August 1999

Dear Friends,

Just when I think I am understanding Taiwanese culture, I realize that it is difficult to categorize. Like any culture, there are lots of paradoxes. Taiwan customer service is not always the best. If you want to substitute tea for coffee for the same price, often the response is may you ban fah which means there is no solution. There is a solution, but the answer conveys no solution. So my expectations are not always high in restaurants. The food is good and usually inexpensive, but the service is usually not the highlight. But this past week I had dinner with friends in a near-by city. I had some papers which I needed to copy and send to the seminary, so I asked our waiter if he could tell me where a copy store was. He told me to give him the papers, and he would copy them. I assumed that the restaurant had a copy machine in the back. However, he took the papers and I saw him leave the restaurant. He got on his motor scooter and drove away. About five minutes later he came back with the originals and the copies. He had driven to the copy store for me. And you don't even tip here. So much for my image of poor service.

Today (Saturday) we had a youth event in the village of Hot Spring. There are hot springs here, but it was much too warm to soak in hot springs. So we met down by a beautiful river underneath a newly constructed bright red bridge. Last year's typhoon had taken the other bridge away, so today was the first day we could use the new bridge. I asked the kids to bring their swim suits, but almost all them wore long pants. As hot as it is here, many people rarely wear shorts. Pastors almost never wear short. Today I wore shorts. When it came time to swim, most kids swam in their jeans. We gathered on the river side and I talked about Jesus' baptism in the River Jordan. The aboriginal kids are always willing to act out the Bible stories, so the river side was a great place to act out the baptism and the temptation of Christ. I talked to them about the temptations which we all face. We then sang a number of songs, and a few of the youth leaders led us in song and aboriginal dance. I can never seem to get the right steps, but they are very encouraging. I always add some comic relief. We then had a picnic lunch of rice and vegetables wrapped in seaweed with fruit. There were other folks grilling on small screens on top of rocks. They were grilling fish and pork. We the sat in between the rocks in the water and the water rushed over us. It was really refreshing. Since many kids cannot swim, we kept an eye on them. Each year a number of people drown in shallow, but fast rivers.

The day before yesterday there was a black out over most of the island. Many people called the police wondering if Mainland China had caused it. It turned out that a transmission tower collapsed during a landslide. China is still furious over Taiwan's President Lee's comment about two states. Each day there are predictions about how China will respond. China calls President Lee a troublemaker, but he responds by saying that he is just stating reality that Taiwan and China are two separate political entities which one day may be re-united. The papers say that 70% of the Taiwanese support President Lee's perspective, but the stock market has showed that people are edgy.

Wishing you a good weekend. Grace and peace,

Rev. John McCall