2000-09-10

First week in Taipei – 9-10

Hi – As of Sunday morning , I awoke with my eyes feeling better than they have ever felt. Praise God. Today, they aren’t quite as well, but I think they are doing much, much better.
You will probably hear about an earthquake. We were site seeing at CKS (Chiang Kai-Shek) Park, watching about a thousand Budists practice a ceremonial dance when we felt 3 consecutive quivers underfoot. Talking about a weird feeling. Immediately, Hal turned and smiled to a Chinese fellow who said something to us near-by and he translated. It was a “4″. The practicing Budists never skipped a beat. Although Hal said that it probably stirs memories for all of what they call the 9-21 (Sept 21) earthquake (7.0) last year that killed so many. Hal put our minds at ease by saying, it is good to have small ones like this, because it eases the buildup of pressure. They also said, had we been in our 6th story apt, we would have felt it more than just standing there on the concrete brick park floor. The buildings sway because they are designed to sway. They have indicted & jailed many of the arcitech/builders with man slaughter that skimped on the buildings that killed thousands last year. About 15 minutes later we hopped in a taxi & Hal interpeted the radio news that told the town that the epi-center was in, reported the quake was a “6,” with no significant damage. I’m pretty amazed at the peace I have about all this, because there are no doubts to God’s calling us here.
We rode the subway system also. I wasn’t too intimidated since we had just done that a few weeks ago in Washington. We looked like sardines & could only stand in the doorway. So the first time it stopped, the 4 of us turned sideways & held on tight as what felt like a school of fish passing by to get out. (Glad I wasn’t carrying a purse. )
I really do like the apt. I will go shopping on Wed at Cost-co (like Sams) to purchase what we need, until then, we are just eating off the streets — ha. Actually, we had some great Chinese with a group of 7 in a restaurant yesterday after church (all chinese- that was a real experience). We had a neat egyptian chicken sandwich later for dinner, that was made by a fellow on the streets. They tell us which stands to trust & which not to trust. The main difference is how hot they cook the food. I tried this cold milk tea stuff that Cynthia raved about. I wasn’t too impressed. The first time I sucked on the straw I asked “what did I just swallow?” She laughed and said it was a starch ball – the latest crave, it’s like having gummy bears floating in your drink. Well, I better get going, we are going to the office for the first time today, and they are feeding us lunch. No telling what kind of surprises await us.
love,
Fran