March 6, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: To All I Leave Behind Well, we’ve made it to the end of the blog series! As you read this, I will be home in Chicago, being greeted by my family at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to head home, begin anew, and start the next chapter of my life. But I’d also be lying if I told you that I wasn’t upset about leaving behind Taiwan, a place I call home.
February 24, 2019 Taking on Taiwan: Ch-Ch-Changes Recently, I explored some old posts of mine, just to see if I think the same way I did back then about things. It was rather interesting, reading it and remembering exactly how I felt. At the same time, however, I have to admit, I have trouble associating with who I was back then. Just remembering the things I used to see daily in university and back home compared to the things that I am used to now makes me realize how truthfully different my life has become. If you want a glimpse of it, check out this post. Contrasting them is trippy.
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 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.
October 28, 2018 Solitary Today is the day he loses his daughter. He could tell by the silence—stronger than usual and more prominent—and the quiet packing in her room she conducted that morning, trying to be as invisible as possible. He has no idea why she would decide to leave. He has given her everything, in his eyes, and she just refuses to see it.