A Visit to Beautiful Bi-tan (碧潭) in Xindian (新店)

Today is 2/28, a national holiday in Taiwan. I won't explain it in detail in today's entry, but it's in honor of the thousands of people who were killed by the government under martial law in Taiwan before it became a democracy. If you're interested you can read more here.

Since it's a holiday, the Taiwanese family I'm working with decided to go on a picnic to Bi-tan ("The Jade-green Pool"), a famous beauty spot in Xindian. At least famous enough that it's in all my Chinese software dictionaries and comes up as a suggestion when I begin to type it on both my computer and my phone, which seems reasonably famous to me...

I had never been before, and accepted their invitation to join them. And I'm glad I did! Now I know a relaxing spot for a day trip on the very south end of the Taipei Metro, like Danshui is at the north end.

Both Danshui and Bitan are more or less riverside walks, but Bitan is relaxing and the focus is on nature, while Danshui is more lively and has lots of food, although Bitan has a little food and Danshui has some scenery, so both places are great. Choose depending on what you're feeling more like that day. 

You get to Bitan from the Xindian (end of the line) station of the MRT, basically come out of the station and it's pretty obvious which direction to go. There are buses that go there as well, and you can rent a city bike in the vicinity with your transit card.

I took lots of pics, here are a few from throughout the day...

"Bi-Qiao," the Bi-tan bridge. (Characters read right to left, the old way)

Crossing the bridge. As a foot/suspension bridge, it moves around like the deck of a ship.

There was an event going on since it's a holiday, but I don't think it had anything to do with the holiday itself.
(My friends said it was a government-sponsored organization that did anti-drug events or something to that effect)

Looking north. Paddle boats are the thing to do here, it would seem.

The spot's name comes from the deep green color of the water here. It's apparently also nicknamed "Little Red Cliff" because it looks a little like a famous spot in China. (If you've seen the Battle of Red Cliff, it's that place)

Knife massage, anyone?

Some of our picnic snacks.

The sun was going in and out of the clouds.

A peaceful day. Except the event over there was blaring loud music.

I like this one.

"People hill, people river." (A little less than "人山人海")

Restaurants along the river front.

A white egret (center left) flies over the emerald water.

A little colony of white egrets.

Lots of people were out walking, bicycling, etc.

Sun comes out, and an eagle soars overhead.

For a small fee, a boatman will take you across. I'll check it out next time.

On a street full of old businesses. This shop has been operating for 100 years.
It's a noodle turtle! I am informed these are getting rare.

A snack-turtle designed to be offered in a temple. The character on the turtles' backs represents longevity.

There's a mini-night market here as well.

Find more than a dozen people in one place on the street in Taiwan, and there will be people selling food there.

Heading back to our bus stop.

It was a peaceful place, and we only saw part of it. There are also hiking trails up into the mountains. I'll definitely be coming back here, hopefully I can get a real camera and get some better shots of the eagles and white egrets too...

Unexpected Stories from the Field: When God Sees Your Struggles and Sends a Rock Concert

There are moments in the cultural adaptation process when it seems that things are hopeless. When you feel like you're never going to figure out how things work, or you simply don't have enough motivation to keep putting energy into trying. When the problem is not any particular difficulty or obstacle, it's that you're in a situation where the normal things you'd do to encourage yourself and push past difficult days and situations aren't possible, so your usual methods of overcoming are missing in action, and you're not sure what to replace them with.
And all that seems terribly unfair somehow when it was your desire to serve God that got you into this mess to begin with. Shouldn't His silences (if necessary) and blessings (yes please) line up properly with the peaks and valleys in our lives as we perceive them?


Then there are those moments which carry you forward, which keep encouraging you even when remembering them later, when sharing them with others. When God does things in your particular context that let you know He's there and He hasn't abandoned you.

A little over 6 years ago, last time I lived in Taiwan, after being there for a couple of months I was struggling inside. It was winter, and I was working through culture shock, had only had 4 weeks of Chinese lessons, was experiencing something like SADS from the endless cold rain in Taipei, and was not yet equipped to handle some of the psychological stress of the transition.

One evening, really struggling with my discouraged frame of mind, feeling beaten down and starting to have second thoughts about this whole year-in-Taiwan idea, I was walking down a street near Shi Da University, and on a whim stopped by a restaurant that had a picture menu up in the window which showed some tasty-looking meat. (picture menus are very nice when you don't know enough Chinese to order yet)
I hadn't randomly visited a restaurant on this street before, and in an incredible "coincidence" considering the number of restaurants in the area and the fact that she lived on the other side of Taipei, my Chinese teacher (who was only a year older than me) was also eating in that restaurant with some of her other students. Imagine you live in Manhattan and your friend lives in the Bronx and you randomly find yourselves at the same Subway in Queens. The odds of this happening are too low to bother trying to calculate them. God arranges meetings.

Anyway, fast forward through some other unlikely events, and a few hours later, I find myself running up concrete stairs, led by my Chinese teacher. She speaks to a guard who surprisingly gives permission for us to crouch down and slide under a slightly raised metal door. Suddenly I am assaulted by a stadium-full of light and rock music and roaring fans. I am in a Linkin Park concert in the Taipei Soccer Stadium, for free. As I am adjusting to the sudden explosion of stimuli, a drink is placed in my hand; "this is for you!"

Thanks to whoever took this pic of that concert, I didn't have a camera with me
(And our cellphone cameras were not very impressive in 2007)

It was a very good night. If you think God wouldn't arrange a very unlikely chain of coincidences that ended with one of His children attending a free rock concert to encourage them, you simply don't know Him well enough, or how much He loves you as an actual person (not a hypothetical "saint" who supposedly manages to be the holier version of a living sacrifice that only understands the sacrifice part), and wants you to grow closer to Him from wherever you are. I felt His abounding love that night nearly as strongly as I ever have.

I considered it an unexpected gift from Him, and was deeply grateful and not a little encouraged. I had not really been taught that God gave us these kinds of gifts, ones that were personally meaningful and not just spiritually significant. This was something I really enjoyed, not another lesson or obligation (you may detect legalism in my upbringing, you would be correct), did God give this kind of blessing too? Apparently so, if it wasn't somehow heretical to believe that God would arrange unlikely circumstances just so I could have a fun experience because He was happy to let me have it.
I was very excited.
"Ok Satan, my God saw you exploiting my struggling with your attacks of discouragement and countered with... a free Linkin Park concert. You just got totally outclassed."

In the days that followed I jumped into life in Taiwan and my wheels found some traction. I'm not saying I never struggled again, far from it, but it was different after that night. I just needed that little push from God at that critical moment, to remind me that He loved me personally, and was there, and would intervene when necessary, in unexpected ways.

Adventures in Taiwanese Food - Part 1

There's a humorous old missionary saying: "Where you lead me I will follow... what you feed me I will swallow." Even as a young child I enjoyed hearing the comical stories missionaries would share of the very unusual things they had been forced to eat and pretend to enjoy.

Fast forward a few years, and I am now on the mission field myself, encountering all the interesting food Taiwan has to offer. And... it's pretty amazing. No roasted tarantulas, fermented horse milk, or rotten fish here, but I've had pig spinal cord, bird's nest soup, and stinky tofu, and enjoyed it all. Either God has graciously changed my taste buds or I was born with a Chinese stomach, but I've encountered very few things I honestly don't like here, and lots of food I really enjoy. Much ministry and relationship-building here happens over a good meal and afterwards, much like what we read in the New Testament.

First, some words about the food situation in Taiwan:

1. It's Cheap - American dine-in chain restaurants here (T.G.I Friday's is fairly popular, for example) are typically about the same price they'd be in America, just translated over into Taiwan dollars. That makes them comparatively pricey, so I basically only eat at that kind of restaurant when specifically invited to eat there by friends, which happens maybe once a month. 
But for local food, although there's been significant inflation in recent years, it's still roughly half to two-thirds the price you'd pay for a similar portion and "level" of food in the States (where there's also been inflation). So for $5 you can eat an enjoyable meal, and if you just want to get full you can do it for $3.

This is nice because I'm aware that I'm currently living on the support of other believers, and I believe that a lot of responsibility goes along with that in how I spend money, including where I eat. Happily, I also get treated to meals a lot. (-A Taiwanese courtesy to guests, which it's also polite to attempt to avoid if it happens too much, although people are sneaky and will say they're going to use the bathroom or take a phone call and pay while they're gone. I'm getting better at treating people myself occasionally, or getting around them paying for me one way or another.)


2. It's Healthy(er) - Although you can easily find sugary, salty, processed snacks if you want, for a random meal in Taiwan you probably can tell what everything was before it was cooked; processed foods make up a much smaller part of the diet. There is less sugar in baked desserts, vegetables are actually tasty and not an obligation, lots of fresh fruit and fruit juice available, and generally the calorie density is much lower than in American food, which means many people can eat the same amount of food they'd normally eat, and still lose weight, especially if you go heavy on the meat and vegetables and light on the rice.

3. It's Delicious - Taiwan culture is, among other things, a food culture. This means that the preparation, consumption, and enjoyment of food is a significant consideration in daily life. (Some people may perceive this as gluttony. Certainly gluttony exists here, as anywhere, but I think one needs to understand what gluttony looks like within a specific cultural context rather than making assumptions based on your own cultural habits.) Because of this food culture, food is held to a higher standard in general, with a dizzying variety of options and flavors and combinations. Traditionally, presentation, fragrance, and taste are all necessary in a well-prepared Chinese dish.

And now, here's a very random selection of food I've been enjoying for the past two months. (Over half my meals are eaten with my coworker's family, as I'm spending the first few months here in an add-on rooftop apartment they own right above their apartment)
So, in no particular order:

At my coworker's place, Chinese curry and sides

At the 101 Building Food Court. Hainan Chicken & Rice (A personal favorite)

Christmas Day - Treated to a nice dinner by a friend's father, a new believer.
Papaya spears topped with sort of a French seafood bisque. This would be an example of Taiwan "fusion food"

Coffee deserves a mention in here somewhere. Although not originally a "coffee culture,"
Taiwan is now full of interesting cafes. This is at my friend's cafe near Keelung.

Sababa's. Really good Israeli/Mediterranean food, but it's gotten more expensive
since I last lived in Taipei, so I won't be going there often now.

One of our VBS lunches. Should have opened the containers for this pic, it's fried dumplings and fish ball soup.

A very simple vegetable lunch on Chinese New Year's Eve, because...

...this was coming later. Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, a really great meal
cooked by my coworker's wife, daughter, and some friends.

More obligatory Chinese New Year's feasting with my coworker's family. That's 'Peking' (Beijing) Duck on the left.

Squid on a stick! So good...

Streetside Soup Dumplings (Xiao long bao), with ginger garnish.

A winter evening's snack - peanuts and oranges. Taiwanese in-home meals are often followed by fruit and snacks.

Black-boned Chicken. As you can see, pretty much the whole chicken is black.
Tastes pretty much like normal chicken, but it's thought to be extra-healthy
and served in a Chinese traditional medicine broth.

Now some unhealthy food. Spicy Thai (NOT TAIWANESE) potato chips.

Valentine's Day was... "tranquil." 7-11 snacks made it a relatively festive party of one.

A lovely meal cooked by my coworker's wife and a friend.

After a long evening of walking around the city, stopped by a Taiwanese diner for a very late supper.

The best Gua bao I've ever eaten (Rice bun with lots of moist pulled-pork BBQ hidden under the Chinese parsley), with pork intestine soup.

So that's a very random assortment of what I'm eating these days, and I'm grateful for such a variety of good food.

Lessons Learned for an INTP on the Mission Field: "Shut Up and Listen"

I have learned, and re-learned, a variety of lessons in the past 7 weeks I've been in Taiwan.

Chinese lessons from my last time in Taiwan. As hard as they sometimes are,
language lessons are probably the easiest lessons you learn on the field.

 

I've learned why there were more firecrackers going off in our community several days after Chinese New Year than there actually are on Chinese New Year's Eve night (They're set off in front of businesses as the work starts again for the new year, to ward off bad luck and evil spirits, even for those business owners who don't strictly believe in the spirit part).

I've learned that there are numerous Quaker churches all around the world, and Taiwan has quite a few. (The most are in... Kenya!)

I've re-learned that the subway doors open on the other side for a particular station on the metro line that runs nearest to where I live.

On a more relevant note:

I've learned that transitioning into an altered identity as a physically obvious outsider who still participates in Taiwanese culture to an as-yet-unsure-extent will be both easier and harder than I thought.

I'm still learning which friendships survived the years of my absence from Taiwan and which haven't.

I'm learning that God wills my good more than I wish for my own good.

One of the most important lessons, though, has required regular reminders.
That lesson is, to shut up and listen.


When I think I already know what someone is saying, shut up and listen.
When someone is telling me something about Taiwanese culture I learned the first time I came, shut up and listen.
When someone is saying anything I know is incorrect (and it's not harming anyone), at least at the beginning, shut up and listen.
When other people are talking about something and I know the answer they are trying to think of, shut up and listen.

More subtly, in Taiwanese culture, when someone asks me for my opinion, sometimes it's still better to not say much. Wait long enough for others to speak.

This is not difficult for some wonderful people because they are loving, humble, don't care about being regarded as a consistently accurate and reliable source of information, and often care about concrete things more than abstractions. God has been answering my long-term prayers to become a little more like those people, though I still have a long way to go.

In the Myers-Briggs personality system (MBTI), I am an INTP. One of the notable features of this personality type is the ongoing automatic quest to assimilate all the knowledge around us and construct a model of reality with it. It's not something I can really stop, and not something I -should- stop; it's a gift God gave me that He intends me to use in His service.

But when not put under the yoke of the 1st and 2nd Greatest Commandments, this drive to obtain, categorize, and synthesize knowledge becomes sinful, and can lead me to think of people more in the abstract and less as eternal persons created and loved by God, or simply to give more thought to the information in someone's communication than demonstrate love and respect for that person.
It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen.

Worse, when paired with my spiritual gift of teaching, when not kept in check it can go altogether awry, and I begin to mistakenly think my job is to make sure everyone has views on the world as accurate as my meticulously fact-checked and continuously updated and synthesized model of reality. This tends to result in (especially after too much coffee) unsuspecting friends or coworkers being the subject of a massive, very detailed information dump, which is rarely helpful to them. To their credit, they are often obligingly patient.

(Some of you may be laughing now, having experienced it. I can offer a retroactive apology but unfortunately cannot promise it won't ever happen again.)

Godly Example Story: The first time I lived in Taiwan, there was a nearly-retired missionary who I accompanied in various ministries. As a new arrival, I was busy soaking up Taiwan cultural knowledge, and at one point this missionary made a statement which based on something I had recently learned seemed to be incorrect. I pointed out the error and he simply said "well, you may be right." Later I realized that he had been right, and I was wrong, and he probably knew that. But rather than prioritizing "setting the record straight" and making sure I acknowledged that he was, in fact, correct, instead he simply let it go. That made a deep impression on me at the time, and I am trying to follow that example.

There's a great verse in Proverbs that talks about shutting yourself up when necessary:

"If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth." Proverbs 30:32

(My air filter mask for bad air days and motorscooter rides works fairly well too.)

As a man who fears God (in the sense of being overwhelmed by His glory and majesty, and awareness that only the redemption made possible by Jesus Christ stands between myself and all-too-deserved judgment), I don't tend to find myself devising evil. Self-exaltation can be more subtle, however. We don't grow out of that quickly, it just takes on more and more outwardly appealing forms, like praising others and the false sort of humility.

But in those moments when I might be about to be foolish, may God keep reminding me to shut up and listen to what He's saying to me, both in the silence of His presence and the wisdom of others around me.

Hope you are all well and blessed.