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After four days of walking around Taipei City, Da Pong and I finally got a day off. We decided to accompany my mother to visit one of the Tzu Chi Hospitals. My mother somehow travels far to this hospital every month for her monthly checkup. It is quite a distance for her to travel by bus from Sin Zhuan to Sin Dian! I wanted to tag along to see her health report. Plus, I really wanted to see this hospital and, furthermore, my donation dollars at work, I guess.

I don’t mind disclosing a little fact that I do donate to many charities regularly and Tzu Chi is one of them. A close friend of mine is an active member in the town I live, and I donate the money through her to Tzu Chi every month. I have heard many stories about how they helped build the hospital, but this would be my first time to visit one. Honestly, I was quite impressed with the size of the hospital and how orderly the process was wherever we went.

Ever Since the report of Typhoon Morakot hit the news, I have glued myself to read news after news on the computer everyday. I don’t really have the mood to write anything, not even my trip reports. All the past memories for the places I had visited suddenly became heartaches. It was only about a week before August 8, I visited A-li-san for a few days and toured around Kaohsiung City and the County with my family. When I read about the places I visited may no longer be there, I just couldn’t bring myself to write about the trips.

Today, I read about the damage of the highest elementary school at A-li-san, Siang Shan Elementary School. I remember the day when Da Pong and I were standing outside a temple by the beautiful school, reading the banner on the wall and discussing about the possibility of going back to reside in Taiwan. We were jokingly hoping that we might be able to teach or volunteer at Siang San Elementary School or any aboriginal school ne day. Now looking back and thinking of those children we met at A-li-san who may not be able to return to their school in two weeks, it is just heart wrenching.