Les Aventures d'une Baroudeuse en carton // Tales of a Novice Adventurer.
新年快樂! – Xīnnián kuàilè! – Happy New Year!
When I was living in Taiwan, Chinese New Year was held on February 15th 2018. The Year of the Rooster was flying away and let his place to the Year of the Dog. Chinese New Year is widely celebrated worldwide by the Chinese and Asian communities, mainly by the populations referring to the lunisolar calendar.
Even when I was living in my tiny studio apartment in Strasbourg with a mini oven, I was still following this vernacular tradition even though I had to spend my days off baking, batch after batch, so I could have my little cookies to eat with my tea during those long Alsatians winter evenings. I’m so attached to this tradition that I couldn’t help but bring it with me in both New-Zealand and Taiwan! As a matter of fact, I’m always travelling with cinnamon just in case I’d like to bake something tasty for my hosts or travel companions.
A story of çäkçäk, love at first sight in Kyoto and the God Yue Lao’s mailbox.
As this new show’s topic initiated by Emilie is a wonderful subject for wordplays (let’s talk about shamanic trance as well as trance music, transsexuality and transgression), I chose today to tell you how I didn’t take the Trans-Siberian train.
But what I’m interested in talking about today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also called the Moon Festival, (中秋節 – Zhōngqiū jié) which is celebrated at the moment (September 13th 2019) all around the Chinese diaspora. This day is a holiday in Taiwan and is about mooncakes, an immortal young lady, a Jade Rabbit and barbecues!
The other night I was invited to talk about my experiences when it comes to accommodations while travelling during a workshop about alternative tourism. It was all organized by the Enjoy’In hostel, which is a project to build a social and eco-friendly hostel in Mulhouse, the city I’m now living in.
I didn’t feel very legitimate to speak right after the Mulhouse’s tourist office and other touristic related companies. What could I bring? In the end, I decided to do as I always do when it comes to talking about travel: I simply told stories.
As for me, diving into Taiwanese stories was all about getting a better understanding of this peculiar island I chose to call home for a year (and beyond). Reading is a way to apprehend a whole new world, and in this case, it allowed me to understand the debates, the traditions, and this culture so far different from mine. Reading as a way to embrace this island’s contradictions.
Ex-libraire, boulimique d’images et de rêveries en papier. Reconvertie en agent de voyages adepte de nouveaux horizons. Reconvertie en apprentie baroudeuse. Baroudeuse en carton depuis 2015 en Nouvelle-Zélande, au Japon, à Bali, à Singapour, à Taïwan, à Hong-Kong, en Equateur et au Mexique. J’ai chopé la bougeotte et je compte bien ne pas m’arrêter là.
A former bookseller, who couldn’t get enough of pictures and paper dreams. Retrained as a Travel Agent, who couldn’t get enough of new travel inspirations. Retrained as a novice adventurer. Novice Adventurer since 2015 in New Zealand, Japan, Bali, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, Ecuador and Mexico. I caught the travel bug and I won’t stop anytime soon.
Let’s take a walk with me!