2005 Taiwan
McCuistion Vacation to Taiwan
Elder Kevin McCuistion finished his two-year mission in Taiwan, and we decided to go fetch him. Of course, this allowed us to tour Taiwan.
The trip over is a killer; at least 24 hours traveling. We routed from Cincinnati through Chicago, Japan, finally arriving in Taipei at midnight. Fortunately United upgraded us on the last leg to Business class, so we did get a little rest.
We took the northern coast tour on our first day in Taipei and saw our first Tao-Buddest temple in Keelung. We also visited the rock formations at Yeliou. These are interesting rock sculptures formed by wind and sea erosion.
On Saturday we met ShuPing and Melody, who graciously accompanied us all around Taipei. We visited the national place museum and the Shilin Official Residence, a beautiful area with gardens and trees. In the evening we took the MRT subway out to the end of the line to Danshui, where they have a Night Market. We ate all kinds of interesting foods. Some of the best were shish kabobed Strawberries dipped in crystallized sugar, mini-eggs on a stick, and small custard-filled pancakes.
We took the train down to Kaohsiung on Sunday. It's about 5-6 hours to travel from the north to the south. Taiwan is 250 miles long and 90 miles wide; about the size of the Netherlands. It was very nice riding the clean train down the west coast. We saw lots of rice paddies, small temples and many ladies working the fields by hand.
We stayed in a beautiful 5-star hotel: the Splendor. We were up on the 53 floor and could see the whole city. Just to the left is the Kaohsiung Mission Office. Stopping by to verify the time and place, who should we find at the front desk pounding away on a computer but Elder Kevin! We weren't actually supposed to see him until the next day, so we ignored him as best we could.
A tour of the ancient Temples was our first goal. As our tour guide said as we rode through Kaohsiung, "The traffic lights are for information only!" Driving in Taiwan: Just say no! They thought nothing of making a left turn on red. Or even a left turn on red from the right lane. It was Honk and Go. They took us to the Chichin Island where we visited 5 Tao Buddhist temples. The temples have incredibly ornate wood carvings that are coated with black smoke from the constantly burning incense. The blacker the ceiling carvings, the more prestigious the temple is, since it's older. Part of the worship ceremony includes purchasing religious paper money which you then burn in the external burn buildings. We rode back to Kaohsiung n the ferry. The harbor is very clean. We wandered through the city markets.
Tuesday morning, we walked 20 minutes to the Mission Presidents' home, where we enjoyed a Taiwan breakfast with the departing missionaries, their parents and the Mission President and his wife. Of course we had a wonderful visit. As an interesting note, Elder Craig was departing with Elder Kevin, and his mother is Marie Osmond. She and her husband had come to fetch their son, so we got to meet them.
Elder Kevin had a LOT of luggage, which we promptly took to the Post Office and mailed home or sent via train to Taipei. We saw Dragon & Tiger Pagodas and Confucius Temple, then went to the Stake Center to hear Marie Osmond speak on raising righteous children. It was a great sight to see so many Taiwanese members gathered together. Oh; on the way, our taxi got into an accident. Imagine that.
With Elder Kevin in hand, we were now set to be much more adventurous, since he could speak the language and knew the customs. It was so cool to get in a taxi and listen to Elder Kevin exchange instruction and conversation in Mandarin. We took a bus up the coast to Tainan, Kevin's last city. Kevin had performed a clarinet piece, and one of the investigators was very impressed with his skill. Kevin found out she owned a Music store and had Taiwanese Flutes, so we went to her store. She was so kind and gracious! Kevin chose a couple flutes he liked, and she gave them to him along with some other flutes and the instruction book. Righteous living.
With these wonderful gifts in hand, we wandered through the local night market where we ate a Duck noodle dinner. Then we walked to the Dutch-constructed fortress "Providentia". I speak Dutch, by the way.
By Thursday, we were already wondering where the time had gone! We visited the other Dutch-constructed fortress Zeelandia (AnPing) and the Eternal Fortress (Yi Tzai Golden Castle). The local members took us to a Taiwan restaurant, and we scored major points for first wanting to do Chinese instead of a Steak House, and second for using chopsticks in a reasonably acceptable way instead of a fork. They order lots of plates of things, most of which were good. They did order Squid which I ate and don't like. Then they order another plate of Bitter Melon which they said was the final test. I chopsticked myself a piece and pronounced it nasty, and then had another piece. As I said, they were so impressed with Elder Kevin's parents.
We then went to the chapel in the next town, since the Tainan chapel was under construction. There we met many of the local members with whom Elder Kevin had served. It was far beyond what we were expecting. A young primary aged Anji spoke of how Elder Kevin had helped him come to love the Gospel and developed his desire to become a missionary. A Sister X spoke on how Elder Kevin helped her by sharing some of the trials and faith-building experiences in his life with her. Sister Judy and Sister X played piano and sang a medley duet she wrote herself. Sister Judy sang an incredible version of a Taiwanese song about a flower: How Beautiful to View. Elder Kevin accompanied the two sisters on clarinet as they performed the song they did at the Mega shopping center. Then Lynn and Mark spoke on raising children unto the lord. Finally, Elder Kevin spoke, in Mandarin, on his love of serving.
It was way more spiritual and joyful than we'd ever expected. To hear the local members express their love and appreciation for Elder Kevin's service; how priceless.
On Friday, we took the train to Chiayi, where we met the Su family. They are a wonderful family who love the Gospel. Since we love knots so much, we were so happy to receive this beautiful Hanging Chinese Knot that her mother made! They also invited us to a real Chinese lunch, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
We then entrained back to Taipei.
Our first stop was the Taipei Temple. A very beautiful building on the Stake Center grounds.
Finally, back to America.
