built for glory

Weekend Update with Naomi
This weekend is a long one here, too; tomorrow is Taiwan's birthday or something and so this weekend is full of fun stuff. Yesterday we went to Yingge. You know all those ceramics that you buy in North America that say "made in taiwan" on the bottom? They all get made in Yingge. It was a lovely city, but it POURED all day. We went to the Ceramics Museum and they had these special performances by a Russian dance troupe and a women's choir (who sang "Siyahamba," but a different version from any I'd ever heard) in addition to the very interesting permanent collection, which includes an entire section devoted to the toilet (Duchamp, anyone?) and the guy who had the vision to bring it to Taiwan. And yet, the restrooms at the museum were of the squatting variety. Go figure.
After the museum we did some shopping and ate freshly clay-oven-baked sweet potatoes (YUM) and wandered around in the rain.
When we finally got back home, we went out for Korean barbecue, which I HIGHLY recommend. Little golden domes adorn each table and you go load up on meat, bok choy, mushrooms, tofu and assorted fish products, then fry them all up and eat them right off the grill with sauce and rice. As you barbecue, you add water to the grill, and it collects around the edges and turns into a delicious broth by about half-way through your meal. We ate until we were very full and then managed to enjoy some ice cream as well!
Finally, we watched Hotel Rwanda, and if you haven't seen it, may I ask you to consider doing so? Very moving, and Don Cheadle is terrific.
Right now, I just got back from church, which was nice; the sermon was about how men don't understand their roles anymore and how they need to stand up and be men and not lose their temper over everything, and also how women shouldn't go around nagging the men, but they should be praying for them instead. Good point. In an hour, we're heading off for Japanese lunch, then we're planning to go see Flightplan tonight. And then sleep in tomorrow. Ahhhh... Maybe I'll try to have a nap in the meantime.
Stay classy, San Diego.