Traditional Culture Day

Today was a very cultural day filled with art and lots of walking. This morning, we toured the Center of Traditional Arts and made our own DIY crafts. The crafts included candles, handmade key chains, Chinese spinning tops, bracelets, and paper-mache dogs, among others.

Afterwards, we left Yilan for Hualien. Along the way, we stopped at a local restaurant and ate a really good Taiwanese meal, which included gwei-neow (my English pin-yin version), an indigenous fern, and an iced dessert with the option of adding a raw yolk. At first, I was unsure of how the yolk was going to taste, but I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the egg-nog-like taste.

Our final stop was at Taroko Gorge where we walked about 4 miles in total, took gorgeous pictures of the blue-green water, waddled in the stream, and were fascinated by the foliage and insects. Our hotel of the day is called Leader Village and it’s the only housing accommodation in the Taroko Park, giving it an elite status. We ate a delicious buffet-style meal complete with wild boar BBQ and grilled sweet potatoes. To end the night on a lovely note, we watched a performance by the Taroko natives with performers as young as four years old! The performance was quite impressive and very entertaining!

Looking forward to white-water rafting tomorrow!

OUCH!!

So.. what happened??

According to Dr. Andy, I've probably pulled my muscle somehow..
I don't know when it happened or how it happened..
but one thing I know for sure.. IT HURTS!!! T_T

BUT!!! Tomorrow everything will be fine!

I will be following Dr. Andy's advice (RICE):

1. Rest

2. Ice

3. Compression

4. Elevation

Tomorrow I'll be showing you guys my white water rafting skills =P

Yeah!!

Day 3: YICF

Hi everyone, this is Connie writing for Hedy’s group. Sorry for the late post, I fell asleep writing the blog last night and then my laptop battery died this morning right when I tried to post my entry. Anyway, today (meaning 7/21) was a packed day, starting with the YICF in Yilan, where I was assigned to work on the stage for performances. I went in expecting a busy workday, perhaps setting up the stage or even participating in a small part of the performances, yet setting up chairs became the highlight of my workday. Although a bit disappointed with our relative lack of inactivity, I think it was good to see and appreciate the extent of time and effort needed to put the festival together. Since we were only there for one day, it was difficult to learn and do much to help out, but even small details such as setting up chairs were still contributions, however small, to the festival’s overall success. The performances, including Bolivian and Russian dances, were interesting to watch as well.
After a long workday, we were able to roam around the park freely and play in the water. It definitely felt good to walk around and explore after staying in one area the entire day. We watched some more performances from various cultures, and then made our way across the high-net bridge. Although pretty painful, it was fun and a good test of stamina.
By the time we left YICF, I was ready to drop down and sleep for a good twelve hours. Although work was sometimes tedious, YICF was enlightening in that it let us see and contribute to the amount of work behind the festival and participate in fun activities as well.
Pictures coming later…

Skadang Trail (Taroko National Park)

Hello everyone, today we had the opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful places in Taiwan, Taroko National Park. Driving for a few hours from Yilan, we noticed the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, but then quickly moved into the mountains of the park. The windy road was an experience in itself and the skill of our bus driver through seemingly impossible roads was admirable.

Once we reached the Skadang Trail, we proceeded to walk a couple of kilometers along the trail. The following is a collection images taken from the trail.

Again, I am grateful for the opportunity to come and visit such a beautiful place.

-James Hwang

Arts and Outdoors!

Today was a day filled with the arts and outdoors. This morning, we had a DIY trip-- we had the chance to choose what type of Chinese arts we wanted to make-- bracelets, candles, etc. I decided to paint a Chinese top, and the store lady also graciously taught me how to play. Now I can play with Chinese tops!

We then had a long bus ride to a Taroko National Park, where we had a short hike to a spot in a beautiful stream. The stream is one of the cleanest and clearest I had ever seen-- comparable to Escalante in Utah. We played in the stream, wading in, watching fish, which was s refreshing from the hot humid day!

At night, we went to a lovely hotel-- the only hotel in a national park in Taiwan! The cabins are set right amid the beautiful outdoors-- we can see a breathtaking view of Taiwan's beautiful clouds and mountains, filled with trees- a la Pandora from the movie Avatar. Dinner was delicious, and after dinner was a show.

Another day, another wonderful experience in Taiwan. What a beautifl and vibrant country!

Off to rest up for white-water rafting tomorrow.

Chris

First and foremost

First and foremost, I offer my humble apologies to everyone for delaying our journey eastwards this morning. There really is no excuse – my fellow “ring of fire”-ers managed to get themselves onto the bus in good time and so should have I.

And so we set off for Yilan, the Yilan International Children’s Folklore and Folkgame Festival (or YICF) to be specific. YICF is a combination of media through which folklore and folkgame culture from all around the world is showcased; this involved dance performances, exhibitions, workshops centred around a water-play-area. The plan would be to earn our admission to YICF by helping out wherever help was needed for half the day, the ensuing merriment being all the more rewarding as a result of our toil.

Assigned to the role of first-aid helper, along with J-Lo, it soon became apparent that our services were surplus to requirement. The two nurses on post to take care of anything medical were more than capable by themselves and despite having two years of medical training and basic first aid there was still a niggling issue of me being legally covered to do bugger-all.

Having finished our day shift, those who wanted to enjoy the water-park were treated to the singular experience that can only be described as “water shooting into places you’re not expecting it to”. Imply of that what you will.

The very idea of giant waterbeds with sprinklers and hoses overhead sounds like a winner from the start.

The day concluded with a trip to Luodong night market for dinner. As most people know, the longer the queue the better the food; therefore, the decision to queue for the busiest food stall (lamb stewed with Chinese medicine) and the busiest dessert eatery left about 10 minutes free time to look around before the bus would be back for boarding.

Here at the hotel I’m finishing this blog to the sound of crickets (I think) and cool, hard air conditioning.

Two bunk beds and a double. Luke and I lost to Kevin and Jerome at rock, paper, scissors earlier. Shared bed it is, then.

Night.



P.S. pictures to come with future posts, faster internet permitting.

The heartbeat of your drums – Your heartbeat in the drums!

After 2 days of struggling, I'm finally able to post my message !!!

I was kind of excited when I heard about learning how to play drums, and it ended to be a very interesting experience (not because my hometown was shown in their presentation! but if you want to know where it was, just ask ^^). We’ve been taught how 優人神鼓 (you1 ren2 shen2 gu3) way of playing drums was related to their way of life.

Close to the nature, close to yourself, one part of the whole to find your true self.

Play the drums like your heart beats, loosen up when the stick hits.

Only then, you can start playing the drums in “your harmony” (在自己寧靜中打鼓).

For that 優人神鼓 members train in the mountain: martial arts, dance, drums,… What the relation with the nature gives them is their inspiration.

Playing the drums is a present thing, not in the past nor in the future, and as it’s been said : “Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, Today is a Gift, that’s why it’s called Present”, it was really a gift for us.

- Starting with relaxing to feel the body

(before lunch - relaxing before lunch is really important : stretch out the stomach to eat well ^^")

(after lunch )

- Stretching out to reduce injury! (Do not laugh !!!)

- And then sleep… -__-“ ah no, concentrate !