Happy Easter!

Hope you all have a very Happy Easter!

Missionaries

     Look at these beautiful pictures!  These people are full of energy and spirit!  They are the Lord's army in Taiwan.

December Get-together

In front of the Gaoxiong Train Station @6 AM 

Arrived at our destination in JiaYi for the December Get-together

At the Chinese Lunar New Year Dinner with Pres. & Sister Chen 

Family History Training at TaiBao Branch in February

At the Taizhong Train Station on Feb. 18, 2013

At the Taizhong Train Station on Feb. 18, 2013

At the Taizhong Train Station on Feb. 18, 2013

Missionary Meeting with Elder Evans, Elder Watson, et al, in Taizhong on Feb. 18, 2013

Mission Tour:  Visited by Elder and Sister Wilson of the Area Presidency in Jan. 2013 

    Missionaries are awesome!  Watching the army of Helaman on Sundays, on workdays, we see in them our four children, and their spouses and come to truly realize how blessed we are to have them.  We heard from our children when they served on their missions.  They were all awesome, inspirational, touching about things they were doing...but watching these young missionaries in the mission field helps us to see first hand what missions for the young men/women are like.  We see how they are converting the world!  We are grateful for our children and their spouses for taking time off in their youth to serve the Lord.  They blessed the people who they came in contact with, they blessed us because of their services, and they also blessed their own lives.

    Like the many missionaries we see on the mission field here in Taiwan, we are aware of the following in our children:

   How hard they must have worked
   How much they have learned the principle of being obedient
   How they learned to rely on our Savior, Jesus Christ
   How they got on their knees and prayed
   How they listened to the Spirit and let it be their guide
   How strong their faith was and is still now
   How they loved the people they served
   How they learned to get along with their companions
   How they learned to take care of themselves
   How they learned to be organized
   How they set goals and followed steps to achieve them
   How they loved the scriptures and let the scriptures guide their lives
   How they grew

 Again, they have put their shoulders to the wheel and pushed along...raising children to walk in their footsteps.  How blessed we are!  Thanks for being such wonderful kids for us!

the Davis' children in 1977

Kong/Cami and Children

Nelson/Hilary and Children

I-Shuan/Ryan and Children 

Elaine/David and Children

For missions, we can only be grateful.  They go as young people and return as adults.  Many of the mistakes we have made as parents are rectified by their mission experiences.  We are truly blessed!

“Gong Xi Fa Cai!”: Celebrating Chinese New Year in Taiwan

     It's one of the biggest holidays in Taiwan.  People started getting ready for this holiday much like we do in the US.  Shopping officially starts after Thanksgiving for the Americans, likewise, after January 1, we started seeing all the stores selling Lunar New Year stuff.  This is the year of the snake.  The saying goes like this:

This 2013 year of Snake is meant for steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and discipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create. The Snake is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 Animal Signs. It is the enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animals Signs. Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means that your family will not starve.

     For more information on the year of the snake, go to:

http://www.hanban.com/chinese-culture/chinese-zodiac/the-2013-year-snake.html

    Here is a list of the customs that we observed in Taiwan:

Custom #1: A nice, long holiday break
Chinese New Year is generally when the the longest national holiday break of the year takes place in Taiwan, which means you will most likely be able to enjoy a luxuriously long time off from work. This year, the break is Feb. 9-17, which means you could get as many as nine days away from the office. However, keep in mind that a few of those weekdays off are “make-up days” or “flexible days” to give the public the option of continuing the break into the following weekend.

Even though the Family History Center closed on Wednesday, Feb. 13, we continued to attend online meetings and missionary district meetings during the New Year's week.

Some of our friends from Gaoxiong Stake took advantage of the long break and went on a camping trip along the east coast of Taiwan. Following their trips on Facebook has been an eye-opener. About 5 families took the trip. Each family drove their own cars. They camped out at the public schools for about US$6 a night. They either ate out or cooked the food they took with them. Sounds like a fun and inexpensive way to travel since hotels cost a lot and all booked for the holidays. This way, you just go and camp for the nights you need. Pretty cool!

  

Custom #2: Getting together with family

Having dinner w/Song relatives in Tainan

This is traditionally the time when people journey back to their hometowns to spend the holidays with their families. The beginning and end of the break is when the most traveling occurs, particularly on the north-south highway routes across Taiwan. Fortunately, to ease the gridlock, most highway toll booths will not be in service to move the flow of traffic along.  We heard that traffic jams were so bad that it would take 5 hours to go from Gaoxiong to Taizhong when it might take only 2 hours normally.  Buying train tickets could be very difficult too.  We went to Tainan to visit some relatives and had to buy "standing" tickets as there were no seats available.  But, the prospect of being home makes it all worth it.  

Custom #3: Out with the old, in with the new

Along with the new year comes the desire to discard old things to make room for the new. If you look around, you’ll find many households doing their spring cleaning several weeks before the new year, with mountains of old furniture and appliances cluttering up the curb. Local officials usually make arrangements to deal with this problem, with trash pickups and making the rounds more regularly to keep communities clean.

The missionaries had their "power cleaning" day on Monday, P-day.  

Custom #4: Stuffing your face

Taiwanese culture is all about the food, but it is never more apparent than during Chinese New Year, when dinners are usually lavish home-cooked meals, complete with savory meats, veggies and seafood, to celebrate the reunion of family.

President and Sister Chen (陳信雄) treated us and 4 young missionaries from their ward to a yummy buffet at the Harbour hotel/restaurant overlooking Gaoxiong harbor.  It was for the early afternoon tea. 

We were also invited to Brother and Sister Liu's home for a special New Year's Eve dinner.  There were 30 different dishes at the dinner.  We could barely touch any food after that buffet, let alone eating 30 dishes of food.  The Liu's are connoisseurs of foods.  They sampled food from various places.  For this dinner, Bro. Liu drove to Nan Tou, 2 hours away to get some specialty food there.  He also drove to Ping Dong to get their famous noodle dish.  We couldn't eat a thing, so they packed some for us to take home.  What a fun evening it was with the Liu's, the Zeng's and Chen Mei Li.  

Custom #5: Red envelopes and giving back

Everyone knows about the elders within a family giving those of younger generations red envelopes filled with money. However, outside of families, the spirit of giving still very much prevails, and it’s customary to be particularly generous to those in your employ or those who have provided you a service during Chinese New Year.

Our grandchildren learned to say "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and each received a red envelope from Grandpa and Grandma.  The red envelopes were still over the Pacific when we called them over the holidays.  They would enjoy that, we are sure of that.  It has become a Davis tradition for us to give each a red envelope to celebrate the New Year.

One would give red envelopes to children, to service people. The taxis have a sign to charge an extra NT$50 (about US$2) during the New Year's holidays.  Work places give bonuses depending on how long you've worked for the company and how the company is doing.  A good company would give a month's pay or more for their employees at this time.  It's a fun time for all.

Custom #6: Making things go crackle and boom

Culturally, lighting firecrackers and fireworks are meant to ward away evil spirits, but it’s also lot of fun. In Taiwan, firecrackers and fireworks are banned in cities, so most people will go to open spaces, such as riversides, to light them. Such activities aren’t technically allowed in these areas either, but sometimes authorities will turn a blind eye during Chinese New Year so everyone can have a little fun.  Whereas we heard firecrackers and booming in Hong Kong during the day and also at night, but here in Taiwan, we haven't had much problem with the noises.  

We hope everything will get back to normal soon!

January brings many memorable events!

Big Events in the Davis' Household:  Many birthdays to celebrate and so hard to miss all these special days!

 Dec. 29 - Kong's birthday. He spent this special day in Alta, Wyoming, snow-mobilling.

Jan. 1 - Kai Davis turned 8 on this special day.  He was baptized by his dad on Saturday, Jan.  5.  Aunt Elaine and her family, Grandpa and Grandma Wilson, Cami's brothers were all in attendance.

Jan. 6 - Thomas Warr turned 9 on this special day.  His mother took him to buy a special toy he's always wanted with the Christmas money we sent him.

Jan. 7 - Peter Warr turned 11.  He's getting to be a big boy.  He and Thomas both got the same toy (Lazer tag), and now they play the game as a family.  Good choice!

Jan. 7 - Morgan Rey Davis turned one on this special day.  She's walking, talking and having fun.

Feb. 3 - Ethan Davis' 12th birthday.  His dad posted on facebook:  "Happy 12th birthday to the coolest kid I know. Ethan, I love being your dad!" 

Caleb putting stickers all over Morgan's face

Feb. 12 - Caleb's 6th birthday.  He loves being a kindergartener.  He loves to play with Morgan.

Shi family Genealogy:  Started doing Mom's family.  I'm able to go back to Shi Bin (施炳), born 1163.  How grateful I am that someone has kept good records.  I knew Mom's side would not be as hard to trace because we are related to the famous Chinese Admiral Shi Lang (施琅, 1621 - 1696) in Chinese history.  For a point of reference for American history buffs, Shi Lang was born just after Jamestown, VA was settled.  I am a descendant of his elder brother, Shi Mi (施密).  The first Chinese aircraft was rumored to be named the ShiLang, but because of political reasons, it was renamed Liaoning.  It was so fun to find stories such as this.

The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) purchased its first aircraft carrier, formerly the Soviet carrier Varyag, from the Ukraine in 1998. The renovated ship was widely speculated to have been named the Shi Lang,^[1] but was ultimately named Liaoning in 2012, after the province in which it was refitted.^[2]

I was also fortunate enough to get 2 pictures for my aunt when we visited here in January.  One is with Mom as a little girl, and the other, when I was a little girl.  This is especially nice because when Mom and Dad immigrated to the US, my dad came back to Taiwan to sell the house.  He did not save our photo albums, which were many.  My goal is to find as many old pictures as I can from our relatives.

Shirley (girl in first row, left), Grandmother Shi (in the middle of the picture), Aunt MeiJuan (next to Grandma Shi), Uncle Shi (next to MeiJuan), and my dad Han Qiu Song (1st on the right)

Shi Family:  Grandfather Shi (in the middle), first wife, Hong Jin (on his left), and second wife (my grandma, on his right), my mom Mei Lian (little girl on 3rd row behind Grandma Shi)

Cousin Nancy Shi (施錦瑜, 1st on left), Aunt MeiJuan, Shirley. On the right, Leilei, (Jennifer Shi's mom), Jennifer and Elwin 

 Jan. 11/12:  Attended Taipei Temple and assisted East and West Gaoxiong Stakes' Temple Day activities.

Sunday Visits to NanZi Ward (Jan. 3), YuanShan Ward (9 AM, Jan. 10) and FongShan (10:45, Jan. 10), LinYa Ward, (Jan. 17), and ShiZhong Ward (Jan. 24):  We spoke or bore testimonies in each unit and did "Family Tree" training for all adults and Young Men/Young Women members.  We were welcomed at each unit and felt their spirit.  The Family History Center director and assistant director accompanied us on each of the visits.  

Jan. 22:  A visit to my cousins, Song Jin Zhi (宋靜枝), and Song Da Xiong (宋達雄) in Jiu Qu Tong (九曲堂）- These two cousins are the son and daughter of my father's 2nd eldest brother Song Xianrong (宋顯榮).  He was the local physician.  As children, Mom and Dad used to take us there to visit.  Uncle Xianrong owned the whole square block and an orchard on the back side of the house.  The house included the doctor's clinic and an area for patients to stay.  We used to roam around the orchard as it had all the fruits we could imagine.  My favorites were mangoes, lichis, shi-jias, lian-wu (waxed apples), to name a few.  After the death of my uncle, the property was divided.  His third wife sold her and her son's shares, so the property has been reduced to about 1/10 of what it was, with tall buildings all around.  Cousin Da Xiong still has a fish pond in his yard and some fruit trees too  This may be the only single home with a yard in the area.  That's "progress" as they call it in today's Taiwan; with tall buildings all over, even though they are not nearly as tall or as crowded as they are in Hong Kong.  I was delighted to have a picture of my grandmother Song.  Below are some pictures of the family.   

Grandmother Song, Uncle Xian Rong and his wife, Cousins 秀雄，達雄，靜枝

Da Xiong, me, YuGui (Da's wife), Jin Zhi, and Waka

fish pond @Da Xiong's house

Shirley, Yu Gue, Jin Zhi and Waka at the Wetland Park

Da Xiong at the Wetland Park where he is a volunteer

3 Baptisms in 2 weeks:

The young man in the middle of the picture was baptized on Jan. 26, 2013. He is so happy! 

Sister Lin turned 8 and was baptized by her father.  

Lin You Xuan was baptized on Feb. 2.

2013 Started out to be a busy, prosperous New Year!

Fascinating Chinese Weddings

This post is created by Elizabeth Crook.  We have permission to follow her on this virtual tour of two fascinating weddings...Let's go!

Two Chinese Weddings and a Cabbage

Frederick and I were invited to two weddings in Beijing during the month of October.  It must be an auspicious month to wed, because we have lived in China for 2 years and these are our first invitations!  We were quite fascinated to see how a Chinese wedding would unfold.  The first was the wedding of the son of one of the Chinese asthma doctors we’ve been working with.  She is a widow, but, as we discovered at the wedding, she has a “friend,” who was very present at the ceremony, carrying bottles of wine, and, because he spoke some English, taking care of us.  This wedding was held outside in the rural suburbs of Beijing at some sort of “event” center.  The “friend” picked us up and drove us there – 1 ½ hour drive.     

We were ushered into a waiting room to await the festivities. Here is Frederick with the bride’s hair dresser who is apparently worried about catching germs!

After about an hour in the waiting room, we were given the word to appear outside and caught our first glimpse of the bride with her bridesmaids.

 We follow the signs to the wedding. And find ourselves signing the guestbook.

The wedding venue is lovely and the weather is gorgeous.

And the “get-away” car is all ready to go.

The “organ” warms up the atmosphere for a swinging occasion!

And the ‘Minister” welcomes the audience.  Actually he a Master of Ceremonies (MC) – nothing religious in a Chinese wedding!

The groom then runs down the aisle to claim his bride and they walked up the petal-strewn path to the “alter” together.   (The “alter” was an arrangement of champagne glasses!)

Something we’d never seen before was a “dance” performed by the groom, groomsmen, and the bridesmaids, welcoming the bride to her wedding.  (Reportedly inspired by a YouTube video!)

The groom with his hand over his heart is making his commitment to his bride. She did likewise.

He places a ring on her finger.  Traditionally the Chinese do not wear wedding rings, but that is changing.

And, of course, the kiss!  (Also not traditional, but it happened at both weddings!  Hmm.)

What was in that big gold box? – balloons to celebrate the occasion!

The traditional part – bride presents tea to her new mother-in-law, showing her respect.  Likewise, the groom pours tea for the bride’s mother, his new mother-in-law.

Fred is called on to give advice to the new couple.  Teachers and relatives also offered their suggestions for a long and happy marriage.  (Frederick can’t remember what he said!)

The champagne toast at the “alter” ends the ceremony.

Now for the throwing of the bouquet. She’s the lucky recipient!

Wait, what’s this?  The groom gets to throw a CABBAGE!  A first for us! A young boy caught it and looked quite mystified!  “What’s so great about a cabbage?”

Here we are, congratulating the bride and groom.

Now on to the banquet!  Notice the bride has changed into her traditional red dress and is toasting each table of guests!  No time for the newlyweds to eat! (Does that sound familiar?)

Finally, very flattering posters of the bride line the walls of the banquet hall.

This wedding was a fascinating combination of traditional Chinese and Western customs.  It seems that young Chinese couples now are creating their own celebrations, with a nod to tradition, but lots of Western “stuff” as well.  The tea ceremony for the new in-laws and the continual toasting at the banquet were very traditional, but white dresses, a ring, and a kiss are Western. However, dancing before the bride and throwing a cabbage – who knows where they came from?  

The second wedding was more traditional.  The venue was a restaurant within walking distance of our apartment.  Hooray!  The groom was the son of Mr. Xu Xiao-qing from MOA (Chinese Ministry of Agriculture) friends of Frederick. 

This is the wedding invitation we received.  For the first wedding, the invitation came by “word of mouth.”

Wedding invitation