Peace, Love, and Mud, by Chieni McCullough

It had been raining for days in Taipei but I was praying for a miracle that it would stop for the weekend. This was the weekend of the Peace Festival, an event that celebrates music, arts, and all that’s good with humanity, and I had been looking forward to it for weeks! My prayers went unanswered as the skies remained dark and clouds heavy with rain throughout my journey to Long Tan. As soon as I got there, however, I was glad I made the trek. The atmosphere was definitely full of peace, love, and surprisingly pleasant mud. A funky blues band was playing on stage, the grassy field in front of it was quickly turning into a muddy pool with a few people dancing to the rhythm of the band and the rain. Then there were rows and rows of campers in tents who braved the weather, and rows of booths selling food and beer. My husband joked that this was the largest gathering of foreigners in Taiwan that he had ever seen. I’ve never been to Woodstock but I imagine that the general good vibrations and images were not so different here from the original event some decades ago.

At dusk, the peace circle began. Hundreds of people held hands in a circle while an Amis woman chanted along with African drumming and didgeridoos. It was an amazing sight to see hundreds of hands held channeling their positive energies to bringing peace on earth. I felt like I found the hippy in me and couldn’t help but feel energized by the music, the love, the splattery mud. I think we will be back next year.

Peace, Love, and Mud!

This weekend, we went to Peace Festival, a yearly outdoor festival in Taiwan that is dedicated to music, fun, and peace. This year, for the first time since the beginning of Peace Fest, it rained and rained. Everything got completely muddy but that didn't stop everyone from coming together and bringing positive energy to the event. The highlights were the bands, the peace circle where everyone held hands and danced, the yummy food, the good friends we met up with and new friends we met.

Animals!

My parents took me to a farm this weekend called Pusin Farm. I had a lot of fun running around and saying names of the animals both in English and Chinese. Here is us on the farm train and about to ride a horse!

Happy Anniversary!

Today was my parents' wedding anniversary. They got married eight years ago. We went to a restaurant called the Cafe Onion and had steaks for dinner. It was very good!

Night Market

We went to Taipei's famous Shilin night market again on Friday night amd came home very very full. The first picture is us with a roast duck wrap and winter melon tea, and the last picture is shaved ice with fruit on top drizzled with sugar syrup. Yum!

Busy Saturday

On Saturday, my mom took me swimming, then we went to a rummage sale (also called a boot sale) at the Taipei European School. The first picture shows the Hello Kitty purse my mom bought for me. Then we went to a ladies' lunch at Cafe India. The food was pretty good. I wasn't supposed to be there because it was supposed to be a moms' day out, but my parents couldn't find a babysitter in time. Luckily the other ladies were very nice and did not mind too much that I was there. I was also on best behavior that day, which is pretty common these days.

After lunch my parents took me to Beitou park, located in the hotsprings area of Taipei. The Beitou branch of the city library is located in the middle of the park. It is really a beautiful building and also is famous for its green design. I had fun reading books there and climbing on rocks outside.

Busy Sunday

Yesterday I went to Story Time again with my dad. Then we went with Alicia's family and Joyce's family to a convent in the mountains of Danshui and heard beautiful chanting. Then we had dinner at a Western restaurant at Tamkang University (in Taiwan, all non-Asian food is labeled Western food). We were saying goodbye to Alicia's family as they move back to the US (or Canada).

Earthquake!

We had our first earthquake last night at 12:59 am. It was a 6.0 magnitude earthquake. Both my parents sat up in bed then immediately rushed to my side, ready to take me and flee the scene should they need to. Luckily for me, I slept through the whole thing. The news said this morning that it was just a normal earthquake, that we should expect about three such earthquakes per year. I hope I keep sleeping through them.