Illiterate.

I chose the shortest line at Carrefour the other day to check out. When I got to the front, the cashier asked me if I had a Carrefour credit card. It was a priority line for their credit card holders. But the signs indicating that were only in Chinese. So when I said I didn't have the said card (and no, I definitely don't want one), she obviously still served me.

(If you click on the Carrefour link, you'll get a little glimpse of what it's like to be illiterate in a grocery store in Taiwan...)

Sometimes, it really is tough not being able to read and write Chinese. But it's 2009, and many signs around Taipei are indeed bilingual. It wasn't like that when I first came here in 1995. Hardly any street signs were even in English. I remember standing in downtown Taipei with a large map and comparing one character after another on the street sign with the minuscule characters on the map.

But things have changed.

Only once in a while (like on my drive up into the mountains yesterday morning) do I still find big signs that have no English.

When it comes to products, however, things rarely are in English. So, a couple of months ago, when I wanted to buy some hair products at Watson's, I was faced with a shelf full of gels and putties and such, with all the signs in Chinese and Japanese. (Japanese since many of the products come from the neighboring nation with their hip hairstyles, I guess!)

Everything was sealed tight, so no ways could I open tubs and see what they're like. And it's not like in the US where you can take things back and say, "This is not what I was looking for."

So I bought one. Which made my hair feel like I hadn't washed it in weeks! Bought a second one. Which felt like chewing gum. I ended up with four different gels. I. kid. you. not. I don't use any of those. Ended up buying hair products in the US.

I've had way worse experiences which I won't bore you with.

Point is: It's sometimes just plain tough to be illiterate in Chinese. But not to the point where I feel it necessary to learn how to read and write. Chinese is simply too hard for that. I'll stick to learning how to speak.

And I'll stick to teaching others how to speak English. For now.

Tomorrow, I'll start tutoring once again. I'm thrilled. I have three new students, all lower school kids. Working with them should be fun! Working with a high schooler is great, too. A completely different dynamic.

I like the variety of working with various age groups.

And though I generally like variety, I'm very ready for some stability in life. Solid teaching hours and such.

It'll come. I know. In the meantime, I am making the most of the free hours I have to learn all I can for my current class on church history.

Want to know more? So do I. I still have much to learn!