade), Kevin(7th grade), Steven & Eric(together,7th grade), Sophie (6th grade).

I teach all these under the same OXFORD LANGUAGE CENTER school... every week, I teach kids ranging from 2 to 12 years old, about 25- 31 teaching hours per week. It's a really big range, and it's a little tiring. But I'm starting to get used to it.

It is summer so when kids don't have to go to school, they take extra cram school / private classes. Below is my schedule next week @____________________@ 30 hrs of TEACHING + prep and admin work...I'll be at work from around 9:30am - 8/9pm except Wednesday!

(2) Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony - July 28, 2007
I was the co-MC for our kindergarten graduation ceremony with my boss. They had druming performances, plays, awards... really really elaborate and crazy! We all had to dress up!!!!! Kindergarten Graduations, did any of you had a KINDERGARTEN graduation? Very adorable and cute kids, I love them! <3

><>Church<><

1. Graduates' Celebration Party - August 11, 2007
   We had a party last Saturday for EBCT's 2 graduates: Sister Evon (grad from High School) and Brother Kevin (grad from College)!
   Below are some pictures. Mostly with sisters...

Can you see Sanny's tummy... hello baby hauck! Sanny's tummy is getting bigger and bigger~!




2. Random Spoon - August 5, 2007
   I was trying to put my spoon on my nose while eating at the "Orange Restaurant" where most people order the Thai Sauce Fried Chicken and Marinated Chicken Leg. EBCT people are soooooooo awesome! I have been laughing A LOT A LOT MORE since the 3 male tentmakers' arrival.
   

Prayer Requests

1. Endurance & Love - That I will be a good example at work, teaching and working with Christ's-like love toward my students, boss, and co-workers!
2. Seek First His Kingdom and Righteousness - That I place God first in my life and have glorifying God as the motivation for all my thoughts and actions.
3. Love in Action - That I go out of my way to love the saints at EBCT!
4. EBCT Summer Retreat (Aug 24-26) - We are going to a retreat next weekend and Ben Sae-Tang will be our speaker. Please pray for safety, preparations, sermons, people's hearts. Also, Sanny and I will be helping translate the message from Chinese into English. Please pray that we will be faithful to God's word in translation and that I will not be nervous!!!!!! >____________<

Typhoon

8/17 - 6 AM¹



8/17 - 4 PM¹

The eye of the category 5 typhoon was 320 km (200 miles) off the coast of Taiwan as of 0500 GMT (1 a.m. EDT), packing sustained winds of 184 kph (114 mph) and gusts up to 227 kph (141 mph).²

-----------------------------------------------

As of right now, it is pouring and we can hear loud, ominous thunder. That did not stop Katherine, Yishan, and MattL from going outside to enjoy the rain though.

Taiwan will be smack dab in the center of the typhoon for the next two days. My family was coming to Taipei from Seoul to visit tomorrow, but their flight got cancelled. :(

Several people die during each typhoon from what we hear...please pray for our (EBCT's) safety and also that of the nation.

-----------------------------------------------
1: http://www.tealit.com/typhoon.php

2: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSPEK20780720070817?pageNumber=1

land of the natural humidifiers

work:
i landed friday morning, dropped by my workplace to ask about paperwork, and they got me started right away. which means i begin work monday (tomorrow. ): ). The hours are supposedly 9-6 because that's how long the people stay. being as it is research, i think that those hours are completely optional. a lot of taiwanese stay at their workplace even when there is nothing to do just to seem more hardworking. hopefully, they will allow me to be flexible enough as to come and go as is only necessary.

weather:
humid, rainy. it's about 90 degrees (for all 24 hours), which feels like about 100 with the humidity. even when its dark and rainy, its probably still 90 degrees, so looking out the window in the morning won't tell you anything about what it actually feels like outside.


sights seen:















nice firetrucks...


not KFC, but...














i read somewhere that it stands for "kuai le gi" which translates into "happy chicken" lol...



and last of all...bslee's twin sister.


















prayer requests:

1. safety. living alone for the first week in an empty apartment. kinda creepy. (and no internet). by the way, i live an hours worth of transportation away from NTU and EBCT. not comfortable with public transportation, nor with surroundings. and no time to figure it out because work begins tomorrow.

2. work flexibility. ambiguous right now, as mentioned above. hopefully i will have enough time so as to go over to NTU during weekdays as well.

3. FOCUS. remember the reason i am here.



i'm in the process of figuring out exactly what i should post here and what i should post on my own blog/email updates. email me if you would like to be on my update list (that is, if i decide to email updates. hah)

BIG news

Hello. Three things this past week.

Birthday Bonanza

Continuing from the previous update, the guy tentmakers went out to dinner for MattL's birthday on Monday. The next day, Clara and Yishan treated MattL to dinner again (John and I just tagged along). During dinner, the girls said they had a surprised prepared for MattL. They led the way and mazed us around, leading us on a bus and then the MRT and eventually took a gondola up to Mao Kong! In the gondola, MattL was exuding the overwhelming joy he was feeling from his birthday trip. Just look at his uncontainable emotion.



At the top of the mountain, we enjoyed an awesome view and drank some tea. They gave it to us in the traditional way and Yishan (who took tea-preparing class) worked her magic.





While we were on the gondola, Yishan had a panic attack. She is afraid of heights so her arms went numb, and her head started hurting. For her sake, we decided to take the bus down the mountain, but we were in for the strangest hike OF OUR LIVES! Just kidding, it wasn't that crazy, but it is going to be a memory of ours for sure.

It started with the temple. We walked down for a LONG time through a taoist temple. To demonstrate how long the hike down was, here are two tall pictures.





After we got past the temple, we had to walk for a LONG time down the road. Through it all, we got to see some of God's interesting creatures. We saw a frog, some fireflies (first time for some), and some not-so-cute bugs.



Eventually, we took a bus to the bottom of the mountain and another one back to Gong Guan. We eventually got home at around 11:30 PM. I think we were originally aiming to get home around 9:30...

Yi Lan

This past Friday, several EBCTers and the guy tentmakers went to Yi Lan to play for a day.



I had a test to take that day, but I took it on Thursday and ditched class to go with them. Woo hoo!

First thing we did was go to the waterpark in the morning.



The guys spent most of the time wrestling on the gigantic waterbed. That was really fun. For dinner, we headed to another part of the city by train and ate shabu-shabu for dinner. The picture you see is the crocodile I ordered. It was surprisingly tender (maybe because I expected it to be tough) and sweet!



The group split up at this point, some going to the night market and others going to the HOT SPRINGS! There were so many strange pools of water. Lavendar, sulfur, coffee, sake, etc...Not only that, there was a pool with small fish in it that bite you. It was the strangest sensation to have fish bite the dead skin off your legs. Definitely cool.

John



Big news: Our precious princess John got a job! It is not too far away and the pay is good. The lady interviewing John was asking many questions about his teaching history/experience and seemed hesitant to even consider him. After doing a demo of his mAd tEaChiNg sKiLLz, the lady not only wanted to hire him but offered more money! Awesome! Praise God for answering prayer!

Prayer Requests:

John

Pray for him to work diligently as for the Lord, and for him to be a light in the workplace!

Matt

Continued strength to look for jobs. He has recently been going through a lot of interviews so pray for him to be a worthy ambassador for Christ wherever he is.

He also asks for prayer regarding physical and spiritual discipline and wisdom to discern the many places to serve and spend his time.

Bryan

This is the third week I have had the privilege of being in charge of campus evangelism. Please pray for strength to continually go out and proclaim the name of Jesus!

Please continue to pray for my witness in class. Studying and learning has been going well and next week, everyone (including the teacher!) will be going out for brunch after class.

Evangelism Training will start on September 9th. Please please please pray for God to use me effectively, and for God to equip the students to better share His good news.


Note: Clara will be updating sometime soon and will be posting her own prayer requests.


I will now end the post with a shameless imitation of the signatures on the teampyro blog.