Gratitude

   For what it is, I have found that the Taiwanese are a very grateful people. It's in their culture, it's in their history, and it's in everything that they do. For example, whenever I walk into a 7-11 they say: "Welcome!"  and "Thank you for coming!" when I leave. After everything I do, they always say "Thank you" or "Don't bother" when I thank them. That is extremely powerful when you think about it.
In America, that doesn't really happen. I can't tell how many times I have been grateful towards someone in America and I have been blown off, as if I didn't matter to them, or to anyone. There are only a handful of people that I've met, those who I do not know personally (just strangers), who have given me their entire attention and who actually seem like I matter to them. I actually am really fond of those sayings I hear everyday. Sure we make fun of those sayings because it's fun to say, but really, it means a lot.
   Or countless times when I am in the market, or at school, or walking down the street, I am approached by the Taiwanese and I am thanked for being here! Why are they thanking me? I think that my professor, Hung-dah Su, answers the question quite well. He stated that Taiwan is an internationally "choked" country. Its politics are constricted by mainland China, its just a little guy in the whole of Asia, and according to my experience, not many people know what Taiwan IS (and I find that really fascinating!). They thank us for being here because we, even though we are just visiting or studying, are helping them become known in the world, which has been a struggle from the very beginning.
   While I'm on the subject of gratitude, there are quite a few memorials here in Taiwan that give so much honor to those who have done great things for the country. Those that I've visited were the Sun Yat-sen Memorial, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, and the National Martyrs' Memorial. These memorials commemorate great people, and before coming here I really didn't know anything about them, except for a few things. But truly, even by just seeing these memorials, you feel something.

   This is Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the Republic of China.

   Chiang Kai-shek, the man who fought back against the Communist Chinese in support of Taiwan. He retreated, however, in the end, to the island with more than 2 million people, and all that was important to him.

   This is the National Martyrs' Memorial, in honor of those who died in fighting for the independence of Taiwan.

   These places were so extraordinary, it's just that when the Taiwanese visited these places they paid so much respect to them. Some even bowed. At every memorial they have guards stationed in front of the memorials, and a ceremonial "changing of the guards" happens every hour, showing great respect towards those. 

   I just really find it fascinating that they give so much respect to those who did so much for them. Without these people, Taiwan wouldn't be the country it is today. Look at how much these people sacrificed for what they truly believed in... I deeply respect them...