Kaoshung - Taipei - Kaoshung - Taipei

It’s 11:16pm and I’m writing this on the Taiwan High Speed Rail Train.  We’re going south to Kaoshung (for the second time today).  It’s 5 hours south of Taipei by bus, but it’s the second time from Taipei - Kaoshung today.  Carrying guitars on the public transport system along with FX, Cds, plugs, and now medication for me is killer.  Thank goodness the guys are looking after me well, carrying stuff.  

I only noticed how weak my arms were at Creationfest.  I was out of breath carrying my guitars around on stage.  They’ll get stronger as long as I exercise.  I’m sure I’ll jump subjects right now and give you a collage of impressions of today in Taiwan.  Either that or leave you thoroughly confused and in a lot of different places at once!  Julianne can make it make sense!  

I’ll take you back to this morning.  We arrived in Kaoshung after 3 and a half hours of travelling to a big youth convention.  We stepped outside the bus at 1:30pm ready to play at 3pm.  However, I heard those fateful Chinese words “shenme shihou kaishi?” (what time do we start) - and the reply “liang dian” (2 O clock).  So we piled inside and found that many dance teams were practising hard.  We got nowhere near the stage until 1:55pm when the host said to me “I’ll keep talking until you’re ready to start”.  Nothing was loaded onto stage or plugged in or anything!  In these moments I don’t think there’s any point in getting stressed out.  We’re a hard working band and we know how to improvise.  Cue loading onto stage (now inhabited by a sweating tech who looked like a rabbit caught between headlights) and plugging in while it seemd like the announcers introduced us and the crowd cheered in response about 10 times!  ha ha ha.  It’s a bit like being in the doctors being told you have diabetes, it feels strangely numb, like it’s happening to someone else.  

Anyway, we eventually got plugged in, no backing track, no sound check, no mic stands, only bass for Niall and a messed up video intro later I looked at Niall and we both realised.  It’s up to us to make something good happen.  We decide to start playing…

I play the first chords and… it goes like a dream.  It’s chaos, it’s hot and in a big church, I don’t know how the crowd scream and jump up and down and dance and shout with that enthusiasm in this heat, but it felt great.  They ran down to the front in the first song and propelled me along from there.  My eyes welled up a bit in Openhanded.  It’s so good to feel like all the hassles and difficulties are worth it.  I think people are genuinely touched and excited as we walk offstage.  My ears hurt from the crowd not from the over-eager foldback engineer, so that’s such a blessing.  I would much rather have that.  Julianne and Hannah are genuinely happy with the show.  THat’s another nice surprise as they’ve seen us so many times before.  I sometimes feel bad that they’ve seen so many shows - we’re putting them through a lot more this month!  

Then another bus ride, almost unbelievably, back to Taipei, for another show.  More high speed rail (I slept all the way which is important).  I was reliably informed that a backstage room with Shaolon Bao - my favourite food is waiting for me.  Another blessing… although I have a bit of a headache by now and am feeling a bit gumpy.  We soundchecked (well we had 5 minutes to check our things worked while the worship team played songs for the meeting) and we were ushered  into th Shaolon Bao room.  Unfortunately a cell group was waiting there and they got kicked out.  No problems they were kind to us.  The church has been praying for me, so that’s really good.  I think that the prayer has given me a confidence to continue.  I’m feeling my way, not trying to be too crazy, but it’s good.  

The last mouthful of dinner is just chewed and swallowed and then the dying chords of the worship echo in my ears.  We walk out and it’s straight into the set.  You just have to be ready for anything on tour.  Again the crowd (this time smaller) but packing out the basement venue were exceptional.  They were older and more ready to listen to the music, and they seemed to connect with us in a real way.  There were emotional moments as we sang Light of Day together - they get the meaning about holding on to hope through difficult times.  I feel like a walking example of that right now.  

It seems like I’ve walked from hospital to plane to stage without much in between.  It’s definitely hard to plan the perfect set when everything happens at such velocity!  I suppose that’s why we’ve put a lifetime’s work in. 

So - then more rushing before the event had finished, back on the metro and now onto the high speed rail and a hotel there tonight.  I’m sure Danny would appreciate this! 

Diagnosis Taiwan

Welcome to Jesse & Julianne on tour in Taiwan...  I thought that we'd write a blog for friends and family - it's a little bit more informal than that Transition podcasts/updates.  

The last couple of days have been crazy.  During June and July I (Jesse) have been on the road, doing concerts, working, demoing new songs, catching up on the cricket when I can (usually on my phone a bit more inconspicuous).   I’ve been gradually having a few more aches and pains than normal.  The most obvious being that I developed an insane thirst.  I gradually slipped into drinking almost a fruit juice carton at a time (1 litre). I also lost 16kg in a short space of time.

Julianne persuaded me to go and see the doctor, i eventually got there on Monday morning.  I thought that I would be there for 5 minutes or so, get some pills and go, but when the doctor looked at me he said you’ve got diabetes and you’re readings are off the scale.  He had a pretty serious face and was expecting me to be quite upset.  It all felt very surreal, like I was hearing him diagnosing someone else.  I wondered what training doctor’s have to tell people they were ill.  One of the immediate thoughts that sprang to mind was our trip to Taiwan.  I told him about leaving to go on tour on Wednesday and asked his advice.  He said “you’re not going anywhere for a week, I’m referring you to hospital now”.  hmmmmmmm…..

So I walked back home, packed my bag, got a couple of books and phoned Julianne.  Thankfully they let her leave work and come and be with me.  I hadn’t banked on spending the week in hospital.  Nor had she.  Once there, I had samples, blood tests, and a massive needle in my arm ready for a drip.  I didn’t realise, but normally blood sugars need to be between 4 - 7 mmol.  Mine were 37.  I’ve now found out that is because I had no inulin.  It’s job is to take the sugar from the blood and into the muscles and tissues.  It’s a bridge.  Similar to the title of our album.  I’m injecting myself with little bridges now, funny the ironies in life!  Anyway there are loads of people with diabetes in the UK and I have a lot more sympathy for them and it makes me more sympathetic for everyone with illnesses.  I suppose I just have to keep reminding myself that everyone is dealing with problems, physical, psychological etc, that we don’t know about and can’t understand. 

Anyway, I was seen by a really nice doctor, Liz, who referred me to a really nice nurse called Lis.  She taught me how to inject insulin and ordered me lots of needles and other medication. (6 weeks worth, which is a lot to travel with) I’m on 4 doses a day and am taking blood sugar readings.  It’s certainly quite a lot to learn and an art to get the right balance of insulin.  Lis helped us weigh up the risks - I felt is was only good to travel if I wasn’t taking a silly risk and I decided to trust her judgment.  I knew if there was a fair chance that I could go to Taiwan, it was important to.  We said we’d decide the next day (Tuesday)…   Then she let me go home! that evening, so there we were thinking I'd be in hospital for a week, but i was o.k to go home. Miracle number 1  Perfect! 

I got a better night’s sleep than I had for ages that night.  On a return to the hospital in the morning, we talked more with Lis ( The diabetes specialist) she seemed pleased that we had managed the injections, and weren't freaking out about it. Then a moment of weight and significance, as she agreed that as I could now inject myself, I could go to Taiwan!( miriacle no 2) provided i took it easy and kept in contact with her.  I was stunned, but really happy.  A big challenge ahead, but it felt like the right one. Throughout the day I had loads of calls from friends and family - so much encouragement.  I was reminded once again of how rich I am to have good relationships.  

Just over 24 hours after the diagnosis I was getting ready for the crazy journey to Taipei. It was certainly more roundabout than I could have anticipated, with flight cancellations (KLM), but for the hassle it ended up being a much smoother journey with a taxi to London, T5 very calm and sophisticated for your average english airport (and thankfully no lost baggage), London to HK (BA), HK to Taipei (CX)... and into a black merc straight to our apartment here.  I appreciated that one.  

Now I’m writing from our apartment in Taipei with the air conditioning buzzing away.  Our good friends  here are taking great care of us as usual.  They found us a great place to base ourselves while we're here.  It's a real blessing to have such an amazing place. The guys let me leave the meeting early this afternoon which is great, because I started feeling faint and dizzy again.  I want to build up some strength and be able to give out quality here in music and friendship.  All the important things... and deal with being a user!  Not a regular rock and roll style thing, but who would want that anyway!  

We are well, being very well taken care of.  We're excited to see what unfolds in the next weeks...