Change is inevitable.

I think that every Adventist has to go through a time or times of question. Questions like, How do I fit into this church? Is Adventism still relevant? Why am I a part of this movement? Is it even doing anything?

I have seen many of my friends go through these religious identity crises, and while some have decided to stay Adventist, most have either embraced their inner "Bad-Ventist", or simply disconnected from the church altogether. And really, I don't blame them sometimes. In a recent article from Jan Paulsen, the current president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a church is described that is resistant to change. Please read it here:

He says, "I can understand Peter’s awe and bewilderment as he witnessed the glory of the transfigured Christ. “Lord,” he says. “Let’s stay here—let’s build three shelters on the mountaintop, one for You, Elijah, and Moses” (see Matt. 17:1-5). But Christ went back down the mountain and continued His ministry to humanity.

Adventism doesn’t belong on the mountaintop either; it belongs to the communities in which we live and work, with all their untidiness and disorder and change."


Reading the rest of the article, I thought, this is it. My friends gave up on this church because it gave up on them. On Sabbath mornings, they would preach about the mark of the beast, but these friends were craving relevancy to what they were experiencing at the time. Why has the world church feared creativity, community, openness, technology, music, and dance? Our generation, the Millennials, have so much to offer and I was encouraged by this article that someone has noticed.

Read it. Tell me what you think. That's your assignment. Thanks, Alex Bryan for posting it first.

A steamy letter, to a long lost love.

Dear Mexican food,

I love you. I miss you. When will we finally be together again? You are my favorite part of America. When I start thinking about you, my knees start to quiver and salivation drips to my toes. I have tried to replace you for far too long. Egg rolls will never fully quench my hunger for a big fat burrito, and rice will never be an adequate substitute for a warm fresh tortilla, hand pressed by someone's loving madre.
I told a story the other day to some friends about a life and death kite boarding adventure, and before I could finish, I was struck by the memory of those two delicious Del Taco green burritos that Jacob and Aaron brought us after we were out of the water. I had a moment that I stopped in mid-sentence, imagining those tasty cheese-covered refried beans running down my cheek, and the satisfaction of a well eaten meal.

I never did finish that story. I think about the great restaurants in my life: Super Taqueira, Moe's, Chipotle, Del Taco, and of course, Taco Bell, and I think of the times that I've missed eating there. Taiwan just doesn't understand! They use beans as desserts, and tomatoes too! It's so backwards! They just don't understand you, Mexican food! It's so hard to explain without experiencing the greatness that this food can bring. And now, with the power and energy given to me by Costco and Ansley Howe, I will unabashadely, unapologetically cook Mexican food for every Taiwanese friend I have, so they may too know the truth.

Taiwan may have its milk tea, japan its sushi, Thailand its Thai green curry; but America has Mexican food and there is none greater than that. God bless America!

There is one place in Taiwan that we have found to be pretty good for Mexican food in Taiwan. It's unfortunate that it's an hour and a half away. It's called Eddy's Cantina and is in Dansui, north of Taipei. We got to meet the owner, Eddy, who is a real Mexican from Canada, and all I could say was "Gracias!". His tortillas are the best of any I've had here. Thank you, Hungry Girl in Taipei blog, for making this happen.

Hiking to Hot Springs

From 2010-03-11

From 2010-03-11

From 2010-03-11

We've been pretty spoiled this week to get to go on a different adventure every day since it's our week off. The highlight of our week was going to the wild Ba Yen hot springs in Yangmingshan National Park. Most of the hot springs that we've heard about or visited were these bizarre little outfits that just had private rooms with hot spring water flowing into the bathtubs.

2010-03-11

I found out about this place from a local blogger's website of hikes, which has been an excellent resource for our adventures. Lara's family was visiting from the States and were the perfect excuse to chase down these fabled hot springs. We left on a miserably wet and cold morning and drove an hour to the location. After a 30 minute hike along a sulfur-stained river, we finally came to a red sign that warned us of a $17000 fine for trespassing. Sounds good-Let's DO IT! We walked through the fence and to our utter astonishment, there lied a beautiful series of gray-blue pools of hot glory. A stream ran alongside these steamy pools and we all but threw ourselves into them to cure the cold that had soaked into our bones.

From 2010-03-11

From 2010-03-11

English Camp is Finally Open!!!

From Taiwan Pics

After a 2-month delay in opening, we finally had our very first week of English camp. Think of it like regular American summer camp, throw in a dose of school, and mix in a major part of language barrier, and there you have it-English camp!

From Taiwan Pics

Here are some random things that we thought were interesting or funny about the kids:

From Taiwan Pics

1. Their English names. Most kids have middle aged american names like Cindy, Joe, Albert, Tony, Jerry, Frank, Hank, Jim, and Annie. Or invented names like Black, or Wiwi.
2. Some things are international, like ADD. Keeping the kids engaged in class was soooo trying at times, especially when they understand a small percentage of what we're actually saying.

From Taiwan Pics

Another aspect of these kids that is international is girl-hater s. Since we have 2 or more schools attending our school each week, girls from the same school assume that girls from the other school hate them. We sat down with all the girls the first night of camp and told them that they'd Better stop talking smack about each other and make an attempt at friendship.

From Taiwan Pics

3. Kids are uber competative! For a teacher, we totally banked on this fact, because no matter what skill level they were at. By making each rotating class into a team, we could discipline the whole team by taking away a chip if a couple of kids are misbehaving. The team with the most chips at the end of the week wins a prize, so when one kid screws it up for the rest, the discipline is in their hands. It's wonderful whe we hear the students shhh-ing themselves as we thraten to take a chip away. (this makes me realize how devious and tricky my teachers were).

From Taiwan Pics

4. Language frustration is inevitable. Sometimes, we just don't understand each other and I feel bad because it's not their fault that we are forcing English immersion upon them, and some kids are really tempted to check out and quit paying attention in class. As a teacher, (and I feel this is true for any educator) we have to pay attention and monitor the progress of all the students, not just the eager beavers who are in English heaven. I pray for patience and understanding to connect and engage with those trouble-makers who just make me want to scream, because they're usually the ones who are the most confused by the full English environment.

From Taiwan Pics

5. The week at English camp is one of the most memorable weeks of these kids' lives. In the midst of my lesson planning panic, frustration at misbehaving kids, and task-chasing, I almost forgot one of the most important things: that these kids are forming lifelasting memories! On the last day. a bunch of the girls started crying. It started with one, and I looked around to see which mean boy had hit her, then I saw 2 and then 3 girls start to weep. What in the world? Then I thougt back to my own 12-year old self and remembered the flood of emotions that ran through me on the last day of camp. And those weeks of camp were always the hilight my my year. Those girls reminded me once again of the explosion of fun that our students have at camp, and hopefully we'll send every student home crying, because they already miss English camp that much.

From Taiwan Pics

After 1 week, Aaron and I are exhausted and ready to rewrite our lesson plans. Since we have every other week off, we'll do the adventuring and exploring that we've been looking forward to do. This week: hiking to hotsprings then scootering to the east coast to see the ocean!

From Taiwan Pics