Living it Up in the Mountains of Taiwan

After more that 24 hours of traveling, we finally arrived at the airport in Taiwan at about 9:30 pm on Thursday night. We then took a half hour bus ride to the hotel in Taipei (the capital of Taiwan). Thankfully, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep right away and was able to get a good nights rest. In the morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and then walked to the Mass Rapid Transit or MRT, which is similar to a subway system in the US. We rode on the MRT for about 20min to get to the high-speed rail train. The high-speed rail took us from Taipei in the north to Zuoying in the south in about an hour and a half, and there was beautiful scenery along the way. I found it interesting that most people in Taiwan seem to be very quiet in public places and then you have our little group talking non-stop, taking selfies, and generally being loud, typical Americans.

           

When we arrived in Zuoying, we drove for two hours up to a cottage in the mountains. I’m not sure which mountain range we were in, but they were gorgeous! All of the views from the cottage were breathtaking, and it was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in. The mountains seemed to stretch on forever and they reminded me of how creative God is, and of how small I really am. We spent our time at the cottage preparing for the camps, getting to know our teammates, and enjoying incredible meals.

And let me tell you, the food here is SO GOOD. Most of the time, I have no idea what I am eating, but I do know that it tastes wonderful. Both nights that we were in the mountains, we traveled to a nearby aboriginal tribe for dinner. The village was really cool and it still carries on much of the traditional Taiwanese/Chinese culture. Most people in this part of the country do not speak English, but it has been fun to experience their culture and try their foods. The meals they have served us are delicious. Every meal comes with sticky rice and usually some sort of meat and vegetables. Some of my favorite things that I have tried so far are fried squash, pumpkin with tofu, beef with peppers, sour mango, and a dessert with fruit jelly and plums. Speaking of fruit...please excuse my over-excited tangent on how good the fruit is here in Taiwan. Most of it is fresh picked from the mountains and it is DELICIOUS. I have never tasted better mangoes in my entire life, and the watermelon and grapes taste so much better here. Eating fruit in the US will never again taste good in comparison to this.

I have also learned a lot about the differences between Taiwan in the US. One of the weirdest things I have noticed in Taiwan is 7 Eleven. In the US, I only go to 7 Eleven to get Slurpee’s on hot summer days, but in Taiwan, 7 Eleven is EVERYTHING. It is kind of a mixture of Walgreens, Jewel Osco,  the UPS store, and a Laundromat all rolled into one. You can pay your bills, do your laundry, make copies, mail things, buy a warm meal, AND you can still buy Slurpees (they cost waaaayyyy less too). I also really enjoy that you do not need to match your clothing in Taiwan. No one cares if you wear a striped shirt with floral pants or five hundred different colors at the same time. And when you try to explain the concept of matching your clothing, they think its ridiculous (which quite honestly, I think is very true). 

Please continue to pray that God will keep us safe here, especially during our home stays. Pray that we will have the energy to do everything that is required of us, and that our presentation on community will go well tomorrow. Pray that we will be able to impact the youth in Taiwan and that we can be a representation of Christ for them. Praise God for safe travels on the way to Taiwan and for blessing our time together in the mountains. Praise God for the wonderful team of Americans that he has put together (I will write more about these awesome people later) and for the opportunity to be sharing with these Taiwanese high school students. 

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" 

-2 Timothy 1:7