With The Family In North Carolina

At First Baptist Church in Rutherfordton, N.C. Left to right: Yvonne, Liz, Mom, Phil, Faith, Dad, Luke, Jeff and Beth.

Green River Plantation

No, it's not "Tara" from Gone With The Wind, but it is from the same time period. This antebellum style house survived the Civil War even though Union troops stationed themselves (and their horses) inside at one time. Today it's owned and managed by Eugene and Ellen Cantrell (friends of our family at First Baptist, Rutherfordton, N.C.)


On the front steps.

Near the chimney, Liz looks like she's holding up part of the house.

Down by the pond, Liz does her best to walk like a duck.

North Carolina Mountains

Waterfall on White Oak Mountain in Polk County, N.C.

Admiring the view from Skyuka on White Oak Mountain (looking east into the Piedmont foothills). Liz seems very happy to see clear, blue, and unpolluted sky. We really are a long way from Taiwan, aren't we?

Dad and the view looking west into the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Looking northwest into the Blue Ridge.

A Cracker Barrel Country Breakfast

Yvonne and Liz try out the rocking chairs on the front porch of The Cracker Barrel in Gastonia, N.C.


Inside, Liz digs in while Yvonne gets ready for her pancake breakfast. Now we know we're really back in the South. Sorry, but for the price, Jake's Country Kitchen (in Taipei) just doesn't quite compare.

Mini-ORTV Reunion

Outside The Providence Cafe in Charlotte. Tom and Amy drove up from Columbia, S.C. to meet us there.

Liz and Phil are so happy to see, Yvonne, Amy/Tom and the N.C. family that they can't contain themselves.

We were also able to get together with Liz's youngest sister (another Amy) in Spartanburg, S.C. This Amy is currently finishing a Ph.D. at Emory University. She drove up from Atlanta to meet with us at the best place for three ladies... the mall. :)

The Biltmore House And Gardens

Liz and Yvonne in front of The Biltmore House near Asheville, N.C. It's the largest private home in America. It was built in 1895 by George Vanderbilt and is now open to the public.

Posing next to the fountain on the lawn.

Near the front entrance showing some of its French chateau design. Look closely for the gargoyles.

The view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the back of the house.

Winter is not a good time of year to see the gardens outside, but there's plenty of greenery inside the arboretum. Liz and Yvonne enjoy themselves there...

but Phil is a little bit shy.

He finally decides to peek out.

Yvonne At The Archers' Home In North Carolina

Yvonne with Faith (and Molly) in front of the Archer's home in Rutherfordton, N.C.

"Tractor Boy" Luke

Auntie Lizzie holds up little Luke.


Luke is happy to be surrounded by green and yellow John Deere tractors.

Luke enjoys a book on tractors.

Now its time to drive a John Deere lawnmower with "Paw-Paw" and big "sissy" Faith.

Pot Plants In Taiwan

This good "Chinglish" display can still be seen at the International Airport in Taoyuan. At first glance it appears that marijuana is pretty widespread throughout the island :)

The ORTV Eagles

With members of my small group "The Eagles":
(Left to right) Back row: Jason, Dick, Phil, Tony; Front: Michelle, Agnes, Jessie, Helen
Look how Dick is ready to fly away (also shown by the picture below from our morning chapel performance)

Dick soars through the crowd.

The end of our song "Like An Eagle" included lifting Helen in the air. We tried to keep her away from the ceiling panels (so Dick and I couldn't stand up all the way).

Okay, some of us looked more like Batman (than eagles). But hey, it was fun. Gotta love those cheerleaders. Thanks to Jessie and Michelle for the costumes, and to Agnes for choreography and direction. :)

More ORTV Friends

With our good friends from Educational Services (2F) at ORTV.
Left to right: Ivy, Jane, Phil, Ellen and Skye


Jane, Ellen, Skye and Ivy do their best to get ready for the "Year Of The Pig".


Rebecca diligently studies Studio Classroom and Advanced while working at the front desk.

It's Great To Be A Taiwan Tar Heel!

"Yay! It's great to be a Taiwan Tar Heel!"

Now I know what "cheerleader" Beth Bowyer was so excited about at a recent school rally in Taiwan (see previous post below). Beth's alma mater, the University of North Carolina has a great basketball team. They just won over their arch rival, Duke ("Dook"). The two schools are located less than ten miles apart in Chapel Hill and Durham, N.C. In fact, there are exchange programs between the two schools. Their college basketball teams have one of the best rivalries in all of American sports. This year, UNC's Dook exchange students were barred from getting tickets to the game at Dook on Feb. 7th. Apparently some Dook folks complained after getting beat in a game last year with UNC fans in attendance. Turns out that with a completely all-Dook crowd this year, it still didn't make any difference. Ha, ha! :)

Check out these photos taken from The Charlotte Observer's slide show of the game at Dook on Feb. 7th.
http://www.charlotte.com/multimedia/charlotte/KRT_packages/archive/sports/020707_dukeunc_slideshow/index.html

Brandan Wright slams one home against Dook.

The notorious Dook fans known as "The Cameron Crazies" do their best to heckle and distract Carolina players like Danny Green here. Their name comes from Dook's arena - Cameron Indoor Stadium. Because the fans are so noisy and close to the court, it's considered one of the toughest places to play an away game in college basketball. This is still true even though "away" for the Tar Heels means less than ten miles down the road.

"Cameron Crazy" Dook fans wave funny pictures at Tyler Hansbrough while he shoots free throws. ("Tyler, you look like Beaker")

Tyler casually responds with plays like this one.

Taipei International Book Exhibit

(From right to left) Me, Steve and an on-screen friend who seems to be frustrated with English. "Hey man, you should study with Studio Classroom!"

I'm lookin' a little "pang" in the face next to my friend "Slim Steve" (I see two chins instead of one). Time to "jian fei" :)


Posing with a Studio Classroom student at the exhibit while Naomi meets and greets her fans in the background.


For some reason Larry's magic act here reminds me of a street fight in China where the crowd gathers round to watch.

However, our sales rep doesn't appear to be intimidated. :)