Hey everyone! The past week I have been visiting the Pingtung County area. Pingtung is where my friend Mary is located, so I was able to crash in the apartment her team lives in. I mainly came to Pingtung because the rest of my Team is off in Japan on a missions trip, so going back to Hualien would have been a little boring. But besides to escape boredom, I had a goal when coming here to Pingtung: find a beanie chair and a traditional Chinese dress.
One day I spent almost all my time in Chaozhou looking for a traditional Chinese dress. I only found one store and the options were disappointing, and really expensive. So the next day I searched in Pingtung City, I found a few stores, but the dress were all over 5,000nt, which is about 161 American dollars. I do not consider myself a cheapskate, but that price was definitely a rip-off. Unfortunately, when I was searching for the traditional dress, I ended up buying cloths that I could have done without..so much for the self control I had been exercising since I arrived here in Taiwan. Next day I decided to travel to Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung, I found out, has an IKEA, which meant I could find my chair, and I heard there were many stores that sold Chinese dresses. Well, IKEA was a bust, could not find a beanie chair. Although, it was nice to see almost everything in English, made me feel like I was back in the states. As for the dress, I did not realize Kaohsiung was so big, so I found one store and realized that everything was even more overpriced because I was in Kaohsiung, which apparently is a popular city. On the way back I had decided to give up on finding a dress here, I would look for one in Hualien when I returned. Then a thought popped into my head, why not go to the market in Chaozhou and take a look around before heading back to the apartment. Bad idea, here I have come to learn ignoring my ideas will usually bring the best possible outcome. At the market, I was suckered into buying a shirt, mainly because I did not look at the price first, but I had already said I was going to buy it, so I felt bad. On the plus side, I learned how to barter. Due to spending a lot on the shirt, I persuaded another lady to lower the price on two skirts I wanted to buy. Good thing it worked too, because I was did not have a lot of cash on me.
As I was heading back to the apartment, Mary sent me a text regarding a store nearby that sold traditional Chinese dresses. I was out of on hand cash, but I figured that was best so I would not be tempted to buy anything.
I found the store and to my amazement there were tons of the traditional Chinese dresses. The best part was, the prices fit my budget. It took a little while because the store owner could not speak hardly any English, but I was able to practice my Chinese and we conversed a little. He was joined by his two kids and a friend and they were helping him figure out what I was saying. It did not work for very long and we ended up using Google translate on his computer. It was weird because every time I answered their question with "okay," they would break out laughing! Another thing about the dresses here was the sizes are not like American sizes, because most Asians do not have curves and the dresses are styled to fit Asians not Americans. So in the changing room I could hear them talking and laughing about the size I was trying on, and all I was thinking was it is not my fault I am an American, and not Asian. I did find a dress, it is a little too big, but I plan on doing some alterations to fix it. The store owner told me-through Google translate-that he would give me a 10% discount for being such a good customer! Then I asked him if I could pay with a card, but he said only cash. I felt so bad, because I did not bring any cash, so I asked him if he could keep the dress while I ran to the post office to get some cash. He said, "no no no, too long of a walk, I drive motorcycle, I give you ride." However, I signed a contract before coming to Taiwan, agreeing not to drive or ride a moped or motorcycle. So I said I could not ride a motorcycle, but I would run and get back really quickly. He responded with a shocked look and said, "no, too far! I drive you." I have to admit, the offer was tempting, because it was so humid and hot, and running in heat is not pleasant at all. I thought, nobody will see me, nobody will even find out if I rode the motorcycle. But then I remembered, God would see me, He would know. Also, I was reminded of a skit some of the English teachers presented at the retreat. In the skit the teachers would be in a situation where they had the choice to drive a moped, and after choosing to drive the moped they would later end up in an accident. It was only a few days later and I believe God was testing me, giving me that same option to choose. So I "politely" put my foot down, as it were, and told the man I was going to run. The post office really was not far away, so I got back in no time at all. The store owner was shocked, he was so impressed I got another discount! This little incident reminded me of a verse in Deuteronomy 28, "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God." The Holy Spirit had convicted me and I made the decision to obey God, and upon doing so I received a blessing instead of a negative consequence for disobedience. I am really glad God took me through this little experience, it was a great reminder that God's promises are true. Even though I know God's promises are true, I forget more often than I should. I am just feeling thankful that God knows me better than I know myself, and He will remind me when I need it.
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