15 Blessings

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Many of you already heard about my adventure of the robbery in Dublin. Looking back, there seems to be more blessings than bad luck in the whole incident. I can't help but listing 15 amazing things I encountered after the robbery:

1. Super friendly and efficient Taipei Representative Office in Ireland that offered me immediate financial support!

2. Not super but also very friendly and efficient Dutch Embassy in Ireland that issued me a temporary visa for the Netherlands.

3. A gentleman named Keith handed my lost bag he found to the police and even emailed me which station I should collect my bag.

4. The robbers left my passport, keys and cellphone (but why I feel insulted by this? :p) in the bag.

5. One of the three Chinese policemen in Ireland works in THAT police station, so he could phone my family in Taiwan according to the numbers written on my passport without any language barrier.

6. With little borrowed money, I managed to see The Importance of Being Earnest in Gaiety Theatre. Cheapest price, best seat (I still don't know how it happened)!

7. Greatest bars with live Irish music and dance ever! Very touched when I saw those gray-haired grannies performing the river dance.

8. Beauty is a woman's nature: When I walked in the department store trying to fix my lost makeup kit, all of a sudden, a salesman gave me a complete makeup kit as a surprise gift.

9. Beauty is a woman's nature part 2: I still had the luggage with my clothes and shoes. EVERYDAY in Dublin there were strangers coming up to me saying "You look very nice!" (I admit, that makes me feel better. :))

10. In Belfast, a cool couchsurfing host offered me a 5-star guest room.

11. Though I couldn't make my presentation without my laptop, I still got there in time for W.T.J.Mitchell's speech at the Belfast conference.

12. My new residence permit arrived RIGHT IN TIME on the day before I came back to Taiwan. I was actually there to apply for my return visa when they told me "But your residence permit just arrived at the moment..."

13. My newborn niece came RIGHT IN TIME after my arrival in Taiwan!

14. Best of all: I got all the prayers and blessings from my dear friends and family. Thank you everyone!!

15. As the hymn in a local Belfast church says: A wandering traveler who seeks for a city to rest/ he prayed to the Lord who will show His mercy. Our God is Awesome. :)