Ah!!

Tomorrow we leave for Taiwan! Mike and I got a call last night at 9:45 from the recruiter, who told us that we will not be living in Taipei after all. They need us in Taichung (southwest of Taipei, halfway down the island). I was kinda ticked off at first. I've been reading up and preparing myself for Taipei, and now a day and a half before we leave, they tell us we won't be living or working there. But there are some benefits to being in Taichung: it's less affected by typhoons, it's cheaper, and it's centrally located on the island so it will be faster to get everywhere. So I've accepted it (not that I had any other choice) and I'm looking forward to it.

I'm decided to map out my goals and list important things that I have to keep in mind for this excursion. Goal #1 for moving to Taiwan: to see if I like teaching. Goal #2: to see if I like Chinese culture enough to pursue it in grad school. I need to keep in mind that I can't compare my experiences in Taiwan to those in Hong Kong. I know I will probably never recreate the friendships I made in Hong Kong and I can't expect to in Taiwan. I fully expect to be frustrated by my school by the end of the year--I can't expect to love it and for everything to go smoothly. As long as we come out of this thing alive and not too traumatized I will be happy. And if it gives me some direction, that would be AWESOME.