On the Road Again

I have just been kicked out of the hotel with my fellow American teachers and taken to BeiTou, the town where our teacher orientation begins in three days. Our day started out with a quiet church service and leisurely walk back through town. We were anticipating a relaxing weekend lounging around Taipei before having to travel again (we have been in five different towns already in the two weeks that I have been here). But alas!....there was a mix-up with the transportation details, and as soon as we got back to the hotel, we received a call from Robert - our agent (you might say :) - telling us that we had to pack out bags and check out...right now!! because we were moving again. We scrambled around and were able to get our combined 700 pounds of luggage down to the lobby in what must have been record time. We had a two hour wait before our ride could come...so we sat amidst the clutter of our suitcases, staring at the front desk receptionists (probably with a strained, disbelieving look on our faces). We are now at our next to last town (next stop: Ping Tung!!) and we are waiting for the rest of the teachers to arrive in two days.

We had another camp since the end of last week, but I can't skip anything, so we're going back to last Saturday (the last day of our Shinchu camp).

The highlight of that camp for me was probably this journal entry from one of my sweet students....it is purely vanity that causes me to post this (and a little bit of humour)...I must tell you that grammar and punctuation were accurately preserved... ---
"Today, weather is sunny and my moody was so bad! Because Sunday, I was go home! And I can’t see the Hannah everyday! And I can’t see my friends too! I was so sad too so – Hannah – see you!! I like you Hannah – Good night" – -Angel
--That was written on the last day of camp when everyone said goodbye… she was such a sweetheart!

Taxi ride: So that night was free time for everyone. Our students were gone, and we wanted to find someplace to unwind. We decided to go downtown, and find the pizza place, then walk around the night market. Our taxi arrived and as the driver got out, our first impression of him was rather…distasteful. He seemed rather a sullen sort, and the cigarette hanging out of his mouth was what really did him in. We piled into the cab, and Megan –our camp leader- told him where to take us. As soon as we got out of the parking lot, our opinion of him radically changed as he turned up the radio to full blast and started belting out the Chinese lyrics to the song. We started cracking up!! All of the sudden he reached over and put Joanna’s hand on the steering wheel. Our eyes got huge, and we all couldn’t believe it…Joanna was the only one keeping us from a head on collision with the oncoming lane of traffic. She was also the only one keeping the moped drivers in our lane on the side of us (in our lane) from a rather gruesome fate. We stared in disbelief as the driver began bouncing around the driver's seat to the music. He was practically falling out of the taxi – he was dancing so hard!! Finally, Joanna was laughing so much, she couldn’t take the pressure of keeping us alive anymore… she handed the wheel back to him, and we arrived safely at our destination. We probably won’t see that taxi driver again, but we will definitely remember how memorable he made our first night out in Taiwan.

Sunday afternoon we made our way to Taipei. Our hotel was fabulous and the first morning, Sally - who happened to be staying there too - found our room and we made plans to go out that evening. It was so good to be able to see her again after saying goodbye back at the camp. She took us to an underground market and then we had dinner in one of the huge mall towers. She made me feel so welcome even though I couldn't speak her own language, or relate to her culture at all. I see these people demonstrate such a hospitality and selflessness for which Christians seem to struggle. But to Sally and everyone I meet over here...to them it is simply their way of life. I found such an interesting pair of verses for this post that reminded me of Sally coming and finding us... Paul is speaking of Onesiphorus in 1 Timothy 1:17-18 "But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well."