Thought I'd share some random bits from recently:
1) Taiwan has a pretty extensive system of cameras to capture speeding, running red lights, etc. However, we learned the someone in the mission office received a ticket with pictures that was submitted by a citizen. The offense: not using a turn signal. Apparently citizens can take pics and report crimes and even get paid for it. Can't see this working in the US.
2) A few weeks back we saw that 7-11 had just opened their 6,000th store in Taiwan. There are also over 3,000 Family Marts and thousands of other small convenience stores. Taiwan really is the land of small stores! Maybe we should come back and try to visit and photograph all the 7-11s in Taiwan . . . or maybe not.
3) We had to find an apartment this last week as one landlord has sold his place and the Elders need to be out by the end of the month. The church follows the law which requires apartments where the rent is $20,000 NT ($715 US) or higher, to pay a 10% general tax and also a 2.11% National Health Insurance tax. Extremely few Taiwan citizens follow the law as they don't want to pay taxes and don't want their additional income known (potentially putting them in a higher tax bracket). To find an apartment that meets all our criteria such as being in a certain area, has a bedroom large enough for 2 single beds and where the landlord is willing to deal with taxes is extremely challenging. The church pays the landlord the requested rent and on top of that, also pays the taxes directly to the government (it doesn't come out of the landlord's pocket). We spent literally two days trying to find an apartment in the Tamsui area and after between 30 and 40 calls, found 4 possibilities (one later cancelled) to look at. Wow is it tough. We have selected one and are scheduled to complete the contract this week.