Christmas 2008 - Taiwan Style

I wasn't very excited about staying in Taiwan for Christmas, but I really didn't have a choice since the Taiwanese people really don't celebrate it. I took the day off of work, and spent it getting a really amazing 40 minute hair wash/scalp massage followed by a late lunch with some friends. We had a great time. The real celebration didn't happen until the Saturday after Christmas when a bunch of friends got together at Denise's house.

That's Denise and I as we toast the holiday. She is originally from Scotland but has done a lot of traveling. She's married to a Taiwanese man named James and they have a beautiful little girl named Tiana. Christmas dinner is something Denise loves to host. Every year she orders 3 turkeys, 3 hams and all the fixings...including dessert!

Our day was rather typical in terms of Christmas. Good friends, good laughs, Christmas music, and tons of food. Even though most of the people in attendance were from work, there was no shop talk. In fact, we didn't act like teachers at all!

That's Mark, carving up the turkey. The good ol' Texas boy was right at home with a knife in hand!

And that's Reid, enjoying his share of one of the turkeys. As is the norm, everyone had their favorite part of the bird that they wanted.

After dinner, we all sat around outside and watched Tiana open her Christmas presents. Each was her favorite, at least for a moment. One of those gifts was a badminton set. We didn't set up the net, but we sure had fun with the birdies!

Christina was the first to give herself a 'birdie-nose' but many others quickly joined in as soon as they could get their hands on a birdie. Jeff and Craig were real hams about it!

They weren't the only boys who were having a ton of fun that day though! Jayden, who doesn't work with us, loves to juggle. His specialty seems to be torches on chains. He decided to 'warm up' after dinner with tennis balls, and he was very serious about what he was doing!

Of course, the real entertainment didn't start until we all decided to head to the park. Trying to play frisbee in an alley that is about 12 feet wide is not fun! We basically took over the soccerfield across the street and threw the frisbee around until dark. That's when Jayden and Lisa pulled out the torches and really got going! Using the night function on my camera, I was able to get some pretty cool shots.

I love the way it looks like continuous loops of flames! Jayden and Lisa are both very good at this particular style of juggling. Personally, I'll stick to small objects that can be tossed one by one!

It was a great day, but the week had been an exhausting one and I called it a day at around 9:30pm. Sure, it wasn't what I've grown to consider a traditional Christmas celebration, but it was far more fun than I expected! Besides, living overseas means you get to see how other people around the world do things. Since Taiwan doesn't do Christmas, we expatriates have created our own Christmas...Taiwan style!