Make-Up Attack!

Wednesday October 10, 2012

What a day! This has been one of the best days of Taiwan so far! I enjoyed every bit of it 100%! Today was a holiday from school for something to do with Taiwan. Taipei was adorned with the country’s flags everywhere that proved this fact. Sorry, I don’t know anything else. I wasn’t told the reason for the holiday and lacked the Internet to look it up. All you need to know is that I had the day off. :P

Side note: Is Jenni C. reading this? If not, someone should go tell her to read this post because she will be very interested in one part! Trust me, she’ll want to see this because I remember her wanting me to do a certain something in high school. :P

Before Rotaract (I realized I’ve been spelling it wrong until now. Oops!) parted from the Hua-Lien trip last weekend, a lady named Peggy told me about an event that would take place on October 10^th. Jumping at any opportunity, I agreed happily, especially since it was with Rotaract. Through a language barrier, I was mimed the theme of the meeting…the theme was make-up. Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I’m not the biggest fan of make-up due to bad memories I had with it during my ballet childhood days. Regardless, I still looked forward to the event with anticipation! A part of me wanted to try the cosmetics again just to see how I would feel about it now that I’ve grown and matured more.

My host family was still sleeping by the time I had to leave to be picked up for the event. This meant no breakfast was set out for me. Of course I would make something myself but that’s not how it works in this family. My host parents are the ones who operate the morning meal. A thought occurred to me that the Rotaract would pick up breakfast like we did this past Saturday (early at 6:00AM) but since it was 8:00AM, I wasn’t sure if Taiwanese people would have already eaten by then. Needing a quick, cheap, portable breakfast, I had to settle for a milk juice box from the house and a chocolate cake I bought from 7-Eleven. A banana would have been added in but I wasn’t too keen on storing a banana peel in my purse in case I couldn’t find a trashcan. The ironic part is that when waiting to be picked up, there was a trashcan three feet away from me. * sigh * Now I know for next time at least. :P

Like last Saturday, it was Johnny who came for me and drove to the event, while also picking up two other girls. Fortunately no one else had a proper breakfast so we stopped by a little shop and got some food. Thanking Peggy (the lady in the picture with the jean jacket and striped dress) I was given a hamburger and a cup of milk tea. Yummmmy! Just what I needed! One thing nice with Peggy was that she was very open and friendly to the point where we would walk together holding hands or her embracing my arm. That’s how sweet she is! Wo xi huan ta! (I like her) ^_^

When told about the make-up event, what came to my mind was a bunch of girls bringing their cosmetics and dolling up each other. So I was mentally prepared to be bombarded with women wanting to have fun with my foreigner face. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t like that at all! Instead there was what I concluded to be a professional make-up artist, his assistant and a tutorial by him to the Rotaract club. Also there were guys attending the meeting instead of only girls. What was hilarious was that the guys (at a MAKE-UP party mind you) outnumbered the girls, nine to six! It was totally different from what I expected but in my opinion turned out to be much more fun!

During the time people were arriving, the make-up artist was prepping his first victim on the sidelines. Look at that terrifying toolbox of mass destruction! XD

Before the tutorial started, a Rotarian turned to me and told me to study what the man would teach about make-up. Putting on a sad, tearing up face, I fake cried, “Wo bu piao liang?!” (I am not pretty?!) It brought a laugh around the room because it almost seemed as if the Rotarian was serious but of course didn’t mean any offense by it. He replied to my joking depression with correcting his statement to “become MORE beautiful.” One reason why I never got interested in make up was my firm belief of beauty on the inside rather than outside. Nonetheless, I followed the Rotarian’s wishes and paid as close attention as possible, relying on sight since I definitely didn’t know any make-up Chinese vocabulary.

The first part of the lesson was putting on foundation. ‘Putting on’ translates to ‘whacking the dear life out of a pad.’ I was called up to try patting some on the model but ultimately failed at the technique. What I was doing was using my wrist. The correct way was to use your whole arm, practically hammering the pad into the girl’s face. This is a little difficult for me because I learned to use wrist, not arm, for eight years with the cello. It takes a while to change gears, especially ones I’ve had for that long. (I still crave playing my dear instrument. Sadness!)

Next up, the gentleman put on eyeliner, eye shadow and whatever else goes around the eye. From what I can guess, the white pad he has on his fingers here is to create a barrier between his hand and the girl’s face so as to prevent smudging. But he also used the same pad for patting on (different from the beating pad) more foundation. So…a dual purpose pad?

Other things he did included, blush and lipstick. I didn’t really understand or learn much of anything new by the time he finished. And when the girl walked around to show the final product, I couldn’t tell any significant difference from how she originally was. But remember, I am uneducated in make-up and can’t spot such things with my untrained eyes. So I just focused on taking in as much as possible during the artist’s tutorial.

It was coming. I knew it! After the man was done with the first girl, another target was needed. I will admit, I was curious to have a go at being dolled up by a professional. Even if I didn’t want to, everyone in the room was encouraging me to go up so I didn’t have a choice anyway. XD So I got my chance to be beaten with a foundation pad and painted on. :P What almost gave me a heart attack was the way I was asked “Why don’t you be a model?” The pronunciation of ‘model’ sounded more like ‘mother.’ So when I thought I was asked to be a mother, I was in unbelieving shock until I figured out the misunderstanding. XD There is no way I will be a mother at this young of an age! But a model, that I can be. :P

The result…I actually liked it. It was fun to be slightly pampered and the make-up pads were really comfortable to be pounded with. The lip make-up was interesting because it wasn’t a stick or pencil but rather a paintbrush and paint. I haven’t seen that before. Also I was different from the other girls because instead of getting a natural coloring of make-up around the eyes (brown, tan, etc.), I was given sky blue shading. Quite pretty! The only downside to the make-up atmosphere was the heavy, mustiness that can occur, which my stomach can’t really handle in large quantities. Other than that, I would love to do it again!

Here we have the first two ‘mothers’ (models :P) of Olifia and I. This is actually the unfinished version of my do-over. Surprisingly later, the gentleman came up to me and continued his work.

Since there were so many males at the event, we of course needed at least one male model! I’m not really sure what the make-up artist did other than put on some foundation but heck, it was just fun watching a guy getting dolled up. :P

Afterwards, all of a sudden, I was told that Peggy was going to be my mother. Taken aback, I had to remember the different pronunciation of ‘model’ to correctly understand the situation. Even so, I still was alarmed because I was not confident at all in my make-up abilities to decorate someone else’s face. Nonetheless, I gave it my best shot under the helpful supervision of my “laoshi” (teacher).  I copied as best as I could all the things I saw the gentleman do as well as a side lesson from Peggy on how to use a weird looking metal thing. Looking like some sort of scissors, the tool was used for molding eyelashes from the natural flat look to a curvy position. Peggy had to kidnap the previous male model to demonstrate to me how to use the device. Poor guy, but it was for a good cause! ;P

The final product of my work! Yeah it’s nothing outlandish because I was given natural colored make-up but I still think it’s not half bad for a cosmetic noob.

Here was another coupled make-up pair that worked on each other. I still have trouble distinguishing what differences were made with make-up. But then again, this picture isn’t the best reference to do so. Oh well! :P

Two pleasant Rotarians and I together!

Peggy and I, take two! This was with the final product of my makeover. The gentleman added onto to the eye make-up with a more prominent shading of blue that extended a bit more out to the sides.

Lao shi! Lao shi! Teacher and his masterpiece. :P Do you see this height difference?! Oh my goodness! XD I really appreciate the extra care he put in to attempt to teach me make-up techniques. So I made sure to get my gratefulness through with saying thank you to everything he showed me. And when we parted, before the elevator closed I called out, “Lao shi! Xie xie ni!” (Teacher! Thank you!) He’s not really labeled as a teacher but in my eyes he is 100% a teacher. So the surprise of being called a “lao shi” by the foreigner brought a smile to his face. Goal of showing my gratitude accomplished! :D

Group picture of all the event’s attendees!

Not wanting to look like a narcissistic but desiring to capture the work done, I fled to the deserted restroom to snap some pictures of the prettiness. Lookie! I have make-up on! That’s something new! :P

After the meeting finished, a group of us headed off to lunch. To my surprise, we went to a restaurant owned by a Rotaract member’s family. There we ate some tasty noodles and drank some tea brought by another member. The cups in the picture are the tea that I’m referring to, which were quite tall and containing a huge volume. Unfortunately once I reached half way through the contents, my stomach started to brew a storm. The tea did not have a friendly time with my insides, which gave me some aching pains. I don’t think my stomach can handle all the herbs in normal Asian tea yet especially when given that much to drink. I’m working on that. ;)

Once the restaurant closed up after their lunchtime slot, we headed off to the owner’s house for some conversation and snacks. The food ranged from dark chocolate, pineapple cake, nuts, dried fruit, pistachios, oriental grapefruit, moon cake, fruit enzyme drink, mango ice cream and more. Yeah, there was a lot! The lady of the house was very generous indeed! Some people spent time playing cards. Just look at that guy’s intense concentration! There was also TV on in the background of several artists’ concerts. My favorite by far was of Andrea Bocelli, which I’m 95% sure I spelt wrong. I’m sorry Mr. Amazing-Italian-Blind-Singer-Of-Gorgeousness! You can actually see him playing the piano in the background. :P

When talking with the lady hosting us there were two things she said that staggered me. One was the suggestion of me working at her restaurant…a poorly Chinese speaking American working at a busy restaurant? SOUNDS FUN! :D Hahaha, oh I wish I could at least give it a shot to experience a bit of the culture but three things prevent me from doings so. (1) The restaurant is too far away from my house (2) I’m already really busy as it is (3) Not too sure if Rotary rules would allow me to work a job while abroad.

The second stunning thing the lady mentioned was how I should get a Taiwanese boyfriend while in Taiwan. Wahahaha-hat?! XD And not just any dude but a tall guy according to her. I had to explain how it’s against Rotary rules for me to date because they want exchange students to spend time with as many people as possible to maximize the culture intake. By dating, our focus would be solely directed towards one individual instead of branching out. Still, the lady stuck to her idea and from what I gathered, she said to date in order for the guy to show me around. But once my exchange ends, she said to just drop the relationship. Pfft, she talks about breaking up as if it was throwing away a piece of plastic. XD It was a funny conversation for sure!

A side adventure of visiting a nearby traditional Chinese temple took place. It actually was my first time to see one up close and in person. The decoration was indeed something to marvel at, my favorite being the dragons bellowing from the rooftop. Bright colors painting every square inch also demanded appreciation for the rich culture living in the temple. I was very glad to have finally seen such an impressive sight.

The night ended with grabbing some dinner at a local restaurant. This picture here shows some of the shared dishes between the five of us that went (Tofu, cabbage soup and meat). Our individual dishes were rice of some sort. I was given “niu rou fan” (beef rice) which was extremely tasty.

I just love this picture too much to not put it in my Taffy! Johnny’s expression here is just priceless! He was the hungriest of our group where Peggy gave him some of her rice to help fill his stomach. To compensate, I shared the rest of my rice with Peggy. Twas a very delicious meal that made me thoroughly stuffed! But it was a great way to end the night. When driven back home, I bid farewell to my Rotaract friends and ventured up to the house. I’m really fortunate to have met the Rotaract members who have taken such good care of me with such kindness. They bring me such joy and comfort when I’m with them. I look forward to the next Rotaract event, whenever or whatever it is! :D

Minutes after I arrived in the house, my host family left for some unknown place. This gave me an hour or two alone. Oh boy did I enjoy it! No that doesn’t mean I did anything bad that I can’t do when they’re in the house. On the contrary, I accomplished many positive things I can’t usually do. First was to help my full and slightly upset stomach. How? With dance of course! By executing this type of exercise, I was able to work off enough food to calm down my bulging stomach. Even though I close my door, I still don’t usually dance when my host family is around because the scuffling of feet and clothing might entice them to open the door to see what was going on, only to find a girl with headphones enthusiastically dancing to music they can’t hear. Thaaaaaaaat would be awkward. XD

The other thing I accomplished was cleaning my room. Emptying my trashcan and dusting the floor clean of dust bunnies and hair has been on my to-do list for a while.  Now I am super content as my room is shipshape and ready to set sail!

I’ll finish this Taffy with a small, personal photo shoot of the last few moments of my makeover. Which I should note was a chore to remove! Not possessing any proper make-up remover, I had to wage war on how to take off the stuff before bed. First I tried wiping it off with a bathroom tissue. Nope. I then armed the tissue with a bit of water to help remove the make-up. That only made a little, but limited progress after a minute or two. Next weapon was using my finger in a toothbrush scrubbing technique. But the enemy still stood their ground and required heavier artillery. Fleeing to my room for a Q-tip, I led a counterattack that nearly wiped the opponent out. I was forced to keep some foe hostages that didn’t stick out too much until I could figure out how to get rid of them. Death by towel was futile. I even tried using a face cleanser to help with the situation but still, a nemesis or two remains. We will combat later and I shall win…mark my words! :P

Am I pretty? ;)

Oh I just had to do this! Here you can both see another snap of the make-up but also the fan I purchased about a month ago. Don’t you just love that bamboo painting?! I know do! :D

Tada! Taffy fin! Andrea out!