Choir Tour-Taiwan

Our trip to Taiwan began at 4AM after having a two hour "nap". We didn't get to bed until 2AM trying to get everything ready and packed and making sure the girls were all settled and taken care of. It was really hard for me to leave them-especially Bryn. I hadn't ever even left her over night and she is quite the mama's girl! Note to self: sleep a full night before traveling half-way around the world! Beginning from when we got up at 4, we didn't go to sleep in a bed for 26 hours! It was a LONG day! Sleeping on a plane is not one of my abilities, so I was pretty tired. We first flew nine hours to Japan and had about an hour layover. Just long enough to get off the plane, stretch and get back on. I was not feeling so hot, I think due to the lack of sleep. I felt very nauseous as we were coming in to Tokyo and was sure I was going to lose one (or all) of the three meals they served us, but luckily I didn't. I got through security and to the gate as quick as I could and laid down on the ever so comfy airport chairs. I must have fallen asleep for a few minutes, because I felt much better.

Our next leg was four hours to Taipei, Taiwan. This time we had a four-hour layover. It was a blessing that we had four hours because we needed two and a half of it to get one of the students admitted into the country. He is from Fiji and for some reason traveling with a visa from Fiji causes some serious issues.

The last leg to Kaohsiung was about two hours and rather uneventful. Because of the time change, we left Saturday morning and got in on Sunday evening. Any other week, it wouldn't have really mattered which day we missed. But not only did I have to be away from my kids on Mothers' Day-we skipped the day all together! It was erased!

The team that helped Denzil get into Taiwan. Alice and Ming are from Hong Kong and fluent in Mandarin. They were awesome! I can't even imagine what we would have done without them!

Mike and Jeff Chang.
Jeff was our contact in Taiwan who did the leg work and arrangements for our schedule for the week we were in Taiwan. Even though we didn't fly in until after 10PM Taiwan time, there was a greeting party of 20 or so people who were there with banners and lei to give to each member of the choir. It was a fun way to begin our trip.

Monday we visited a commercial high school and did a short performance. The school sold inexpensive tickets to the performance to raise money for families affected by a typhoon that hit last summer. It was neat to be able to be a part of it. I enjoyed seeing the high school kids get so excited to meet the choir members. You would have thought that we were famous!

Monday night, we had the opportunity to go into the homes of members of one of the Kaohsiung stakes to attend Family Home Evening with them. It was such a neat experience to see how the Gospel is the same around the world, no matter what language was spoken. We went with the Young family. Their daughter and her friends all spoke English, but the parents didn't so they had to translate for us. What a humble and loving family.

Back at the hotel, we waited in the lobby to talk to some of the students to hear about their experiences. I didn't hear one negative comment. It was neat to hear how many of them really connected with the families they went with and felt like they were sent to a particular family for a purpose.

We went to Cishan Elementary School (south of Kaohsiung) to talk to and play with the children there. They were SO cute! And it was sweet to see the college students with the kids. Some of these kids were left orphans from a typhoon in 2009. I was touched to see that even though many had lost much, they were still happy.

Sone (SO-nay) quickly became one of our favorite students. Everywhere we went he was doing something fun with whoever we were visiting. From playing rock/paper/scissors competitively, to flying the kids around like airplanes, to just sitting with a child. Here he is teaching the kids sounds that animals make. It was so fun to watch him!

I wanted to show our kids how lucky they are to have toilets! Almost everywhere we went there were squatters. There were usually regular toilets as well. I wasn't ever brave enough to try one. I don't bend/balance so well these days! :)

Sun Yat-Sen University
This is in Kaohsiung. The campus was set on a hill overlooking the ocean. It was beautiful! One of their choirs did an exchange with our choir. They taught us a song and then we taught them Aloha 'Oe.

This girl noticed the Nikon camera I was shooting with and struck up a conversation. She is a photographer in the making, taking classes at this university.

Taichung City Government Building - one of the places I went as the official tour photographer to document the BYU-Hawaii delegation visits to key dignitaries in the countries we visited. Here we visited with the Mayor of Taichung.

Scooters were EVERYWHERE! I couldn't believe how many there were! There was a parking lot like this about every other block and I'm pretty sure there were more scooters on the road than cars. It was crazy!

Feng Chia Night Market

Me, the McCarreys (another chaperone couple), and our two guides. One of them took us to smell 'stinky tofu'-she had us stand and just "enjoy" the smell of it. I think she forgot that I was pregnant-not so pleasant. I'm not sure I would have liked it NOT pregnant. The smells were a little too much for me. From exhaust to lots of different foods to sewer smells, it wasn't very long before I was ready to go back to the hotel.

Three of the choir girls trying the stinky tofu that our guide bought. The smell was enough for me-I didn't need to try it!

Karenna (my cousin's daughter) didn't really seem to mind it.

The view from our hotel room in Taichung. Mike would have loved to play tennis on these clay courts! But since we didn't even find much time to sleep-tennis wasn't really an option. Someday I will take him to play on a clay court. :)

We had a lot of authentic food while on our trip. Some was delicious and others I could have done without. :) The food was usually pre-ordered so most of the time I wasn't even sure what we were eating! It was a good experience though. President Wheelwright made the observation that it was good for all of us to learn what some of our foreign students go through when they come to school at BYU-Hawaii and don't have anything familiar to eat. At least we knew it would only be for a few weeks.

This meal was...how do I put it... memorable? When they brought it out and the fish was looking at me, I excused myself and went with Mike to get some "supplemental food" for us and the choir kids at Burger King. I wasn't very adventurous when it came to trying new foods. Mostly because I never knew what I was eating and if it was safe in my "condition".

Outside the Taipei Temple. It looks a lot like the Boise temple. But it is right in the middle of several big buildings. If you didn't know where it was, you probably wouldn't find it. Unlike many other temples that you can see from miles away. I had to attend a meeting with President and Sister Wheelwright so I didn't have time for a session, but was still able to serve in the temple for a little while. I wish I would have asked if I could participate in Mandarin.

A marvelous stake in Taipei fed us after our temple trip. It was BLESSED to see familiar foods! The fruit in Taiwan is AMAZING! Jeff told us it was because many countries export their best foods and save the leftovers for their own country, but in Taiwan they keep the best and export the rest. It was SO yummy!

Taipei Temple at night.

Elder Paul and Sister Jill Johnson joined us on Friday of our Taiwan stay to help be chaperones. He is the Church Educational System Commissioner for the Church and a member of the first quorum of the Seventy. He is also a photographer as a hobby and uses a Nikon so I was able to learn a TON from him. We instantly fell in love with both of them! We are blessed to be able to rub shoulders with so many amazing people in this job!

Nice Hat! :)

Michelle is a BYU–Hawaii alumnus and helped us so much! She joined us for all of our time in Taiwan and was such a HUGE help! Anytime there was a problem or we needed to find something, we turned to her. She always knew the answer or translated for us so we could figure it out. She was also super fun! It was so great to have her with us!

Playing with the camera on some pretty flowers in one of the many beautiful flower beds.

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial
The statue inside this building almost looks like an Asian Lincoln Memorial. We got to see the changing of the guards-similar to that of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

This is a performance hall on the same campus as the memorial. The grounds were beautiful!

I was amazed at the detail on the underside of the roof.

I chose a few of my favorite concert shots that I took. I borrowed a camera from BYU–Hawaii and was the official tour photographer. I had a hard time with the lighting and learning how to play with all the settings, but I learned a lot!

Here a group of choir members pose with President and Sister Hoer of the Taichung Taiwan Mission. He is a strong supporter of BYU-Hawaii and helped pave the way for a great and productive visit to this part of the country.

Sunday night the choir held a musical fireside at the Stake Center in Taipei. We had listened to the choir sing in three major performances and several small ones all week. They have a beautiful sound and it made me miss being a part of a great choir. But there was something different about hearing them sing about the Savior. The Sunday evening fireside was so powerful and the Spirit was so strong! We met this man at Coldstone (yes, blessed Coldstone - in Taipei!!!) the night before and invited him to attend the fireside. He did come and we were able to visit with him and share a little of the Gospel and testimony with him. Here he's posed with Mikey, Janelle, Katie, and Christian.