My Trek to Work

Squinting, I peer through the sheet of rain to see if the light has changed.  The minute it turns green, I put my full weight on the pedals, hoping to quickly get out of the torrential downpour.  The rain bounces off the pavement, but flows in streams down the disposal yellow raincoat I had hastily thrown on and stopping only at boggy land—my jeans!  The plastic raincoat hugs my skin like saran wrap, sweat on the inside, rain on the outside.  When I go full speed, the rain pelts harder, and I can barely keep my eyes open in the liquid assault.  I breathe in air in short gasps like a swimmer surfacing for precious air and sputter to ensure I don't swallow any water.  I pass a few bikes and even a slow scooter.  Biking beside scooters and cars and dodging buses pulling into their stops has given me the right amount of adrenalin.  

 Finally, I arrive at my destination to wait for 908, the bus that will take me to Sanxia for my 90min par-time job.  The bus arrives.  I swipe my wallet (it contains a magnetized transit card) against the machine and stand beside an empty seat.  I carefully peel off my yellow plastic skin without dripping onto the seat and plop down for a long ride to Sanxia.  I become a human humidifier in my air-conditioned classroom.  My jeans dry by the time I finish class, but my raincoat is still dripping away.  Ironic, eh? 

Why did I take this job?  Why do I spend so much time travelling for such a short time of teaching?  Before I took the job, the verse from 1 Thess really spoke to me: "make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. "  (11-12)  I told God that I'm willing to go anywhere to work, but He had to open doors for me. 

The next day, I got a follow-up call from the English academy I had an interview at earlier that week.  The wanted me to teach for 90min a day.  I quickly accepted, as I knew this was the job God wanted me to take despite the fact that it didn’t make sense to travel for around 2 hours to teach for 90min.  I know I can trust in Him even when things don't make sense the way a child trusts his/her parent even though medicine might taste funny.

Thus began my daily trek to Sanxia.  The fare for a roundtrip bus ride was $3 because I had to take 2 different buses, but to save $1/day, I decided to ride to the bus that took me straight to Sanxia.  If I save a dollar a day, I can afford to feed a child for a month in India or I could pay for fruit for 8 kids for a month.  And thus began my trek to Sanxia.  I like biking to 908 because I get exercise and I can save time not having to wait between buses.  The fun begins when it rains though.  For whatever reason, there are frequent afternoon showers in Taipei.  For whatever reason, more often than not, these showers begin when I’m in the middle of my bike ride or just half an hour before.

I’m gonna miss the feeling of accomplishment of getting to safety—the sanctuary of the bus—and having my jeans dry quickly because of a combination of body heat and AC in the classroom.