Profiles 1: Mr. Qiu

Mr. Qiu was one of the first people I met when I moved into my apartment. He's finishing up his undergrad years at NTU and getting ready for grad school. He loves spending time with the other college kids, enjoys deep conversations about 19th century Taiwanese history, China-Taiwan-US relations, or Tang poetry. He's also in his fifties.

Born in rural Hualien during the 1950's, Mr. Qiu was an elementary teacher for many years in the mountain villages of Hualien, where he lived with the local aborigines and would go rowing on rivers between cliffs where monkeys would howl. He spent many more years teaching in Da-an in Taipei. He's written a few books, and is currently doing a thesis on the evolution of China-Taiwan-US relations over the past few decades, comparing the views and policies of the various leaders involved. He suffers from chronic back and neck pain, and sleeps on a plastic bottle with rope wrapped around it to stimulate certain parts of his neck. He doesn't use a computer but he will gladly show you what he calls "my computer" - thousands of books crammed into 50 or so boxes, stacked ceiling high in his room.

He's very friendly, often visiting my room for late night discussions. He showed me a great local breakfast spot, and has promised to take me to his local temple.

One time I asked him if he thought Taiwan was part of China. His reply was, "Sure. But it doesn't belong to the Communist Party!" I onced asked him where he'd been in his life to which he responded, "Well, I see you've been in Taiwan for so little time and you've seen so much. The National Palace Museum, Taroko Gorge - I tell you I don't like places with a lot of tourists. Not with this neck pain and the way you get pushed around. Nope, not for me. Have I left Taiwan? Not physically, but in my books I've seen the whole world. I've been to Beijing, to Washington, to New York, to L.A., to Korea, to Japan, to Russia - there's not a place my books haven't taken me."