Chinese New Years! (Part three) 台中！Taichung!

So I did I a lot calligraphy during Chinese New Year Vacation. It was cool because my host grandfather came and practiced with me.  I will put more pictures up for this later.

Anyway, this character: Fu meaning fortune. Was my calligraphy goal. Because around this time of year, people hang this upside down on their doors to invite fortune into their homes. I want to give it to my host family.

These are my brushes. 

The next day we went to a Thai restaurant. I asked my host mother why we were eating Thai food on Chinese New Years and she said it was because we eat Chinese food all year and today is a special day. XD

But it was cool because I had never eaten Thai food before. 

It's a famous restaurant.

ANYWAY, that same day we went to a temple. Those of you who have talked to me off the computer will know, I LOVE going to temples. 

I told my host father I had never burned paper money and wanted to try. He seemed really happy that I took interest. He's very knowledgeable about Buddhism. So we donated some money, took some paper money and took some incense. We went around the temple praying at every alter and then I asked a question to the gods, and then I burned paper money. I love doing stuff like this. It's so cool. And it makes me feel so peaceful. 

You burn paper money for your relatives that are no longer with you. So that they will have money and be able to be happy where they are. And you burn money to thank the gods you prayed to. 

It just such a beautiful, healthy place to spend time at. 

You burn the money in here

This is the paper money

To light the incense.

I turned it on for you!

I love this picture.

People give food to their departed relatives and the gods.

ceiling

My host father found these things on a table and gave them to me. More about that later. 

Useful info for going to Temples (Jiao Bei)

This is Jiao Bei.
These two moon shaped objects you can find at any temple in Taiwan. Let me tell you how it works. You ask the gods a question. Then you throw these two pieces at the floor. If both of them land facing both up or both down, the answer is no. If they land facing different sides, then it's a yes. If you get a yes, you can then go and pick a stick out of a bin. The sticks have numbers on them. After getting the number you must go back to the jiao bei and do jhi jiao ( the action of throwing the jiao bei on the floor) again and ask the gods if this is the number you're meant to have. If they answer yes, you match your number to your fortune which should answer your question further. If you get a no, you must start all over.