06/05/11: 21:35, Location: My Room, Hualien, Taiwan

My first real taste of the weekend in the life of a MCH worker/volunteer. On Saturday, I woke up at 6:30 AM to go to work at 7:30. As a reward from the weekend to me, a generous extra thirty minutes of sleep. Sadly, I didn't do much work. I got called in to do devos (QTs) with another pastor and a new social worker. I was afraid that they would have me pray in Chinese, but whew, God is kind and merciful. haha. Coincidentally, we studied Philippians 4:6-7, which I've posted in this blog before but allow me to beat the dying cow (or however the expression goes):

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

(Be proud, Kenny. I MEMORIZED the heck out of that.)

It's a verse that I've encountered in my personal QTs and in Discipleship class and often turned to when I'm feeling...well..anxious. I felt like this time, God was giving me a chance to share what I've learned from my own experiences with the pastor and the social worker (Ya Wen), who have been having some work/life drama. It was also a reminder that it's time to get on my QTs, something I've been painfully remiss in doing this past week. Also, I got a chance to practice praying without planning things out beforehand, to really let the Holy Spirit intercede and God speak through/to me. Anyways, still working on that.

Work on Saturdays is only a half-day. Most people don't have to work (the Dentist had the day off), but Pastor Chao is on-call 24/7. Needless to say, there really isn't a day she gets off. Since ever. It was a slow day at the nurses' station in the Surgery Ward so they let me go back to the office early. Then, I spent two hours reading Shortpacked comics. Freaking Jimmy.

The Dentist and her family went to Taipei for a wedding this Saturday so I spent the night at Pastor Chao's house. They live almost right across the street from each other. Melody's friend also slept over and I was forced to stay awake until 12:30 AM entertaining the children. It was UNO, concentration, heart attack, 99, Pai 7 (Line Up Sevens), Jian Hong Dian (Pick Up Red Points), Rubik's cube, and puzzle snake, non-stop. However, I think that God's really teaching me to love kids. When I first met Melody's friends (an older brother and a little sister), I thought they were in serious need of a beating. Though I still strongly believe in this, I can see their more endearing side now too. Now, every time I see a little kid on the street, I feel like picking him up, running away, and bringing him home. I now know where Daniel picked up those urges. GAH.

Part of Pastor Chao's job is to take younger female staff members out just to see how they're doing. Most of the people she meets with are single or don't have children. We spent Saturday afternoon with Ya Wen, the social worker I had QTs with. She has only worked at the hospital for a month and was a licensed nurse before she decided to take up social work. She is freaking hilarious. I swear she is the most American Taiwanese person I know. She dresses up everyday, always in heels/flats and in full makeup. She speaks her mind straight up, always shows up breathless to work because she overslept, and loves loves loves to eat. One of my first lengthy conversations with her started like this:

"You know how we're both fat? In America, do people put you down for that? I mean, I dress nicely because I have good taste. Do people in America tell you that you shouldn't get dressed up if you're fat? I think that's ridiculous."

Thus, I knew I liked her from the very beginning.

We played Rummy and Uno. Everything we played, she's like "Wow. This is pretty fun!" and her laugh cracked me up. We had the afternoon special at Tiramisu, where you get four slices of cake and a drink for 99 NT (about $4). I took pictures on my phone, but I don't know how to get them on my computer. Le Sigh. We also hit up the local market. In Taiwan, the real markets are on the street. Old people crouch on the floor with all their produce laid out on tarps. I was a little disappointed in the ware there. Nothing too surprising/special. The eggplants were huge though. Long! Deep Purple! A little bendy! Just the way I like it. The seafood was really fresh, but seeing as Hualien is located right by the ocean, that's a given. I don't know if I've mentioned that on the motorcycle ride back from work, I just turn my head to the left and experience the unnerving sensation of knowing you're moving but seeing the unending expanse of the ocean never change. The gray clouds that nestle in the crevasses of the towering mountains in the background just completes the picture. I'll definitely try to get some more pictures before I leave. I hope I never get tired of that view. I'm seriously considering having my parents move here just so I can visit.

Sunday was more relaxed. We got to wake up at the decadently late hour of 8 AM. Had breakfast at a local Chinese place (I had a bacon sandwich. And let me tell you, Taiwan bacon isn't crispy...it's FAT.) Went to church with Pastor Chao. Because the Dentist is out of town, Pastor Chao helped watch the kid's section in the basement. Oh My Gosh. I had forgotten how crazy Taiwanese children are. Kinda makes me dread the three weeks of ADVENT that are coming up soon. They were throwing balls, literally banging cymbals together, rolling on the floor, drooling...I really felt sorry for the (other) Pastor's wife who was trying to tell them the story of Joshua's anointing to take Israel to the Promised Land. After church, Pastor Chao's father drove us to the noodle restaurant that we visited the first time ADVENT came to Hualien (and the one that turned us away the second year because we had too many people). I was having massive cramps, so I settled on some soup with wan zi (fish paste balls). The soup comes with ball. That's right. ONE. SINGULAR. BALL. It wasn't even abnormally large. However, I had already gorged myself on Cong You Bing (onion pancake), dou gan (bean curd), seaweed, and rou juan (meat...roll. Basically, beef wrapped in Cong You Bean with a cucumber/sauce inside). Now is probably the time to mention that I had forgotten my memory card in my computer at the Dentist's house. No pictures for you guys, sorry. ):

I got a chance to treat Pastor Chao and Melody to Qin Xin, a popular pearl tea place. (SUCK IT DAD.) [Oh, back story to parenthesis, there is a huge DHEP (some preservative) contamination in Taiwan and apparently some guy has been poisoning the Asian population with a carcinogen for the past ten years. We've been warned to stay away from street drinks, bottled sport drinks, etc. etc. It's really serious. But I came for pearl tea. I will get pearl tea. And Jesus.] I got coconut pearl tea (little chewy jellies instead of pearls), Melody got green tea yogurt drink, and Pastor Chao got a green bean green tea drink. She turns to me after the first sip:

"This stuff is disgusting."

"O.O THEN WHY DID YOU GET IT? YOU WANT SOMETHING ELSE??"

"No. This is the second time I've had it. It's really good for you."

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?"

She hates super oily/salty things. She hates super sweet things, especially tiramisu. AND she hates ice-cold things. I should really dislike her, but I LOVE HER. Such is the power of Jesus.

I spent most of today and yesterday playing card games with Melody. She taught me how to make a ball out of a puzzle snake, something I've wanted to do since elementary school when Deanna would flaunt the ones her mom would buy her from Lucky Seven. Not still bitter about that at all. Today allowed us a glimpse into what the weather is going to be like in July. Super sunny and hot. We were going to watch the dragon boat races to celebrate Duan Wu Jie, but instead, we stayed in playing games. After the sun started to descend behind the mountains, we went to Qi Xin Tan, a rock beach. It was about a twenty minute drive and the view was absolutely gorgeous. When we got there, chose a shady spot, and started snacking on a Da Chang Bao Xiao Chang (Big Sausage Around Little Sausage, a Taiwanese street food with a glutinous rice sausage wrapped around a Chinese sausage), I really regretted not having my camera. ):

The kids spent the time throwing rocks into the water. Hualien beaches don't have sand that slowly merges with the water. Instead, there's a roughly one foot drop between where the rock ends and the ocean starts. Because there's no sand, the water is clear blue. The natives know better than to get too close to the surf. However, two mainland China tourists (A la something. They tried to teach me how to say it in Taiwanese) jumped right into the water to take pictures. The waves almost swept them away but a young man standing on the beach leapt in and pulled them out. One old lady lost her slippers, another lost her camera. The Taiwanese scowled at them. The extent of Taiwan disdain for the mainland Chinese is boundless. When the DiDi (little brother) was washing his feet, he complained that the mainland Chinese tourists just stuck her feet into the faucet he was using before he had finished. Apparently in Taiwan, mainland Chinese is synonymous with rude. But coming from the people who are as tactless as an old KKK member with Tourettes, it really doesn't mean much. As Chumin would say, JUDGE JUDGE JUDGE.

Just got back from playing badminton with Pastor Chao's family and friends. Her little brother is something like a real badminton player. He rents out the upper floor of the badminton center on Sunday nights and runs drills on the family. It's super legit. There's a total of four courts on the floor. All the windows are closed and the fans are off. He runs an hour and a half of drills with no breaks. We take turns clearing, driving, and smashing. Wooh. I had so much fun. I can finally clear/smash!! YES. The sensation in my forearm and calves are just a small price to pay. I sweat so much that when I sat down, I left a wet mark in the shape of my butt on the bench. Complete with buttcrack. I really wanted to take a picture.

Ok, I've been less fiscally responsible this weekend. I splurged at FamilyMart (kinda like 7/11) at bought myself a set of tweezers and some hair ties. I figured I'd need tweezers at college anyways, and I forgot my hair ties in America. I also made the disconcerting discovery that my Colbert WristStrong band is no longer on my arm. Hopefully, I left it at home. Also, bought a total of four drinks from Qin Xin (only two for myself) and a bottle of lemonade. Most of my expenditures stem from my deep sense of guilt for letting Pastor Chao take me out. I try to treat her and Melody out to snacks and desserts whenever I get the opportunity. I tell myself I'll just starve during ADVENT. haha. We'll see. OH. I bought a Rubik's cube at the hospital's 7/11 for 99NT. I talked myself into it by saying I'll give it to one of the kid's when I leave. We'll see about that. kukuku. :D

Anyways, gotta go brush my teeth. Back in the Dentist's house and things are great! No work tomorrow for Duan Wu Jie! We'll see wassup!