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.