Chilling in Taiwan

OK. I'm an atrocious person. I went three weeks without blogging once. In my defense, my brain was too liquefied to even begin a valid thought process to blog about. Two dozen howling children tend to do that to you. Also, I got a four on my AP Lit test, so I don't even know if I'm worthy to blog anymore. D: FOUR. HOLY SHIT. Not that I'm devastated about it or anything.

I don't know why, but I've really got nothing to say about the past three weeks. It was tiring. It was fun. It was heartbreaking. My emotions are still too tied up with it to really start processing all that's happened. Or all that hasn't happened.

Right now, I'm curled up in a shady corner of Starbucks, awkwardly insinuated beside a PDAing couple. I kind of stole the sofa next to them because it was the only available spot with an open outlet. It's raining like shit out there. I could take a shower in this downpour. My days have fallen into a pattern.

1.) Woken up in the morning by Grandmother - My sister gets up every morning at 6:30 to go to work. At precisely 8, my mother will knock on the door and ask if I'd like to wake up. This will reoccur like clockwork every thirty minutes until 9:30, when my grandmother will simply command me to wake up. Actually, 9:30 was the record for the latest she's ever allowed me to sleep. This morning it was 9:13. The other day, she told me to wake up "around 8" to go somewhere at "around 9". I optimistically set my alarm for 8:30. I should have known better. At 8:03 AM (I checked), I heard the dreaded knocking at my door. (sigh) We didn't even leave until 9:50.

2.) Eat Breakfast - Breakfast nowadays consists of exactly one third of a mango and one cow tongue cracker. I eagerly await the day we run out of mangoes...or cow tongue crackers. Amy will eat one-third before leaving for work. I arrive at the breakfast table three hours later and am presented with the option of the other end or the heart of the mango. Other times, I am not offered an option at all and am simply handed the other end of the mango. My grandmother, though not overly possessed of patience, is nothing if not a woman of consistency.

3.) Use the Internet - Praise Jesus for internet and half-divorced uncles. My uncle is in the midst of filing for divorce, and as a result, is more than usually nice to my sister and me. This kindness has manifested itself in the form of a loaner cell phone for me and a 3G internet source for Amy. I can now surf the internet while careening down the MRT tracks at over 50 km an hour. Again. Praise the Lord.

4.) Go Out - Occasionally, I meet up with the Changs. Other days, I just hop on the Red 38 bus and cruise down to the Danshui MRT station. There, I can decide whether to wander around local attractions and stores or take the MRT to the busier areas of Taipei. I've already spent over 500 NT on traveling alone. For shame. If I don't feel like shopping, I just plop down in a Starbucks or McDonald's and surf the internet. What I really need is a pair of earphones so I can catch up on True Blood and White Collar...

5.) Eat Dinner with Sister - After work, Amy and I choose a place to meet up and we take the MRT down to our dinner place. Occasionally, we feel guilty for neglecting the grandparents and return home for dinner. Most other times, we either meet up with Tammy (Amy's law school friend), or party just the two of us. :D Amy has a list of food places she is eager to try. I am more than happy to oblige.

Amy and I often return home around 10PM. Sometimes, if we're out with friends or nightmarketing, we can stay out until around 12 AM. I love returning home late. It's always a gamble to see if we can catch the last bus. I feel bad for the grandparents. They spend the entire day at home, either chilling downstairs with the security guards or upstairs watching old men and women like themselves sing their hearts out karoake-style on TV. What a life.

I'm not as happy as I should be, considering the liberty I've been given. My mind works itself over pointless things. I'm praying that God will help me to work through the issues that have been plaguing me lately.

Taiwan Blog: 07/03

Today was the last day of boot camp/training. That's the last time I'll ever have to stay up until 11:30 PM waiting for the shower. Ha. Not. Three more weeks to go. (sigh)

We escaped from training at 6:30PM and rushed home to change into shorts. We were forced to wear our jeans and ADVENT t-shirts today for the group picture. Despite the early release, Pastor Chang managed to kill it for us all when he gleefully informed us that we would need to be ready to leave the house at 7 AM. Bloody Hell. That means we have to wake up at 6 AM and be at the church, with some semblance of consciousness , at 8AM. Happy Sunday to you. On the bright side, we may also be taking a mini-tour of the city. The bright side may dim considerably if we have to take this journey in our jeans. I was appalled when I took off my jeans and found patches of sweat all over my derriere. Keep in mind, this was around 8:30 at night. I was SWEATING at 8:30 at NIGHT. Taiwan is clearly not a place fit for human inhabitance.

Ok. Update. Daniel, who obviously has never taken the quote "Ill news is an ill guest." to heart, has just informed us that we must wear jeans to church. With a smile on his face. He's just not human.

Despite these "minor" annoyances, we managed to have some fun today. During training, we played a series of pranks. With the help of at least 8 people, we managed to keep Daniel running around the pews to answer our "questions".

"Daniel! Daniel! Wait...never mind."

"Daniel! Daniel! Wait...I found it."

"Daniel! Daniel! Heh. Nothing."

It would have worked out a lot better if people with real questions hadn't continually butted in. heh.

Then, Eric and I sent what we thought were anonymous texts to Daniel.

"I believe in miracles since you came along, you sexy thing."

Turns out, Eric forgot that he had already given Daniel his number. Awkward winking ensued.

As a special Saturday treat, the church people dropped us off at the night market and let us roam free for an hour. I was bitterly disappointed. The papaya milk I purchased tasted like the vendor had forgotten to add sugar (or high fructose corn syrup, as it were) and I was left chewing the chunks of papaya that had settled on the bottom of my cup. Undeterred, I later bought an order of O A Jian which is a traditional Taiwanese night market food that resembles an oyster pancake. Again, major disappointment. The sauce tasted like nothing. The cake itself was burnt. I couldn't be sure if the bitter taste at the back of my mouth was a consequence of the papaya milk and burnt oyster pancake, or if it was the taste of disillusionment and the death of Taiwanese night markets as I knew them. If I could, I would write a dramatic musical about this titled "A Taiwanese Tragedy: Part One". For shame.

Well, tomorrow seems promising. I'm finally starting to get to know the other team members. Let's just say, Canadians are not as retarded as we portray them. Out of 10 or so Canadian team members, only two have been heard to say "Eh?". Also, they don't drink maple syrup and ride moose to school. I am still waiting for one of them to say "oot and aboot". heh.

Sorry if the grammar and spelling is atrocious. I'm trying to summarize my harrowing experiences in less than 15 minutes on an unstable internet connection. So (KIMBERLY), let it go.

Still depending on your prayers! :D Night!

Taiwan Blog: 06/30 and 07/02

06/30/10

Arrived in Zhanghua less than an hour ago and we’ve already made our first 7-11 trip. Two bottles of green tea for only a dollar. Life is good in Taiwan. After sitting on it for twelve hours straight on the plane and three hours on the bus, I’m positive my ass will never be the same again. Permanent nerve damage, flattening, all that good stuff. On the bright side, today promises to be a chill day. We left America at 2 AM and arrived at 6AM Taiwan time. That means after tossing and turning on the airplane, I arrived in Taiwan with a full day’s worth of work ahead of me. Oh, joy.

Eileen and Genson Hsieh are undoubtedly the best hosts we’ve ever had in Taiwan. They open up their house to over twenty kids, feed us, nurse us when we’re sick, and prophecy over us in preparation for the Big Day. Professor Hsieh even came to my baptism. I can’t deny that the Hsiehs and the work they’ve done so generously in Taiwan have played an integral part in my decision to become baptized.

So far, I’m loving all the people I’ve met. Some are church people that I’ve seen before but have never become formally acquainted with. Through the past several hours of camaraderie, I’m positive this year will be no different from the previous years in terms of the formation of close relationships.

Right now I’m typing this blog on Microsoft Word. There is wifi available here but I’m reluctant to allow the opportunity for dilution of this mission’s objective. I see missions as an opportunity to escape from the materialistic/technology-controlled environment I ensconce myself in back in America. I brought my laptop in order to register for classes on July 1^st. I know if I start using the internet to check Facebook, AIM my friends, blog, I’ll only be encouraging all the other volunteer teachers here to do the same. Live by example, Abby Wang!

Anyways, right now everyone is either sleeping or hanging out. I think I better dive right in there, lest the cliques start forming without me! I’ll continue to blog like this in blocks at a time and upload them when I have the chance. Sorry about the lack of a video blog, Kimberly Young and Jimmy Ly!

07/02/10

Wow. I’m really bad at this no internet thing. Still, I have, as of yet, not succumbed to the call of Facebook. Yeehaw! The past couple days of training have been agonizing. We leave the house at 8:30 in the morning and we don’t come back until 8:30 at night. That’s twice as many hours as I spend at school. Insanity. I’ve been in a zombie-like trance since this morning. Even the Taiwanese version of Red Bull (Savage Bull) hasn’t been able to lend a crutch to the burden of this brain-numbing fatigue. Perhaps it’s the overwhelming number of people here. (Around 90) It’s really hard to get to know everyone and socialize as a group because everyone arrived nicely pre-packaged into a clique. It’s human nature to not stray too far from what we’re comfortable with. I haven’t completely given in to Andrew’s philosophy about always being disappointed the second (or third) time around. I’m hoping my current state of emo-ness is just a passing symptom of jet lag. I remind myself often that the purpose of this mission trip is not to have fun with friends, but to fight the good fight on the battlefields of Taiwan. We here are all soldiers in Christ. We have been brought together by a similar cause, and I can only pray that unity will come with time.

PS: Today our air conditioning broke and I just about had a hernia. Luckily, we have the best hosts in the world who immediately called a mechanic. That's right. At 11 at night, a mechanic came to the house to fix our AC. I love Taiwan. I am now basking in the cool breeze of a fully functional AC unit. Thank Jesus.