An Inside Look

Crossing the Hakka Chinese culture involves a whole lot more than just getting on an airplane and flying into Taiwan’s Chiang Kai Shek Airport. The borders that exist in our western minds and hearts need a little crossing as well. (Make sure and take a peek at our “Did You Know?” page.)

As church planting missionaries, our goal is not only to learn the Hakka culture, but to choose to accept it, dare to live it, and strive to love it. Though easier said than done, our embracing of this resistant people’s culture is vital to earning their trust … and earning their trust is key to preparing the soil of these Hakka hearts for the gospel of Jesus.

Now, instead of trying to describe this whole process to you, we’ve decided to bare our lives a bit here and relate several of our more “interesting” cross the Hakka culture experiences. We figure you’ll get the general idea. Enjoy!

#1: All In The Family

#2: After Dark Pucker

#3: My Friend Jeffrey

#4: Nothing But A Hound Dog

#5: Just Say No

#6: No Place Like Home

#7: When ya gotta go

Inside Look #1:  All In The Family

Sigrun, just home from the hospital after giving birth to son number one, hoped to grab a bit of rest while husband John took care of the little one. A loud knock on the bedroom door soon changed all that. Their landlady - having let herself into the house - quickly gushed into the room hoping to catch a glimpse of the newly arrived prince. Only problem was, no prince.

"Well, where is the baby?" worried the landlady. "I don't really know," replied a still groggy Sigrun. "What?!" demanded the landlady, "You don't know?!" (With a tone that really said, "What kind of mother are you anyway?!")

Husband John, coming to a rescue of sorts, casually mentioned that the little guy was up on the roof. "On the roof!!!" she fairly screamed, and raced straight from the bedroom to the roof for a rescue of her own. And there she found the little prince, wrapped in blankets, sleeping peacefully in his stroller, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air … Scandinavian style.

Well, the landlady was thoroughly shocked - not the least bit impressed with Scandinavian culture - and proceeded to give John and Sigrun a nice little Hakka-style scolding on proper Hakka-style baby care. Which just goes to show … some days, it really doesn't pay to take a nap.

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Inside Look #2:  After Dark Pucker

Eva was enjoying a nice night of ping-pong at the neighbor's house, casually letting out short whistles whenever the ball landed off the table. After a while, her playing partner nervously approached and asked Eva if she would please stop making those noises. Seems that (according to Hakka superstition) whistling after dark actually attracts wandering ghosts. Oh my.

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Inside Look #3:  My Friend Jeffrey

During his first year in Taiwan, Michael was invited out to eat by "language helper" Jeffrey and his family. As they all got out of the car and started walking towards the restaurant, Jeffrey reached over and took hold of Michael's hand. There they were, two grown men walking hand in hand down the crowded street in broad daylight. Talk about freaked! Although Jeffrey's family didn't seem to pay too much attention to the whole thing (due to it being an accepted Hakka practice), Michael started getting more and more uncomfortable. So being the quick thinker, he yanked his hand away, pointed to the nearby restaurant, and said, "Is that where we're going?" "Yes," replied an undeterred Jeffrey, who doggedly grabbed Michael's hand once again and continued on with the journey. In Michael's own words, "At this point, I was stuck. I swallowed my pride - and any remaining pieces of my manhood - and walked hand in hand to the restaurant with my friend Jeffrey."

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Inside Look #4:  Nothing But A Hound Dog

Eva was once privy to a rather unique manner of conflict resolution in the Hakka village where she lived. Seems that one of her neighbors raised fancy - and expensive - French hens, and that another neighbor owned a cute - but scheming - little Beagle. (You can see where this is going, can't you?) Well, the Beagle jumped its fence one day and enjoyed an exquisite feast of French Poulet. The ex-owner of said French chickens was not a happy man, so the next day, Eva received an invitation to attend a reconciliation dinner hosted by the contrite hound-owning neighbor. They all gathered that night and - as an act of restitution - dined on a special course of Moo Goo Gai Beagle. (In an ironic side note, Eva says it tasted a bit like chicken.)

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Inside Look #5: Just Say No

Having been in Taiwan for just a few months, John Henrik was more than happy when he ran into a young man on the streets who wanted to chat a bit. They spent a short time talking, and when John Henrik was just getting ready to go home, the young man protested, "Not yet. Not yet. Won't you please come over and have supper with us tonight?" Well, he didn't have to ask twice. John Henrik thought about what a great opportunity this would be to make some new friends, so he quickly accepted the invitation. A few minutes later, however, as they walked into the young man's house, it dawned on John Henrik that he'd made a cultural blunder somewhere along the way. The kitchen was empty, and it was obvious that dinner plans were not on the agenda for that night. He somehow managed to extricate himself from this rather delicate "face-losing" situation, and later learned that his mistake had been in accepting the young man's invitation too quickly. Seems that according to Hakka custom, he should have waited until the dinner invitation was extended at least three times … and only then it would have been safe to accept.

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Inside Look #6:  No Place Like Home

While visiting a neighbor one day, Eva found herself out in the kitchen leaning back comfortably against the stove. Her friend soon pulled her aside, however, and half-seriously admonished Eva that the kitchen god (who lived in the stove) might not appreciate her - ahem - backside leaning on his home. Live and learn.

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Inside Look #7:  When ya gotta go …

Having recently arrived in Taiwan from South Africa, Danny was out visiting some new friends in the village where he lived. And that's where he just about met his own cultural Waterloo. Three things conspired to make this an evening he'd not soon forget. First off, Danny and his Hakka friends sat around all night drinking Chinese tea. Wonderful stuff, but it tends to run right through you. Secondly, Danny had just learned that according to Hakka tradition, it's considered impolite to use someone else's restroom the first time you visit their home. And finally, his Chinese language skills were not yet good enough for him to adequately communicate his most bladder-felt needs. Bottom line … he was stuck in a bleak situation where he really needed to "go", but was culture-bound to wait until after he left his new friend's house.

Danny figured that the end of his problem was in clear sight when the party started breaking up at his friend's house. He might just be able to slosh his way home where some porcelain relief awaited. What he hadn't counted on was good old Hakka hospitality. The party wasn't really over, it was just moving down to a local roadside cafe. Oh joy. Once relocated at the restaurant, Danny's only choice was to try and be a little more open, honest, and transparent. He asked his new friend outright - but with typical South African gentility - where the "lavatory" was. Not quite hearing right (or more likely not being used to English) the host responded warmly by saying that the fish they were about to eat was lovely indeed. Giving it another shot, Danny told the man (a bit more forcefully this time) that he needed to go to the toilet desperately. "You no like fish?" his friend innocently inquired.

Not one to give up without a fight, Danny decided it was time to bring out his arsenal of body language. Crossing his legs for effect, he leaned over and whispered to his friend, "I need to pssssssssssss!" The man looked genuinely puzzled for a few moments until his wife, having also witnessed the charade, finally guessed what Danny's problem was. Well, when he finally returned from finishing his chore, they all laughed till they cried, and a true friendship was forged that night. (Danny also went straight home and learned how to say, "Where's the restroom?" in Chinese.)

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