The Good Fortune of Meeting Mr. Fish

I started the week without a place to live and without any reliable form of transportation, and trusted that it would somehow work out. Drifting about was somewhat exciting at first, but the charm wore off quickly. I had many people helping me with the search, but after two days of looking, it became apparent that free university housing was not an option, and very few people wanted to rent for less than 6 months; much less 6 weeks.  Then something amazing happened on Tuesday.

I found a lady online who felt some sympathy for me and said she’d consider renting. It was the place nearest to campus, so I was very hopeful, and we agreed to meet at the University later that day. A couple hours before going to meet her, I was invited to have tea with some other guys working here, and met a Mr. Yu, who I now call "Fish" (his name sounds similar to the Mandarin word for fish). We got along right away, and it turns out he is a swimmer, so he went to show me the pool on campus. I already felt fortunate to meet him, but that was only the beginning.

He took me to meet the lady renting, and they recognized each other immediately – they were next door neighbors! What are the chances? Of all the apartment complexes, buildings, floors, and rooms in Hualien… Being a good neighbor, he eased her worries about renting to me by offering to help find someone to take over in November when I leave. He helped write up a contract, negotiate the payment, and gave me full access to any of his cooking and cleaning supplies. And my good fortune didn’t stop there.

Getting adjusted to scootering

If you remember, I still had the problem of having no reliable mode of transportation. Earlier that day, I checked out a place that sold scooters, and talked with the owner about buying one with the agreement that I would sell it back in 6 weeks. It was expensive, but not as much as renting day by day, so it was doable. None of that mattered after meeting Fish, because down in the basement, he had an old scooter he hadn’t ridden in months, and gave it to me freely! Problem solved, and I’ve been cruising around on it ever since. There still was a slight hitch – the scooter's registration expired, so it wouldn’t be good to take far away from campus… On weekends, I’d want to go explore and visit Ruth down in Taitung, so still needed another option.

Fish to the rescue! His family lives in Taipei and he goes back by train every weekend. So he said I could use his car anytime. It’s an old second-hand Mitsubishi he doesn’t care much for – all the better for lending out, since he doesn’t mindif it gets bumped or scratched. So through this one guy, my housing and transportation problems were magically solved, and I have a trusty new neighbor I can rely on. But that’s not even the best part.

In the past week since knowing Fish, I found out about his work as an engineer focused on designing structures and inventing systems that are in harmony with the environment. He doesn’t specialize in water issues, but they play a big part. He knows things I want to know, and he has worked on projects I want to work on. He patiently answers my questions, and explains his ideas and experiences to me carefully, without seeming proud or condescending. I’ve already learned a lot and will share with you in a separate post.

So was all this coincidence? Maybe it happened because it was my birthday that day. Or maybe because I was wearing my lucky green and orange tiger boxers (I wore them to an interview that became a job offer,  and I wore them the day I proposed to Ruth). I’ve always considered myself a lucky guy, but this felt like something more – it seems to me there is a difference between being lucky and being blessed. I am an eternal optimist, and maybe just by thinking positively and trusting that things will work out, there is a greater chance that they do. Whatever it was, people were praying for me, and those prayers were answered and I am very thankful.