A thankful heart

     I’ve been invited by L company’s annual greeting party last Sunday. I didn’t feel surprise when my former boss invited me to his company annual party. I always felt guilty about the moment I left the company.  I announced my leaving two months before the due date. However, the due date is when my boss had an eye operation in the hospital. I wait until the day my boss out of the  hospital and that’s the most I could wait because there is a tour guide training class waited for me. For the wrong time of my leaving, I thought I probably might lost this kind boss and close friend. However, three months after my leaving, he consulted me with an important business and patent issue. During the lunch, I found out I never loss this friend even a moment.  We still keep a very good relationship.

The cooking area

     It’s almost a half of year that I didn’t see everyone in this company. I still remember more than 90% names of the staffs and the operators. People saw me like I’m just back from a travel. Where have you been? It’s like the old classmates haven’t seen each other for a long time. We toasted each other. Since most staffs and operators didn’t visit Taipei or travel often, all the travel stories I said interested them. We didn’t need to warm up to have a very nice conversation. The party made me thinking again I thought more than 1000 times. Why did I still stay a long time after I knew this job wouldn’t go anywhere with me? Would I still choose the same if the moment back to the time while I was still a family man?

A greeting party

         I’m a country pumpkin. I think that’s my answer. I’m not “international” enough to take an adventure of living outside of my country. At least, I wouldn’t leave my country because I hated it. Maybe, sometimes this country let me down. However, the human touch in my homeland always makes me feel proud of being a taiwanese. Like the staffs in this company, they all have their owned problems like everyone in this global village. However, the friendship and kindness they showed you. It makes you want to tell everyone you’re his friend.

The Vietnamese operators (The middle one is ching's wife)

     Like one of the masters in the milling department, Ching. He always looks shy when you told to him. He married a Vietnamese operator in our company and had a 2 year old baby. I knew his story from my boss. Because of the culture and language differences between he and his wife, he doesn’t know how to manage his marriage well. He consulted my boss many times about his marriage but still trying his improvement. After he drunk, he said to me more than 10 time, “You knew I always respect you, right?”. I replied “Yes, I knew.” everytime he said that. I knew he tried to tell me his story but swallow the words at the last moment. Finally, he fall of sleep aside and I brought him to take a rest in the chair. Honestly, for my failed experience, I’m the last consultant he should consult with. However, you knew you win his trust by the eye contacts.

Ching sings with boss' father

       That’s the taiwanese human touch I said. We don’t hug each other often. But, we’ll never put a knife in your back while hugging each other We don’t say “I love you” because we think it’s more precious than a gold or diamond. We won’t say “I love you” but plan how to end up this relationship at the same time like the scene of the hollywood movie. If you asked me what’s the taiwanese passion, I will say. We had unspoken sense like our souls could hug each other. During the dinner, my boss had an opening singing, the song called “The thankful heart”. Here is the lyric of this song

The boss' opening singing

The chinese lyric

我來自偶然,像一顆塵土,有誰看出我的脆弱,我來自何方,我情歸何處,誰在下一刻呼喚我!

天地雖寬,這條路確難走,我看遍這人間坎坷辛苦,

我還有多少愛,我還有多少淚,要蒼天知道,我不認輸!

感恩的心,感謝有你,伴我一生,讓我有勇氣做我自己,

感恩的心,感謝命運,花開花落,我依然會珍惜!!

English translation

I came suddenly like a dust in the air. Can you see how fragile my heart is?  

Where did I come from? Where will be my destination?  Who will be the one who called my name in the next moment?

There are many bumpy roads in the wide world. On my way, I see how life is difficult.

How many passions do I still leave? How many tears don’t I still dry out?

I want the God knows I won’t give up!!

A thankful heart. I thank you come into my world.

The footprints you walk with me step by step this world makes me recognized who I am.

A thankful heart.  I thanks the fate makes you into my life.

I will cherish every moment I had no matter the flowers is blooming or fading.

     The link of this song : A thankful heart

The office I worked

    When I said goodbye to my boss and his wife, his wife said “you need come back every year in the future for the greeting party.” I said : “Sure, as long as I have free time.” She replied and said : ” You will. We’re like a family.  “ Tomorrow, I will have my first tour group in R company. I had trouble of sleep laterly about how to introduce the tour points in Taiwan. I rehearsed again and again before I could get into sleep. After the dinner, I found out the best and valuable introduction is how taiwanese lived and why taiwanese is so proud of himself. I’m a taiwanese country pumpkin but I’m pround of I am. I think it’s the best ending of my previous job and the best opening of my new career.

For more photos, please see the link below :

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/orpheuslin/sets/72157623372431066/

Let’s forget about each other in the ocean

Merry X'mas

    It’s a busy X’mas holiday. Furthermore, I can say it’s a busy X’mas working day.  In October, when I just quited my previous job, I told myself to get prepare to have difficult X’mas holiday. It’s really not fun to image how to reply friends’ greeting and enquiry. It will be a bit embarassing to tell friends I’m still single. Plus, I have one more title which is an unemployed loafer.  (Great!!) But, I think God still streats me generously and I found my tour guide’s job smoothly. The taiwanese slang said : Man proposes, God disposes. In my case, I think it’s in a good way. I’m not only finished my two pratical trainning groups in December but had one during the X’mas vacation. To compare with drunk myself at silent night and toasted with my loneness, working on X’mas holiday with lots of chinese strangers really brings me lots of  joy and fun.

Good luck for the new year

      The more you expected, the more you lost. On the other hand, it’s the same. Because of the job, I can’t read my e-mail or posts from mail box during  the X’mas vacation. I sent my greeting to relatives and friends before my trip like any other year. The surprise always happens in somewhere you didn’t expect. After 8 days’ trip, I received not only greeting e-mail but also greeting card or X’mas gifts full of my mail box. It’s Jan. 1st, the first day of my 2010.  I left those letters and gifts on my desk. I smiled and started to think about all the conversations I did with those friends and relatives the last few years.  

Jhong-Zi

         It reminds me one paragraph of a famous chinese philosopher Jhong-Zi said

         泉涸,魚相與處於陸,相呴以濕,相濡以沬,不如相忘於江湖

         Translation :

         When the pond is shrivelled, all the fishes lied onto the land side by side. they wet each other by the water on their scales. They spit each other to provide the waters they need. However, if they have choices, they will prefer to swim freely and forget each other in the ocean.

Fishes wet each other by the water on their scales

         After the second pratical trainning group, I have a new year break before the third one. I reviewed many posts I wrote the last two years.  I was the dry fish who helped by many kind fishes. They moisturized me by their wise talks and warm mails. It’s 2010. It should be a nice year because of the good beginning. A fresh new year, I have my goal and I knew where I should swim to. To the ocean where I knew my family, relatives and friends are all swimming there pleasantly. When I read the greeting cards, I can see how they enjoy their swim in the ocean. Let’s forget about each other in the ocean because I know you swim there freely and happily.

Let's forget about each other in the ocean

 

            Happy new year, welcome 2010!!

           The 2010 firework show in taipei 101

The Chiao-tao trip 2009

After one day city explornation in Kaohsiung, I met my parents at our family house in Chiao tao where my father grew up.  The uncle Frank still lived there and he invited my parents visit there because it’s a flower festival elected in that week. The winter is usually the best reason to visit the southern Taiwan. Before they had this trip, it rains more than 10 days in Keelung. However, it’s sunshine everywhere in Southern Taiwan and people only wear T shirt in the street. It’s really worthy to drive all the way to southern Taiwan to enjoy their sunshire if you’re tired of the gray sky and glooming weather.

The sunshine in Southern taiwan is beautiful

     10 years ago, the sugar cane is everywhere in this village. However, the labor cost is too high to grow the sugar cane to make the sugar, now. When we were young, biting sugar cane is the common memories of all the kids in Taiwan. People sits outside of the house, chewing the sugar cane and chat. Before the computer era, it’s the major entertainment in the evening when we were in Southern Taiwan.  Now, you still can buy the sugar cane to chew at home. However, chewing sugar cane at home alone, it lost one major flavor you can’t specific said. Everything changes, Chiao-tao, too. They don’t grow sugar cane but economic crops like fruits or organic vegetables. Everyone needs a break. The land, too. To develop the tour industry, they grow the flowers during the fallow season. That’s those beautiful flower fields come from. They planned to keep those flower fields until the chinese new year. After the chinese new year, those flowers will become the nature fertilizer to help our farmer grow the good fruits or vegetables in the upcoming year.

     Since they called it a “Festival”, it definitely would have many programs go with those beautiful flowers. We went to an elementary school. There are few performances for a “city bumpkin” like me. After seeing their performances, it’s hard to say who is the lucky kids in Taiwan. In Northern Taiwan,  yon can have any kind of class which you can find in the world. Violin, painting, language, kung-fu or brain development….. At the same time in Southern Taiwan, they would like to spend more time on passing down the traditional generation after generation. If you want me to compare the kids in the city and the one in the countryside, I will say they’re proud of different things. The city kid is proud of himself of knowing one more new technology his classmate doesn’t know. The kid in the countryside is proud of himself of knowing one more traditional his classmate doesn’t know. Both are right, it just depends on which side you stand.

The kids play the traditional wedding

     The first performance they showed us is to move a bamboo house. Two generations ago (Around 50 years ago), the taiwanese are generally poor. They don’t have too much money to build up a house made by concrete. The economic and convenient way is to build up a bamboo house. The bamboo is like the bones of a house. If you don’t have the money  , you can just cover thatch to be a simple house to live. Once you have money, you can cover by clay or tiles to make it prettier or stronger. According to what father said : the family house were still a bamboo house when they just got married. There is  a house next to our family house which is made by bamboo. They’re happy when they saw this old style houses and spent lots of time on taking about its history. I think it recalled some memories when they were young.

The bamboo constructed house

The bamboo made house next to our family house

     The second performance is the traditional wedding. It’s performanced by many elementary school students. I think no one cares about if the traditional wedding really runs this way. It’s just too cute to see many kids perform a traditional wedding.  They also show a fruit of a planet to create many art pieces. Not only the fruit can becomes an art pieces. They also taught you how to make a straw rope.

The art piece made by dry fruit

    Talking about the delicious food in Chiao Tao, I have to mention an unique ice cream called “The Yeast ice cream with red bean paste”.  I only find three places in Taiwan can have this ice cream and the one in Chiao Tao is the original and the most classical one.  You can tell how it made by the name. It sounds strange but the ice cream store becomes a “must go” tour point every time we went back home. The place called the “Kaohsiung sugar cane factory” where is the Kaohsiung sugar cane museum located. The Kaohsiung subway system opened a station for this place. I can’t say everyone comes here for only eating this yummy ice cream but no one go without trying one.

The yeast ice cream with red bean paste

      We enjoy lots of great food this trip especially the BBQ chicken. In china, they called the chicken cooked by the style shown below “the beggar’s chicken”. In Taiwan, we called it “the chicken in kiln”. First, they will use the bricks or rocks to make a kiln. Afterward, put some coals or burning rocks to make the kiln hot.  Then, putting the chicken in and covered the whole kiln. You will have a great BBQ chicken after a while. I saw few time when I was a kid. It takes time which is the most expensive stuff in this modern era to make one. Therefore,  they usually baked it in a big oven like the restaurant we went, now. The taste is also good but saved lots of time. (Well, less pleasure of making a kiln you can say) We finished the whole chicken in a short time. For a gourmet family like us, I think it’s the best ending of this trip.

The chicken is ready

For more photos, please see the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/orpheuslin/sets/72157622911331542/