Kuan-Han Li from Taiwan The Army is required for every male in Taiwan. Therefore, when I graduated from college, I was waiting for a notice from the army. On August 1, 1997, I got my notice. The notice said: "Report for duty on September 21 in Thichung." I was looking forward to joining the army, but I was afraid, too. After I joined the army, I had to go to orientation for a month. During this month, I had to learn basic army skills. For example, I had to know how to dismantle and maintain a gun. I thought it would be, but when I did it, it was difficult. Also, when I joined the army, I couldn't adjust easily because, in the past, I could do anything I wanted, but I couldn't do that now. After the month of orientation, there was a lottery to decide where each person would go. We could be sent to an army post in any part of Taiwan. There were two kinds of tickets. One kind of ticket was to stay in Taiwan, and another kind was for going to another island. Of course, everybody wanted to stay in Taiwan because it was very convenient to go home. Before the lottery began, the ratio was 1:8. There was only one ticket in eight to go to an island. When it began, I didn't worry too much because I was third from the end in line. As time passed by, there were ten people left waiting to pick a lottery ticket. At that time, I felt a little scared because I had only a 50-50 chance to stay in Taiwan. I did not want to go to the island. Everybody felt very nervous. You would have a chance to go to other islands, but nobody wanted to go. As time passed by, I was getting more nervous. Finally, it was my turn. Inside of the box, there was only one Taiwan ticket and two other island tickets left. There was nothing that could explain my feeling because I was so nervous. I couldn't avoid the situation. I needed courage to accept it. When I put my hand into the box, it was horrible because I couldn't touch anything. Suddenly, I felt I caught something. When I took out a ticket from the box and looked at it, I was very happy and relieved. I got the last Taiwan ticket! At that time, there was not a word that could explain my feeling. At that time, I was in an excited mood. I thought how lucky I am!
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