Way to long

It's kind of getting a habbit for me to wait a long time before posting anything here. My sincere apologies for this. But maybe it is just because I live a normal live here, without too many things going on. But as I know there are really people out there reading my stories, it is time for an up date.

Well, life 'as a married women' is not any different from normal life. I can still enjoy a couple of beers once in a while. Go out whenever I want. I still don't have to do the awfull cleaning jobs at home, which many Taiwanese daughters-in-law have to do. So basically I am just picking up where I left.

I am really in to trying all the food here. And trust me they have so many and at every hour. I went to the Dazzling cafe in Taipei lately with Dewi. It is a really girly cafe, where you can have a nice lunch or dinner, or even afternoon tea. They have delicious honey baked toast. And trust me it was wonderful. The presentation was very beautiful, the atmosphere very relaxing and the food and drinks very delicious. I would say a 100 points. Although the waiting time is really long. And what was confusing to us is that there are two branches just one block away from eachother. And as some may know, Taiwanese streets work with lanes, alleys etc. So the address is the same road, only a different alley. We ended up like me waiting for Dewi at one branch and Dewi waiting for me at the other. Not knowing we were waiting for eachother! Well all good in the end. For others it's def worth trying and not that expensive. Remember though on the 16th of every month you are able to make reservations. Don't ask me why? That's all I know.

Furthermore Dewi took me to this lovely zen-restaurant up in the mountains (with the name 5 finger mountain according to Dewi). It was really fabulous. If you are having busy times at work or at home, just take some friends here and it will totally calm you down. The area is so peaceful and so is the restaurant. No staff bothering you during the dinner, just doing their job serving. And the food was Yuuuuummmmiiiiiieee! The lay-out was also taken care of. Terrific small details were made which were appreciated. And even the toilet was a blessing to go to. A clean warmed seat, just a pleasure to go to! Thank you heaps Dewi, for showing me this place.

So now for people who think all I am doing is trying out restaurants. No no no. I am actually very busy with teaching. It is actually still parttime. But I think if you count up all the hours I do, it would fit in a 4 day working week. But mine are spread all over the week. I even ended up working on Saturday and Sunday. But this will only be until the end of the (lunar) year. About February. But I am still trying to find a school that can give me 5 days of work, so I don't have to go from one school to another school. I am not in a hurry though.
I had a wonderful performance with my students just a week ago. The youngest were singing nursery rhymes, such as Inchy Winchy Spider and If You're Happy And You Know It. The older ones did an Aladdin play. They were all dressed up which made it real fun for us and them. They did great and I think parents liked it as well. And ofcourse most important, my boss could see what they have learned. I tried to make clear that the children have to open up, don't be shy! Everybody can make mistakes. Go crazy once in a while to get rid of that shyness..... I saw some parents nodding hahahaha...

Well just a quick post, as I am sctually in class (internet class), but no students showed up. So I had to sit here, but could do some blogging.

Speak to you next time!

Melanie Chang ~ the wedding ~

Well finally August came, after a while of preparing and waiting. I will tell you all about the 3 weeks before and after our big day.

The first to arrive were Linda and Evelien. They arrived on Sunday 14th, Aming and I went to the airport to pick them up [a ride we have driven a lot this month]. While waiting for them Aming and I made a bet who would recognize them from looking at only the shoes. At Taoyuan airport the glass is covered with plastic, so when they are waling out of the door, you can only see the shoes. Well Aming was the winner, he picked out the correct shoes and I was very happy to see my dearest friends walking through the door. A big hug and kisses was what followed. Then in the car back to Taipei. After a short rest in the hotel I took the girls out to eat hot pot, at one of Aming's and my favourite hot pot restaurants. And Linda and Evelien enjoyed as well. Ofcourse I could have taken them to eat strange and stinky things but the first day I wanted to take it easy and not scare them inmediately. After a big meal we decided to hit the city, going to a jazz bar called EZ5. Local and international unknown artists perform on stage, and you can even request songs. There is one guy I prefer, he makes a real show of it and is very funny. But unluckily he was not there that night. We ordered three different cocktails and I learned the girls how Taiwanese drink with eachother. Most important: NEVER drink alone. So everytime when someone lifted his/her glass and gently banged it to your glass you had to drink aswell. We got good in it, by drinking one after another. When we went home we just noticed that we drank a lot of cocktails... time for a good night sleep!

The next day I had to pick up my other friends Manon and Danielle, Linda and Evelien could sleep in and take it easy. In the evening I had made reservations to go BBQ-ing for 2 hours [all you can eat]. I know this must sound appealing to men, but trust me it is also very nice for us girls. It is a Japanese style restaurant. We were almost done when Manon had some fish in her bowl and she thought the fish as alive and moving. We ofcourse laughed at her, a fish that has just been BBQ-ed can not be alive anymore. Actually she was pointing out a very small worm kind of thing in her ball. And indeed it was alive. We called for th waitress, who was obviously shocked by this aswell. But it gave us something to laugh about.

After the meal we went to Shilin nightmarket, one of the biggest and famous nightmarkets of Taipei, to do some shopping. As it was a Monday night, it wasn't that busy, but still nice to stroll around after eating for 2 hours. Then it was a early night, as we planned to go to the beach the next day.

As said we head to the north coast [near Wanli] to hit the beach. We could all need some suntan, before the big day on Saturday. Aming drove us to the beach in his borrowed Karaoke van. Together we sang one of our favourites 'Country Roads'. One thing missing though was a man with a guitar... Aming thought of everything and dropped us off. Before heading back to Taipei, he took a quick dip. He went in the water and walked through some seaweed. But when he came out of the water, he was rubbing his leg with mud. No this is not some Taiwanese ritual. Apparantly he was stung by some kind of sea creature. It looked like all mosquito bites next to eachother. [note that even now 2 weaks later, we can still see spots on his leg and now and then the itching returns]. Well it was time for him to go back to Taipei anyway. Yes he had still things to do for our wedding. Late in the afternoon he came back to pick us up and have dinner at the local seafood restaurant near the beach. Aming ordered some typical Taiwanese dishes, such as; fish skin, seaweed, sashimi etc. Everybody tasted it, but not everybody liked it as much as the other. Anyways, it was a nice dinner. It was time to head back to Taipei, in the car everybody had that after-dinner-dip. Aming drove us to the soccer field [Bailin sportspark]. He wanted to show the girls the field and some people of his club. We enjoyed ourselves by playing some soccer, just like the old days. And what else can you do in Taiwan after exercise.... yes more eating. Aming's friends were dying to meet my friends, not to blame... 5 nice ladies... so we were invited to go eat Jiang Mu Ya [薑母鴉], which is a ginger duck hot pot, in Sanchong. This is the most famous 薑母鴉 restaurant and the biggest. Aming and I like it because it is very lively, you can eat and drink. The only disadvantage is the low chairs you have to sit on. Especially for Linda, the tallest one, it was not that enjoyable. It was here were the girls really showed how brave they were. The later it was the more akward things they had eaten. It first started with beetle nuts. This is also called the Taiwanese drugs or chewing gum. Man eat this a lot and they get a kick out of it. Kind a like coffee, it helps you stay awake. So don't worry it is not real drugs. But people who eat it often get an entire red mouth, disgusting to see. And they all spit this red liquid on the streets. Well the girls tried it and agreed it is not somerhing to do again. Then the rooster balls came out. They say this is good for the sex.... but in Taiwan they have many storied with every kind of food, so don't believe everything. The balls were not a big succes either. Then there was also my favourite, pigs blood with rice! This wasn't dirty, but also not rated as delicious. Well it became very late and we finished a lot of beers. The next day they could rest, but I had to go and pick up my family... so bedtime again.

The 18th, the last pick up from the airport, my 2 big brothers and their girlfriends and my litte niece Renee. Everybody had the same flight so it was all the same again. Again the doors open en there they come. Dad came with us, and he was quit nervous ofcourse, he hasn't seen his granddaughter for a long long time. He was dying to she his sons and granddaughter. We dropped them at the hotel and gave them some time to rest / recover from the long flight. Meanwhile I went to take the Mao Kong Gondala with Linda, Evelien en Danielle. Manon stayed at home as she was sick from all the strange delicatesses we had the other night. The gondola takes you up in the mountains just out of Taipei and at the end of the ride you hve many teahouses with great views. As the gondola was going very slow it took us a long time to get to the top. We had a quick cup of tea and enjoyed the view before leaving. We had dinner pans at home with everybody, Aming's mother cooked so I didn't want to be late. But we couldn't make it on time, so I called to tell them we were delayed for half an hour. When we came home, the entire living room was filled. Aming's sister and fam, my brothers and father, Manon, Aming's parents and then us. It was lively, loudly but fun. We had lots of food. Aming's mother is a great cook and she can really be a good host. Always taking care of her guests. After dinner we found out it was Aming's sister's [Judy] birthday. So cake was bought and we had to sing. Normally we sing happy birthday in Chinese en English, but ofcourse a Dutch version was added, includding the 3 times Hip hip hooray. Aming's mother liked the hoorays and she was so enthousiastic. So cute to see her with a big smile on her face being the best host. Aming's father was also really happy, he only drinks liquor, most of the time wiskey and for this night he openen one of his huge Johnnie Walker bottles for my brother, also a wiskey drinker. They had many 'cambei's' and he was so happy. After dinner we went to Holiday KTV [karaoke]. Aming's sister treated us. Hahaha it was very nice to see all the Dutch fces when we entered the room. Expectations were all different, but no one thought of this. It is a private room you rent and you can just sing for 3 hours. And there is food to eat. Well for the first time it were more English songs then Chinese. But I gave them a concert with my Chinese song, Lao Su Ai Da Mi. Later Judy joined and they saw how Taiwanese do this, they can sing quit good. Not like us just shouting along and dancing on the beat.

Thursday was the day of my hen party. I knew it would probably be on this day, but I had no idear what or where. Dewi, one of my close friends here in Taiwan organized the whole thing.

At lunch time I had to go with Manon and Danielle to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. We went there and nothing really happend. When we were up and inside the hall, some men in suit were looking at us. I thought they might want to ask something. So I kind of looked back. Then they asked if I was Melanie and I knew it was part of the day. They claimed they were from the immigration office and had to take me in. Something was wrong with my visa. They blindfolded me and took me to a car. We drove very fast [thanks to Dewi's husband] to another place and there I had to walk for a bit. When I got out of the car I had to follow one of the men by putting my hand on his shoulder. 'Trust me he said' and after 2 steps I bumped into a drinking machine. My toe hurted, but I had to go on. This was very scary walking without seeing. When they took off the blindfold my friends and sisters-in-law where there waiting for me. We had a lunch in Daan Park and played some Scandanavian game, which my team lost. Then we went off in 2 taxi's to a Recording Studio. We were going to record Kiss me sang by Sixpence Non the Richer. This is the first song I sang in the KTV for Aming. I would be the lead singer. Soon they discovered that we were not that talented, only Evelien with some Kinderen-voor-Kinderen experience was good. I had to sing the song like 7 or 8 times. Yeah I know I am not much of a singer. Finally it was a wrap and we could go to the next location. We went to Yangminshan, to a beautifull restaurant in the mountains with a great view of Taipei. The restaurant is called the Top. We could just see the sunset, really amazing. And the food was also great.

After dinner we went back to Dewi's place. She lives in a building near the 101 so we went up to take some nice pictures and then we left to the KTV room downstairs. When we were singing a long and enjoying all the videoclips suddenly we had to move to the movie room. I did not get why, but when I entered it hit me. Some guy was lying in front and I had to sit in the front chair. Yes a stripper. I thought they would not be able to find a stipper. But too bad, Dewi has many connections here in Taipei. They guy started dancing and came sitting on my lap, taking my hands to touch him. Yes I was shy. You all know I am though but also very shy. The guy laughed as he said, you have to touch me. Well he did his act and let me rip of his pants. He made me lie on top of him when he was kind of bouncing. Also he danced with every other girl. Then after this we hit the disco near Taipei 101. Sparks was closed, so we went to Room 18. We got a nice sitting room, from where we could see the whole bar. And enjoyed some cocktails. What a wonderfull day, all credits go to Dewi.

Friday was an esy going day, as Aming and me had to arrange the final bits and pieces for the big day. We went to visit Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. We saw the ceremony of changing the guards. Then we went to Dong Tai Feng, one of the most famous Dim Sum restaurants in Taipei. We had to wait for 30 minutes, but then we could go in. Everybody ordered what they like. And you could see all the enjoying faces. It was delicious. After lunch we took them to eat a Taiwanese traditional desert, mango ice. This ice is not made of ice-cream, but it is a huge ice cube, shaved on a plate. So actually you are eating ice shivers and they just ad some mango, sauce and jelly. Very delicious. Everybody was stuffed, so we needed some exercise. We decided to walk to the Taipei 101. According to Aming it was a 20 min walk. Which it wasn't, more like 1 to 1,5 hour. HAHAHA but we walked it. Only Marcel had to take a taxi for the last part as he had some blisters on his feet. At the Taipei 101 we went up to the 90th floor and to the roof top. The views were amazing. And also the elevator ride was an experience, it is the fastest in the world.

We went back home, as I had to get my nails done and Aming's cousin was staying over to help us out on Saturday. When we went to the nail artist at 8 I was pretty relaxed. Not knowing that fake gel nales would take 3 hours. Wow, it was quit a sit, but at least my nails looked good. At about 12 I headed back home wanting to sleep, we had to get up at 5 in the morning. A five hour sleep isn't really what we call a beauty sleep.

The big day. We got up early to decorate the location. We chose to held the ceremonay at Bailin soccer field. Using chairs, flowers, balloons, a red carpet and lanterns we decorated it into a wedding setting. We did quit good. Then I had to go and sit down for hair and make-up. Our guests were all standing in front of me looking at me, so I told Aming to take them to the field where they could have drinks and chat. It was a warm day, so we had to tents to cover the drink and food tables. When I was done, Aming came and pick me up and together with Sunny in front of us throwing flowers we walked down the aisle. Everybody standing up and clapping. Perfect. We both said our vows and were declared husband and wife. After a good kiss, we drank champagne to celebrate. Then we announced that everybody would get a bottle of wine with our picture on it as a thank you. At the ceremony we only invited family and close friends who have helped us out with the wedding or in recent years. Then the cake came out. We ordered a special cake, with a soccer ball on top and a bride and groom chasing eachother. We cut it together and gave everybody a piece. Leo [Aming's nephew] was very curious about the soccer ball.It seemed it was made of chocolate. When he took the knife to cut of a piece, the ball exploded. It was a balloon covered with chocolate. His face was all covered with cake and chocolate. So funny.

Then we got some presents from friends and family. Thank you so much for all the presents everybody. We took pictures with everybody, as a memory. Then it was time to just enjoy and chat with everybody. People who wanted to leave could go home. So slowly everybody went home. We helped cleaning up everything and rushed home aswell. We needed a power nap. And I still had to pick up a dress, which is a surprise for Aming.

















Then it was time to go into hair and make-up again for the dinner party. This took longer. Everybody was walking into my dressing room and asking me questions, but I was not allowed to answer. The dinner hall was becoming crowed. When I was ready my father came to pick me up and walk me half way down the aisle. When entering everybody clapped and it was perfect. My father gave me to Aming and together we walked to our table. The dinner went really fast. I had to sit and goi again for hair and make up. I had to go on stage to say something. And then listen to others and then I had to change again. For my last dress, I arranged all people that helped me to walk in front of me. And Aming would be surprised by how stunning I looked. It went a bit different, but who cares, Aming still thought I was beautifull. The dress was edgy, with a low cut at the front and a lot of bling bling and a long veil at the back. Everybody gathered besides the red carpet and clapped when I entered. Hahahaha... a little bit messy but still very nice. People were saying it took very long, so some already left. Now it was time to send out our guests. We prepared a box with candy inside to give every guest. And we have to stand at the exit. This way there is also an oppurtunity for pictures. One of Aming's friend was quit drunk and making som commotion up stairs, while we were laughing to our guests. It kinda got out of hand when he was punched on his nose and blood was flowing out. But we just let it go, as we were busy with all our guests. When everybody was gone we went home ourselves. And we made an appointment to meet my friends and brothers in a bar. I did not have one drink during the dinner, because I was so busy. We went to Sparks to do some dancing.

The next morning Aming's friends called to appologize for all the commotion caused at our wedding dinner. Others said it was the best wedding dinner ever, as it look way longer than usual. So I think all over it was the perfect day!!! Aming and me are very happy.

Sunday was very easy going, we had hot pot for dinner and had to take Manon and Danielle to the airport. They were heading back already. Linda and Evelien went to Sun Moon Lake by themselves.

On Monday we left with my brothers to Green Island, just of the coast of Taitung. The boat ride is known as a very heavy one. Marloes was not well and Aming had to puke. Luckily I found myself a spot on the deck facing forward. So it was no problem. The history of Green Islands is that prisioners were sent to Green Island. The Island is so small, so even when they escape, they can go nowhere and they can not cause any damage. It is kind of a prisoners island. Nowadays there is still one prison in use. We went to visit it and saw some prisioners doing gardening. We rented a scooter and we drove around the island within an hour. It is so beautifull, great views, great nature. For dinner a BBQ was sceduled, this was in a tipical 'vreetschuur'. The restaurant as basic and ugly as possible, but the food ofcourse very good. The next morning we went snorkeling with Marcel and Marloes. We saw hundreds of fish, one more beautiful than the other. It was amazin to see that just a couple of meters of the coast there was all this in the water. This is definately a recomandation when visiting Green Island. We took a stroll around the center of the island, did some souvenier shopping. Meanwhile Aming joined a fishing trip.

We had dinner in a fishing rastaurant, again good food. That night we went to the famous hot spring on Green Island. There are 3 natural hot springs like this one on the world. So we had to experience it. We first took the warm bath and then changed to the hot bath. Aming and I went in pretty quick, but my brothers and Marloes were taking longer. It was too hot. Daniel sticking his burned feet it. But is was unforgetable with a great view. The hot spring is just beside the big ocean. The next day [Wednesday] we went back to Taipei.

Thursday was the last night for Linda and Evelien. So we decided to go to the Top again. The boys have not been here and we thought it was a really good restaurant. We had BBQ. Earlier that day me and my brothers went to Xinmen Dien to visit a temple. We praid to Budha with essence sticks. Then we had a cup of coffee on the otherside of the street. A cup of fruit tea for Marloes and me. Coffee Yugh!!!! Then we visited a park, to let Renee and An An play for a bit. They are so cute together. Later that afternoon we went to the Taiwan handicraft market, where you can buy all hand made art souveniers. Afterwards Linda, Evelien, Aming and I went to meet some of our local friends for a drink [and food]. One of our friends has to go in to the army, so it was also his goodbye party. After a couple of beers we wanted to go dancing. We got almost everybody with us, some friends of hours and some students of Aming. We wanted to go to Sparks and with some help of Jeremy [Aming's friend] we got free entry. But inside there was really nobody, to another disco! Monzhe also knew another disco around the corner, so we went there, and yes all the people were there. We paid an entry fee and went down. Obviously we were one of the biggest, and trust me sometimes even I felt small compared to Linda and Evelien on high heels! We danced untill late that night. Then one of Aming's students drove us back to Taipei. It was very weird but funny ti be brought home by this student who is just 19 or 20, driving in his mum's car. But it saves us money for the cab, so why not. And they all live in Sanchung, so they have to go there any way.

Friday I took the girls to WuFenPu for some shopping. My brothers an father already went to Sun Moon Lake by train. Aming and I would drive over there after dropping the girls of at the airport. The girls loved WuFenPu, this is basically a shopping market with only clothes. It is very cheap though some stores can be very expensive aswell. The only thing you have to be causious about, is not to get lost. There are so many small streets left an right that you can easily forget where you came in. We all bought something, so it was a nice lst afternoon. Back home all suitcases were packed a last change of clothes and we were of to eat hot pot. Linda and Evelien liked it so much, so the 2 students of Aming who work in that place treated us on a hot pot. After eating we went to another restaurant to just say hello and goodbye to Helen and het husband Raymond from Hong Kong. And we were off to the airport. It is always so double you want to give them a nice last thought of Taiwan but you are also sad because they are leaving. But they have their own lives in Holland and their boyfriends are waiting for them to come back.

We drove on to Sun Moon Lake, stopping on our way to pay some basketball and eat or drink something. Really easy going. Just past midnight we arrived at the hotel. Checked in and went to bed.

The next morning I woke everybody up and Aming's family arrived aswell. We went to the Aboriginal Culture Village, which is a park with rollercoasters but also aboriginal shows. We saw 2 shows, with one they were giving away golden fir-cones. A young boy gave us all one and he said in Chinese; because they can not understand anything. Hahahaha... well because we got a fir-cone we had to go on stage to do a dance. Marloes, Chantal and I went on stage and danced some aboriginal kind of dance. It was fun to do. Unluckily in the afternoon heavy rain came falling down. So we headed back to the hotel. There we had a shower and had dinner in a local restaurant. We got strange dishes as; doves, whole chickens, pigsfeet, shrimps with shell and head to eat and rooster balls. Aming's mother was so happy that she treated us for dinner.

The next day we went for a hike in the morning, to Mao Lan Mountain. We walked for about an hour up and then an hour down again. For lunch this time we had western style Italian pasta. And then we went to Puli to visit a paper factory. We got to learn more about how paper is made. The factory is still really old fashioned and use a lot of hand work to make paper. After the tour, we were able to make our own print on a paper. For a fan we had to calculate 40 minutes [the boys were obviously bored]. So we decided to do a quick fan in 10 min. We made a print on paper with ink and we made a fan. Very easy. After the paper fabric we went to visit the En Ci Pagoda on the mountain next to Sun Moon Lake. This is the highest point from where you can look over the lake. Unfotunately rain started to fall down again. When we arrived at the pagoda we were up in the clouds, so the view was gone, but it was cool to see the pagoda and climb up to ring the big bell inside. Last part of this weekend was another dinner together. Robert tried to find a western restaurant in the neighbourhood, but this was not that easy. So we decided to go and eat dim sum just opposite from our hotel. After dinner, Aming's family went back to Taipei. Goodbyes were said and we were of to bed again.

Monday morning we took the tourboat around the lake. A one hour ride, but very nice as the weather was also very good. After the boat ride we all went back to Taipei. Arriving there the news told us there were 3 typhoons around Taiwan, so it was raining the entire day. Luckily for the family flights were not canceled or delayed. So Tuesday I took my sisters-in-law to WuFenPu for some last day money spending. And in the evening we had to say goodbye again!

It was such a pleasure for Aming and me to show friends and family how we are living here, a part of our live. And Aming hopes we put Taiwan in the spotlight, so you can nly have positibe thoughts about Taiwan. Thank you for all support and wishes for our wedding.

Now we are going to enjoy the time together. And srt out pics and write our thank you notes!

Bye bye xxx Melanie

Games, Goals but no Gold

Yes, as many of you I was also focussed on the World Championship Footbal in South Africa for the past month. I had a feeling this could be OUR World Championship. And it would be a special one as my old time hero Giovanni van Bronckhorst was playing his last games, last minutes on the field. And he enjoyed me this summer.

It all started in the group fase. Aming and his office had arranged some kind of basement what would be used as our home to watch all the games. It was pretty usefull for us that the first game started at 19:30 in the evening, just after work. The second one started at 22:00 and the last one was a real taugh one 2:30 in the morning. I missed a couple of those, just because I was too tired to keep my eyes open. But ofcourse the Dutch matches were my priority. We started against Denmark, which was special as my good friend Dewi's husband is from Denmark. Then it was Japan, as you might know there are a lot of Japanese people here and even the Taiwanese cheer for the Asian teams, so it was an important one. And then we were already through but still had Cameroon to come. What followed was Slovakia and then it was one of the greatest Brazil. I persuaded Aming to go with me to watch this game. We found a bar (sports bar) which was pretty nice. We gathered around some more friends, including Dewi. And there we were al dressed up in Orange with flags painted on our cheeks. Together with maybe 100 local Taiwanese and one Brazillian / Taiwanese. They were all supporting Brazil, when I asked why the answer was simple "They are famous". Well famous or not we would kick their ass. As Brazil scored first everybody was screaming at me... yeah ok I deserved it, but as we say in Dutch; 'we laatst lacht lacht het hardst'. And so be it... we beat Brazil with 2-1, spectacular. That night I was thrilled and we went out to have a couple of pints to celebrate this important victory. If we can beat Brazil, we can beat them all. When Aming and me finally came home we took a shower. This is were our night actually started. I fell in the bathtub where I just put a plastic bowl and a glass... Pang... broken. I yelled for Aming to come and help me up as I was afraid to move. And then Aming screamed and called for his mum. On the floor I could see blood everywhere. I knew I cut myself. So I grabbed a shirt and pants and went downstairs. Aming thank God thought of all the paper work we had to bring. We went to the hospital where Aming works as a soccer coach. When I told them I had torn my butt, they kind of looked strange... but I was loosing a lot of blood so had to go quickly. After laying on the ER for 1 hour the doctor finally came and took care of me. 2 gaps in my butt. 12 Stitches and a high potention for infection as it is close to my hole. Hahahaha... I went back home and found out sitting would be very very hard for the coming week. But at least I will never forget our victory over Brazil, thanks to my new tattoo.

Then we also took Uruguay, having a girls night at home with my sore butt, we watched the game and it was an exciting one. With ofcourse the most beautifull goal of the entire tournament made by Gio... We were in the final. I had to admit I was a bit scared it would be Germany and I am not sure if we were able to beat them. So I hoped for Spain and Spain it was. For the final I decided to go to Malibu West a bar which is home of all the Dutch in Taipei. We would be watching the game with approx. 200 people all dressed in Orange. With one friend of Aming wearing a Spanish shirt, but you always have those who want to be the center of attention. And what a final it was. The longer it took the more I believed we could do it. Seeing Robben heading for the goal one on one..... and missing. The whole game was nerve wrecking. And then that moment came... 0-1 for Spain. The dream was over... we would end second (again). No party, no golden cup, no big victory for US. People left the bar pretty quickly, as it was already morning and getting light outside. People had to go to work perhaps. But not me. I could cry... that last bit of luck that we had the whole tournament left us in the last couple of minutes. No it wasn't off-side, although I wanted it to be! Disappointed we returned home to have a good sleep.
The next day I had to cut the stitches in my butt. When we went to the hospital the doctor asked Aming to leave the room, even though I said it was ok because we are together. He had to go. Then the doctor asked me what really happend. If I did this to myself, or if I was in a fight with Aming and he did this to me. I started laughing loudly and said it really was an accident and not any kind of abuse. Come on if Aming would do this to me, I would atleast hurt him too, punch him a black eye or so. Hahahahaha...

Also I went to Danshui with Debbie (Aming's cousin) and my dad. Just to walk around for a bit and enjoy the sunshine. The summer has started here and it is getting really hot. Above 30 degrees. I sometimes need to change clothes 3 times a day. And I my washing machine is making over hours. But rather having that than dirty cockroaches inside the house. So far we only had a very little one. (knocking on wood as we speak). Some days it is just to hot to go outside. But you know the feeling of having beautiful weather and not able to go outside. So it is never good enough right. I just sometimes can't figure how some Taiwanese can still walk around with a jacket or with tight jeans and their hair loose with this hot weather. For me this is impossible. The other day I saw a girl wearing UGGS... come on they are for winter.!!!

Furthermore we had Sune's birthday party. Dewi arranged this great surprise party for him on their roof terrace nearby the Taipei 101. It was really great. If it wasn't for the stitches just put in my butt I would have njoyed it more.

And I started online classes. It is very special. I go to the office and sit in a small room with a computer, mic and webcam. Then students join in from anyplace, home, work, school. They simple join through the internet. And this way I have to teach. They can see me, but I can't see them. Is it save you may ask?? Well that is all in your hands. Yeah I already had some student type "I love you" in the chat session, or people asking me where I teach so they can join my class. But I just don't tell them and refer to the front desk with these kind of questions. It is pretty easy money making. You just have to teach for 45 min and get paid for the hour. And if a student is to loud you can simply turn of his mic.

Well that is all for this month. Now I am going to prepare everything for our big day in August.

Love xxx Melanie

Dragon Boat Festival

In the beginning of June Taiwan is all about the Dragon Boat Festival. Children and most of the adults have a day off and for one week races will be held on rivers all across Taipei. Some years ago I visited one of these races in DaJia Riverpark, but this year I was participating. I joined the VNT (kind of like the Dutch embassy here in Taipei). We had some practice and went to the start full of confidence. It was funny that one of our competitors in the first race was Sanchong. Exactly my hometown here in Taiwan. Although these were all old man and women, they were still pretty good. Ready for starting sitting in our dragon boat, with the paddle in your hands, just above the water, waiting for the BANG of the startsgun. We were already warned that the start is very sudden, there is no 'on your marks'.....'get set'..... 'go'. No it is just waiting for a banging sound. ANd then finally it was there. One long stroke, 10 short strokes and off we were. Although I had a good feeling about our start, we were already behind. We were in 3rd place. The captain, who has a quit easy job banging on the drum to decide the pace, was pushing us to go faster and faster. But our arms got tired and we could not do anything anymore. We came in 3rd behing Sanchung (2nd) and some youngsters (1st). Well that was all for the Dragon Boat Race, we had to become the top 2 to go on a round. After the race I rushed to my work to teach English.

On Wednesday, Aming had to do the rowing. With his work they joined in as a team. But this Dragon Boat Race was smaller and it was part of an political tour. Aming's boss has a lot of connections in politics. He is a member of the green party, who wants Taiwan to become independant. At the moment there are some elections going on and so they could help. The lady of the green party was the flag catcher in Aming's boat. It is interesting to tell you, that these catchers have to lie on the head of the Dragon (in front of the boat) and lean forward as fas as possible to grab the flag. They curl their feet behind the ears or horns of the Dragon's head. This way they will not fall in the water. Aming won twice! But after that it was done and we could go home to take a rest.

We are trying to watch every game of the World Cup, but the last game starts at 2:30 in the night over here. You can imagine that we are sometimes nodding untill we both fall asleep on the sofa.

Tonight Holland vs Japan. Hup Holland Hup!!!!

Update no 3

So besides some late birthday cards (most of all blamed by the Taiwanese post). My birthday last month went by as usual. Now waiting for next year to come. But ofcourse there will be another big day soon. Yes our wedding day. August 21st is the day. We are preparing and organizing and thinking our heads off. Everything has to be perfect for the both of us. It will be a mixed cultural wedding. We are slowly starting to spread all the invites. Even this is a big deal. We were having silver envelopes and well because people usually love red here we decided to print the names and addresses in red on a white sticker. But when I gave some to Taiwanese friends, they inmediatly attended me that in the Chinese culture you are not allowed to write names in red. It appears that this means that that person died. Well how could I've known. But I just waved it away with an excuse that we are a multi cultural couple and so can not live up all rules from the Chinese culture.

Then there is the table-matter. Who sits were. Appearantly the oldest brother of the mother needs to sit with the bride and groom. This is the uncle which will also put a lot of money in a red envelope. So he kind of bought that spot at the important table. But as you can maybe imagine there is also the family. How big is this head table. Well that is what we are discussing at the moment.

Anyways a lot of traditions and wishes to consider and put together without hurting any feelings or breaking any traditions. You'll see in August!!!

After my brithday, my good friend Dewi, set me up to join the Dragon Boat Races with a all Dutch team. Important note is that Dewi herself is allergic to sports and so not participating herself..... The first practice went pretty bad. We kept going in circles, crossing other boats in an annoying way and complaining a lot. All heard was: "He can't stear!" "Left is not putting enought strengt in it!" "The weight is not devided well" "You are counting to fast" "No that was not me, that was behind me!" "Yes it was you, I heard it" "Let's swap places now!" "Left row harder" "Stop" "No don't stop just continue" "You have to use the commands" "Don't give up!" "We're never coming on sore again" hahahahaha it was quit funny. But the second training went very well. With an experienced captain in the boat, we managed to row some strokes. Tomorrow we are having our first match versus Sanchung. Yeah that's right my hometown here in Taiwan. Let's kick their ass!!!! I will let you know what happend to our boat, if we sank or made the finish.

Also me and my girls made it into the final of the Shilin soccer tournament 2010. We were playing with the man and 2 other girl teams. We only lost one game, which happend to be the number one. We were runners up. Which meant a final against BuLian. I have to explain that this team is normally the team which Aming plays for in the 11-a-side businessman competition. So they are all friends. But still we were eager to win. Especially after loosing the previous match with 11-4 against them. Just before that match, the forward of BuLian was warming up and shot on our goal (with our goalkeeper). When she tried to stop it she sprained her wrist. So we had no goalie anymore. I say inmediat red card. Injuring our players before the game even begun. Well it was a tight final. For the first 15 minutes we were equal and a 0-0 was still shown on the scoreboard. Then I guess we got sloppy and tired and BuLian started scoring. Eventually we lost 6-0. But we still won NT3000 as a runner up. And we felt it was not a shame to loos from BuLian because they are known as a really strong team here in Tapei. They play together for years.

Last weekend we went to pick up dad from the airport. He could finally come back to Taiwan after being one year in China. Well I heard he lost a lot of weight, but it was a little bit scary when I saw him. He doesn't look like my dad anymore. He looks like he had been sick for a while. So I am very busy giving him lots of (delicious) foods here. A little bit meat can never heart. But I reckon he is very happy to be back in Taiwan. Now it is his turn to get all the paperwork done according to all the rules.

Lalalalalala...lalalala.... It's time for Africa!!!! Yes the World Championship Football in Africa is beginning. One more night of sleeping and tomorrow it will kick off. I am so excited... ofcourse I followed Holland through the internet, and I know Robben is injured. But I am sure we will do just fine the first matches without him. I am quit nervous about out performance. Can we be as good as the last time (beating Italy and France easily) or is this a too high pursuit. I think the aims are high, but now is the chance for us. Over here the games will also be broadcasted, it is not sure if all games will be broadcasted, but atleast the good, spectaculair games. Aming has a soccer friend who is a dentist during weekdays. He has a basement in his practice with a big screen. That will be our home during the WC. But ofcourse sometimes we will go and watch in the bar or with all the Dutch in Taipei.

It will be fun. To everybody I wish you a very happy and good WC!!!! Let's make it ours!!!

Look at the picture beside. Isn't he cute. It is my little neigbour and he is wearing my wooden shooes (klompen). He loved the sound the make.... so adorable.

Well gotta go it is already to late and I am off to bed!

Love Melanie

Happy 26th!

Just the other day I went to get a haircut. When I sat down and started chatting with the girl I thought it was very strange. Suddenly she asked if I can wash my own hair??? Uuuuhhmmm... well ofcourse, who can't. I found out that many women here in Taiwan don't do this themselves, they prefer to go to the hairdresser to get their hair wahed, massaged and done. Haha it's an other way to get spoiled.

In Taiwan there is no real official ambassy but there is the NTIO [a Dutch trading and investment office]. Every year on Queensday (4/30) the representive Menno Goedhart holds a party for all the Dutch in Taiwan. Recently Mr. Goedhart also published a book about the connection between The Netherlands and Taiwan. Aming and me joined the party ofcourse. It was amazing, they had 'bitterballen', 'Gouda' cheese and even orange tullips. There was a live band and some local tribe dancers. The funniest part was that when Aming and me were standing, talking for a bit and eating a voice from behind came. It kept calling 'classmate' in Chinese; 同學 同學!! When we turned around Aming discovered that it was his old university classmate, calling out for him. She also married a Dutch. The world is so small.
Oh and that they I was told that my Chinese was so good, but one Dutch men said my Dutch was very poor!!! So insulting! Yeah ok sometimes I cannot come up with the word, I will have the English and Chinese. But it is not that bad right! Ahhh no worries, he's just jealous of my Chinese! :)

Then ofcourse last Tuesday I had my birthday. About 3 years ago I held a beachparty with the girls soccer team, Aming's friends and some other friends. It was so much fun. When I came back last year, inmediately I got requests to hold that party again. So I did, but to have an even better then that first was a bit difficult. I tried though. I made invites and spread them. Went to Costco to buy food and drinks. Aming prepared goals and soccerballs from his work. And last Sunday (5/16) we went. Unfortunately many friends were not able to make it. So the group was smaller then the years before. But we still had a lot of fun. We played soccer, went for a swim and had food and drinks. The weather was also not bad, not too hot and not too cold. The days before it was rainy and cloudy, so I was a bit worried. With the soccer game, we girls beat the boys ass, so they had to drink! Hahahaha....

We even bought a sky lantern near the beach. Everybody wrote their name and a brithday wish for me on it. After watching one of our good friend A-zhong) do a performance on national television we lit the sky lantern and watched it carfeully dissapear in the sky. It was a really big one.
After the beachparty Duo Shang (Aming's friend) invited us to go to KTV. We all took a shower at the beach and went back to Taipei to go to the Holiday KTV. Everybody was very high and was having so much fun. The girls which are in the picture beside are still students and are living in the school dorm. This dorm has a curvue, they had to be back inside befor 12:30. But we all forgot time a little bit, so finally when they left, they were afraid they wouldn't make it. They took a cab instead of the MRT and when back home. Arriving just at 12:25. Pfieuwww just in time! We all had a blast. We sang and drunk untill 1 in the morning. Then everybody slowly went home, exhausted but looking back on a fun and happy day.
I put all of the pictures on Facebook.

It is also standard that with Aming's soccer team BuLian we go out for dinner. So this year I invited them to come to our house. Aming's parents were out for the weekend. Even the boss came, so people said I must be very important! Hahaha... we had dinner and drinks and a really big cake. Aming thought it was necessary to put the cake in my face! The next morning we heard from some neighbours we were very loud. But hey once a year doesn't matter right!

On Monday I had lunch with Rita, Zjamerny, Joy and Joyce. We went to eat a small hotpot and I brought some cake from theother party. After that they had to go back to school. Only Rita had no class that day. So we decided to go window shopping at Taipei 101. When we came there I called Dewi to ask if she was busy. She invited us to come over and hang out near the pool. Well even better. We had some drinks, put our legs in the pool and chit chatted. Then at dinnertime, Rita and me went to Taipei 101 to walk around, shop a bit and talk a lot. We had so much fun. When we were done at about 10 pm, we walked back to Rita's motorcycle. When we sat on the motorcycle we both said, oh my legs are so tired and I can really feel them. We decide to get a massage at home. But unfortunatly Aming wasn't in to that. Hahahahaha...

On Tuesday my actual birthday, Aming and me went out for dinner to a very romantic restaurant in Danshui. We saw this restaurant a while ago, but it is so popular that everytime all tables are taken and they said you have to make a reservation. Well we did for this day. It was great. It looks so beautifull, with ocean view and the food was good too. We had some special beers. Aming had melon-flavour beer (very very sweet) and I had a normal white-beer. Later that evening when we went home, one of my good friends A-zhong (阿中) came by to give me a small cake and a present. So sweet!!!! I am really spoiled this year. And I know for sure I also have some really good friends here in Taiwan. So I couldn't be any happier at the moment. Maybe in August, when all my loved ones will be here, I am even happier. But for now, no complaints at all!!!

Well gotta go to class, my students are waiting for me. I am probably their favorite teacher, as I brought a chocolate cake to eat with them last Friday. And today we are deviding presents for the best student in class. Yipppie!!!!

Bye bye xxx Melanie