Something Old, Something New -- Part I

Time is a funny thing. It slips through your fingers whether you like it or not, and then when you look backward, you wonder why things look so different now even though you still feel like the same person. 

My time here has felt like that. When I disembarked in Taipei and smelled that familiar sweet/sour/mildew-esque odor here, the emotional memory attached to being a fledging missionary washed over me, and my spontaneous tears surprised both me and the children. Beyond feeling so gandong (Chinese translation: moved), it felt so strange to look around at my five children, and yet still feel 21. The vulnerability I felt this time around was just as real, but of a different strain, and it felt perplexing to process it. 

Though not as profound, since arriving in Taiwan I have had many moments that have felt both familiar and new in an odd sort of way. As one would expect, there are many things here that are just as I left them 15 years ago, but there are many things that are completely different, and reflect so many of the changes that nations around the world are experiencing, particularly as globalization becomes an increasing reality. With that in mind, I proceed with the first four major changes I have noticed here. (I will save the others for another entry, since there are so many):

1. I can now flush my toilet paper!

Ok, if you're like any typical westerner, the thought of not flushing one's toilet paper is completely gross. I thought so, too, when I first got on the island. Granted, Taiwanese are used to taking out their garbage every day, but the resultant smell that emanates from any bathroom as a result of having to throw one's paper waste in the garbage can was pretty hard to bear. I used to loathe having to use the restroom for this reason alone.

Because of this, I was so worried about having to deal with this with the kids. Beyond the squatter toilets, I apprehended this challenge the most, since I could just foresee the inevitable problem of overflowing toilets in Ama's house if the kids spaced this protocol. When I told the kids about the TP problem, they were seriously distressed.

"Why don't they do it like we do in America?!" Mr. Bitts asked me.

"Not everyone has good plumbing. The truth is, it is more typical for people in this world to not be able to flush their toilet paper. We've seen that in a lot of places, actually." I explained.

"Yeah, but why don't they all just come to America, then!?!" He insisted.

Insert an obvious chuckle here . . . Sigh. "If you only knew..." I thought.

As so, when we arrived last month and were told that the country had now figured out the plumbing issue by using more biodegradable toilet papers, I literally jumped for joy and clapped my hands in relief. 

Seriously, promise yourself the next time you're in the bathroom that you'll cherish the freedom to flush your toilet paper without consequence. Really. It's genuine blessing, I tell you.

2. General Cleanliness

The first time I saw this, I almost died. A Taiwanese volunteer street cleaning crew!

As a missionary, riding my bike in Taiwan streets and seeing garbage were synonymous with each other. At the beginning it really bothered me to see how casual Chinese people were about throwing their garbage wherever they felt like it. At times the resultant smell that emanated from the streams or vacant lots around us was overwhelming, and I had to make an effort to not inhale while I was riding through certain areas, for fear of my gag reflex. (Incidentally, I have found the same thing to be true of a lot of developing countries I have traveled to. The concept of diverting one's trash/waste is not always well established culturally, and it is a difficult thing to instill institutionally in such cases). 

Imagine my surprise, then, when I looked around on the streets to find little to no garbage at all. I kept looking for it, and though I could still find it in certain corners, it was such a significant difference I was blown away. Part of why this has improved so much is due in part to the next item that shocked me:


3. Taiwan is Recycling

Taiwan now has an unbelievably successful recycling campaign which has been hailed by other nations as a grand success. In fact, the country has reduced its per-capita daily waste by 57.5% in a little over a decade, a period which coincided with 47% GDP growth. 

The local recycling center -- recycling trucks everything from plastics to electronics to appliances here.

As one might guess, the accumulated garbage for 23 million people on an island the size of the Netherlands is a serious concern. Things were getting seriously out of control and the government had to figure something out fast. So, they put the financial onus on manufacturers and importers bringing goods into the country to be consumed, and created financial incentives for its citizens to recycle. At first this was not comfortable for everyone. In fact, Ama knows people personally who were tracked down and fined for not recycling certain items, (i.e. someone literally looked through their receipts and found their address . . . which is something I know Switzerland does as well.) 

Like it or not, the program is getting people to recycle--including very old people who have never made it a priority in their lives until recently. After encountering just how thick Chinese tradition can be, I have great respect that this program has successfully taught them to recycle so effectively.  In fact, Ama's neighborhood houses over 100 families, and here is the daily result of all of their waste. Guess which one is the receptacle for recycling...

What was your guess? Turns out the relatively small metal box Sassy is standing next to adequately holds all of the basic daily garbage for the neighborhood. The much larger dumpster in back houses the recycling. Here's another view. Incidentally, the bikes are part of what will be recycled as well:  

And then behind the dumpster, you will find this clever little number:

"What is this?" you may ask. 

This is actually my favorite part . . . Every garbage area is required to have one of these, which is meant for any leftover food, etc. Anything that can still be eaten will be routed to local pig farms as feed, while the rest is composted. Isn't that smart? I think it is such a great idea. 

The upside to this (and the aforementioned #1, 2, & 3) leads me to the next change...

4. Hardly Any of These:

I cannot even look at this picture without shuddering. Did you know that after the atomic bombs hit Nagasaki and Hiroshima the only living things left afterwards were cockroaches? Cockroaches! I'm not joking. I also just found out that these nasty little buggers can live for a week after losing their heads, and that the only reason they die is because they starve to death. Dis.Gust.Ing!

Of all the critters I have ever encountered, I think I hate cockroaches the worst. They are so dirty, so nasty, and so ungodly, I cannot overemphasize my disgust with them. 

In fact, my very first encounter with them has been forever burned into my brain. After being in the mission field for just a day or two I went to use the bathroom, and as I sat on the toilet I suddenly saw some of these suckers run out from underneath the toilet seat, as well as on the floor behind it. I have never leaped off a latrine more swiftly than I did in that moment, and the accompanying scream could have shattered glass. 

Thankfully, by the end of my mission I learned to cope with them a bit more effectively, but I never got used to hearing their clacking feet (mind you, these are big suckers) run past me on the streets at night, or to hear an occasional crunch of their abdomen when you were lucky enough to actually crush one. (Shudder, shudder, shudder.)

With this in mind, you can now appreciate my unbelievable gratitude at the fact that since I have been here I have only seen . . . (drumroll, please) . . . ONE COCKROACH. That's it. Only ONE and it was dead!!! (Insert great celebratory noise here.)

Truly, to spend an entire month in Taiwan and only see one cockroach during my time here is beyond miraculous. Just ask any of the people I served my mission with. They will tell you. Granted, people here are telling me part of the reason is because we haven't reached the summer time yet, and also because Taipei has many more roaches than Central Taiwan. But, I don't care what they say. I know a miracle when I see one.