Over the past month, our apartment has had some new guests
arriving intermittently. I don’t mind guests. Actually, I love it when people
come over to visit, but it is in our apartment where these guests still remain.
It’s not like I can just ask them to go. They are small and take up very little space. They don’t eat my food or snore like my mother. I think it’s
their eyes that get me. Kind and soft.
After some self-coaxing, I have concluded it is time that I
accept these free loaders as permanent fixtures in our apartment. Although this is not saying much, they have
now survived longer than any fish under my roommate’s care. Poor fishies.
*sniffle
So the other day I am chilling on the couch doing things of
such little importance I don’t remember what they were. Then entered Emily with
something in her hand. She approached
the TV and began shuffling her collection of stamps around to make room for one
more. Now, these are not just any
ordinary stamps. These are much more than the hand-carved wooden or granite
ones you can get with your Chinese name on them. These are finely moulded plastic
Hello Kitty stamps. I think the fact that ink is not included only adds to
their value in Taiwan. It just leaves you with more options in the end.
 |
| No need to be underwhelmed. There are more. |
Hello Kitty is a commodity in Taiwan, and it is often very
expensive. But lucky for many people in Taiwan, 7-11 offered these stamps as their
sticker collecting campaign last round. With purchases over a certain amount at
7-11 you get stickers to collect, and when you collect enough stickers, you can
a free prize. Normally these prizes are tacky, so I give them to my kids in
Teacher Teri’s Store. I am in no way implying that the Hello Kitty stamps are
tacky, but I will say to this date I have zero in my possession.
The discussion between Emily and I included comments about
how many there were, and the joy she felt when she finally had a complete set.
I gathered it was equivalent to parents holding their newborn in their arms for
the first time.
Then my inquisitive nature got the best of me. How did you get so many?
I got them through
buying and trading.
AH WHAT? Buy them? You
bought them? Really?
Well I had to buy them
to get the complete set. Aren’t they
cute? You can’t look in the box at the ones they give you, so that’s why there
are replicas. I had to get a complete set before any of my students did. I needed a full set. Yes necessity. I am taking them with me when I go home. Yeah
you can buy them. Some were so difficult to find……
By this time my head is spinning. Am I hearing this correctly?
I keep hearing so many unexpected sentences that I can’t seem to process them
quickly enough or put them in the correct order any longer.
Who could have foreseen this going beyond just one set?
Maybe I should have looked closer at the signs? Asked more questions? Scheduled
around the clock 7-11 watches? As I reflect on the last couple months, I have
realized nothing I could have done would have curbed this obsession! Alas, 18 Hello Kitties and counting. Nicely
displaced on our TV and in front of the fish tank, which is strictly reserved
for only the frog prince and some special princess kitty.
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| They give our fish friends word of encouragement. Just keep swimming... swimming...swimming. |
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Emily through this
long journey. Apparently her world almost came crashing down on her when her students
got a complete set before she did. She doesn’t know what their tactics were,
but all that mattered was at the end of the day she had her Hello Kitty stamping
sets… again ink not included.
This is an ode that’s not an ode for my dear Emily. We have
had a great year in Taiwan and have shared so much. Someone who I wish to never
be far or forgotten.
