A notable characteristic of taiwanese children is their obedience. I've mentioned before about the study life of the kids here and you would be thinking *insane*. So how is it that they have such an extreme study lifestyle? Via obedience to doing everything they are told, probably because they have no idea of any other lifestyle.
In the picture on the left, the girl was studying at the train station all by herself. On the right, the girl was on the train and still studying, but what i found most interesting about the picture was that the train the girl was travelling on was running on a single-stop line, and the time it takes to go one way is about 1 minute. One day, I was playing at a playground that was typical of australian standards. I was sitting on the springy, wobbly, stubby elephant because i wanted to see if i was heavy enough to topple it. A 2-to-3 yr old kid plods in front of me and smiled when i gestured for him to hop on with me. Out of nowhere, i heard a female voice sound: "Bu ke yi!" (no cannot do that) I turned my head around to see a woman in her 40's and i assumed that she was his mum. By the time i turned my head back, the kid's face was sour. He took a few steps back and said to me: "Mama shuo (mummy say), bu ke yi." Wow. To which i responded to the mum: "ke yi ke yi wei shen me bu ke yi?" (can can, why cannot?) The mum didn't seem to know how to respond, but said: "ok lah, ge ge let you go on, you can go on." Maybe she was acting out of politeness thinking that her child might disrupt my play time, but maybe she just didn't want her child to be touched by strangers. Hard to know. But the point is that the kid was very well educated in obedience. Later on, it began to rain, but i wasn't bothered because all my friends were still having fun at the playground. The little boy appeared within sight and told me: "Xia yu le, gai hui jia le." (It's raining, time to go home) And obviously his mum told him to say that.
The taiwanese expatriate tour was an unforgettable experience. I firstly want to thank my mum for forcing me onto this because if she had not done so, i would still be at home feeling satisfied with myself and sadly not knowing what i'm missing out on. I have gained many valuable lessons in this tour, as well as expanded my thinking capacities. Some of you may think that I'm the type of guy who would attend extra activities, go to far away places, and on this occassion go on the taiwanese expatriate tour just to check out the girls available. Some of you think that i'm that type of guy.
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Well i am. Here's my top four:
Anne, 22 from New Zealand
A bubbly personality and always a pleasure to be with. The way she speaks her mind is phenomenal. You can always tell that her thought process is cluttered and erroneous because she frequently uses the word: "bu dui" (no no no), and also because she speaks her mind.
Amanda, 18 from Brunei
This girl is a combination of cuteness and politeness. Think about how a cute and polite person would bargain at a night market, and you might chuckle to yourself. But now, I don't think she likes me very much after I followed her around for about 2 hours inside the night market while she browsed. I must say that it was an extremely boring and tiring experience, but one that must be endured. And just because she thinks i'm weird doesn't stop her from being in my top four.
Sarah, 25 from New Zealand
Sarah is probably my favourite friend out of the top four because she cares and listens and shares experiences with me. She is serious about relationships and is one who would work hard to achieve her goals. I first met Sarah when i snuck into a New Zealand team meeting in which she, being the NZ captain, immediately identified me as a non new zealander. She didn't punish me because she said that i had a cute smile =]. She does not care what other people think of her, so her actions can be quite extreme in a positive, friendly and likeable way.
Angela, 16 from South Africa
The word to describe this girl is "tian zhen" (naive and innocent). She'll tell you the truth no matter what e.g. that's ugly or i like you. Words alone cannot describe wholely but she is a very comfortable and cute and smily girl to be around.
I know it is very difficult to describe someone to the extent of bringing them alive like they are so vividly in my mind. So please enjoy the pictures. My favourites are not the people i hang around often, they're just people whom i think have unique characteristics, which i smile at.
On tour, i hung around people for 21 days straight, and the only time i had the chance to be by myself was when i found an excuse to escape to the internet cafe. The word 'escape' is used here because some of my friends are overly caring, to the extent of thinking that, when i say: "yes i can walk back by myself thanks", i am being poilte in trying not to waste their time. So they would say: "by yourself no good la, i come with you" and follow me. After spending so much time with people, i began to realise the friends who were true and the friends who use me. For example, the friend mentioned above who never wants me to be alone and lonely truly doesn't know about the way i feel and even hurts me sometimes, but in his world, he is doing his best to make me feel welcome. He is a true friend and i cherish this friendship, nothing more to say. But the friend who likes to hangs around me but runs off to find the girls when the situation is ripe, is no good, especially when he doesn't even invite me to come along. These people can't be trusted because of their thoughtful, yet sly motives. You know that I know that everyone has motives, but it all comes down to whether they're healthy or unhealthy. One day my aunty took me out to an all-you-can-eat barbeque restaurant. The way to order is by filling out sheets of menu, ticking what you want, and then handing it to the waiter. You can do this unlimited times and you do not have to get out of your seat. The only limit is the two hour time limit. At first, it was only the three of us, my aunty, her daughter and I eating at the table but with half an hour to go, my uncle came hurriedly from work to join us. The manager of the restaurant is a close friend of my uncle so he offered to cook the meat for us on the table. And while he cooked, he chatted and laughed and cooked and chatted, until suddenly, he overtly snatched away our bill as a gesture to pay for our meal. Of course you could imagine the outcome of such an action. My uncle and aunty were very angry and were rousing him in an unfriendly manner, while the manager just screwed up his face and walked away silently shaking his head. After seeing this, i thought that uncle was very fortunate to have such a good manager friend. He was offering to pay for $1,600 worth of food. But wait, there has to be more to this. The breakdown of the scenario is as follows: three people have been eating for one and a half hours and a man comes to join them for the last half hour. The man has already ordered some vegetables and meat and the manager is about to cook for the customer personally. The manager observes that to the right of the uncle is an eating machine, which has not stopped eating furiously ever since the countdown of the two hour limit, and also notes that the uncle is no ordinary eater either. By taking away the bill, he achieves three goals. 1) He blocks off all further food supply from coming onto the table because he has already calculated our actions according to our character; we would not dare order anymore food since he was paying for it all. 2) He makes us feel guilty if we do not come again as he tells us to. 3) He builds further relationship with customer for future benefits. He seemed like a nice guy, but actually all he wanted to do was to stop me from eating. With such deep motive, he has surely gained in the medium to long run, and it is no wonder that he can become the manager of such a restaurant.
Before the first day of the taiwan tour, my stomach was not feeling so well and i remembered that i used the toilet at the train station which is the meeting place for bus pick-ups. For the entirity of the tour i had not one sickness, but once the tour ended, when we were dropped off at the train station to go home, i felt my stomach at it again. This sickness is some virus which is circulating rapidly around taiwan at this very moment. The victim of this virus cannot digest food, as whatever goes in comes out very quickly, so it is not very comfortable. One night, I went out for dinner to another all-you-can-eat barebeque restaurant. All night i was just sitting there watching my friends gobble down fat juicy pieces of meat because i knew that if i ate, i would not be able to recover. It was a sympathy-drawing experience. That saturday night, when i returned home, uncle had already organized an actioned packed sunday morning. How good of him to do so, i thought. But then i remembered that i should attend church, because it is sunday morning. How should i tell him, i thought, after all his careful planning, would i break his heart? I didn't want to feel like i was dictating what i wanted to do instead of taking his recommendations, especially when he, being my mum's little brother, was sure to be scolded if he did not take me around the place to visit attractions. I firmly made my decision and i took a step towards my uncle's room room. It's all about that first step isn't it? In all things, even if it is literal. Once that step is taken, to retract would simply seem foolish, so in other words, there is no return. The church i went to has three services on sunday, with each service quadripling a packed ICC sunday morning. The service began with praise and worship, a female lead plus seven back-ups. The band was not on the stage. I enjoy attending different churches because i believe that every church has its strengths we can learn from. Before the sermon began, a pastor stepped up and asked those who had stomach or intestinal problems to stand to their feet. I was touched by those words, and i stood to my feet. The pastor's word for me as well as some others was to not worry and look to God, then he prayed for the healing of our bodies. When i sat down, i wasn't expecting to be healed but instead was expecting a time of endurance because of the precise words "do not worry" that the pastor gave. I did however feel an overwhelming peace over me as well as irrational joy. I was happy that I had fallen sick to that virus; it suddenly all became worthwhile.
I ask God each morning to show me something new and give me something interesting to write in this diary. I also ask God for new strengths to take a few more steps forward, especially in reaching out to my relatives, which has so far been interesting. I look forward to the next few days here in taiwan because i know that where God is, interesting things happen. Our God is with us.
Actually, that sunday morning i was healed instantly. God even proved it to me, logically and, personally.
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