Touchdown Taiwan

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I did it! I can’t believe I’m actually here! After deplaning, I picked up my luggage, exchanged my money, and headed out to catch the bus to the city. During the hourlong bus ride, I made several first impressions about my new home:

  • It’s hot and humid! I knew that I’d be in the tropics, but didn’t realize it was going to be THIS humid.
  • This place reminds me of the East Side of the Big Island. Everything is green. Probably due to the rain, a lot of the buildings look run down.

After getting to Taipei Main Station, I made my way through the maze of this massive building for my metro. Although carrying my luggage with me was an inconvenience, I managed to find the train, bought my EasyCard, and hopped on. Three stops later I arrived at Guting station, found my hostel, and checked-in.

I’m staying at Eight Elephants Hostel for a week. I’m in a single, but besides the room itself, everything else is shared. This place has a real homey vibe to it! I’ve already met a bunch of people: some on holiday, some students like myself. My only plan for this week is to find housing, and perhaps a job teaching English. Besides that, I’m really just going to play it by ear and go with the flow – I love this feeling.

 

Taking the Plunge

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I finally took the plunge. The decision was without a doubt one of the riskiest decisions I’ve ever made in my life. The feeling still hasn’t completely settled in; it’s still surreal. I’ve learned that the hardest part of following your heart and your true interests is really the commitment to follow through. Sure, I saved up for nearly two years to make pursuing my interests possible, but having a financial safety net means nothing if you don’t actually execute on what you’ve been hoping to do.

It’s so easy to just give up, and postpone following your heart for another day.

I knew that given my current circumstances, now was the right time to do something that I might never be able to do when I’m older. Ironically enough, earlier this week I was given an open offer to work in our Singapore office following the end of my program. I’d like to believe that this goes to show that life is really about taking risks and following your heart. It might be scary when facing the unknown, but somehow the universe has a tendency of providing us with what we need at the right time. I cannot express how grateful, lucky, and appreciative I am for how everything has worked out.

But anyway, I still can’t believe that within several weeks, I’ll be going to a foreign country knowing nobody, looking for housing, enrolling in a language program, finding a part-time job, and most importantly, meeting new people from around the world! The thought of all of this kind of scares me. Actually, it scares me a lot; however, I’m sure that without a doubt, my time there will be an experience filled with memories that’ll last a lifetime!

The “Real World” – One Year Later

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I can’t believe its already June. 2011 is flying bye. It’s already been a year since I’ve graduated from college. Crazy. I’m amazed by how much I’ve grown in these last 12 months. The last 5 months were particularly a period of change. I’ve gotten involved in many activities of interest. Some I’ve stuck with, most I’ve not. This process of trying new things reminds me a lot like college life. In retrospect I wish I had been more involved while at college. Exposure to new activities, people and ideas fuels personal growth. After a year out of college, I’ve realized that variety is really the spice of life. Of course it’s important to have that foundation to rely on no matter what, but it’s really through the new encounters that life brings that really makes life worth living. I just hope that in the remaining months of this year – and really for the rest of my life – I don’t lose sight of this notion, and slip back into a humdrum routine.

My Foundation

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While catching up on some readings during this past week before bed, one topic really made me think: identifying our foundation. Consider everything in your life. What really matters the most? Put another way, what can you imagine living life without?

After giving it some thought, I’m still not quite sure what exactly is my foundation. Perhaps this is typical? What with this whole notion of a quarterlife-crisis, it’s certainly not uncommon that others my age might pause from time to time to question what we’re doing with our life. For me, other than God, my immediately family and grandparents, and my closest friends – I’m really not sure what else I TRULY need in life to be happy. More time to do more things would help. As would more money. But at the end of the day, I think my foundation – at least for now – is pretty basic. How About you all? What do you consider to be your foundation in life?