Before departing to Chiayi, Annie drove us to join a women’s small group meeting and introduced us to the group. I played two violin pieces for the blessing of the group. Then, we tour Tunghai University and took a photo of the famous Luce Memorial Chapel designed by Pei.

Annie’s brother drove us to the HSR station about 30 minutes before the train departing. We bought the tickets and lunches. Then, I went ahead of Annie and John to the platform and asked the train station operator for the direction of car #11. He instructed me to board the train immediately and to walk inside the train to get car #11 because the train was going to move soon. So, I got into the train and looked the destination on the sign board which is Zuoying (Kaohsiung), in the right direction. Then, the train started moving and I watched the train number, then realized I board the different train. I checked the schedule book and found out that this train did not stop at Chiayi. Suddenly, I was in panic and thought that not only I missed the train, but also I would pay for additional fares. Then the train crew coming by, I showed my ticket and told her that I missed the train. She comforted me and told me that don’t get out of the station when I arrived the destination, just board a north-bound train to get to Chiayi and I don’t have to pay extra fares. After hearing that, I was relaxed and ate my lunch (not completely).

After arriving Zuoying, I called John and Ruth from the public telephone to tell them I boarded the wrong train and was going to board a north-bound train in 20 minutes. This time, I was extremely careful to double check the train number. It took about another 40 minutes to arrived Chiayi and meet with my group.

After a warm chatting, we boarded the BRT transfer bus to Puzih. Ruth and Ms. Chen were waiting on the bus terminal with two cars. Then, Ruth took us to the market to enjoy the famous ice-fruits bar and did some shoppings.

Arriving at Guogou center 過溝, we went to our living quarters, settled our luggage and rested a while. We all felt much better after resting. Then, John and I did some practices on the music. The acoustic of the room is pretty good.

We had dinners with the students. The students were very disciplined and waited for us to eat before they took the second round. There was enoungh food for all of us and there were some food left. It is a good idea to have all students eating the same meal instead of bringing their own meal though it incurred more expenses. The expense is covered by RCDA.

Around 7:00 p.m. brother Hsieh came to the rehearsal. It was good to see him again. His humor and upbeat spirit really helped us. The piano was tuned before the recital which showed the seriousness of Guogou church in this recital. I heard that the piano was not damaged by the 88-flood due to the efforts of the visiting team from Seattle. They raised the piano by placing bricks and wood boards on the footing.

Steven drove from Taipei and brought the Husky with him. It is a beautiful dog. Steven told us that they picked up the abandoned dog on the street and nursed him to become healthy.After the rehearsal, Ruth, her coworkers and our team had a meeting to get acquainting to each other. Two coworkers were joined recently after Ms. Chiang was transferred to Dongshih center. I introduced Saddleback church and Irvine NTU Chamber music group. We shared our personal histories on joining the churches. Ruth gave a briefing on the schedule and we prayed then went to rest.