"Dan in His Kitchen in Hsinchu"

One evening near the end of our time in Taiwan, we biked over to
Dan's apartment near the outskirts of the city. There is no public
transit in Hsinchu so biking was our mode of transportation. 
Thankfully, this time we didn't get lost!

You can only bring 50 or 70 lbs with you from Taiwan (depending
on where in Canada you are flying from) and when you are coming
to spend a year here, you are pretty careful to bring only the items
you value most. Dan is passionate about cooking so he brought
stacks of cookbooks (along with Russian novels).

I did this drawing of Dan as he put the finishing touches on the
Indian dinner he was preparing in his galley kitchen. The
apartment was perfumed divinely with the spices he was using.

"Ivan Talking Animatedly"
 

After dinner I did this drawing of Ivan talking about
Carmina Burana, one of his favourite pieces of music...
if indeed he could choose his favourite from all the
glorious music he knows and loves!

Ivan and Dan are both musicians and I think it would
be accurate to decribe their state as "euphoric" when
they talk on this subject.

Ivan thinks he looks overly devilish in this drawing.
Well, it's true that it's not an exact likeness of him! 
But, on the other hand, I think I've captured his
intensity and enthusiasm on this fine evening.

"One of Dan's Teapots"

This is Dan's second year teaching in Hsinchu and
along the way he became very drawn to the tea
ceremony. With assistance from a friend, he is
immersing himself in tea culture. After dinner
we retired to his tearoom for this lovely beverage
with so much history.

"Teabowl and Aroma Cup"

Here we have a little painting
of the teabowl and aroma cup
in which I was served tea. It
was shadowy in the tearoom,
as it was lit only by candles,
but I managed to get a pencil 
drawing to which I added paint
and ink later.

"Entrance at the Restaurant in Yingge"

As I've mentioned, August and September were painfully hot.
It was only into the middle of October that the weather became
reasonable for us. Despite the heat, I was going to karate classes
3 to 5 times a week (bootcamp-type training in 40 degrees Celsuis
with 1 million percent humidity).  Ivan was biking to and from school
everyday (the school was half way up a mountain and even at
7:00 in the morning it was already sweltering). By the time the
weekend came the thought of exploring some faraway town was
the last thing on our minds! We spent this time recuperating in
our air conditioned apartment, interspersed with leisurely activities 
such as going for shortish walks through the grounds of the nearby
temple, biking downtown to relax in a cafe, or doing the inescapable
weekend errands and chores.

However, as the cooler weather of mid-October made it's appearance,
Dan suggested a visit to the town of Yingge. Ivan and I thought it was a fine idea and soon arrangements were made to meet him at the train
station one Saturday afternoon. This was the very same train station
where the last scooter gang attack had occcured a few weeks previously.
Rich boys on scooters (armed with machetes) have been attacking people
at random, killing and maiming with impunity. So far, they have only
attacked at night which gave us a modicum of security as we bought
our tickets with the sun still high in the sky. Nevertheless, it was very
unsettling to think of this gang that roams around terrorizing everyone.
I was relieved when we boarded the train and chugged off towards
Yingge.

"Sunken Vase in Our Table at the Restaurant"

This restaurant is amazing. Everything is handmade from
wood, metal, glass, or clay. It is so peaceful to be surrounded
by natural materials made into functional art. There was
stunning art on the walls, too. And, I loved the quiet fountains
in large pottery urns inside which were goldfish and waterplants.
Our meal arrived on handmade flatware. It was such a relief to
be spared mass produced products for even the space of an
evening.

"Elegant Waitpeople at the Restaurant"

The waitpeople were dressed
inhandmade linen clothes.
The clothes obviously were
part of the philosophy of the
restaurant which seemed to
be about the belief that
human hands and minds
canmake items that are
infused with potent energy.

"Street Near Our Apartment"

 Ivan and I started studying Mandarin before we left for Taiwan.
Once we arrived, our studies abruptly fell off because of shear
overwhelm. We seemed to have enough on our plate as it was;
living in a new country is exciting and also stressful. And, we
were reluctant to use the little Mandarin we did know because
no one understood us. It's one thing to know the words on paper
and another thing entirely to speak them with the correct tones! 
We are back in Canada now, but will be returning next September. 
Now the studying has begun in earnest, with special emphasis on
those intimidating tones.

Taiwan Journal Page Three

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