Little Old Men...and a few young ones!

These are just some snippets of life here for me recently, mostly things that put a smile on my face and perhaps one or two that leave me scratching my head asking questions about why people (men, especially) do the things they do.

It starts with a little old guy at my church, (which I think I wrote a blog entry about) and how he almost made me cry. Just this cute little old guy that never really interacts much, and I've always assumed he was at church to learn more English. He got up and made an announcement a couple of weeks ago in church, and it turned out to be more like a testimony of how God took him to the states many years ago to study in Hawaii and then on to Georgetown University. He's started a book club for people who want to work on their reading, because he's retired from over 40 years of teaching and he doesn't want to just sit around and do nothing. I was mesmerized to listen to him, and thought it was adorable when he told us the first book they would read in the club is "Charlotte's Web". How cute is that? I love him.

A few days later, on my scoot to work, I saw something I've observed several times here. There was an old man on a bicycle determined to get the bike up an incline (not much of one, but he was old and skinny), pumping with all his might. As he passed in front of me at a red light, I saw the silhouette of his frail body and there was a profound curve in his spine, that made me ache just to look at it. I couldn't help but watch him labor on his bike to cross the intersection before the light turned green. I've seen similar sights with old people lugging big loads of recycling or supplies for a cooking stall, but this guy was on his own, and it was a hard thing to see.

Last Sunday, I got up at the close of the service to give an exhortation and sing the last song. As I did, I focused on thankfulness, since I'm one Sunday from being gone, and our pastor had just made thankfulness his third point when trying to keep from taking the Lord's name in vain (yeah, it's sort of funny, but it kind of worked for me at the time.) So, I got up and in my ramble to express thankfulness for the body of Christ in Hsinchu, I said I was thankful for the man that gave his testimony and was starting the book club. Only much later in the day, did I think about what I'd said. I asked my roommates and they confirmed that from the pulpit I said, "I'm thankful for the little old man...blah blah blah!" How embarrassing! Right now, I'm thankful that many of those people will not have understood what I said, and if they did they wouldn't have thought it was inappropriate, just accurate.

As I was scooting to the apartment after worship on Sunday, again at a red light, a scooter came up next to me and stopped suddenly. I looked and it was an old man with three days growth on his face, looking all weather worn, with a construction helmet hanging half on/half off of his head, and as if that wasn't a sight in itself, he had a cigarette sticking out of the side of his mouth burning. Our eyes met and I couldn't help but smile. Maybe I laughed a little bit too, cause it was funny! Wish I'd had my camera ready.

Not one block later, I stopped for another red light, and an old man on a scooter was coming through the intersection "flying low" as my mom would say, and he got my attention because he had no teeth. His lips were sucked into his face so far, I couldn't help but notice, and yes, I had to laugh, again.

Then on Monday, at work, the guy who works security in the apartment complex where our school is, came into the office to deliver the mail. He speaks two words of English, (Pizza Hut) but he always talks to the English teachers through the Chinese staff. He's loud and raucous, and we like to talk back to him as he comes and goes about three days a week. He often asks if I have a boyfriend. He's married and just playing around with me, but you can tell he's kind of flirting and thinks he's funny. This time when he came in, no one was translating what he was saying. I was at my desk working so I didn't really care, but when he left, I asked what he said. My manager said, "He said you should wear some makeup and lipstick." Well, in Taiwan, I wear a little makeup everyday, more than I usually wear in the states, and so I was kind of annoyed about that. As I thought of it more, I got more annoyed and started asking the questions...Why do people think they can get up in your koolaid and tell you what you should do or shouldn't do with your personal appearance? Why do men think more about the outside than the personality and what a woman can bring to their lives as a whole? I kept on with this line of internal questioning for the better part of the day and grew more frustrated with life here in Taiwan. It's not enough that I spend a year of my mid-forties in a blazing hot and humid climate, standing on my feet speaking at the top of my voice to children who sneeze in my face without reservation on a daily basis, but I have to endure the advice of near strangers about my personal appearance in the midst of this mayhem. Dang it! (What do the mid-40's have to do with it? Well, if I'm not having some hot flashes, I don't know what they are.)

So, I determined I'd pen this blog entry and rant a bit about old men...not all ranting, some raving...but then...

Yesterday, the 23 year old Canadian guy I work with, Ryan, had a much longer break than I had, and I thought he might be running a 15 minute errand to get himself an ice tea drink. So, I excused myself from my tutoring for a minute and called to ask. He said he'd brought two so he didn't plan to go. I said no problem and went back to work. Later, when I was on a 10 minute break and frantically trying to keep up, he walked in the front door with my favorite tea drink. He was singing a Star Wars song or something grandiose like that as he presented me with my drink. In one second, he restored my faith in the ability of men to think of someone other than themselves! Way to go, Ryan!

Regularly, my precious roommate, Ryno (yes these two names are very similar, so you can imagine the confusion I go through) does kind things for me and the rest of us in our house. He is only 24 and such a catch, I really pray that one of my young friends from America will snatch him up (like Julie Veneer or Janae or someone like that) so he can live in the states and I can see him more often than if he stays in Taiwan or goes back to South Africa. (Details are available if anyone wants to set him up.)

So, I know all is not lost on the men in the world. The future looks quite bright actually.

Have a great day...and give your eyes a rest after reading this long one.

Until next time, LC from the TW


Ryan and his kid Norman!

Ryno fixing drinks for our guests.