July 6

I woke up early this morning (5 am) to catch a train back to Hualien. One of the clinicians that I presented for while we were in Hualien invited me to come back down to visit the clinics that she is in charge of and provide consultation on what they might be able to do to improve their services. Most of the day was spent traveling to small villages and having them show me off to different people. I really didn’t have to say much to anyone, they just wanted people to see that they had a foreign “expert” from America who supported the services that they were providing. We visited a few of the mental and physical health clinics in these villages and then a village occupation program and an elderly community center. I also got to very briefly visit with the Deputy for Health (or something like that) for the entire Nation and a few of the people who worked for her. It wasn’t planned, but they were so glad that they scheduled their visit on the day that I had been planning on returning, because they were trying to impress them so they could get some additional funding for their mental health programs. 

A group of us had lunch at this secluded little restaurant. It was just in a two story hut, and there was a small earthquake while we were eating on the second floor. The whole building shook a little, but fortunately the earthquake didn’t last long. After that I did a little more consulting and then caught the train back to Taipei. That was the last work thing that I needed to do on the trip and although none of my work things for this trip were very stressful, I am glad that I don’t have to think about them any more for the rest of the time while we are here. 

Back in Taipei Rebecca and the children went to the park and did some activities around the apartment. 

When I got back home it was kind of late and time for the children to go to bed. But, after they went to bed Rebecca and I snuck out and went to a restaurant that I remember going to when I was a missionary. This place is known for their golden steamed buns – they take the regular steamed buns and then fry them a couple of times after they steam them. They were so delicious and perfect for dipping in the soup that we got.

At the main train station in Taipei. This place is really massive. It also has a shopping center for a few floors underground.




The big gate again for the Chaing Kai-Shek memorial.




The restaurant!!!



We ended up ordering way too much food for just the two of us.