I'm in Love

I arrived to Taiwan on Friday night. All of my flights went super smoothly, and I only ended up with a 10 minute delay on my last flight. I also didn't get lost. Thank goodness! I met some really great people at the airport and on the plane, and although I don't think I will ever see them again, there was something special about forming a friendship in that 10 minutes or that 13 hours that will last forever.

My uncle and my baby cousin

I saw my uncle right after I grabbed my luggage and headed toward the exit. I was ecstatic to see him. He drove me back to his house, and there, I spent Friday and Saturday night. I was pretty tired Saturday, so I stayed in and played with my cousins. One is 6, and the other is 10 months old. They are both so incredibly adorable. 

I was dropped off at my dorm on Sunday afternoon, and I would finally be by myself for the first time since arriving. My uncle showed me how to get to my campus and even the stores around, and then he left, so I could settle in. Surprisingly, I felt fine...maybe a bit lonely, since I did not know anyone at all yet, but I was fine.

At the night market with friends

The first thing Monday morning was orientation and in the afternoon we had our Chinese placement test. I finally met some classmates, and we went out for dinner that Monday night. There are around 65 people in the summer program, and they are from all over the world. I have friends now from countries like the Netherlands, South Korea, Finland, and the UK. It has been so much fun getting to know them! I have "Sustainability in Taiwan and East Asia" from 9 AM to 12 PM, and my Chinese class from 1 PM to 4 PM. So, for these last few days, I have just been going to classes and hanging out with friends (and eating yummy food, of course)! It's been perfect, and well, I'm in love with Taiwan.

Off to ride the Taipei Gondola (which is just an air lift) around some temples! Oh boy, heights!

Hope all is well! :)

Bring on the Heat!

Some summer fun!

I finished working at summer school this last Friday. Super exciting! I couldn't have asked for a better summer job. I've spent the last four weeks with these students, so I'll definitely miss them, even the ones who purposely tried to get on my nerves. More exciting news, I'll be working there again next year and hopefully get to plan and teach some math lessons/activities myself.

I'm a fairly light packer. For 7
weeks, I think this is pretty good.
Let's be honest too; how much
could I realistically carry? Haha.

It's finally down to the last few days! I leave for Taiwan on Thursday, and I'm as ready as I'll ever be. (That 13-hour time difference though...no one is ever prepared for that.) This past weekend has been about packing and catching up with some friends. I've got a suitcase filled with tank tops, shorts, summer dresses, sandals, and sunscreen. Did I mention the weather in Taiwan is HOT and HUMID?!? It's subtropical weather. Imagine Nebraska summer heat but way worse. I know, crazy. So, I suppose bring on the heat, or perhaps, better yet, let it rain! I've got an umbrella, a light jacket, and a pair of tennis shoes in my duffle bag, and my backpack is just filled with fun school stuff.

I've also been squeezing in some Chinese lessons online and with my parents. I am nowhere near fluent but at least I'm headed in the right direction. Recently, I've had a lot of people ask me what languages I speak, and I've never realized how (crazy/cool/different/etc.) my response was until some of them pointed it out. I speak English, some Taiwanese, some Chinese, and a little Spanish. The first three languages are kind of fun for me because in any given conversation with my parents or my two brothers, I will speak either just one of them, a mix of two of them, or all of them combined. Sometimes, I start a conversation in one language and end in another, but often times, I just say the word in whichever language comes to my mind first. As a result, I speak with sentences that use all three languages. Ummmm...confusing! I think I can't even tell the difference after awhile, since my brain tries to sort the three pretty rapidly. My goal though is to eventually speak all four of these languages fluently!

Side note: I find languages quite fascinating. So, in case you were curious, Taiwanese is a popular spoken dialect in Taiwan. It was what every student learned in school before the country adopted the Chinese language. (This was a significant and necessary change, since it is impossible to write in Taiwanese.) I usually compare Chinese and Taiwanese to English and Old English, although I've found that with the latter two languages, if you can understand one, then you can try to understand the other. When it comes to Chinese and Taiwanese, you're still out of luck. The two are quite distinctive.

The next post will be when I'm in Taiwan! Thank you for all of your love and support!

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) / Via its-leviooosa.tumblr.com

Plane Tickets, Toothpastes, and a Tiger

Happy Birthday, Jack!

After today, I'll be halfway done with working at summer school and have two more weeks left. I love my summer job as a para! The 5th and 6th graders are a unique bunch of kiddos. They keep me on my toes. I can't tell you how many times I have been asked my age and whether I am married or not. That just makes me laugh.

Before I share details of my trip, I want to give a shout out to my little brother Jack on here. Today's his birthday, and he's 19! I am a very proud big sister, although he would argue that I am quite small and not that much older. He is a double major in accounting and business and completed his 1st year of college a few weeks ago. He's super nice, goofy, and smart, and I'm excited to celebrate him today. Best (little) brother ever!

Journal, books, travel guide, tickets

So, soon after my acceptance to NCCU in Taipei, I purchased my plane tickets. The tickets almost costed more than my entire study abroad program! Yikes! I have all of my flight info in my hands now though. I am flying out from Omaha. Then, it's to Dallas and the long overseas flight to Tokyo. From there, I will land in Taipei. Without layover, my 3 flights are a combined total of 19 hours. Whew! I think I'm going to need more books, but seriously, what am I supposed to do with all that free time? My uncle will be meeting me at the airport, and I am already excited thinking about the end of the flight and seeing my family! I'll be staying at my uncle and aunt's house for a few nights before they drop me off at my dorm and again before I leave to come back to the U.S. I am looking forward to spending time with them, and I can't wait to hold my baby cousins.

I don't even know what to do with all of this! 

I have also purchased my study abroad insurance, so I feel pretty prepared if I get sick or injured while I am over there. Hopefully, it won't be necessary though. Recently, I visited my dentist too. Upon hearing about my trip, my hygienist gave me a bag full of toothpastes and floss picks. Wowza! Surely, I'm going to have clean teeth. All of this stuff on my desk is a reminder that I have yet to start packing. I bet that will be another adventure in itself coming up here in a few days! 

Guess who else is going on this trip with me?!?!?

My little Doane Tiger (aka my travel buddy)

Welcome!

This is officially my very first blog and post...ever! Just take a moment to let that sink in.

Now, welcome to my blog! I am truly excited to share my adventures with you. Both the American culture and the Taiwanese culture have influenced me (note the title of the blog), and I hold values from both very close to my heart.

I don't necessarily share my immigration story with everyone, simply because it's not quite the smooth transition followed by a simple "hello". That would probably be too much information for someone I just met or am getting to know. I'm rather open about sharing it though. To get to know me better, here's a tad bit:

I moved to the U.S. when I was seven. My dad accepted a job offer in helping train employees to cut and export meat to Japan. In 2001, just a few months after the devastating attack of 9/11, we packed our belongings into our suitcases and left everything we ever knew. I, for one, packed several stuffed animals and dolls, a blanket, and some clothes. As a little girl, I supposed that was what I considered valuable and my "home". If I could have a do-over though, I would stuff my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in my suitcase instead! I tend to not break rules, so my thinking is that this one should slide. Anyway, I don't think at that moment any of us realized that we wouldn't return until 10 years later. (Yes, documents, work visas, and residencies for immigrants are even longer and messier than you can imagine.) My dad's decision to move our family halfway across the world was not easy. Learning English, understanding new customs, and being away from family posed the greatest challenges for us and sometimes, still today. However, I couldn't imagine life any other way because then I wouldn't be who I am today.

In the summer of 2011, my family and I went back to Taiwan for the first time. What an incredible defining moment that was for me. Now, 3 years later...I'm headed to the National Chengchi University (NCCU) in Taipei, Taiwan for their international summer school program. I am so grateful for this opportunity Doane has given me; their scholarship will cover the entire cost of the program. I will be taking a Mandarin Chinese course along with two other business/culture courses. I also can't wait to spend some time with my family in Taiwan (all those people I mentioned earlier that I would have packed into my suitcase). Truly, I'm beyond excited!!!

Here's a breakdown of my 14 weeks of summer break:
4 weeks of working as a para at summer school
7 weeks of studying abroad in Taiwan
1 week of training for Doane orientation leaders
          That leaves me...2 extra weeks to find some other little adventures. :) 

In many ways, this will be the first time I'm really ever away from home (my parents and my brothers), but at the same time, it's crazy that when I sit here and think about it, I'm going back home too. So here's to summer 2014, to new adventures and learning more about myself and the world!

*More posts and details to come as the trip gets closer. I will post updates and pictures during the trip as well. Stay tuned. 

This is the link to save and keep to access my blog: http://theperfectbalance11.blogspot.com/ 

NCCU Campus