Howard Plaza Hotel Kaohsiung

... three meals today.

After breakfast, I felt a bit uneasy so I took a brief nap. Then, the roommates and I headed to the gift shop right outside the temple gates so I could pick up some last minute souvineers (excited?). We made it back in time to change for lunch, though I only ate rice and soup. We had assumed that there would be no walking meditation since it's a free day- on the contrary, we took FOUR laps ...

... our way around many locked gates. First we visited the place with pigs and birds, took many pictures. It's funny because as we arrived, I called out to see if anyone was working there. We heard singing, and assumed someone was there, so we kept calling out only to hear 'ni hao' over and over- why? Turns out, they play a recording on loop so the birds can speak phrases such as 'omitofo,' 'ohaiyo' (japanese), and 'shifu' (monk/nun). Then we went to the larger, rougher ...

... First, we settled into our designated line positions, organized by gender and height. We then learned standing meditation- feet several inches apart, 2 lines facing each other, good posture and eyes down at the feet of the person across from you. Basic greeting is "omituofo" meaning Amitaba bodhisattva in chinese (see wikipedia if confused). The basic non-verbal greeting to anyone at the monastery is ...

Today was a lazy day. We start at Carre Four – a department store where we look for a number of things and try all kinds of foods for sampling. I still don't like any dried fish/seafood. It is not good. Before shopping we happen upon a MOS Burger. If you don’t know what MOS Burger is, it is an interesting concept. Here is the link to their story - http://www.mosburger.com.sg/about_mos.p ...

... go figure... Here is how it works. You order small plates to go with the main hot pot that is set in the middle of the table. The small plates go on the lazy susan and you spin it around and pick what you like. Everyone shares. Its cool! We order some bean curd, dumplings, more dumplings, pig's ear, bamboo, and a bunch of other things I am not sure what they are. Yes, I did have pig's ear. Its interesting, but not ...

... Wu put his own spin on our answers when translating back. After seeing our presentations for the second time and asking his fill of questions, he seems to be able to answer the questions without our input. I feel like I need one of those in your ear translation devices like they have at the UN. Since we finish on time and will have a about 1 1/2 hours to kill before our dinner, we ask Patrick if he can take us to the Jade market in downtown Tainan ...

... good news though. They have bread that can be served with dinner(but we will have to make do without rolls). According to Shuying, the reason this is an "Italian restaurant" is because they put cheese on top of the spaghetti, a completely foreign concept in Chinese food. We all choose what we want and off goes Patrick to place our order. Dining out in Taiwan is completely different from the US. At many restaurants, you find your own seat and use an order form menu to choose your meal ...

... es sich dabei um eine Minderheit und man muss sich bewusst dazu entschliessen. Allgemein habe ich den Eindruck, dass die Taiwanesen viel religioeser sind, als wir und dass das eine wichtige Rolle in ihrem Leben spielt. Auf der anderen Seite sind sie aber auch sehr pragmatisch, d.h. eher nicht dogmatisch, sondern sie leben ihre Religion mit Spass an Festen und Ritualen und sie sie sind nicht zu letzt auch aufgrund dessen warmherzig, grosszuegig und freundlich.

... Glueckwunsch und moegest du wohlhabend werden) und das ist dann der Moment an dem die aeltere Geneartion den Kindern einen "roten Umschlag" ueberreicht in dem natuerlich nur eins sein kann: money, money, money. Natuerlich ist das auch ein sehr symbolischer Akt und so habe ich fuer mein Gastfamilie rote Umschlaege mit Godltalern vorbereiten :) was von meine Arbeitskollegen schon als sehr nette Geste gelobt wurde. Um 12h wird dann das ...

... true that I do a lot of aimless thinking, like most people, but I can still choose to use my mind to get and accomplish things, and I do that all the time. Just because you can solve a crossword puzzle or build an atom bomb doesn't mean that you use your mind. Just as dogs love to chew bones, the mind loves to get its teeth into problems. That's why it does crossword puzzles and builds atom bombs. You have no interest in either. Let me ask you this: Can you be free of ...