Finally on vacation.

This has been an incredibly long semester. 21 weeks straight teaching a nine hour school day. I understand that this might not sound that crazy to a non-teacher, but this has been one of the most exhausting 5 months of my life.

Very much looking forward to my month off and my many adventures planned. Tomorrow I head to Singapore to visit a friend. We will head to a beach in Indonesia for 3 days then I am off to NYC to visit family and friends. Then back to Taiwan with one of my besties to travel the island for 10 days!!!

Can't wait. All I have to do is make it through this ridiculously painful end-of-semester meetIng where the principal is rambling on in Chinese, reading off a 98-page powerpoint slideshow. Whoopie!!! Taiwanese bureaucracy, I will absolutely NOT miss you over the next month.

You know the world is crazy when...

You meet someone for the first time and, completely soberly, they tell you they want to father your children and get married.

Hours of DrivIng through the Alishan Mountains.

The original plan was to drive to the Sandimen waterfalls. I made a wrong turn on the highway so we decided to drive north to the Alishan Mountains. Some friends and I enjoyed locally picked oolong tea, went for a hike through the forest and enjoyed all the beautiful vistas as we drove through the clouds.

Alishan

A great New Year in HK

Spent 4 days in Hong Kong for the New Year with an old friend. It was my first vacation since September and I relaxed, ate delicious food, drank good wine and enjoyed my excellent company.

It was rejuvenating!

What a lovely Christmas

Almost 5 months abroad.

For years, I wanted to try living abroad. As someone who loves to travel and learn about new cultures, it seemed like the next logical step for me in my understanding of other parts of the world. After I became single, the timing seemed perfect to start a new adventure. My drive to live abroad was very strong even though I would be going alone.

I am very glad I have moved here. I have met some wonderful people, learned a lot about Taiwanese culture through my students and enjoyed getting to explore the many natural and cultural sights in Taiwan. Sometimes living abroad is challenging but I am glad I have tried it, or else I always would have wondered. 

After two or three months of living here, I started to wonder whether or not I could see myself living internationally. I loved the financial ease of living here and found the idea of living all over the world exciting.

Recently, I have felt differently. As the feeling of adventure wears off and I am settling into a routine here, I am less enchanted. I have realized I wanted the adventure of living abroad but I do see an end in sight. I wanted the adventure, not the reality. Now that I have that reality here, I understand that I love my reality back home so much more. It has been a powerful realization for me, one that gives me more understanding of my personal drives and life goals.

I am enjoying the clarity at the moment!!

Surprise: Pops is in Kaohsiung

Yesterday afternoon, at the beginning of my 4th period class, my 12th graders got me a tiramisu cake and sang happy birthday to me in English and Chinese. I was telling them how touched I was and how it made me feel better since it was a little hard being away from family and friends with my bday approaching. We were eating the cake when my Dad strolled into my class holding an apple and said, "I have an apple for the teacher." I froze in shock. He had spent the last 24 hours in transit from NYC to surprise me for my birthday. My friend Sue picked him up at the airport in Taipei the night before and was amazing at keeping it all a secret.

We embraced tightly and I started crying.

I am so happy my dad is here. He met all my students yesterday. They were running out of the hallways to meet him. After school, we hopped in the car and drove 2 hours to the southern tip of Taiwan to spend today at the beach.

Words cannot express how touched I am. I am really looking forward to spending the next 11 days with my dad.

Love you, Daddy!!!