A Good Day Interacting with Community People

Living in the Taiwanese Countryside is truly something I wouldn't exchange for the big cities here.

This afternoon 17 or so neighborhood kids came over to my house for an English lesson in two separate classes. I open up my 1st floor on Saturday afternoons to neighborhood kids (plus a few parents) as a means of sharing the love of God in Jesus Christ in a practical way with no strings attached.

Amongst the kids today were several who were new. Today we spoke in a little more depth about American Thanksgiving, sang a song, read a story book on an unrelated topic, and played more Simon Says. One of the kids was really disappointed I didn't visit their breakfast shop again this past week, so first thing in the morning that is where I want to go.

After the informal English classes ended, I chatted with my neighbors on the left hand side, who just moved in about a month ago. It was the first extended chat I've had with the wife, who works with pigs when they are sick.

After that, I drove my friend and neighbor Mr. Wu on the back of my scooter over to a small shop across from the town temple which specializes in venison (they only open in winter). The venison noodles as well as venison hot pot were both very delicious! We were disappointed that another friend as well as Mr. Wu's family were not able to join us (he forgot to tell them this morning before he went to work not to eat dinner). However, now we have an excuse to go back again very soon!

Coming home, I chatted with my neighbors on the right hand side for about 15 minutes before declining an invitation to go with them to the night market in BeiGang.

From there, I helped my neighbors and good friends 5 doors down (the Dings)  install an old scanner I gave them earlier in the day. Mr. Ding, a wood carver by trade, only has an elementary school education, but he is very intelligent. I enjoyed some good guava and pear while we chatted and learned how to use the software.

Finally, coming home and having shut the steel door, I looked at the answering machine to see I had two calls. They were from my neighbor's 20 year old son three doors down, who works in a seafood restaurant across from the temple. He had dropped by a half hour or so earlier to tell me he's been told he will go to Chiayi on Dec 12 to start his mandatory military service.

Sakray wanted to come over and chat in person, but I told him I was about to turn in for the night. I'm looking forward to a good time of catching up with him tomorrow in the late afternoon over in the seafood restaurant, or in the evening when he gets off work. The boss's wife at the restaurant, the mother of one of our English students at Four Lakes Elementary School, has been hospitalized for over a week so I'm also hopeful to have a chance to visit with him as well.

Would I have had so many chances for spontaneous, friendly interaction with so many neighbors in Taipei, Taichung, or other larger localities where most people live in apartments? Not likely at all. This Thanksgiving weekend, I thank God again for all the interesting people and friendships He is giving me  in this neighborhood.

One Puppy Back

With reference to the last entry, one of the puppies also made the 10 km hike back. Amazing.

Seriously, I've got to choose some more enthralling topics to write about. However, this blog has been mostly about life in the Taiwanese countryside the past year...

Puppy Dogs Dumped

Last week one day when I was out of town, a young man passed by in front of my house on his scooter, at which time he was chased by the dog described below in a previous post, as is her habit.

With all the mud and dirt from the construction outside, the road is sometimes slippery, and the young man's scooter slipped out from under him as he evaded the dog. Evidently he was hurt badly.

His father came over and angrily scolded the owner of the dog and the puppies. That night, one of the owner's sons angrily bundled up the dogs, hopped on his scooter and deposited the puppies in different places out in the middle of nowhere well outside of town. Although they were eating food on their own, they were also still nursing, so it's doubtful they'll ever be heard from again.

He dumped the mother dog off about 18 kilometers and several towns away. You have to pass through several towns and also cross a river to get there. However, 3 or 4 days after it was dumped, it reappeared again, her internal compass guiding it back (unfortunately) to her territory. When I last saw it yesterday, it was happily chasing passing scooters and bicycles again.

Puppy Dogs

In earlier posts I've raved about the dogs which run loose around here, barking all hours of the day and night.

Just before I left for Australia, one of my neighbor's dogs which runs around the neighborhood had puppies again.... she nursed  the five of them just to the left of the front door in front of what was then an empty unit. Thankfully, someone moved in and the neighbor forced them temporarily into cages.

Unfortunately, they've long since been let out of the cages. They bring their bones, trash, etc. to my house front, where I sweep them up in the morning. I've been reminded that I need to leave my outside trash can elevated on top of the bird cages or else they'll get to them.

In my weaker moments, I've contemplated kidnapping the puppies in the middle of the night in order to drop them off in a remote location far from here, or leaving them some steak laced with something to make them go to sleep (to facilitate the dog-napping) or worse. Thankfully, I never acted on those thoughts.

Last week the 20 year old son of the neighbor in question came over to chat with me at my house... the very first time. He works in a small local seafood restaurant. Soon he'll be leaving home for the first time as he does his compulsory military service. He's been back two or three other times since. In one of our talks, he shared about how a dog he raised over by his restaurant was kidnapped and killed by someone in order to enjoy the dog meat. This saddened him greatly.

If I had acted out on my thoughts and been discovered, I would certainly not be in the position I find myself now of being able to share the hope and love we have in God through Jesus Christ to this young man as he moves off into what he feels will be an uncertain period in his life. May God give us additional opportunities to interact. Maybe I can even gracefully approach the topic of the stray dogs and the havoc they cause for the rest of the neighborhood again... However, they do provide an important security service in this area where thieves break in wherever they feel they can make a quiet get-away.

The Inspector is Coming!

A few months ago I wrote about the ongoing road construction in front of my house and some of the resulting inconveniences. Since returning to Taiwan's coastal countryside a month ago, progress has been slow. As we continue to battle the dirt, mud, and noise, we'll be lucky if the project is completed before Chinese New Year's.

However, what happened yesterday especially deserves to be mentioned.Because the inspector is coming, the road workers erected fences across the other side of the street (beginning with a bang at 6:00 am no less). The only reason they've put the fence up is to pass the inspection. This probably doesn't fool the inspector, who can simply look up the street to see the unfenced construction a few hundred yards away, but at least provides an opportunity to snap a picture to say everything was done properly. The day after the inspector leaves, they'll probably take the fences right down again, just as they did earlier once last summer already.

A little over a month ago, my elderly next door neighbor fell into the ditch in front of her house when trying to move her scooter across. She got cut up badly and had to make several trips to the doctor.

There was no official attempt on the part of the local government or the safety crews to provide safe crossing boards for the residents; we go and borrow some boards or ask them to drop them off (Having said that, the workers are friendly and helpful in an unofficial capacity-- when I came back from Australia they piled dirt over the ditch in front of my house in order to allow me to pull my car out from inside).

Early yesterday morning the work crew without warning took all our boards away again as they evidently need them for their unit's work elsewhere. So I went off to fend for myself and came back with the best I could find.

The safety concerns of the construction companies and local government seem about as complete as the concerns for justice of Taiwan's fledgling democracy, what with all that has been in the news about the jailing, handcuffing, etc. of the former president and others these past couple of weeks. Thankfully though (and here I take the optimistic view) things will continue to move forward and not backward.