Day 4: Treated like a queen.

Well, today started with church! We were greeted very warmly by everyone. Everyone wanted to practise their English and talk to us on our way in, we felt like we were famous! The service was lovely, it started with a praise bit done by the youth group with lots of action songs and then the service began. Although it was all in Taiwanese we were given an English bible and the words of the songs in English characters so we could try and vaguely follow. It was the junior churches anniversary today so the children sang a song during the service and a speech was given by the head of the junior church also. Angela did a speech about the North West Synod on behalf of me and her because I was too shy to do it but I was called up to the front anyway to be presented a gift of a few different things. After church, everyone wanted their photo taken with us and then we went back to the hotel to get changed. We were then picked up at 12.30 and taken to a coffee shop which was very European where I had an iced latte and half a toasted sandwich. This was quite nice, very relaxed and chilled out. After this we went to a railway which had a small steam engine that used to run up to the mountains but because of the typhoon damage it can only travel about 10 minutes so we took the short ride for the experience which was very pleasant. The couple that were looking after us, their father owned the company that had the railway, he was also in the property buisness. After the train ride we took a short drive around the town to look for a new camera for Angela and then headed to the couple's home. They told us it was their family home and in the suburbs but when we arrived we soon realised as we were driving up the private road to their home it was nothing like we were used to. When we arrived we parked up and got out. The house was beautiful! It had been designed by Mr Chen who owned the house and was made out of wooden logs. We walked past the servants quaters (!!!!) and the pool to the floor where we would all have a meal. there were two separate tables, one of which all the elders and us sat feeling like royalty whilst they all drank whisky (lots of it - 4 bottles!!) and I had water! The other table sat the women and children which showed you the formation of the church! We then ate a banquet of eel, crab, coccles, shrimps, pork and tuna although I only ate a small amount of pork and tuna as have not been feeling too well. Food was incredible however. It was soon apparent that this man was a millionaire. We were treated like royalty all night, being waited on. We then came back to the hotel as we had to pack up because off to Tainan in the morning so not sure if I'm going to be able to get internet where I am! If not, I will post on Wednesday! I can only hope that when the Taiwanese visitors come to Manchester they feel as welcomed as I do here! Missing home lots though! Hopefully talk tomorrow xx

Day 3: A quiet one

Well firstly I remembered my camera this morning woo! and managed to get some pictures off someone elses camera of yesterday so your able to see them. Also fixed all the other photos I put up there! This morning I got a lie in but an even longer one than I expected! I was supposed to be meeting in the lobby at 9.40 but woke up at 9.35! so had to just throw some clothes on and run out. We went to the presbyterian church offices where we were presented with a perspex plaque to remember our visit which was lovely but not really seen it properly yet as we were told they'll give us them properly on wednesday before we leave as we were going straight out afterwards. After this we were given a short presentation on the office and how they function and then given lots of details about the typhoon and how the churches dealt with it. The basic line of it was that they responded very quickly and before the Government! As no vehicles could pass, it was up to volunteers to walk the 8 hour round trip throught the water and mess to deliver food parcels to the victims. Once this was done we were taken to the poshest hotel in Chaiyi apparently! where there was an all you can eat buffet but as I hadn't been well in the night, I only sampled a few items although one of these did include Ostrich!! Following this we went back to the hotel where I was able to actually get myself ready this time!! We were then picked up by the Rev En-Shang Pann (who is the vicar for the church we are going to in the morning) and taken out for the afternoon. We went to Chaiyi tower which I guess is the equivalent to Blackpool tower where you can get a good view, there was a roof terrace with bars but no glass so the breeze came through. On here was a small water feature with some lovely artwork around and some swinging chairs! Once we came down from there we were taken through a botanical garden which was lovely and then on for tea. This was a giant selection of food however after not feeling so great I just had a duck pancake and a bowl of soup because I was so full from dinner! The restaurant we went to was gorgeous, it was on top of a giant pond with fish all around where the gaps of the building were and when I talked about the fish they gave me fish food to feed them with. I threw some in the water and all of them swarmed to get at it pushing some fish out of the water!!! I think there was around 100 fish approx. We later dropped off friends before going shopping for a top for Angela, she bought 3 in the end! Was nice though! Been quite a chilled out day, not too much thinking involoved!! Miss everyone lots though!! xx

Day 2: Lots to think about

Firstly, I must apologise for the lack of pictures from today. This is becuase I left my memory card in the laptop after uploading them yesterday and so could not take any pictures. I will have some when I get back off someone elses camera but can't get them yet, will try though. Well today was very different. We started the morning with a long drive down to the areas where the typhoon have hit and destroyed. On the way I thought about what I may see when I got there, I mentally prepared myself for things around me being half up, rubble everywhere etc and as we approached it that is what I found. Some of the roads we drove down were half torn up, concrete had cracks in it and bridges were now missing and temporary ones in there place. It made you realise quite how cut in half the island must of been. As it is in the mountains of the island, there were lots of quite spectacular views, so occassionally we would stop so that there was an opportunity for us to take some photographs. Then we stopped an picked up a local pastor and continued on our journey. We stopped again for what I thought was a photo stop however when I climbed out of the car was very confused to just see a big empty space of rocks and rubble and then in amoungst the trees was a picture of a village with a river running past. It was only then that I realised that this rubble we were looking at was the village in the picture before the typhoon, I was gobsmacked and felt very embarassed almost to be there too late. There were lots of families who had lost their loved ones in the typhoon wearing orange (their mourning colour as ours is black) sitting on the rocks and looking around. It was very hard to believe that there was once what looked a very beautiful little village there and now there was nothing. We were told of how these families spent a month after the disaster lifting these rocks to try and find their loved ones. All of this was quite devostating to see and touched us all, we said a small prayer and then travelled back down the mountain. Part way down the mountain, the pastor we picked up took us to another place of devostation, his home and the retreat he had made for churches to visit. It was a centre that could hold between 60-70 people and was surrounded by orchards. It now consisted of water damage, mess and rubbish. He told the story of how he stood on the outdoor communal area seating and clinged to the pole as he prayed that God would help someone rescue his family. It was incridible to see how strong he was but he also saddened us with the news that he doesn't think he will be able to rebuild this community. After this we continued to drive, dropping the pastor back off and as we drove, I fell asleep. I awoke to find us outside our chosen destination for lunch, somewhere with loads of Taiwnese culture, Mc Donalds!!! After lunch, we went to the museum of Hakka culture which was good, looking at the tribes etc was nice things being written in English also! We then started to travel back where we stopped at a small village and went for some ice cream, I had a banana split which was gorgeous! :) That was about it really for today, I'm currently back at the hotel relaxing and possibly might go for a walk later down the street.
I guess today gave me a lot to think about from the pastor's positive outlook in life to how thankful we must be about everything! Speak tomorrow! x

Day 1 in Taiwan!

Well, had an early start this morning but managed, am still jetlagged however! We went down to breakfast at about 8am which was strange in itslef as for breakfast there was the option of chicken and noodles? :S but i chose for the scrambled egg concoxion and some peperoni looking stuff! was yummy though! Next we went round and met some people from the local church who would be travelling with us for the day. They were all very friendly and caring. From here we went to one of the local churches who spoke to us about their congregation etc and provided us with a book that they had printed for their 100th anniversary. They also provided us with a packet of sweets each aswell as fresh fruit whilst we were there. We then went onto another church which which similarly did the same thing. giving us presents of pens, tea and biscuits to take home with us. They then came with us for some lunch at a seafood restaurant which had all the live fish on display and therefore you could pick your fish and then eat it! Not my cup of tea! Food was quite yummy though, even tried sushi but didn't like it! Then for pudding we had a custard ball equivalent :D. We later went to a church by the sea and near all the fish farms. They did again a similar thing and presented us with a book each for their 50th anniversary. After this we were tol that we were going to go back to the hotel for a rest which we were all relieved at but actually we ended up at a fish market which was truly odd! I thought some of the fish in Tesco's were big!! We never ended up returning to the hotel to our disappointment, instead we went to the Moderator's church where we got a chance to properley speak to people and have our questions answered! We then went to yet another restaurant with a 13 course meal! Didnt eat very much though because I was so full from lunch and also didnt fancy eel or sushi!
Overall, it has been a lovely day! The people we spent the day with have been fantastic and its left me with a lot to think about! I found some of the things they said quite controversial such as there are more women in the church than men as is the same in England however all the decision making bodies are all male. Ben said that this is because they are very old fashioned but it is improving so i suppose that is the good thing. One of the main things that I have noticed within taiwan and the church is the amount of community outreach programmes that they run with societies is amazing! I have been left wondering what we could do more like that however i have decided it shouldn't be the couple fellowship (that only married coules can go to!) or the Psychological treatement for dropouts (which one of its main aims is to help high risk drop outs from single parent families and low income families!!!!). One way that they do these outreach programmes is by using other mestivals that they dont necessarily beleive and worship in such as the moon festival and use them as a way to reach out to society and get them involved.
Finally, I'm gonnas leave you with the main point that I feel I've been left with and that is that the people of Taiwan are very proud of their churches because of the minority of people (4%) bwing Christian yet use this as a good thing and embrace it and don't focus on numbers, this is where I think England differs as we constantly talk about the decline in numbers yet I don't think we ever really have a proper think about, ok well how can we improve this? Just a thought to ponder on...
And on that point I shall say good night! xx

Blonde in the East!

Well I'm here safely! I met Melanie, Angela and Marion at 11.30am at Manchester airport and we successfully checked in! We had a flight from manchester to London Heathrow where I fell in love with a Calvin Klein handbag in Harrods but as I couldn't afford the sale price of £175 I left it where it was! Then we flew from London to Hong Kong which was a bit of a hurendous journey as couldn't get to sleep or get comfy. Slept for about an hour in total which is why I'm sooo tired now! However, the three movies I watched on the flight helped me through my time on the plane. Watched the proposal, ghosts of girlfriends pasts and ice age: return of the dinosaurs! :D We also ate tea and breakfast on the plane, and as I was wandering around the plane not being able to sleep I happened to look out of the window and saw the desert underneath me which I have to say was a pretty amazing sight! Once arriving at Hong Kong we had a very quick change onto a plane to Taipei (the capital of Taiwan) which was ok, not too much to see as it was mostly just cloud but had a nice chat with Marion all the same and a cup of apple juice. When we arrived in Taipei I was pretty excited as we were about to meet Ben and Stephen who will be our hosts for the week! They put us onto a shuttle bus down to the High Speed Rail train where we boarded the train down to Chiayi which is where we're up to now. We drove to the hotel which is absolutely stunning (pictures to follow but too tired now!) and quickly dropped our bags off before going out again for some tea. When arriving at the restaurant we were asked to pick a type of meat and me not being so brave yet went for chicken! the waitresses later returned with firstly a bowl of salad, and then a tray with a burner with chicken in abowl on top and everything else you could possibly imagine, ranging from clams to unusual vegetables! Next to this was some rice, chives with chicken and egg, chinese leaf with spring onions and another dish which I can't describe! I was so full so was relieved to see just a small pot of tea brought out but then another glass of cold tea this time, rose flavoured. then to my disbelief they followed it with a COFFEE JELLY and fruit!!!! I was so stuffed by the time I left the restaurant, all I want to do is go to sleep! Also, whilst on the HSR we had a bruilliant conversation with Ben about him escaping from Taiwan as an adolescent after running away from the Government who were after him for having stuck up and published an article about the way they were treating the samll tribes! We also discussed about the typhoons and disaster areas in Taiwan that we will be visiting later this week but will explain about that latwer this week! So, so far so good, absolutly loving it, everything is very bizarre though, timers on the traffic lights, moped only lanes, driving on the right hand side but is still brill! Am very tired now, been up for 35 hours with only 1 broken hours sleep and its 10.30pm here so good night everyone! Speak tomorrow! x

The day before!

Well, I'm off tomorrow morning and am very excited! Got a long journey though and so will be shattered by the time I get there! Hope you all enjoy reading my blog and I will try and blog everyday! :)