Lives in the Lotus Blossom, Chapter 10: Chen Jun-bin

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Chen Jun-bin doesn't have an English name. At first this surprised me, because he is a really with-it and cosmopolitan kind of guy.

Bin speaks pretty good English--we have great talks as our desks face each other in one of the teachers' workrooms. Some of my humour (word plays and so forth) is hard for him to find amusing, but that is true of a lot of English people too.

Bin’s wife Su-ling is ethnic Chinese from Malaysia, and the two have an amusing and entertaining little boy named Leo. Bin has an American brother-in law.

That anyone can do Math in the first place is a mystery to me, and Bin can do it in Chinese! I knew he was a Math teacher before he even told me--who else would be carrying a chalk-smudged compass and protractor?

Bin and Su-ling live in Ji-an Township. You might say that Ji-an is to Hualien as Burnaby is to Vancouver. It is a fast-growing, with-it kind of community. Bin has mentioned to me that it is better to live in the city and teach in a small town than vice versa, and I am inclined to agree.

He has taught me a lot about this place and this society, so different from yet so similar to my own.

From the very first time I met Bin, over a year ago, I knew he was an interesting person. For one thing, he admires my skill with chopsticks (many people politely say that) but he prefers to use a knife and fork.

Bin did his national service in the ROC army, and was assigned to Communications. That means radios and phone lines and codes and so on—as opposed to spin doctoring. Some guys get really good gigs in their national service. We used to know a guy named Scott (counselor at the summer camp in Danshui those years ago) who did his time in the Military Police--riding a Harley Davidson around Taipei, escorting big shots and being in parades and that. As a result of his service, Bin is a skilled lineman who can run up a pole with a belt-and-spikes like nobody's business.

We all have dreams, and Bin’s is to see the world. He has already been to Canada and USA and Mexico (well, Tijuana anyway) on “our” side of the pond, and Japan, Malaysia, Korea (ROK, of course), and Bali.

It’s a big world, and Bin and I share that same dream.

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Photos

Chen Jun-bin
My happy-go-lucky Math-teaching colleague.

With Winona and Jin-tran
Winona is the Fine Arts teacher. She has travelled to France and (even though her vocabulary is limited) she speaks beautiful French because the phonics are oddly similar.

Bin and I
The people make the difference in any work situation.

Jin-tran and I
Jin-tran speaks no English at all, yet he has always been unfailingly kind to me. There is an bottomless teapot and a smile whenever we "talk".

Comments

[Jennifer]

Same experience
Hi Doug, I continue to enjoy reading your postings with interest and in this one I recognize my own experiences in Korea with my host-mother who didn't speak a word of English except "Okay" (with accompanying thumbs up). I am consistently amazed that despite the fact that two people can not communicate with words, an abundance of love and kindness can be shared, felt, enjoyed and a true human connection can be fostered. It is a beautiful thing and strengthens my belief that humanity and spiritual connections between people from any country in the world is possible...it just takes a curiosity and genuine interest in others. Enjoy your days in this wonderful country and please pass on my greetings and encouragement to Sue. Jennifer

[Peter M]

No English
Thanks for keeping the blog going. My in-laws speak no English. It's a beautiful thing! Take care. Peter.