The assistant said, “We can’t. He’s our beloved dog-person. How can we give him to you? Go find another dog-person.” “No! I want this one.” I said, “No, not this one.” Good. The man left. Finally, we arrived at the clinic. The vet also wanted the dog-person! And the nurse as well. That’s why we have to lock them in. The fences are very high. We’re afraid they might go out and never come back.
The old people can come sit here. Old people coming from far away can come up and sit here if you want. Come slowly. Come. Come. OK. That’s good. The elderly can come up here if you want; if not, it’s fine. Those who come from afar, taking three or four days to come to Taiwan (Formosa). Sit. Bring your cushion. It’s colder if you sit like this. Bring your cushion. (OK.) You speak English? OK then. You bring your mattress if you need. I think we have enough now. Stop.
How are you? (Very good.) Good? For my energy. My phone needs energy, not I. All these, and it doesn’t work. I have one more and a landline; don’t work. Over here everything is good, except the phone doesn’t work. The phone doesn’t work; I don’t know why. It’s too troublesome. Isn’t there anything that can be pulled up simply?
Here everything’s good, yeah? (Yes.) Translation, no? No earphones? What am I supposed to do? I can’t speak that many languages at the same time. I already have a sore throat. It’s not your fault. It’s the cold. Catching a cold is also due to karma. No, it’s not like that. You don’t understand anything. Why are you not wearing your earphones? (We brought them, just trying to find them.) You should carry them wherever you go. (We got them just now.) I could be coming here any time. I can’t notify you in advance, announcing it on the newspaper or TV first. “Supreme Master Ching Hai is coming in half an hour. She’s just nearby.” We don’t have translators now. Do we have any? Forget it. How about you? Do you have your earphones? No? (In the other pocket.) In the other pocket? Where is the other pocket? Right here? Ah, you better get it because maybe I speak Chinese and maybe they have translation, I don’t know. Maybe they have, maybe not. Sorry, sorry. “Dui Bu Qi” (Excuse me.) You have to say “Dui Bu Qi.” Say it, “Dui Bu Qi.” (“Dui Bu Qi.”) “Dui Bu Qi.” (“Dui Bu Qi.”) Yeah, “Dui Bu Qi.” Say it again. (“Dui Bu Qi.”) Yeah. “Dui Bu Qi.” (“Dui Bu Qi.”) Voilà, yeah, that’s good.
At least, Chinese and English. Oh, and the Vietnamese don’t have translation. Anybody who can translate? Please, go there. Anybody who can translate, hurry and go there. “Dui Bu Qi.” Say “Dui Bu Qi.” (“Dui Bu Qi.”) “Dui Bu Qi.” (“Dui Bu Qi.”) “Dui Bu Qi.” (“Dui Bu Qi.”) Yeah. You learn a few words, they’re happy, everywhere. Like, “Thank you.” “Dui Bu Qi.” (“Xie Xie Ni” [Thank you].) “Xie Xie Ni” “Gan Ji Bu Jin” (Thank you so much). (“Gan Ji Bu Jin.”) No, no, too much trouble, just say “Xie Xie” (Thank you). Simple, “Xie Xie” or “Dui Bu Qi.” When you want to say “excuse me,” “Dui Bu Qi.” And “Xie Xie.” That’s enough. (“Bu Ke Qi” [You’re welcome].) “Bu Ke Qi.” Yeah, if they thank you, then “Bu Ke Qi.” But normally, what are they thanking you for? You come here just to eat. Why should they, thank you? Whoa. So hot, so hot, so hot. OK.
Is there any translator? No. (Yes, there is.) No, only one or two. Is there any Âu Lạc (Vietnamese) translator? Anyone who can translate for the Aulacese (Vietnamese), come up here. Already had? OK. OK, how many languages now? Aulacese (Vietnamese)? OK. Chinese? English? OK. The English there, all three of you can, right? I hope so! OK. Originally… Can I speak English now?
Have you all got earphones? (Yes.) But not those elderly people. Where did you put them? You didn’t get them. Did you just arrive? (Yes.) Ah, then of course you didn’t get them. I’m sorry. Can anyone translate? Sit beside her and translate for her. Why did you come? Why are you here? It’s only for people who are old like me. And maybe they came from very far away. Like three days or four days it takes to arrive to Taiwan (Formosa), because they stay in the other side of the planet. And they don’t have airplanes so conveniently. They have to go by bus, and/or with a taxi or motorcycle or tuk-tuk, or they have to ride on the horse or on the cow, on the ox, a few days. And then all the way to the bus station, and then they get the bus to the train station, and from the train station maybe walk a few hundred miles to another train station, and then walk again to the airport. If they don’t have any ox, must go by walking.
The Chinese can hear anything? How many Chinese people can’t hear? Raise your hand. Sorry, sorry! Next time when you come, take care of yourself, understand? (Yes.) Master alone can’t take care of everyone. I have a lot of work to do. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you the documents. Wait for me outside. Can you go to my little car, bring all the documents here, so I can show them. Show off. You understand, yeah? Everything? That’s all we had? I had some more, you didn’t see, it’s in a bag. Never mind. These papers are waiting for me. It’s waiting for me, OK? But I came to see you first. I just took care of some urgent. I just took care of some urgent ones. Now these are still waiting. It means I won’t have time to eat or sleep the whole day. No evening rest. No sleep at night. I’m telling you… I’ll speak English again, OK? Everybody, put on your earphones and listen. I’m going to speak English now.
I said, everything is good here, except the phone. Originally, I have only this kind of phone, for the dumb-dumb like me, but it has very good function, and it’s so simple. Even a two-year-old kid can use it, or a new born baby still can use it. That’s very convenient. I don’t need a lot of things. I don’t need to check weather or a new trend or anything. But then it doesn’t work here. It works perfectly in… OK. Which one is the most troublesome? I’ll speak some Chinese later. Just a little, OK?
I said I was using these dumb things. They work very well. Their reception is strong. They work well in Hsihu but not here. I cannot use it here. So, I told them buy me something and they bought this. You know how I like these kinds of things. I just breathe and then everything disappears. You remember what I told you? Yeah. And sometimes I just look at it, and then it disappears also. And my hair, sometimes the wind just blows a little bit on top of the air on the phone, blowing, and it’s gone. Or my dog-person just comes, lick-licks me and then it’s gone too.
I got it a few days ago, since I came, the second day I came, but only yesterday I learned how to text messages. And to receive I can, anybody can send me anything. I just don’t know how to answer. Yesterday I learned it, and I practiced hundred times until I remembered it. It’s OK, I can text now. Whoa, I’m so proud of myself, so proud. And then it became the second part of anger; it doesn’t function. Even from here, I text the TV office or the kitchen, it doesn’t work, so now it doesn’t work. I can text as much as I want, it just says “Not sent.” Or sometimes I call as many times as I want, no problem, it’s a free world, but it doesn’t connect. And I have to call again, again, again, my God!
I was so proud to have this kind of phone already to be like everybody else. And that I can push and touch and I do all kinds of things, all kinds of things come out, all kinds of things that I don’t know what for. And everything comes out. And now it doesn’t work. Oh my God, so frustrating, frustrating. Yeah, it’s not like everywhere is the same. They told me before the Kaohsiung area, the city, has very relaxed people. It is too relaxing, even the phone is relaxing. Did you all listen to the translation? Yes, we did. OK. Listen if you can hear. If you can’t, then never mind. Ask others later.
Oh my God, so many people. This doesn’t even include the local people. There is no native yet. It’s only you, only you, the foreigners. No Taiwanese (Formosan). Not even Kaohsiung people here yet, right? Are there any Kaohsiung initiates here? Raise your hand. Only a few. It’s all occupied. Your land is occupied. I said, “Your land is already occupied now, invaded.”
I told the contact persons and those assistants around me, “I’m sorry. Because Master is here, you’re left with no place to stand. I’m also sorry there are fences everywhere, because my dog-people are coming and I’m afraid they might run out and be taken away. So there are fences all around. I’m so sorry. It used to be more beautiful here. There were no fences. I’m sorry.
But this is only temporary. They can be removed later. It’s difficult with the small dog-people. Very difficult. Once she sees it, she would climb. She can climb that kind of fence. There are big gaps in the fence and she puts her feet in the gaps and climbs up step by step. Like climbing the stairs. Very easy and fast. She goes tap-tap-tap and plunk, out she goes. Many times already. She always did that in Hong Kong. And we had to bring her back.
Everybody loves my dog-people. Did you hear? You got it? Oh, you understand Chinese? Then why don’t you do anything? Everybody wants our dog-people. It’s strange. After I adopted her in Thailand, I could no longer stay for security reasons. I’m also wanted, though in a different way. Understand? Some people wanted my life. So we went to Hong Kong. Sometimes we had to bring the dog-people down from the hill for injections and blood tests, otherwise, they could not travel abroad. We would walk down the hill. Walking from my house on the hill to the road takes 15 to 20 minutes. We can’t drive on that narrow path. No car can pass. We have to walk.
Once, when we came down, three people, one after another, asked for my dog-person. One kept coming close. “Oh! What are you going to do with the dog-person? Allow me, allow me.” Our assistants said, “I can’t let you. This is our dog-person. And what am I doing? I’m taking him to the vet.” Then the man said, “Oh! He’s beautiful! Allow me, allow me!” We said, “No. This is our dog-person. How can we allow you? Please don’t do that!” So, the man walked away. Several meters later, there came another person, “Oh! Where did the dog-person come from? Can you sell him to me?” “How can we? This is our dog-person! We can’t cherish him enough. How can we sell him to you?” Oh! The man was very disappointed. “Oh! At least let me touch him.” OK. Then he left. Again, after several steps, there came another one! “Oh! This dog-person. What are you going to do with him? Can you give him to me?” The assistant said, “We can’t. He’s our beloved dog-person. How can we give him to you? Go find another dog-person.” “No! I want this one.” I said, “No, not this one.” Good. The man left. Finally, we arrived at the clinic. The vet also wanted the dog-person! And the nurse as well. That’s why we have to lock them in. The fences are very high. We’re afraid they might go out and never come back.
