Into the Wilderness: Leaving Lanyu

Leaving paradise is never easy, but my time here is about over. From one perspective, we didn't do very much - there were no kids around expecting us to give English lessons or to lead bible study; there were no houses to be built or reconstruction projects to help with; there weren't even that many people to spread the gospel to, as 70% of the population was already Christian. We did help with church mailings, got to help out with activities with kids for a couple days (including conducting a random skit on traffic safety), and help paint the church walls, but these all felt like things that were fairly inconsequential, we were fairly certain we left no life-changing impact on the people of Lanyu.

However, after further reflection, it seems sometimes it's not so much what you can do and offer to others, but what you are able to digest, absorb, and learn, especially in a foreign setting. It's perhaps a more selfish perspective, and a little cliche, but oftentimes those who try to seek out and enrich the lives of others find their lives enriched the most. Hey, what can I say, trying to help others is very therapeutic in of itself. Anyhow, I just wanted to reiterate that this place is absolutely gorgeous - the weather, though hot, is bearable, and the high humidity is balanced with lots of strong, cooling wind currents. There's flying fish to eat almost everyday, along with fruit and seafood unique to the island. We've gotten to go swimming by corral reefs, along sandy beaches, in cold springs, and in shipdocks. The people here are kind and friendly, and they speak very good Mandarin as well as Taiwanese, though retaining their own language. It's familiar enough to be like home, yet different enough to retain its allure.

Final thoughts:

1) The sun in Lanyu is scorching. And since I've been out running/swimming/diving/snorkeling/playing basketball every single day, people have started to ask me if I'm one of the aborigines due to the color of my skin.

2) Being blessed with nice weather, beaches everywhere, amazing scenery, etc, really makes everyone... well not exactly lazy, but very easygoing. The culture here is very laid back, the police have nothing to do but to go out and play in the water, fish for food, etc. If we didn't get to accomplish what we set out to do today, it's okay - there's tomorrow, and it looks exactly like today, with beautiful weather, lots of free time, and nothing pressing at hand.

3) The people are much more reliant on God due to their close relationship with the land and nature. This reliance sometimes seems much more of an abstraction in New York - we don't have to catch or hunt for our food, or depend on good weather to ensure supplies from boats and planes can come through.

4) Some of my minor health issues have largely gone away. I think it must've been mostly the stress of the job and not sleeping enough. I sleep a lot more now, though not always 8 hours still. Yet with nothing lurking in the back of my mind, I've been able to enjoy myself thoroughly without having to think ahead about anything at all. Sometimes I feel I could live here forever...

5) I've gotten ridiculously efficient, so much more than I was before I started working at Opera. The pastor here wanted us to help type up about 150 addresses to put on envelopes and mail out - between using copy and paste techniques, typing quickly, using the keypad, etc, I blew away the others on the trip as well - most of them are still in college. Having been trained on the art of getting things done extremely quickly for the past 3 years has really helped.

Here's some final pictures:

Here I am with the evangelist who invited us to come: