Hunger

I had the fine opportunity to go on a campout with the branch I have been going to here in Taiwan. There was a boy about 10 years old that I shall never forget. The first night, a group of people were sitting and relaxing. He was sitting in the circle but had a dazed look on his face. Everyone kept asking him if he was hungry. His mom had already told him that he couldn’t have anymore food and that he had eaten enough. However, that didn’t stop some of the members from getting him some food. Every time they offered him more food, he took it while he shoveled more food into his mouth. He was eating so much!! Finally, his mom came by and yelled at him. In the middle of the night, some of the young men were making some noodles. The hungry boy was being guarded by his dad. He kept moaning about how he saw them making the food and now he was hungry. He tried to convince his dad that he could eat because there were vegetables in the food too. He was asked what he did on fast Sundays. He didn’t want to talk about that. But he eventually confessed that his fasting record was indeed 1 hour.
The next morning, he couldn’t wait to have breakfast. Some people were playing cards as they waited for breakfast to be made. He was sitting with them but his eyes were glazed over again. Finally, when breakfast was ready, his eyes lit up and he was so happy. He ate and ate and then he hid himself to eat some more so his parents wouldn’t see him.
Later in the day, a sister went up to him, started rubbing his belly and said, “西瓜甜不甜?” which means, “Is the watermelon sweet?” It was the funniest thing I ever understood in Chinese.
Never shall I forget the Taiwanese watermelon-stomached hungry boy.