"Why did you want to study in Taiwan?"

This local Christian church is topped with the phrase "Jesus Loves You"
I didn't see this much in mainland China. If at all.

This past Thursday all the participants in my Chinese program--the International Chinese Language Program (ICLP) here at National Taiwan University--had to take a placement test which involved a two-hour reading and listening comprehension exam along with a short speaking test. The speaking test was rather simple and something you might expect from an interview based exam designed to gauge language ability as I was asked about my college back home, whether I liked to travel, etc.  "Why did you choose to come to Taiwan?" they asked. I gave them a couple of reasons--"Oh... I studied in mainland China last year and wanted to see how Taiwanese culture differed, Oh... I am mostly familiar with simplified characters so I want to improve my comprehension of traditional characters, Oh... blah blah blah."

There was more that I wasn't telling the interviewer. And, surprisingly, I didn't much hesitate in revealing the real reason I was in the ROC.

"I wanted to go to Taiwan to meet members of my Church here. I want to understand how Chinese culture to them meshes with our worldwide, religious culture."

That sparked a bit of a conversation with the proctor as I further explained myself, but don't worry, it wasn't at all evangelical. Being true to myself was thrilling though. It's true--I'm here in Taiwan because I want to go to church. In Sichuan province in the mainland where I was last summer, government regulations only allowed me to congregate as a church body with other foreigners. There may have been Chinese mormons in Chengdu, but we were prohibited from having religious activities of any kind with them.  There were no chapels and certainly no temples. I couldn't even let a religious conversation with a local Chinese friend go very deep before I risked veering into "passive proselyting," another proscribed activity. I loved my experience in the mainland. But I would be lying if I said I didn't feel spiritually stifled.

So how much of a thrill it was Thursday evening to take 20 minute walk and see before my eyes a temple--a building we Latter-day Saints consider most sacred--in Taipei. I decided to take a glance inside the adjoining chapel (visitors welcome, so even in my street clothes I could pop right in) and shortly was treated to a tour of the building, in Chinese, from two Taiwanese sister missionaries. Hearing them speak about gospel topics and use gospel words which I had up to that point only been able to experience in print was a dream come true. To me, these sisters were more than missionaries. They were spiritual celebrities.

The chapel adventures continued. Hoping to get a
suggestion of a good place to go eat dinner, I asked some older guys playing basketball in the gym where a good place would be. I ended up playing basketball with them and some more Taiwanese church members for the next several hours and then being treated to dinner by the brother I had originally asked for a dinner suggestion. If that weren't awesome enough, he gave me an even more detailed tour of the chapel later, told me about some upcoming activities, and personally helped me find the right bus stop to get home while helping me figure out how to purchase a bus/subway convenience card

Yup.



This is why I'm here.

Oh, and they sell fresh produce in the 7-11s here. It's pretty weird.