October 7, 2018

Fall is for Family

Of all the seasons, my favorite is autumn.  Part of that is due to the beauty I saw growing up around this time of year.  In the Midwest, the leaves would change color, turning from vibrant green to rusted colors.  The trees would shed themselves of summer’s fragments and everyone would find their way to the orchards, ready to pick out the recent harvest: apples, pumpkins, fruits, vegetables, and then finish off a day in the fields with a drink of apple cider with mitten covered hands. 

October 3, 2018

That Time We Hid a Kitten In Our Apartment

During university, I’ll admit: I did a lot of weird, out of character things.  One time, I stole Santa Claus and hid him on campus.  I’d go lay out on Chapel Hill and watch the stars when I couldn’t sleep, sometimes till the wee hours of the night.  I often tried new things and much to my dismay, liking them was a hit of a miss.  And a lot of the time, it didn’t take too long before I realized how much I really disliked something.  But the time my roommate and I adopted a kitten and hid it from residence life for a week was definitely not something I regret doing.
September 23, 2018

Make the World Your Runway

It was a couple of weeks ago.  A Monday, just an ordinary Monday.  There I was, sick and on some strong cold medication, strutting down YiZhong street with my sunglasses on and my hair pulled back into a sleek braid.  Half of me was convinced I was going to fall flat on my face in front of a bunch of high school students outside of Family Mart, because my entire body was shaking from the medication.  The other half of me felt like I was on the runway at fashion week or something equally as ridiculous.  Thank you, Panadol, for that rush of unwarranted confidence.  
September 19, 2018

Where (And How) to Learn Languages Abroad

About a year ago, I began seeing a tutor to learn a fair bit of Mandarin.  The whole situation lasted about five months, before things were cut off and we both went separate ways.  In that time, I made it through two and a half textbooks.  So I like to tell people I learned what I like to call “survival Chinese”.  I can order food, drinks, read numbers and basic signs, and ask for help for specific things.  I recognize about 40% of what is said, and from what I do know how to say, I say it correctly.  Only 50% of the time.  Like I said, survival Chinese.  I’m proud of it, even if I didn’t get as far as I originally intended to at the beginning of it all.
September 16, 2018

Crazy Girls Racing In the Rain

A few weekends ago, the city of Taichung was informed that we would be having no work or classes.  That meant for the first time in my entire time here, I had a three day weekend that wasn’t a scheduled holiday.  Businesses and malls would be open, but I would not have anywhere or anyone to see.  No classes to teach.  Nothing.  And ironically, it also happened to be the same week I finished my latest manuscript and had given myself a proper break from writing my books.  I decided there was only one thing to do: reevaluate.
September 12, 2018

That Time We Stood On A Fortress

About a year and a half ago, one of my best friends and I traveled by train down to Kaohsiung.  We were going away for the weekend to the hottest city in Taiwan.  It was, admittedly, the first time I had ever booked a hotel in my life without my mom or dad assisting.  Aside from the moment I stepped away from my family at the airport two years ago, I like to think of that weekend in Kaohsiung as one of the first times I really felt like a responsible adult.
September 8, 2018

Why I Went Vegan (Again)

Way back when at the age of twenty-one, I was seeing a girl who was deep into veganism.  It was, honestly, the first time I had seen or heard anything about it.  And I was intrigued by the idea.  At the time, I was a little oblivious and ignorant to my own needs.  I thought I was healthy and continually found myself in a pattern.  I’d lose weight, get real close to where I wanted to be, and then I’d falter back, ending up right back where I started.  I was unhappy, not healthy, and I needed a change.