Taipei is one of my top five favorite cities in the world. It’s big, it’s fast, you can get where you need to be quickly, and they have almost everything a Shawn could want! So many things crammed into one small place. Not to mention it has the tallest building in the world (and the fastest elevator…*weee!*)
I was blessed to be able to “vacation” there this past weekend with a few other team members. Stayed with some very hospitable friends, got to meet up with some old friends, AND got to eat at both TGIF and Chili’s! Oh yeah, did I mention that I like night markets? Well, I do. It was fun haggling with the store owners, and even getting 50NT off a couple items because I told the shopkeeper that we should get a lower price because “We’re both (Samuel and I) shwai guhs.” After saying that, Samuel revealed a Chinese word for “handsome” that was recently painted on his arm. Not only did we get a better price, but the storeowner also got a good laugh out of it.
However, by the time Sunday rolled around, I was ready to go back “home.” Back home to Kinmen. I realized that even though I like the “big city,” I don’t think I could live there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m defiantly not a small town type person either, I think I’m a person who likes being near both. It was weird being out of Kinmen though. Things like people understanding English at 7-11, and not starring at us because we’re foreigners, or not even smiling as they walk by, just seemed strange. I hadn’t realized how much I had gotten used to Kinmen. I think the trip to Taiwan opened my eyes even more to how different Kinmen is and how unique it is and most of all, how special it is.
Four weeks are left of my stay here on Kinmen, and I am realizing that I need to work on “making the days count, and not counting the days.” I pray these last few weeks will be the best weeks of my stay here in Kinmen.
Shawn Searle
