Get ready to rummage, at the 2010 Spring/Summer Charity Rummage Sale on Sunday, May 23, 2009, at 1F #80 Tianxiang Road in Taipei City, 10 AM to 1 PM. (台北市中山區天祥路80號1F)*

This has become a semi-annual event organized by Parent Pages & Taipei City Playgroup. Twice a year, we encourage members of both communities to de-clutter their homes of children's outgrown clothes, toys, books, shoes, videos, and other baby/child/maternity gear, as well as solicit donations of the same from our friends.

We've received some incredibly generous donations, including infant and toddler car seats, strollers, highchairs, playpens, maternity clothes, baby carriers, and more!

What's the cost of admission? It's FREE!

Is the money donated to charity? Yes! This rummage sale, we will donate the proceeds to the Garden of Mercy orphanage.**

What about all the things that are left over? All unsold goods will be donated to charity too! They are picked up at the end of the day, for distribution to aboriginal families in need.

Can I get a table to sell things myself? We have a small number of "private tables" available available to purchase for NT500/table. You sell your baby/maternity related items and keep the profit you make. The 500NT purchase price is added to the grand total and donated to the orphanage of Garden of Mercy. It's "first-in-first-served" so email us at tracyzarubin at gmail dot com to see if there are any available.

How can I help? First, you can donate some of your child's outgrown clothing, toys and other gear! Give our pickup volunteers a call (see contact information below) and they can arrange a time to pick up your items. Please note that we are unable to pick up items after 5pm the night before the sale. If you have items to donate the night before, we kindly ask you bring them to the rummage sale site where volunteers will receive your donations. Although we would like all donations to be arranged for pick up before the event we will also be receiving donations the day of at the donation drop off table.

Second, consider volunteering. You can help us sort the night before the sale (about 7:00 - 9:00 pm), sort and price the morning of the sale (7:00 - 10:00 am), or (wo)man one of our tables for an hour time slot starting at 10am, or help clean up after 1pm.

Finally, come to the sale! Even if rummage sales don't interest you, consider coming to meet some new friends, and buy a snack from the lemonade stand (staffed by some of our older playgroup children) and pick up some of the amazingly priced products from Little Wonders (http://www.littlewonders.com.tw/) and Cherry Valley bookstore (http://www.cherryvalleybookstore.com/). So many reasons to come!

Can someone pick up my donation(s)? We have volunteers willing to receive your donations or pick them up.

Taipei City / XinYi Kelly 0916-641-144
Nan Gang / NeihuTracy 0920-097-111
Tianmu/Shilin drop off at TAS Joanne 0917-770-407

What about things like pajamas, onesies, burp cloths, and bibs that might have milkstains? These are okay as long as they're not ripped. Remember my rule of thumb above! Leftover goods will be donated, but we also want to give good quality things that families, mothers, children will be happy to wear.

Still have questions? Join the discussion on Parent Pages. (http://www.parentpages.net/tw/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4580)

Here's a handy Google map to #80 Tianxiang Road, Taipei City.

**The Garden of Mercy Foundation is an organization that advocates for and cares for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. In 2005, Garden of Mercy established a small orphanage, specifically for babies that are born to mothers who have HIV, and feel unable to care for them themselves. Babies have less than 1% chance of contracting HIV, if the mother is aware that she has HIV and thus takes preventative care. If she does not the risk to the baby increases to about 25%. Most of the mothers with HIV take preventative care and thus most of the babies don not have HIV. The orphanage started a weekend foster family system where the babies go home with a family from Friday night until Monday morning. This has proven a great way for the child to develop more normally, and has resulted in a number of adoptions.

Office: 4F, No.14, Lane 20, Gongyuan Rd., Taipei Taiwan
Tel: 886-2-2370-3579

Website: Garden of Mercy Taiwan

A retreat at Camp Taiwan.

April 16-18, 2010
Sign up early for a 10% Early Bird Discount

Move, change, grow... be well.

Health & Wellness Sessions

Radha Chaddah MD & Gabe Petersen NP, Welltrust Health Solutions
Michaela Stevens, Certified Personal Trainer, Bodyworks Fitness

Session Topics Include:

• Your Journey to Wellness.You play a major role in charting your health and wellness journey. We will discuss how to set health care goals and how to make meaningful, healthy changes in your life.
• Preventive Health: Your Best Wellness Tool.An overview of preventive health and strategies for incorporating important preventive health choices in your day to day life.
• Hot Topics in Women's Health. Don't be shy! Bring your questions! A fun and engaging dialogue around current women's health issues.
• Maintain the Momentum. Ideas on how to maintain your motivation over the long haul.
• Create your personal fitness plan. We will help you create a realistic fitness assessment and set challenging, yet attainable fitness goals.
• Take Control of your Cholesterol.  What is cholesterol? What do your numbers mean? How can you prevent your cholesterol from becoming elevated and dangerous? This talk will explore the answers to these questions.
• Develop a Practical Approach to Cancer Screening and Prevention. We will take a look at skin, colon, breast, uterine and ovarian cancer and the evidence for making screening for these conditions a priority in any woman's health plan.
• What's Cooking? Overcome Pantry Panic. A fun, realistic approach towards food planning. Superfoods–-what they are, where you can get them in Taiwan.

Restful and Rejuvenating Activities

• Boot Camp Fitness
• Yoga and Tai-Chi
• Adventure Sports: Rock climbing, river tracing, and zip-lining
• Relax with a massage in a private natural setting
• Evening Campfires

Retreat Pricing

• The fee for the Women's Weekend is NTD 10,000
• Retreat price includes transportation, luxury camping accommodations in a rustic setting, well balanced healthful meals and snacks, programing, instruction equipment, massage and more.
• Sign up by December 31st, 2009 for a 10% Early Bird Discount.

Check Out Retreat Schedule & Register at www.welltrusthealth.com

The Welltrust Women's Health Weekend is brought to you by Welltrust Health Solutions, Bodyworks Fitness & Camp Taiwan.

Celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the major holidays in the Chinese lunar calendar.  This day is an official holiday.  It is said that this full moon is the biggest and brightest of the year.  The date also coincides with the end of the harvest.  As with most holidays in the Chinese calendar, there is a legend associated with this day, as well as a popular way to celebrate. 

The Mid-Autumn Festival story is one of my favorites, as it has a wonderful mix of a man, a woman, a magic potion, and a rabbit.  Hou-Yi was a great archer and architect.  He was the man who shot down nine suns and stopped the earth from burning up.  Hou-Yi also built a jade palace for the Goddess of the Western Heaven, and was rewarded with an elixir that would give him eternal life.  Before taking the pill, he was to fast and pray for one year.  Unfortunately, his beautiful and very curious wife Chang-Er found the pill and swallowed it.  She immediately flew up to the moon, and could not come down again.  Upon reaching the moon, she spat out the pill, which turned into the rabbit.  You can see the rabbit at the bottom of the moon, making potions for immortals.  The fifteenth day of the eight month is when Chang-Er is supposedly her most radiant and beautiful. 

Taiwanese children seem to love this story, and it was one of the favorite dramatics we did in the preschool classes I taught.  Children also love trying to find the rabbit in the moon! 

Mid-Autumn Festival is an important family holiday, and most people celebrate by gathering with family and good friends to barbecue outdoors and appreciate the moon.  If you have not been invited to a gathering, don’t be shy about asking your local friends what they are doing to celebrate the holiday, as they would likely be upset to hear you were alone on this holiday.  You can take along some food or beverage for the barbecue.  If you don’t have the opportunity to be with locals on this day, you can enjoy a walk through your neighborhood or through the parks to see people enjoying the evening.   

The eating of moon cakes dates back to the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 874-889).  Moon cakes are usually shaped like the full moon, and can be filled with fruit, egg yolks, nuts, and bean paste.  It is popular to give boxes of moon cakes to people close to you, or to your staff.  People seem to have a love-hate relationship with moon cakes, and it is easy to reach the point where you say, "No more!"  But, you have to eat one or two or it will seem that you missed the holiday. 

*One of the books in the series "Let's Play" that I wrote in cooperation with Carolyn Wong (granddaughter to artist Huang Yao) has beautiful images depicting the passing of Mid-Autumn Festival in China.  You can purchase this book at www.littlewonders.com.tw.  Mention parentpages.net and get a 10% discount on your book order.

"Qi xi" (Seventh evening) or "Qin Ren Jie" (Lover's Day) occurs on th seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the year.  This year, Chinese Valentines Day will be celebrated on Thursday August 20 of the Western Calendar.  Whilst it has its origins in folklore, it is celebrated in much the same way as Westerners celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14th each year.

There are many tales in Chinese folklore surrounding Qi xi.  One of the more popular ones describes the forbidden love between the daughter of a heavenly emperor and a cow-herder.  Very much in love, the princess ran away from the heavenly palace to live with the cow herder.  They lived together happily on earth, raising two children and leading a simple life.  The emperor soon found them, and separated them.  The heavenly empress used her hair-pin to draw a line across the sky, making it impossible for the cow herder and his wife to get back together.

This line eventually turned into a heavenly river.  Once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month, magpies would fly together and make a bridge so the cow herder and the princess could step across them and meet again.  This is why magpies are bald – being stepped on at the same time each year made them lose their head feathers.

Chinese girls will pray to the princess on this day, in the hope they can be gifted with spinning skills, and also win the hearts of their loved ones.  So, this day is also known as "qi ciao" or "begging for skills".

This folktale of forbidden love is also represented in the summer sky.  It is said that the stars Altair (of the constellation Aquila) and Vega (of the constellation Lyra) will cross each other in the summer night sky.  Altair (the young man) is accompanied by two small stars (the two children).  Vega (the princess) travels alone.  The stars are separated by a river in the sky ; The Milky Way.

It has long been tradition to go out with your loved one on the evening of Chinese Valentine's Day.  In recent years, the day has been celebrated in similar ways to Western Valentine's Day – giving gifts or going out for dinner.  Throughout Taiwan, special Valentine's Day menus are offered, usually at a premium with some small gift or gimmick in the package.

There will be a three-day event in the Danshui area, including a fireworks display on Aug 22.