Whatsis

Our Mandarin teacher has asked us to learn 2 sentences every day and to use them.  Today is shopping day and my sentences are:

Nin jiao zhege shenma?  What do you call this? and

Zhege jian yao duoshao qian?  This thing requires how much money?

My next questions will be: 

"Is it fruit or vegetable?" 

"Do I cook it or eat it raw?"

These are sold at the open air market just a block from our apartment. 

 

This is eggplant.  Since we like eggplant, we will probably try some.  However, we don't have an oven.  All we have is a little toaster oven.  It isn't big enough to do much other than toasting bread.

 

 

They call this guava but it isn't like any guava we know.  They must be in season because Wu Mama (who gives the office gifts from time to time) gave us a bag full.  We brought them home and cut one open.  It is fruit.  It has seeds in the middle which Wayne immediately put into his mouth.  He says the center is tasty but the seeds are too hard to eat.  We both ate some.  It tastes a little like an apple, but if you love apples, it is very disappointing.  The texture is between an apple and a pear.  It has the grainy pear feel.  We decided to give these away.  They are wasted on us.

 

 

 

Little Problems

I took these pictures to work and had Elder Tang tell me what each meant.  We wrote on the picture and keep it by the air conditioner remotes.  The washer, I only use one cycle 99% of the time anyway, so when I got that figured out, I was in business!

Back on line

I'm back - June 23 - my toolbar for blogger is in Chinese and I can't get it to speak English.  That has been part of my problem with this blog.  This morning, I decided to do what I've seen my 7th grade students do.  I just pushed buttons until the log-in menu popped up.  I still don't recognize the symbols, but I know now where it is on the page!   Hoo Hoo!

Rain - I tried to get a picture of the torrents coming down.

This is where we cross the street to go to work.  We call it the 2 minute light

These are ducks for sale.

Since there are no yards, people have pots everywhere.  This is a typical doorstep outside of a gift shop.

We walk by this shop every day.  The clothes are expensive designer clothes.  Can't afford them.

This is one of my favorite gift shops.  I haven't been inside yet, but look at all the fun stuff.

Pizza place outside the office.  This man has a pet parrot.

This is mango shaved ice.  There is mango on the bottom, shaved snow (ice and frozen milk) mango on top and orbet on top of that.  This is yummy beyond belief.

This is amazing.  This wall has a rack that holds 6" square plastic flower pots (the kind you get at the nursery)  We've seen several of these.  This one is on our block.  

TheTaiwan Taipei Temple and Service Center

 

The Taiwan Taipei Temple

I think it is one of the smallest temples - surely the smallest one I have been in.

The Spire with Moroni is free-standing and faces west.

These pictures were taken from the roof of the office building.  The view is pretty spectacular.  The skyline is modern.  The clouds are a fixture.  It rains all the time.

President and Sister Day took us up on the roof where there is a modest garden.

This is the courtyard between the Temple and the Service Center.  The Service Center has 3 basements and four floors.  It is possible to add 6 more floors without worrying about the foundation.  The Service Center has offices for finances, visas, humanitarian/welfare, family history, translation and other stuff.  It is all on the 3rd and 4th floors.  The first and second floors are chapels, classrooms, cultural halls.  The foyer on the first floor doubles as a visitors center and sisters are assigned there to lead tours and answer questions.  

The Mission home and office

 

 

This is the Mission Home and Office.  The Mission President lives on the 7th and 6th floors.  The 7th floor is more of a reception area.  The 6th floor is his private quarters.  The Temple President lives on the 5th floor.  Our office is on the 4th floor and temple patron apartments are on the 3rd, 2nd and 1st floors.

 

 

This is the office door.  You need a key to unlock the heavy metal door or push an intercom button to have someone open it for you.  Our apartment building works the same way.

Street Scenes





We arrived on Saturday night.  Monday is Costco day.  A driver takes the senior missionaries to Costco.  We have one hour to shop.  Wayne took these pictures out the front window.  Traffic is heavy and drivers don't always follow the rules, but we found it to be no worse than San Francisco.



At most intersections, there is a large square marked off in front of the cars and before the white go line.  This is for scooters.  There are millions of scooters.  It is fun to watch the light change.  They take off like they are in a motocross race. 

To the right the street has narrowed to two lanes.  Most of the streets are like this.  The Boulevards are 4 - 6 lanes.  The Lanes are narrow one lane (we live on a lane) and the alleys are only wide enough for pedestrians or scooters.

 Recently, the government built a double decker freeway.  It was the easiest way to ease traffic.  Land is very valuable.  We live close together.  Wayne and I are enjoying our evenings.  We don't have TV so we hear what is going on in the neighborhood - dog barking, violin practice, clarinet practice, people talking.




Here we are at Costco.  There is an underground parking garage.  A moving ramp takes you and your basket upstairs to shop.  There are lots of samples to try, mostly Chinese health foods.  There is some American food, but like any other Costco, you have to buy a year's supply.  On our first trip we needed so many things we were lucky to get out.  Our driver (the temple president) drove us clear home so that we could unload.





Meanwhile - back at the ranch!

 

Christine Langford and Christian Smith announced their engagement.  They will be married in Ripon on January 3.

 

Dallin Edwards and Angela Hall announced their engagment.  They will be married in the Newport Beach Temple August 10.

 

 

Jonathan Sterling returned from serving in the Bahia Blanca Mission.  He did that while we were flying over the Pacific.  Does he have a happy mother or what????

 

 

Jonathan and Nolan Edwards, first cousins and best friends.  Their missions overlapped so they hadn't seen each other for over three years.  It was a fun family reunion.  We are there in spirit.  Senior missionaries miss a lot, but loving family members provide pictures which help.