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My trip to Taiwan back in 1999 was definitely more than a fur piece away (a unit of measurement defined as 830 miles, or the distance across Texas): from Houston to Tokyo (13.5 hrs) to Taipei (8 hrs, including layover) to HsinChu (1.5 hrs). Overall, the whole trip lasted pretty much an entire day (plus another day crossing the International Date Line).

I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced really long-distance travel, but as far as I’m concerned… it’s of the devil! I mean, spending an entire day five miles above the ground, sitting in a long metal tube surrounded by hundreds of people all breathing the same endlessly recycled air, PLUS, going to the absolute other side of the world from my sweetheart – well, as much as I usually enjoy air travel, this definitely wasn’t fun!

Thankfully I was given a day to rest up before arriving for work at the client’s site (a semiconductor manufacturing facility). Otherwise, sitting at my desk I would probably have resembled the poor fellow in this photo. Man, was I beat! Unfortunately, that was only the warm-up.

Well, I figured my first day at work would be spent getting familiar with paperwork and meeting various project and client folks. Shouldn’t have to exercise the ol’ brain cells too much, I thought. Well, I was, as they say, “mostly right” (kinda in the same way Wesley, in the movie The Princess Bride, was “mostly dead”).

As luck would have it, along about mid-morning my manager invited me (actually, it was more like, “told me” – but friendlier) to accompany him to dinner that night with the project folks and one of the contractors. Apparently he was negotiating a discount on their services, and we had been invited to dinner to finalize the deal.

Now ordinarily, when anybody offers to buy me food they automatically go on my Christmas card list. Unfortunately, I was still suffering heavily from jet lag. However, to refuse (“face” is very important in Asian cultures) would have been unseemly, so I figured what the heck, surely I can manage. Besides, it would be my first taste of Taiwan, so to speak. So after work, I mustered what strength I had left and we headed on over to the restaurant.

Wow, talk about a bountiful meal! Piled on a huge round table at least 10 feet in diameter were a huge variety of seafood dishes (lobster, fish, shellfish, you name it… and as they say, much, much more), fried noodles, barrels of the inevitable white rice, olives, boiled peanuts and assorted vegetables, along with a few things about which I still have no clue. Then, of course, there where the five kinds of fried shrimp they brought out periodically during the meal (starting with the mildly-flavored ones and eventually working up to sign this disclaimer and call the fire department).

It was excellent for the most part, although I couldn’t eat the sign the waiver… (super spicy!) shrimp because, well, when it comes to spicy food, I’m something of a wuss. But to say there was plenty to eat is probably the understatement of the century.

Alas, by then I was suffering from serious jet lag, and it was taking a heroic effort just to remain in an upright position (I assumed it would reflect poorly on the negotiations if I fell face down into the rice.)

Of course, the evening wouldn’t have been quite so long… except for the toasts.

I quickly lost track of the never-ending of liters of beer and grape wine that was consumed (by everyone else, that is – I don’t drink alcohol). Plus the fact that periodically standing up and toasting each other is customary during a “business” meal. Naturally, any time a glass was emptied the waiters immediately darted in to refill ‘em, which of course started the cycle all over again… well, I think you get the picture.

Eventually the contractor got up and shook hands with our project manager and assistant project manager (my heart leaped, and I’m thinking it’s finally over and I can get some sleep!) Well, the handshaking went on for some time, accompanied by a short speech from the contractor, then – they all sat down, and it appeared to begin all over again! Augh! More toasts!

Suffice it to say, it was a long night. (Of course, if that could really “suffice it to say”, then you could stop here and move on. But alas, you’d miss, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story.) We started about 6 pm, and by 10 pm I was pretty much cratered (about now, I could actually hear my eyelids scraping every time I blinked) which is about when my manager had pity on me and told my driver to take me home. I have no idea how long the rest of them stayed, but I know it was pretty late.

You Have The Gift

All right, let’s try to draw a lesson here – but not get too deep, OK? It’s getting late, and I’m afraid writing about being sleepy is making me, uh, sleepy.

Anyway, in thinking about this story, one word managed to rise to the surface: endurance.

“What! Endurance?” I can hear you say, “Now how can this bozo equate a silly story like this to real endurance? There was no pain, no suffering, no anguish! What a crock!”

At which point let me just say, it’s OK; I understand. Just bear with me a minute more. I’m not putting this experience on a par with, say, being out of work for four years straight, or enduring constant belittling from playmates in grade school (both of which I’ve experienced, by the way).

No, all I’m saying is, it made me think of this.

During your lifetime, no doubt you’ve experienced and suffered episodes of life that were, um, not pleasant; perhaps even more than once. I’m talking about the times when you found yourself saying, “I don’t think I can make it.” Hey, we all do; if you’re human (and you are human, aren’t you?) you’ve been there. It’s hard, I know, and my heart goes out to you, really.

But I want you to realize something. The fact that those times are in the past, and that you’re still here… well, it leads to one inescapable conclusion: You’re stronger than you think!

And, on the off chance that you’re in the midst of one of those times right now, well, just think about one of those times that are past and over with. Hey - you made it! You survived to tell about it!

You… endured!

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