Beautiful red maple leaves against a blue sky ~ now how’s that for a perfect picture of autumn?! And the best place in Taiwan to see maples in autumn is at the high elevations, up in the central mountain range. … Continue reading Autumn Colours, Mountain Views! 台灣聖公會2017年蒙恩得福家庭生活營 Taiwan Episcopal Church Fall Trip 2017
Today is THE day, the climax of 5 days of celebrations, and as I write this, events are ongoing, with firecrackers and drums and trumpets and singing and offerings and all sorts of activity, and being attended by nearly everyone in the whole town. And all in the rain and cold! It’s been like this all weekend, but hey, when there’s a festival in town, a bit of rain and cold won’t stop anyone. But this was the scene on Thursday, the last time that the sun appeared in Sanzhi! Two weeks ago, I wrote here about the preparations for the … Continue reading Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations, 1917-2017
Been doing a bit of research among some of our students in the 15-17 year age group to find out who their pop idols are ~ part of my English conversation classes, so bringing you up to speed, here goes! Top of the list by far for everyone are the boy bands from S. Korea – all brought together on TV talent shows and promoted by the mega-entertainment industry that is so big in S. Korea. And currently top of the list of all of them is BTS. Super Junior is long over, now it is BTS. Our girls say … Continue reading Pop idols @ Taiwan-Style!
Every year in mid-November, St. John’s University holds a Coming of Age Ceremony (成年禮) for all of our first-year university students ~ plus SJU President Ay, faculty, alumni, tutors and staff. The event is organized by the St. John’s University Chaplaincy, and takes weeks of preparation for our chaplaincy staff and the student fellowship team ~ but it’s all worth it, and every year we thank God for another successful event! It’s also got high praise from the Ministry of Education too. And it all happened yesterday afternoon! The students (and tutors) this year all had special red SJU ties, … Continue reading St. John’s University Coming of Age Ceremony (成年禮) 2017!
Discovered some wonderful new (to me, that is) street art on the walls of Tamsui Old Street area 淡水老街 today ~ including this one of Dr. George Mackay, first Presbyterian missionary to northern Taiwan (1844-1901), who arrived in Tamsui in 1872 and stayed here more or less until he died. Early photos show him going off on trips armed with dentist equipment for pulling out teeth, and Bibles to share the Gospel… wonder what he’s think of this painting done in his honour? Then up behind the famous Matzu Temple are some steps and walls painted with famous local scenes….. … Continue reading Street Art @ 淡水老街 Tamsui Old Street ~ love it!
Baby Jacob, Chinese name: 牧霖 Mu-Lin, was baptized today at Advent Church, on his first outing to the church since his birth 2 months ago ~ and he slept the whole time he was with us! His father and mother are so delightful ~ praying for this lovely family and the grandparents who were there too ~ they speak Chinese, Taiwanese, English and Tagalog between them, so hopefully baby Jacob will grow up to be multi-lingual! Continue reading Baptism Day @ Advent Church!
Two weeks ago the plot of wasteland opposite where I live suddenly sprang into life. Trucks full of bamboo poles arrived. People came. Cranes and trucks and people and – well, action! One week later, and this was the view from my front gate last Sunday…. Happening now right outside my house is the ongoing construction of a huge 4-storey structure, the site of a forthcoming 醮 (pronounced ‘jiaò) and loosely translated as meaning a Taoist Ritual. Copy this character ‘醮’ into Google images and you’ll see plenty of examples of what it might look like in a few weeks … Continue reading Sanzhi 三芝 Matzu Temple Centenary Celebrations ~ Coming Up Soon!
Catherine Lee 