February 3, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: Learning the Lingo Ah, Mandarin Chinese. I’m sure many of you know that it is one of the hardest languages in the world to learn, for speakers of alphabet based languages, that is. Here in Taiwan, Traditional Mandarin Chinese is spoken. It is nearly the same as Simplified Chinese when you hear it spoken, but taking a look at the characters, you notice the difference. Traditional Mandarin Chinese has more strokes and more complexity to it. Taiwan has kept the traditional writing alive despite China’s transition to a simple version of the original language.
January 30, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: Not-So-Little Hehuanshan One of the many places I have always wanted to go in Taiwan was Hehuanshan. My curiosity for the destination started when I first got here, listening to fellow teachers of mine talk about how beautiful it was, and more specifically, the sunrise. Part of the central mountain range, Hehuanshan rests right on the edge of Hualien County and Nantou County, making it possible to see both the sunrise and the sunset. As a lover of nature (perhaps an obsessed one at that), I have had this peak on my Taiwan bucket list nearly since the beginning. And I finally made it.
January 27, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: How to Pack To Move Abroad When I accepted my job to Taiwan, I was over the moon ecstatic. Living abroad was something I’d always wanted to do, ever since I could remember, and it was finally happening. There were so many things to straighten out and prepare for, but by God, the most annoying of them all was packing. Yes, that’s right. Packing.
January 23, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: Health is Wealth When I came to Taiwan, I was fresh out of working job that involved manual labor, sometimes longer than eight hours a day and six days a week. In a word, I was exhausted. I spent the two weeks I gave myself off from the job laying around, catching up on all the things I didn’t have time to do when I was under the blazing sun. And like in years past, I seemed to gain back all that I had lost during the ten weeks I worked, and then some. And then couldn’t shake it off me.
January 20, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: The Unexpected Bonuses For those of you who keep up regularly with my blog, you’re probably familiar with my fun experience in the ER a little while back. I’ve never been a fan of the doctor–as I am sure not many people are–but honestly, visiting the doctor in Taiwan is one of the many bonuses to living here. As an expat, I definitely have a different experience than the locals when it comes to daily life, but there are bonuses to living in Taiwan, and perhaps living in Asia in general. So let’s break down just a few of the pros to moving to this island:
December 26, 2018 In the Spirit of Giving Christmas time is one of my favorite times of year, right after Thanksgiving which is equally as thrilling for me. Both holidays embody what I love most: family and friends. It’s all about giving and spending time with those you love, no matter how far and wide your circle of comrades spreads. And while the idea of spending Christmas in Chicago next year is exciting, I couldn’t help but get a little nostalgic thinking that this was my third and final Christmas spent on the island of Taiwan.
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.
August 14, 2018 How We Ended Up Hiking in Jumanji As part of a weekly series, #NoFilter, each blog post is a different story from my travels in Taiwan. Be sure to check out…
