Goodbye (for now) Taiwan

June 30, 2011

5:50 AM

Taoyuan International Airport, Gate D5

It’s shortly before six AM at the Taipei-Taoyuan international airport. I left Yilan at 3:30 this morning, hugging my roommate goodbye. Miss you, Carolyn. Neither of us had slept, both trying to finish packing up the apartment for our respective homeward journeys. Amazing how much stuff you end up with in the course of a year. I arrived at the airport at 4:45 in the morning. I’m well aware that I’m behind on my blog. You don’t have any posts on May or June, and we’ve arrived at the last day of June now. Where oh where has the time gone? Yes, yes, bad blogger for not updating. Shame upon shame.

Anyway, fortunately, in between catching catnaps on the plane, I’m hoping to enlighten you with the goings on of my last two months. (I do so love to do things chronologically; after arriving home, I may follow up with some blog posts on various topics about life in Taiwan.) For now, let’s stick to the present.

I can barely believe that I’m on my way home. I’m aware that I’m not the same as when I left, and odds are, I’m not the only one who’s changed. I’d like to hope I’ve changed for the better; it’ll be an experience getting to know people again after being gone for a year. A year really is a short time in the grand scheme of things. Being in Taiwan this year seems to have gone by tremendously quickly and it makes me feel as though I could probably do just about anything for a year. Then again, time flies when you’re having fun after all, so maybe that’s why this year seems to have disappeared out from under me.

I’m not sure what exactly lies ahead for me. I’m aware that right this minute, I could go anywhere. It’s a startling, and terrifying, and amazing feeling all at once. I could say “the sky’s the limit” but there is no limit; the sky will take you anywhere. Right now, I’ve thrown a few job applications out on the east coast (hey, if you’re hiring…). I also went on a job interview this week on the east coast of Taiwan. I’m still waiting to hear back; as of yesterday, no decision had been reached. I was really excited about the interview and I think it would be a great school at which to work. I’m also applying for a position in Hong Kong. Beyond that? I’m still looking, and open to suggestions.

It doesn’t quite seem real that I’ll be home later today. Admittedly there’s 20 hours of flights between home and myself, but it’s still technically today. The last few days have been a complete whirlwind. Between errands, meetings, spending 10 hours on a train for an interview, and scrambling to get things done, I didn’t end up having time to say goodbye to a lot of my favorite restaurant owners, which is unfortunate. I’m going to be immensely missing the food and the people in Taiwan.

My final week in Taiwan disappeared in right out from under me. I don’t know what happened Sunday, except that errands like the bank and the post office, which I wanted to accomplish, had to wait, because they weren’t open. Monday I got up at 5 in the morning and went off to Yunlin County for a job interview—I didn’t make it home until 8:30 at night. Tuesday is rather blurry at the moment, in my sleep-deprived skull. I recall getting a new ATM card at the bank, buying boxes at the post office, lots of cleaning and packing, the preliminary apartment inspection, and my dear, wonderful bicycle being stolen. I parked and locked it before going into the bank, and didn’t get the chance to go back for it until after 9. Wednesday was a flurry of more errands (bank, school, Carrefour, post office, apartment inspection, Carrefour, manic packing until it was time to leave).’

And here I am at the airport. I’m looking forward to being home and hugging my mom, and my auntie, and cousins again. I’m not sure what exactly lies ahead right now, but if the past year has been any indication, good things await. I’m going to post this now, and when I’m bored on the plane and internet-less, I shall fill the time by writing my blog entries about May and June, discovering the perils and adventures of teaching, travel, and friends in Taiwan. Sorry I failed to come up with another word that started with T. At any rate, I’m signing off and will be writing more soon.

April's Roller Coaster

June 13, 2011
中山国小 Jhong Shan Elementary School
1:45 PM

Alright, I have slacked majorly on updating my blog. The last time I updated was the end of March. This post will catch you up on April. So much happened in May that that needs to be another post on it's own--possible a couple of posts. I'll edit this entry and add photos later.

In the first week of April, on April 6, my dad passed away. I'm exceedingly grateful that I went home in October to see him one last time. (I didn't make it clear in my October post, but prior my departure for Taiwan my dad had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and when I arrived in Taiwan in August, he was already on borrowed time.) I did the only thing it seemed I could do in this situation: I booked a flight home for about a week, to be with my family and take a step back from everything.

Upon my return to Taiwan, I went back to teaching, glad to see my students again and to have the support of all of the Yilan ETAs and my Taiwanese friends. It's amazing how quickly people can become like family. (As I write, it's already June, and the first three ETAs left on Saturday: Jill, Brittni, Jenny, I miss you already.)

Here's a Facebook Status I posted that rather sums up my feelings about my return to the US.

Erin O'Brien
When getting ready to go back to the US last week, I said I was "going home." Coming back to Taiwan this week, I also said I was "going home." Is that strange?
April 16 at 2:04 pm

My birthday occurred while I was home for the funeral and a little more than a week after I got back to Taiwan, my friends had planned a surprise party for me. Bowling, batting cages, cake, and amazing company: what more could a girl ask for? I really felt loved.

Around this time I also discovered the wonder of Taiwanese fruit smoothies. Even if you're not a smoothie person in the US, I urge you to try them in Taiwan. The fruit is sweeter, everything is fresh, and there are no preservatives. I hope to soon compile a list of all the foods I thought I disliked, and then found out I was wrong about when I came to Taiwan. Strawberries are high on that list. It's a shame I discovered my love for strawberry smoothies at the end of strawberry season.

April finished off with rather a bit of a bang. We had a particularly long earthquake on April 30. Lasted for over a minute I think, and was strong. The epicenter was in Wujie, which is less than a twenty minute bike ride from where I live and teach. I frequently sleep through earthquakes here and even sometimes fail to notice them when I'm awake. I certainly didn't miss this one. I was sitting in Mos Burger at Luna Plaza and it went on for ages. I grew up in California and as a child was taught the importance of being prepared for earthquakes. The rules are easy, when you feel a quake get under a table or desk, or into a doorway. When the quake had gone on for nearly a minute, I ducked under the table. It continued going on, and when I got up, everyone looked at my like I was crazy. They were all still seated with their hamburgers. Oh well. Old habits die hard. I don't recall hearing news any major damage as the result of the quake.