My Christian Experiences in Taiwan (3) Education

   

Trying to collect Donations for Church Work on a Busy Shopping Street (Nov. 2011)

   In my experience, one of the biggest problems in Taiwan is the meaning and approach of education. According to Wikipedia ‘education is the process of facilitating learning or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and habit’.
   I remember that I was so touched that I could study in the Seminary that I had tears in my eyes when I stepped through the door. For me it was a great honor to spend my time to study the word of God, that I could improve in my relationship with Him. I tried to be humble and soak in as much as I could - I studies for life and neither for a subject or a degree... 

Graduation from the Chinese Evangelical Seminary

   As a husband, father and Christian I’ve learned that education is not something that is taught from a 3rd or higher point like a pastor should teach the true meaning (truth) of the Bible from the view of Theology in Taiwan. On the contrary, Christians come to church and expect that their own views are matched by the leaders but neither challenged nor corrected during worship.

   For example, during my service, I teach the 'Triune God' or 'Holy Trinity'. It holds that ‘God is one God but three coeternal consubstantial personas or hypostases; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’ as ‘one God in three Divine Personas’. While the homeless and low-income families very fast understood very easily (I’ve made a test after 1 hour and everyone passed!) many university graduates, struggle with it after being Christians for many years.

   I found out this is simply because the homeless have a very different attitude and/or approach to education. Like one of my Seminary teachers said: “You have to believe to understand Systematic Theology” the homeless have a very simple approach and listen, without comparing it to other religions, cultures or traditions etc. and, as this teacher put it, ‘simply believe’ and trust that the teacher is truthfully to the Bible and Christian Theology. But many educated people in Taiwan don’t have this simple mind to approach Christianity or Christian theology; some even connect Jesus Christ with one of the Spirits in Buddhism to understand and explain the meaning ‘Holy Trinity’. As Christianity and Buddhism are very different religions, his approach is not very useful...

   Trying to understand some background we have to go back in history. On 28 Feb. 1947 the 228 Incident began in Taiwan. An anti-government uprising was violently suppressed by the Mainland Chinese ‘Republic of China’ government and thousands of civilians have been killed. This marked also the beginning of the White Terror under the martial law (1949-1987) in which tens of thousands went missing, died or were imprisoned. The government created a network of spies who infiltrated every layer of society as a a tool to suppress political dissidents.

   With this background it could be explained why Taiwanese have suspicions against everything new challenging their status quo. But Christianity is not about spying on but helping people, is not about separation the society in different classed but about unity as one in Christ.

   The other problem I face every day in Taiwan is a general mistrust in everything (Western) foreign. For me this does not make a lot of sense because 

- foreign orders created an influx of badly needed currencies, 

- with many professors foreign educated the society changed

- with American fast food came a clean standard of cheap restaurants to Taiwan

- with 7-11 came 24-hour open convenience stores with clear prices on the goods on the shelves

etc., etc., etc.

   I tell and teach that the only enemies of Taiwan or the Taiwanese are their relatives in Mainland China, the only country in the whole world that 
- sees Taiwan as part of theirs, 
- successfully stops any attempt of Taiwan to join international organizations like the UN or even the International Red Cross
- is the only foreign country actively involved in the free and democratic elections in Taiwan. 

   Why this suspicion against Western foreigners exists, I honestly can not explain after living in Taiwan for nearly 30 years!

Be blessed, Gerhard

Bike Tour in the USA (2007), Part 12

Tuesday, Sep. 12. 2007

I heard a Mission Bell...

Ventura→Carpinteria

Distance: 46.6 km, Duration: 3:19:08 hrs, Total: 332.25 km 

I cycled along yesterday's road and the locked door was opened. The way lead me to the entrance of the Emma Wood State Beach. On the board of the empty attendant's hut I discovered the prices for one night of Biker & Hiker: US$5.00/person. Maybe I should somehow get around the gate and spend the night beside the ocean. But it was too late for that...

View on the Pacific Ocean

From the State Beach there is a bike path directly beside the ocean direction north. It was a great feeling to cycle under the warm morning sun between the beach and the roaring sea. I thought I've heard an irregular whistling sound from an approaching train. After the bike path led into the Highway 1 the California Pacific Surfliner painted in silver and blue matching the ocean and the sky passed me. The train serves the route between San Diego and San Luis Obispo 12 times a day. According to my information bikes can be taken on the train for $5.00-$10.00/bike (http://www.pacificsurfliner.com/).

California Pacific Surfliner

Arround 11:30 I reached Carpinteria, a 12 miles south of Santa Barbara located small clean town. The name originated from the Chumash Indians who made in a relative big wood working shop (Carpinteria) seaworthy canoes (or 'Tomols') out of redwood or pine. They were propelled with kayak-like paddles in a crouching position. With these boats the Indians went fishing or traded with other coastal Indian tribes. 

The gate to the State Beach of Carpinteria was not far away and good signposted. In front of the main entrance I discovered an elderly gentlemen who photographed from his bike a picture of the sign. I rode to him and started in English a conversation. From his pronunciation I realized he was not a native speaker so we started to talk in German. He was a 60 years old pensioner and had to deal with the loss of his dying wife a few years ago. Because as a young man he watched once on German TV a truck race in Alaska his children encouraged him to fulfill his dream. Therefore he cycled with his older brother from Alaska over Canada through Washington and Oregon State until we met today in California. On his still intact speedometer there were over 6.000 km recorded! If that wasn't enough he still planned to pedal to Mexico. As I cycled from south to north I asked my German friend for some advice. Finally we separated - friend, I wish you the best on your way!

Unfortunately the ranger at the State Beach, for whatever reasons, would not let me in before afternoon 4 o'clock! 

I rode into the town and tried to find a bicycle shop to replace my broken chain which I fixed by cutting off some links. During a red traffic light I asked a young biker was waiting beside of me for a bike shop. He only answered that I should follow him and a he led me to a professional bike shop. 

Life is a Beach

As I went inside I was surprised to find a Japanese working here. Because there was no other customer and his English was better than my Japanese I took the chance to know more about him. He told me that he and his wife traveled 10 years ago to Carpinteria and fell in love with this place. They decided to leave crowded Tokyo and move to California. They are the only Japanese in this community. He told me that his home Tokyo changed a lot. There are, for example, road signs not only in Japanese but also in Korean and Chinese. Even when they sometimes visit their home country they can only hardly imagine to move back to Japan. I bought a chain 'made in Taiwan' for my 9 speed cassette ($25.00).

Because I had some time before the State Park opened and I could save the $6.00 he asked for the change I wanted to replace the chain by myself. With the chain in my bag I left and cycled around. I found a beautiful park with benches and a table in a shadows.

'Workbench' in the Park

   The park bench was not far away from a playground. While I was working on my bike from watching people I realized that the 'American Way of Life' is quite different. I watched mothers driving the SUVs directly to the front of the playground slide, let their children play there for a few minutes, packed them back into their SUVs and drove away. In my German hometown the parents walk to the playground, let the children play by themselves (also in the sand) and go home after several hours!

I was glad that I had a peace of mind with the new bike chain and could move on as planned. In the future I would bring an extra "Missing Link" which can be used to repair the chain without tools. After fitting or replacing this link the whole chain would work without problems and could be used flawlessly...

Generally it helps to try repairs on the bike by yourself. The internet and even sometimes the friendly bike mechanics is willing to share information on how things work, what to look out for and how to deal with problems. In situations on the road the repair experiences are worthwhile and can save the cycling day. 

 (to be continued)

Growing Up, part 6

A German Youth

Grown up in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s

   Mentioning Judo in connection with martial arts let someone imagine that there are a bunch of kids running around learning how to beat up each other but originally it's quite the contrary. Its more about self control than aggressiveness, its more about the mind than the body and more about the art than the martial. Or, to stay with a Japanese example, its more about a solemn tea ceremony than violent Sake drinking games.
   A quiet student is a very easy target for bullies. Once in the early morning one bully asked me to stop and we started to argue. He became physical and after a short struggled he fixed me with a headlock while we were still standing. I fought with myself if I should use my skills for several seconds and decided that it would be better to do so just to have my peace in the future. 
   I grabbed his shoulder, stepped on my the right and with a turn of my waist I let him fall over my left stretched out leg. Because of this unexpected movement he let my neck loose. I jumped on him and, like in training, my right arm went around his neck to fix his upper body on the floor while my left arm controlled his right arm (this technique is called 'Kesa-gatame' in Japanese). Not only his friends became suddenly quiet but also all other students on their way to school stood still for a moment. The school bell rang, we got up, I took his hand and, because I felt this way, said "sorry!". 
   It might sound strange that a son of a violent alcoholic and even more violent mother excuses to a bully but this might be explained by my 'soft' character. It's not like that you think that life is bad or there are many bad things are thrown in my way so I "have to do something". I am more a person who does to judge the person but asking "why does a person do or become like this". For example, we all agree that a bully is bad person. But I would ask "why did he become a bully?" I could imagine his family is broken too, that he got bullied by himself, that he had to show off in front of his so-called friends etc. So, I felt a kind of empathy; that's why I apologized to him even I was the clear 'winner'.
   Because of my parent's constant fights and my retreat into books I was very natural in German, one of the major subjects in primary school. Everyone touching the German language not only get some ideas about the complicated grammar but also about the spelling and particularly the rules when words are written in upper and lower cases. For me being tested by dictations or challenged by essays were tasks I've enjoyed tremendously.

 school excursion

   As I've progressed in elementary school I was shocked to learn that the reading skills of my father were very limited. Once I've visited him in his trucking company while he was reading the BILD newspaper, the cheapest, simplest and most dishonest daily paper in whole Germany. When I've asked him a questions why he reads this paper he brutally honest answered me "because I can't read others!" My mother could only help me with my homework until the 3rd grade then I had to ask my elder sister, classmates or friends...
   For a child it is very important to be taken seriously and to be supported, both I did not receive from my parents. But somehow I understood and accepted it, not blaming them. Even as a loner I've tried to do my best, others might see it as a failure.
   My first bicycle was one way to get away from the cage of my own home. I not only rode to school but also took rides further than the neighborhood. I've got an idea how to enjoy the wind, the speed and the freedom to choose which way to ride; any way just to stay away from home. At that time I've started to get interest in mechanical things, like how  bike shifters and gears work, how to make your bike comfortable etc. But I could not change an inner tire, this was the job of my father. 
   Once my father was not at home so my mother tried to fix my flat. In her rough way she took a pair of handy scissors to lift the tire from the rim, put in the new inner tube and fiddled the tire back onto the rim; all with the help of these scissors. But it did not work, as soon as I pumped the air into the tire immediately left with a 'pfffffffff'. So my mother gave me some money (!), I took of the front wheel and rode my sister's bike to a local bike shop. The elderly mechanic pulled out the inner tube, put on his spectacles, pumped up the tube and held it in a bucket of rainwater. After pumping and checking several time he counted 7 holes! With a worrying look he asked me: "What have you done?" I've answered honestly: "I did not take the scissors to exchange the tube!" With a smile he put in a new inner tube.

(to be continued)