From Garbage Island to Recycling Model - Who Knew?

Move aside politics - Taiwan's recycling program is as patriotic as it gets and is rivaling the world.

The island is small – about 1/8^th the size of the state of Colorado. (12,456 sq miles), with a population of 23,847,385 people.  And it learned its lesson years ago when garbage piles filled cities and garbage dumps were nearing full capacity.

Known at the time as “Garbage Island”, Taiwan had a crisis on its hands. In 1993 nearly nothing was recycled. Two thirds of the landfills were already reaching the breaking point.

Today the streets are clean from rubbish. More trash is recycled than not. In Taipei, a whopping 67% of its trash is recycled. And citizens are proud to participate and quick to criticize (kindly remind) if you are less than exemplary in your disposal practices.

Für Elise drifts through the air each day as bright yellow garbage trucks come to your neighborhood corner, as regular as clock work, announcing their arrival. Our neighborhood trucks arrive precisely at 8:41 pm. I can set my watch by it. They have never been one minute early or late. How do they do that?? These are our neighborhood trucks, as seen from our apartment window. 8:41 pm. Right on time. 

I tried to throw some trash away once, joining the cheerful neighborhood group that had gathered around the truck, but was not aware of the complex system of recyclables and cute colored bag schemes. That’s where the cuteness vanished. Someone from the crowd quickly came to my side and, loudly gesturing, explained, I guess, what the procedures for proper disposal were.  Of course, I didn’t understand a word.

In addition to the trucks, there are bins of various colors and sizes and for various purposes. I learned I was to use a specific type of blue plastic bag for regular trash, which would go into the truck. Then I was to pour my pre-sorted glass, paper, cardboard, cans and plastic into various other bins. My raw food waste was to go into a blue plastic barrel (no bags – just the food – people were opening tied up plastic bags and emptying the slurried contents into the barrel) – and the cooked food waste into another.

If that wasn’t complicated enough, the recycling then gets sorted into metal, aluminum, paper plates, plastic containers, batteries, car parts, tires, batteries, computer parts, electrical parts, etc. There are 33 various recycling categories processed in more than 1600 recycling centers all over the island! 

The raw food gets collected and processed into fertilizer for farmers. The cooked food gets turned into farm animal feed.

My head dizzied in response to the process and the assertive explanations by my Neighborhood Watch "friend". I’m afraid I’m not quite “there” yet. Feeling embarrassed, I've just thrown our trash in the Church dumpsters ever since.....crazy Americans!

In Taipei City, to encourage people to engage in these programs, you have to pay for the blue colored bags for general household trash.  But if you dump recycling items – there is no cost. The more you recycle, the less you pay. It works. Most of the time.

For those caught infringing the rules, there is public shaming and hefty fines waiting.

Recycling and going organic are extremely popular here.  There’s a sense of patriotism about it all. No insecticides, no chemicals, no plastic wastes, cleaner streets, healthier people. They are generally very proud of their progress and success as a nation.

The poor and elderly collect recyclables for extra cash. Photo below - not far from where we live, this motorcycle-turned-recycling-truck daily converges on this spot to collect recyclables from the neighbors to turn in for extra cash.

Below: another collection point not far from our apartment: (by the way - the Taiwan Mango Snowflake Ice place as seen in the photo is highly recommended if you ever come to Taiwan!) 

From garbage island to recycling model. Taiwan rivals the world in a sustainable approach to environmental responsibility. 

So how would YOU recycle rusty fans and worn out garden gloves?

With orchids? Who knew???

The Honoring of the Dead and Other Cultural Traditions

The Honoring of the Dead

The monks in their humble brown robes chanted prayers and offered incense. They led family members in Buddhist sutra (scripture) readings and reverent ceremonies which lasted several days. 

Our senior sister missionary's family at the home of her mother

Here is one of the most sacred and revered moments in a family’s existence. It is the honoring of the deceased. Our senior missionary sister lost her father one year ago, and recently returned to her home in central Taiwan to join her Buddhist mother, siblings and other family members in a reverent ceremony that seems to bring the spiritual realm and the physical world together even if just for a short while.

On this occasion, the one-year anniversary of the elderly father’s death, family members gathered at their widow-mother’s home. According to tradition, sons and all their children must be in attendance. Daughters are expected to be there as well, but their children’s attendance is optional. It is basically considered a mandatory family reunion. Family members will travel across the world to participate in this most sacred event. If a family member, especially a son, cannot attend in person, they can hire a person to attend in their stead. 

The family continues with the reading of sutras

The family prepared food for the gathering group as well as for lavish offerings for the deceased. The soft clanging of bells and clunking of sticks ring through the house with semi-monotone monk-chanting ceremonies which lasted for hours. The hiring of companies to perform these ceremonies has become a very lucrative business which vacillates between gang-controlled funeral organizations and cherished cultural traditions that span generations.

Regardless of the challenges and great expense these practices raise, filial piety brings out the best in feelings of love and adoration to loved ones who have passed away.

All this is done to help the deceased have a successful journey in the afterlife and bring blessings to the living. 

The passing away of an elderly person is typically considered a celebration of a life well-lived, and the one-year anniversary is a continuation of that celebration, although tears always flow as a sign of respect and gratitude. The one-year anniversary is considered one of the most important and filial-required duties of family members. 

Buddhist monks lead the family in the ceremonial rites.

Courtesy of flickr - Yuxuan Wang

When our senior sister missionary's father passed away, his name was printed on a wooden ancestral memorial tablet, called a 祖先牌位, or Zǔxiān páiwèi.  At this one-year death anniversary event, his name was then written on paper and added to an ancestral box, containing the names of all the ancestors as far back on the family line as possible. Only after a year of waiting can his name be added to the rest of the ancestors'. 

While we honor our dead in different ways in the Church, some traditions ring a bell of familiarity.  

Which brings us to the temple.

Why Does the Taipei Temple Have a Blue Roof?

Many people have noticed the bright blue roof of the Taiwan Taipei temple. It's penetrating, glazed tiles reflect the sunlight and stand as a beautiful focal point with the soft gray tiled walls and white spires. 

But why the blue, I asked?  The answer lies just a few kilometers away at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. The dominating Memorial Hall and the beautiful striking "Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness" accentuate the blue tiles representing heaven, or the sky.  The whole Memorial Hall is designed to symbolize the "unification of Man and Heaven." 

In 2010, we visited China with one of our daughters, and fell in love with the three-tiered blue-roofed Temple of Heaven. There is so much beautiful symbolism in this structure - including the three tiers of heaven and the heaven-represented blue tiles. 

We have found the blue theme running throughout several of our Taiwan chapels as well. 

Once we understood the "man and heaven" unification symbolism, the blue roof of the temple seems very fitting. The temple is a House of God - a place where we can feel peace and where we can, with no distractions from the outside world, focus on the things of eternity and provide blessings for our loved ones who have passed away as well. Truly a bringing together of man and heaven.

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    Do Some Chinese Characters Really Teach Gospel Principles?

Chinese culture continues to surprise us with Gospel-related messages. The Chinese written language is an absolute treasure trove of hidden gems. Another "packet of light" was brought to my attention recently, this time hidden in the Chinese character for the word - "repent".

悔改

These are the two characters which make up the word "repent".  The first character on the left is "hui" and the one on the right is "gai". Putting them together you get "huigai", which means repent. 

But you can often break characters down further to get a richer meaning - a meaning behind the meaning. 

The character on the left,悔has two parts, or radicals. The radical on the left is one of the depictions of "ren" - or man, person. You can see a vertical line with two "arms" extending out - showing one of the very simplest pictures of a person. The radical on the right, 每, is the word for "mei" - meaning each. "ren" + "mei" = Each person.

The whole word by itself, 悔,"hui", means regret. So every person has regrets or makes mistakes.

Back to 悔改- the character on the right,改, is "gai" or change.

Now put them all together in pieces and you will have:

ren + mei + gai = each person change = repent.  Every person has regrets and needs to change, or repent. 

The President of our Church, whom we consider to be a prophet just like Moses or Isaiah or Peter, recently explained: "When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy—the joy of redemption in Him. When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ!" (President Russell M. Nelson, April 2019 General Conference)

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Just think of all the discoveries we could make in Chinese culture if we had time enough to study them all. There are volumes written about these similarities. So much to learn. So little time! We finish our mission in just 3-1/2 weeks!

The Year of the Ox has Begun

It's the Year of the Ox! 新蔫快樂 to all our friends!  The Lunar New Year has officially begun with deserted streets and closed up shops. Everyone has 'gone home.' Much like our Thanksgiving tradition of being home with family, Taiwanese will shut down operations a week before the new year, and travel "home" to be with parents or grandparents. Depending on time off availability from work, they might just get a few days off, or more commonly, a week to ten days. It's the single most important and beloved holiday of the year.

Courtesy of flickr - Nicholas Chou

And this year it is the Ox. The Chinese zodiac cycles through 12 animals, one each year, with related symbolism that is supposed to be a key indicator of what kind of personality you will have. The Ox - hardworking, honest, low key and never looks for personal praise. They think logically and make great leaders. 

Are you an Ox?  According to Chinese tradition, you are if you were born in one of these years: 1925; 1937; 1949; 1961; 1973; 1985; 1997; 2009; 2021

An "ox", by the way, is anything of the Bovidae family.  It can be a cow, bull, steer, ox, water buffalo, etc. But usually it is depicted here as a water buffalo.

Let the celebrations begin!

The Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taipei hosts an annual lion dance performance. The senior missionaries attended together and then were treated by the mission president to an amazing buffet lunch.

The dancing lion is very popular with the children - they all wanted to pet him. No wonder - he spews out candy!

A child rests on his mother's shoulders to get a better look at the dancing and leaping golden lion.

 This one spews out candy too! 

The pink cherry blossoms are out in full swing. People LOVE to photograph the blossoms. Wherever there are blossoms, you can find numerous photographers below their branches.

 

Food, of course, is an integral part of the Lunar New Year traditions. Lots of food. One meal was at a member's home who graciously fed 13 of us today, having already fed missionaries yesterday, and they came again today just as we were leaving - to be fed again. Members and friends will invite the missionaries to their homes for meals all throughout the Lunar New Year holiday. Some of the missionaries have up to 22 meal invitations - breakfast, lunch and dinner!  It's considered a "bringer of good luck" if you host family and good friends. 

Our host prepared over 12 dishes for our lunch today - everything completely homemade from scratch. Dumplings, thin pancakes to fill with thin slices of beef, vegetables dishes with pork, chicken, peppers, celery, cilantro, tofu, tomatoes and black rubbery fungus. Soup with squid balls and Chinese radishes. Red rose apples filled with tuna salad (!!). We were already stuffed when she brought out dessert - and what a treat - it was a Western dessert!  Large cream puffs filled with slightly sweetened cream and fruit. It was the perfect touch. THEN she brought out the cheese cake - as American of a cheese cake as one would ever find - absolutely delicious! THEN she brought out the walnut-filled dates and jujubes! We could take in no more. THEN, the final drink - a pot filled with lotus seed and white snow fungus drink. Actually, it was very good - fungus and all.    

We have less than 7 weeks left.  

Soon this will be just a memory. 

Not sure we have significantly changed anyone's lives for the better. 

But one thing is for sure - our lives are better for having been here. 

Especially during this COVID time. 

We've seen the gentle, kind, good people of Taiwan do their part.

We've seen missionaries, through the coming and going of COVID-run exoduses, demonstrate their faith and courage amidst an uncertain future. 

We've been in touch with some of the over 80 Taiwan-bound missionaries who were re-routed to other missions - whose pictures are still lined up on the board - a silent testimony to their faith that they are indeed ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ - and will go wherever He calls, even if it's not to Taiwan. 

We have been so blessed by just being here. 

A Typical Day for the Housing Coordinators

 Follow us on our trip to Guangfu, Hualien.

It's 8:00 am. The serene mountains east of Taipei are always stunning, especially in the early morning with the mists and low hanging clouds creating an iconic panoramic view as we cruise along the highway.

We are on our way to Guangfu to close out an empty missionary apartment.

It's only 126 miles to Guangfu, but it'll take 4 hours to get there. It's shorter now than when we first came to Taiwan. Now there are 24 kilometers made up of a series of 15 tunnels, somewhat straightening out the winding, narrow mountainous roads to Hualien and points south, including Guangfu.

The tunnels are rather hypnotic, kilometer after kilometer of stripes and lights passing our view.

The drive includes an 18 kilometer-long freeway-bridge through the remote parts of Yilan County. We pass over small towns intermixed with rice paddies which are filed to the brim with water - ready for the first planting which will occur in a few weeks.

Fortunately for adventurous travelers, some of the mountainous roads are still part of the beautiful and amazing trip to the east coast of Taiwan. 

Hualien County is beautiful, but it's the drive that's amazing!

We arrive in Guangfu around 12:30 pm. Guangfu is a small sleepy town. The missionary "apartment" here is actually a three story five bedroom house. It's been empty for some time. It'll take a lot of work to get it cleaned up and ready to turn over to the landlord. We change into work clothes and get to work.

The van gets full to the brim with mattresses, desks, chairs, boxes, bags, fans, a microwave, heaters, and several bags of garbage. 

The house is cold and damp, with peeling paint, cement walls, and interesting former occupants. When the elders lived there, they caught this lovely lady.

A huntsman spider - generally harmless, but huge

Fortunately for us, the only resident we found was a former resident..... a mold-covered dried up gecko.

The toilets were typical of ones found in many places throughout Taiwan. Though they appear like Western toilets, their function-ability is not quite the same. These signs are seen less and less, but are still quite common throughout the country. A trash can is always nearby to collect used  items.....

A not-too-bad nights sleep on a rock hard mattress in the cold, damp house, and we're ready to finish up and meet with the landlord.

Thank you to an amazing local senior couple who came to help with the translation needs. They are serving not far from here and have done amazing work bringing several families to Christ in this part of the vineyard.

Then it's time to welcome the landlord and complete negotiations. If everything goes well, we get the full deposit back.

Landlord checking the contract, bills, and keys

Today was one of those days. All is well.

The senior couple invites us to lunch. We go to the Li Chuan Aquafarm - home of the "world's best freshwater clams." We dine on clams, water lotus greens, and sweet and sour red snapper. The clams and red snapper are harvested right there at the aquafarm. Talk about fresh!

For 100 Kuai (about $3.57 US dollars) you can load up a container with as many fresh clams as you can find to take home for dinner. Children love the adventure of digging through the muddy water to find each clam.

Or playing with the fish.

After lunch, we stop off at the Hualien Elders apartment to swap dryers so they can have one that works, fix a washing machine leak, and encourage a thorough apartment cleaning (!!).

Hualien coastline

Then comes the arduous, but beautiful,
drive back home, and the unloading of the stuffed van into the mission storage area. The mattresses, dryer, desks, chairs, bags, garbage, heaters, etc. all come back out and are tucked away in their proper places.

It's been a long two days but a great trek. 

We work behind-the-scenes here at the mission, and are grateful for the opportunity to support the marvelous work the young missionaries do in the forefront. 

After all this work, it's time for a great P-day activity!  Next blog!