Magnificent 7

"When like-minded people are together, any occasion is a celebration."

I have been working at Tunghai University for 18 years. How many friends have I made? Since I'm a Christian, I like number 7, the number of completeness. However, if I count my friends carefully, I doubt I have this many. Let me count them one by one.

Friend No. 1 is Qizhang, the only adult male friend I have. Though he's 11 years younger than I, he is as sophisticated and wise as a 50-some-year old person. I guess his expertise "drama & Shakespeare" has resulted in the way he is. Every time when I talk with him, I forget our age difference. As the only male friend of mine, he's the only source I have when I want to find out why I have some problems with men, especially my husband.  I can never understand why some men sometimes behave in some ways that confuse me although I have read books about the differences between men and women. I have to say this friend of mine has helped me know more about men, especially why men or husbands want to be respected by women. He's not only a bosom friend but a good person to eat with. When I feel like having some beef noodles, he's always the first one I ask to eat out with. He's my beef-noodle buddy.

Smiling Qizhang in a "dou hua" store 

Friend No. 2 is Daisy, the TA in the Foreign Language Department. Born in a farmer's family of a small village in central Taiwan, she's very different from me, a city woman. Unlike me, she feels quite awkward when she speaks though she has her sense of humor. However, somehow I can see all the good qualities in her--sincere, low-key, and responsible. I don't remember why I liked her the first time I met her back in 1993. Though we've been friends for over 15 years, we seldom get together to have a meal. She just doesn't like these social gatherings. Then how do we communicate with each other and keep our friendship? Via email! Fortunately, I love to email people. Besides emails, we sometimes give each other some gifts. She gives me several bottles of homemade wine--sweet red wine every year. As for me, I give her a small bottle of perfume with the scent which can remind her of the days she spent in Missouri. Of all the friends I've made at Tunghai, she's the only one whom I don't hang out with but always keep in my heart.

Daisy at work

Friend No 3 is Weijing, a woman who is 17 years younger than me. She was a part-time teacher when I first met her. She was very witty, the wittiest woman I'd ever known. Of all the characteristics she has, I admire her for her knowledge of and passion for food. In other words, she's a gourmet. Though I enjoy good foods, too, I will never do things she has done. She does a lot of research online to find out where she can eat delicious food. She will take all the trouble to some shops to get the items she wants. Anyway, she's an adventurer when it comes to food hunt. She took me to several restaurants to try new things. Though only a couple of them impressed me, I still like to eat out with her. However, she's become the type of the people I like less--cautious people ever since she took the full-time position of TA in our department. Knowing she has to be very careful and diplomatic when she deals with teachers, I totally understand why she has to be cautious. But somehow chatting with her about business is no fun anymore. Fortunately, we don't talk business often. Instead, we talk about her daughter and good food, the two topics I'll never get tired of. Though she's a lot younger than I, she has two qualities I don't have--she apologizes and accepts apologies without delay! I have to say I have a lot to learn from her!

Weijing under the weather

Friend No. 4 is Chia-Hui. Though she's one year older than Weijing, she's more like a child than Weijing. She's almost 40, but you can't tell her age from her face and the way she talks.Often times she is mistaken for a graduate student. She always wears smile on her face, which makes people feel warm and happy when they see her. However, I can see the childlike side of her and find it so lovely that whenever I interact with her, I either act like a mother or react to her like a child, too. In my eyes, she is a mixture of some extremes--feeling proud but looking modest, looking/acting like a child but worrying like a mother, and behaving well but being ready for some mischievous surprises any time. She's the second "7-11" person I know--living on the snacks sold in that convenient store. She never orders boxed meal for lunch! I don't know why I like her so much. Maybe she and I have one thing in common--There's a child living in us!

Jiahui

Friend No. 5 is the oldest friend I've ever had. She's almost 70 years old. Though she's 70, she doesn't look that old because of all the exercises she's done--tennis, swimming, and walking. Before she got retired, she was a like a godmother to all of us colleagues. She's very generous and enjoys people's company, especially men's. Fortunately, she's single; otherwise, her husband would be very jealous. Olivia is also my husband's best friend because they both are tennis fans. When any of the 4 tennis matches starts, they always exchange their information with each other. Olivia prefers my husband to me, but I never mind being a Number 2. I accept my position because of the guy I love--my husband.

As for Friend No. 6, I'm not so sure of who should be because I would say two people share the half of No. 6 Friend. Susan can be counted as the first half. She is kind in nature, and she's a cancer, who loves family and enjoys being at home. Susan has a very soft heart, so she has so many friends, which causes a problem for me. Because of all the connections she has, I've tried to keep distance from her. I'm afraid she may disclose whatever I confide in her. If she didn't have so many friends, I would enjoy sharing more with her. I love her hearty laughter, so genuine and amusing! The other half of Friend No. 6 is Eliane, my next-door neighbor in the dorm. Eliane is the same age as I, and she's like me--we both love children and enjoy playing with kids.

My last friend, Friend No. 7, is Theresa. She is very different from the other Taiwanese women in many ways. She loves and is very good at Taichi. She is a Buddhist and visits different temples on holidays. She has a green thumb and plants a lot of flowers. From what I have described, you may think she is a traditional Taiwanese woman. Ha! You're wrong. She had taught English in America for 15 years before she came back to Taiwan in 1990. She speaks English beauuutifully and she's very Americanized. I mean she thinks and acts like an American. When we are together, we just joke about a lot of things and ourselves. She likes to talk about her research with me. What an odd topic for me, a person who would do anything in my free time except for research! However, I am interested in most research topics she's done. By reading her paper and listening to her, I've learned a lot of knowledge. Oh, BTW, though she's my friend, I liked her mother better than her. Though this old lady passed away a couple of years ago, she'll be in my memory forever because the one she loved has been and will be my friend!