WuiT #056: Orchid Island

Filed Under: Travel Recommendation.
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The show for this week is a special report of Orchid Island(A.K.A. Lanyu), Father Barry was gracious enough to share his memory of the island with us. He thinks of the island as the most beautiful spot on the planet. Around 35 years ago, Father Barry serviced on the island for a year and fell in love with the location. He wrote the book "Song of Orchid Island" as a tribute.

We would also like to pay our tribute to Lanyu. If you have photos of the island, please sent them to us and make this special report that much more. Sent them to whatsupintaiwan@gmail.com


(Picture of Fr. Barry and the children in Orchid Island way back when)

Buy "Song of Orchid Island"
Amazon.com or Taubooks Taiwan

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本週節目是蘭嶼的特別報導，丁松青神父特別分享他的蘭嶼印象。這個小小的島嶼是丁神父認為全世界最美麗的地方。將近35年前，丁神父在這裡服務過一年，因為實在太喜愛這個地方了，他還為蘭嶼寫了一本書："Song of Orchid Island"。

我們也希望喜愛蘭嶼，有相關照片的聽眾朋友，可以將照片提供給我們，讓這篇貼文的內容更加充實，來信請寄whatsupintaiwan@gmail.com

WuiT #055: Fr. Barry Martinson S. J.

Filed Under: Christmas, Chingchuan, Aborigines.
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It’s Christmas time again; this is the second Christmas since we started this podcast. What can we say? Time flies when you’re having fun! Last year, we had Father Jerry on our show for Christmas, and it was truly the greatest Christmas gift, also the 1st time we felt that we were on the right track.

Father Jerry mentioned his brother Barry on the show and we had decided that for this year, we’ll have Father Barry celebrating Christmas with us. Little did we know that it took over 2 hours of driving into the mountain of Ju-Don to meet him in person, and worth every second, not to mention the beautiful scenery along the way. We got to interview Father Barry Martinson S. J., both Martinson brothers have dedicated their lives to servicing Taiwan for over 35 years, Thank you both so very much and Merry Christmas!


We couldn't stay for lunch with Father Barry, this is the persimmon he gave us for our trip. One of the many delicious fruits of Taiwan.

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耶誕節又接近了，這是我們第二個耶誕節。去年，我們收到最好的耶誕禮物是丁松筠神父的訪問。今年，我們特地在耶誕前夕訪問丁神父的弟弟，丁松青神父。

丁松青神父在竹東的清泉部落傳教，距離台北兩個小時的車程，沿途經過美麗的台灣山林景色，穿過一條單線、無照明的隧道，來到了彷彿世外桃源的清泉教堂。

兩位丁神父各自在台灣奉獻了35年的光陰，我們僅在此致謝！並祝各位耶誕節快樂！

WuiT #054: Tony Masalonis

Filed Under: Learning Chinese, Lu-Wei, Matzu.
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Tony Masalonis if from The U.S. and currently working in Taiwan as an aviation safety consultant. He is very serious about studying Chinese during his leisure hours and gave us a very detailed explanation of his Chinese name during the interview. He enjoys Taiwan very much and shared his love for lu-wei ( a Taiwanese dish with meat or fowl stewed with soy sauce and strained before serving) and the Kinmen and Matsu Islands.

This interview was conducted in terminal 2 of Song-Shan Airport, a place where even many locals are unaware of its existence. Mr. Masalonis gave us a brief introduction of the history and background of the building.

Tony(his web site) also writes as a hobby. The following is a sample of his work which he tries to capture the harmony of nature and urban intenseness that is Taipei and Taiwan.

"The Wind partners with streetlights to light green leaves into sparkle.
But the bus’s bright green numbers outshine it all.
Despite a high pitched dog, and subdued traffic hum
There’s a relative stillness, peaceful waiting

Back at eye level the haggard hookers hello-hello aggressively
At clearly Asiafied foreigners with faces creased from sorrow and joy of adapting, of being adopted, of wincing quizically,
mouths curled garishly from pronouncing x and q
pupils dilated from gazing at followed stars, moons and bus-lit trees –

perhaps irreparably but if it’s reparable why gaze?"

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Tony 在台灣擔任航空安全顧問。平常工作之餘，他很認真的學習中文，訪問中並解釋了他自己選擇的中文名字：嗎簡謄。他很喜歡台灣的滷味並推薦馬祖。

本次訪問在松山機場第二航站進行，很多人都不知道台北松山機場有第二航站，Tony也在訪問中簡單介紹了一下松山第二航站的背景。

閒暇時間，Tony還喜歡寫詩、作詞，他特別寄了一首描寫他的台灣（台北）印象的詩，有興趣的朋友不妨將它翻譯出來。

WuiT #053: Robin Erik Ruizendaal

Filed Under: Puppet Theatre, Museum.
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Robin Erik Ruizendaal is the Administrator of the Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum; he has been living in Taiwan for the last 13 years. Dr. Ruizendaal earned a Ph.D. in Chinese studies from Leiden University in the Netherlands over 20 years ago, and he has been doing research on puppet theaters ever since, including extensive fieldwork in China and South-East Asia.

He is also the Administrator as well as the Artistic Director of the Taiyuan Puppet Theatre Company and Museum. He has written and directed quite a number of plays for both actors and puppets. His plays have been performed in over 20 countries.




In November 2005, the TTT Puppet Center moved to a permanent residence generously donated by Mrs. Lin, the widow of late Mr. Lin Liu-Hsin. In return for such generosity, the Center changed its name to Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum.

The Museum is located on Xi-Ning North Road, Dadaocheng, one of the oldest districts of Taipei and just a few steps from the Danshui Pier off historical Dihua Street. There are over 7,000 puppets in their collection, and there are over 300 performances each year. The show being presented this particular month is "The Child in the Elevator" about time travel; please check it out if you can.

Last but not least, we would like to show our appreciation for Caroline Gluck for her introduction to Robin so we may complete this Interview. Caroline Is a journalist with BBC. Although she has declined our Invitation as a guest for a future episode, we are still hoping she might change her mind.

Rate Episode #053:

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羅賓先生來自荷蘭，是荷蘭萊登大學漢學博士，他對中國布偶產生興趣，研究範圍遍及兩岸與東南亞，在台灣居住了13年，目前擔任林柳新紀念偶戲博物館館長與台原偶戲團藝術總監。

林柳新紀念偶戲博物館位於大稻埕，鄰近淡水碼頭的西寧北路上，成立於2005年11月，是由林柳新的夫人林錦華女士捐贈。該館收藏各式各樣的布偶七千餘個，每年的大小演出近三百場，這個月將推出“電梯裡的小孩”，歡迎朋友們前往觀賞。

在此要特別感謝Caroline Gluck小姐的推薦，讓我們能完成這次的訪問，Caroline是BBC的記者，雖然她婉拒我們訪問，我們還是希望她能改變主意。