February 10, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: A Change of Heart Vividly, I can recall, the various mornings I’d rise early, go to my notebook, and sit by the window. After about five or so minutes of staring out to the lake daydreaming, I would put my pen to the paper and write. I couldn’t tell you how long I would write for, because I’d get lost in my fantasies. Every time I write–even now–I forget all sense of time. An hour or so later, I’d be ten pages deep into my scribbling and ranting. Someone from my family would inform me it was time for breakfast and I’d leave my imaginary world, knowing I’d return to it shortly. That, then and even now, is one of my favorite times in the day: writing time.
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.
December 30, 2018 New Year, Same Me 2018 flew by in the blink of an eye. It honestly feels like I woke up and it was January, blinked a couple of times, and here we are in December, right before New Years’ Eve. I’m so grateful for all that has happened in the last year. I started a fitness routine and kept up with it, I wrote three books and published two of them before the end of the year, I visited home and saw most of my family and friends, decided to move home, and now, as you are reading this, I will be preparing for my NYE celebration in Hsinchu with two of my best friends.
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.
December 23, 2018 What Happens After Your Last Game I remember the first time I stepped foot on the ice in hockey skates. At nine years old, I had donned figure skates for six years leading up to that, but nothing could prepare me for the dozens of bruises and bumps I had all over my body as I got used to life without toe picks. But yet, despite every fall and a few stifled laughs from my teammates that summer, I kept on trying. Thirteen years later, I would step on the ice for the last time, wearing my collegiate uniform and equipment way larger than the first set of pads I wore way back when.
December 19, 2018 The Scariest Part of Living Abroad Often times from friends and family back home, I’m often told how scary the idea of moving abroad can be. And I have to agree: picking up everything and moving halfway across the world in itself sounds daunting. Honestly for me, it was never too frightening of a plan at the start. I always knew I was going to do it, no matter what. But I may have met my scariest situation yet while abroad.
December 12, 2018 Among the Heavens The weekend before Halloween, I ventured to Nantou City. I’ve lived in Taichung over two years and somehow throughout that entire time period, I had yet to go to Nantou. I’d been to Sun Moon Lake, driven through Caotun, but I hadn’t stopped in Nantou. Thus, when my friend from Nantou invited me to see her, the answer was obvious: I was totally going no matter what.
December 2, 2018 Travels from the Time Vault: Czech Republic Growing up, my parents were adamant about exposing us to our heritage. Both of my parents come from diverse backgrounds. My mother is English, Irish, Scottish, and Polish, while my father hails from Germany, Czechoslovakia, and England. Any family gathering we went to was complete with delicacies from every side of our heritage. They spared no expense when time proved available and there was a chance to explore uncharted territory. I was very blessed with a lot of chances to see England, Germany, and other parts of Europe before reaching adolescence. Among those as I reached my teenage years, Czech Republic made it onto my list of places visited.
November 18, 2018 Travels from the Time Vault: Paris Growing up in many movies I indulged in as a youngster, so much emphasis was placed upon the city of lights and romance. Paris was like this beacon of romantic expectation. I imagined being proposed to on top of the Eiffel Tower, overlooking the entirety of the metropolis beneath us. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. And I’m certain that I’m not the only one who once pictured sauntering by the banks of the Seine, eating un pain au chocolat and sipping un café, and admiring artwork in museums like the Musée d’Orsay. Needless to say, finally arriving in le Havre gave me goosebumps.
November 7, 2018 The Not-So-Snow Day in September It was a Tuesday morning in September. Third grade had just started barely two weeks earlier and I was getting used to my new teacher, Mrs. Crowe. She had long red curls and big brown eyes. When she talked, any topic she brought up was bright and cheery. She made math sound like the happiest thing in the world. Walking around as we worked on our workbooks, enthusing about how “math was the key to everything” and telling us if “we could multiply and divide, you could do anything” in that happy, cheery voice of hers. Some days, I believed what she said to be true.
