Touring in Taiwan

            Hi again, everyone! I’m sorry I didn’t write last week, but so many things were happening! We had a wonderful time in Taiwan; I could go on about it for pages, but I don’t think any of us have time for that. I’ll try to pick out a few of the highlights and post a few pictures. If you want more pictures and videos, you should like Under Construction on Facebook; they’ve all been posted there. Here’s th link, if anyone is interested:

https://www.facebook.com/underconst?hc_location=timeline

            First of all, there was the weather. After being in Boston for so many weeks of winter, we knew how to appreciate the wonders of a tropical island. There were mountains covered in green, the sun shone every day, and we wore jeans and T-shirts whenever we weren’t singing. I had forgotten what heat and humidity were – not anymore.

            All of our performances were great; we had the opportunity to sing twenty different times, and we spent every day shuttling from one place to another, rehearsing on the way. It was great, even though we didn’t think so all the time. And every time we arrived somewhere, they fed us; we must have had six meals a day. Everyone was showering us with food and gifts and bubble tea. By the end of the week our floor was covered in bags and boxes of gifts; the hospitality and warmth of the people left me dumbfounded.

            We stayed at a church guest house in Taipei a few nights, at a bed and breakfast in Tainan a few nights, and at a seminary one night. We spent a little time sight-seeing; we had dinner in the third tallest building in the world and went to the night market and the Chiang Kai-shek memorial. We also spent a lot of time just getting to know each other and staying up late at night talking. In fact, since we left to return to the US at 5 AM on Friday, Taiwan time, we just stayed up talking the entire night.

            Speaking of talking, I now know 10 phrases in Mandarin, ranging from “hello” to “where is the bathroom”. Now mind you, I’m not sure if anyone would understand most of them when I said them, but it’s always nice to know a little. I hope I don’t forget too soon.

            Memorable moments? Well, we spent a lot of time with kids, ranging in age from kindergarteners to high school and university students. We had one concert with kids we’d been teaching from elementary school, and at the end of the concert, when we’d finished singing some songs of our own, we were all blown away when the entire wave of kids (and parents) rushed back onstage to shower us with flowers. It was amazing; there was more than one person crying. I also sang tenor for the first time during that concert, which I thought was pretty awesome.

            There was the time when we were at a middle school singing and then doing a Q&A session with the kids. The questions were pre-written, in English (all the kids study English), and ranged from “Have you played dodge ball?” to “What does life mean to you?” Guess who had to figure out what life meant to them… that’s right. We had a great time at that school, and at all of the other schools we visited. Being in college, I don’t see that many kids – I’d forgotten how cute they were!

            Oh, and of course there was the moment at the airport, heading back to the States, when I logged onto Facebook to see that a close friend of mine is now engaged! Congratulations again! You should have seen my face – I must have gone around for the next half-hour just repeating “she’s engaged. She’s engaged!” The fact that I hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours probably also contributed to the happy shock.

            I have a lot of other memories – not-so-funny jokes that were hilarious at two in the morning, riding a bike through city streets for the first time, trying new foods, eating with chopsticks (I can’t eat rice with a fork now – it’s just weird), having good conversations, playing games, sharing my testimony, (usually) hitting the high A on Crown Him with Many Crowns… I could go on forever. The trip was wonderful, and to tell the truth, I didn’t want to come back.

            Coming back, you see, doesn’t just mean coming back to the US or even to Harvard. It means coming back to constant Wi-Fi and cell phone coverage and consequently always being on call. It means returning to responsibility, returning to work. And of course, it means returning to winter – having to deal with all that weird white stuff on the ground. But oases aren’t meant to sustain us forever, just to ready us for the next leg of the journey.

            That, in my opinion, was the best thing about our trip to Taiwan. It wasn’t just a fun week we spent going around and singing. It was a time of good friendship and fellowship and prayer and worship and seeking God. I  came to know myself and the people in my group better, and I was able to reset my priorities, to step back from my life and remember the reason I do the things I do. Taiwan helped me prepare for the next part of my journey.

            And so now I’m off again, already in the middle of assignments and projects and readings and quizzes. There are so many things to do, and no one is in the mood to start doing them, but we’ve started anyway. Happy Spring, everyone! Time to get back to work!