Talking with my sister the other day about our greatly anticipated "frolic around Taiwan" when she gets here next month (!!), I realized it has been quite a span of time since I've seen her, and since I've seen home. It made me realize that there are probably things that have subtly changed in me, and maybe some perspectives I've been handed that I would have never seen through before.
So as the projected "year in Taiwan" is drawing to a close for me with just a couple short months left, I want to take some time to reflect on the ways this beautiful island has changed me, and the indelible imprint that the time has left.
People. people. people.
I am often asked what I'll miss about the island when I leave (but who says I'm leaving for good? :) ), and my answer always includes the succinct and vague answer, "the people." But what exactly am I talking about? Let me give you an example to illustrate.
I was donning my helmet, about to hop onto my scooter when a white sedan drove up, rolled down the windows, and a friendly youngish-looking man asked me if I knew the way to E-Da world. It took me a bit to try and explain, meanwhile the passenger windows rolled down and I saw his wife and daughter in the backseat. I decided that it would be easier to show them the way instead of explaining, so I went a bit out of my way to lead them to the next bend in the road. Once I directed them to the appropriate turn, they pulled to the side of the road once more and the man got out, telling me he wanted to give me something.
"What in the world?" I thought to myself, but I went along with it. He ended up giving me an elaborately decorated calendar, his name card, and a glass tumbler with some sort of logo on it. He runs show business, he told me. I assumed he was going to E-Da for a show proposition.
Anyhow, I was quite taken aback by his liberal payback for such a small gesture, and grinned as they waved and his daughter called out "Lao shi [(teacher)], bye bye!" as they drove off. I quite forgave them for thinking I was a mail-order bride at first. (ha ha!)
Okay, so maybe that isn't a very good example, because not everyone is as quirkily generous as that man was. Maybe I just wanted to tell you that story, because it caught me by surprise.
But that's the thing. As much as one will usually come across the genuine polite and welcoming aura of the people here, there are always things that will take you by surprise.
(Aside: I was talking to my neighbor lady tonight and she (as a native northerner) told me about something she has against the people down here in the south. Something about their standard of conduct--from what I gathered, a lowered standard of social norm that makes some forms of rudeness acceptable. In the back of my mind, I thought wryly, "Whatever it may be, it's gotta be much better than the mainland!" But I didn't say anything. :D )
Anyhow, every time I think of the handful of new friends I've made here, from known for all 11 months to just met on the streets, I am grateful. I can appreciate what it means to be on one's own -- and at that point, all genuinely welcoming, friendly gestures are appreciated.
Perhaps many of the people I've come across also feel the same way. Many Taiwanese are mobile and don't live in their hometowns anymore--and even if they do, I suppose the ancient ancestral homes remain in a distant land, so maybe they feel it too, unconsciously. But whatever the case, often when it is found out that I'm not from around here, the offer of helping hands reaches out to me. Perhaps before I didn't appreciate people as much. But in a small way, I've learned better now.
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