UN Day

Today we celebrated UN Day at school.  Folks were supposed to come in their nation's dress and there were some amazing outfits with over 50 countries represented.  America though?  Between the two of us we represented our colors and the northwest.

Bangles galore

This week many women in Nepal celebrated Teej. As it was explained to me, Teej involves different events over a few days including fasting and praying to Shiva for health and good fortune for their husbands (and thus their families). The visual part of this celebration is that women wear red saris and sulwar kurta (pants and tunics) with lots of jewelry, bangles in particular.  I was given a number of bangles for this event, all with plenty of bling on them.  Putting bangles on takes a certain amount of skill, as apparently the smaller the bangle size the better and they must be eased over the bones in your hand.  Tegan's nanny helped me put some of mine on in the morning, and soap and cold water were required in the evening to get them off again.

Does this mask match my shoes?

One of the first things I noticed about all the scooter drivers in Taiwan was all the masks they wear.  This is to help prevent breathing in the fumes and pollution in the air.  Now, who knows if that actually works at all, but there are a few other benefits to wearing a mask.  #1 - they keep your face warm when you drive in the cold and  #2 - yet another chance to accessorize your outfit. 

Add sunglasses and my face disappears!

Double your wardrobe

Awhile ago I wrote about preparing for cooler weather in Taiwan.  I failed to mention that you can also follow local fashion and simply wear tights or leggings under your shorts! 

What do I bring to Taiwan?: Cool weather wardrobe check

We often get asked by people moving to Taiwan what they should bring.  It's a hard question to answer.  But, as we go through this second year I'm able to get some perspective on the things that we found important.  I'm hoping the "What do I bring to Taiwan" posts can help give some ideas to those moving here about what to pack.

Last year at about this time I started wishing that I hadn't filled my bag with only shorts and tank tops, because it started getting chilly outside.  And worse than that, I quickly found out it was often cooler inside than out (I guess when you have tile floors and concrete walls you should expect the cold to stay).  We're more prepared this year - each with a few long-sleeve overshirts and sweater/sweatshirts.

The last few days it has cooled down a lot in Taichung (currently 67 wunderground says); people are bringing out their pants and sweaters.  Not this cold yet though:

Cool rainy day in February