Learning from What I'm Missing

In the first six weeks of being here, I have missed a lot of things back home that I have never missed out on before. Besides two close friends' weddings, I have missed out on even closer friends' birthdays, Irish Fest, State Fair, family vacations, a great summer job, Milwaukee summer nightlife, and countless other things. These are things that are traditions, things that my family covets and have truly taken to heart now that my brother and I are old enough to appreciate them as adults.

The hardest part, by far, of being here is not spending time in Presque Isle with my family. This is the first time in 15 years that I will not be going up north to the beautifully secluded Presque Isle Lake, but, fortunately, I will be able to return next summer when I am home for a few months.

I've said before that I define myself by the people in my life, friends and family, and the adventures we share. Reminiscing about past events, those being from years ago or escapades from the night before, have helped me become the person I am today. I have also said that I have to change my priorities and define myself by what I do with my life and who I encounter on these new adventures. I have been trying really hard to do this, and so far have been successful, but I also don't want to let go of what has gotten me here today.

In the first six weeks of being here, I have made friendships that will never be replaced or forgotten, I have seen things that some people have only seen on the Travel Channel or on the internet, I have taught in my own classroom for four weeks, have made connections with students that some only dream about in their methods classes, I have become even more independent in a new country where I barely speak the language, and I am so proud of myself.

On top of being a first year teacher, which is hard in and of itself, I am thousands of miles away from my family. The furthest I have ever been from them is two hours by car (my trip to London doesn't count because I was coming home in a week.) During my last year of college, when classes were overwhelming or I just wanted an escape, I would pack up the car with my laundry and my homework and head home for a couple nights. I was able to relax, turn off my brain for 48 hours, leave my phone in my bedroom, and be completely secluded from the stresses and responsibilities of methods classes and student teaching.

I don't have that luxury here. If I want to be by myself, I lock myself in my "apartment/dorm room," which will soon be surrounded by hormonal teenage girls 24/7. My second option is to go for a drive on my scooter and find a place to relax and read in the city, which so far has been a wonderful escape and I plan on continuing this during the regular school year whenever I can. There are amazing book stores here where people sit on the floor just to read a new book. The atmosphere is wonderful and the selection is mind-blowing so I can see this becoming a weekly escape.

In the next couple of days, the rest of our teachers will be returning from their trips and we will all be reunited again, everyone ready to exchange stories and inside jokes that were created on our different adventures. In less than a week, orientations and meetings commence with returning teachers- department meetings, time to lesson plan, house meetings, floor meetings, everything a teacher has to go through at the start of the new school year. I will have the privilege of being a part of two different departments- English and ESL/Student Services. I can't wait to see the differences between the two and use the strengths from both to progress into an even more helpful and well-rounded teacher for my students.

Every struggle that we face in life helps us become the person we are meant to be. Some of us go through different struggles at different times in our lives, or different struggles altogether, than the people sitting next to us. It's important to not let those hard events define who we are, but rather help guide us to be a better person who has a better, more well-rounded take on life. I have grown so much since moving to Taiwan, as an individual, as a friend, and as a teacher, and it's only been five weeks. I can't wait to see where my experiences take me in the next ten months.

Four Weeks in..

Today is the four week anniversary of being here in Taiwan. I love it here more than I imagined; the people are wonderful (both who I work with and the citizens), the landscape is breathtaking, the school is up-to-date, the students are hard-working, and the fruit it to die for. Oh and the bubble tea- probably the best part of being here is the bubble tea. It is black tea with milk and tapioca pearls. Basically delicious.

Coming here has been the best decision I've made thus far in life. At first, I wasn't sure how everything would work out, if I would get along with my coworkers, if I wasn't ready to be a teacher, or if I wasn't strong enough to live this far from my family.

But being here for four weeks has changed my perspective on a lot of things, which is surprising because I thought I changed a lot during my semester of student teaching. During that time, I learned how to prioritize and focus energy on things that mattered. I am very thankful for learning how to do that because I have to practice this on a daily basis here in Taiwan. Turns out I am definitely strong enough to live here, definitely ready to be a teacher, and definitely get along really well with my coworkers. But all of those things don't take away from the fact that I miss my family more than words can describe. Like I said, I can prioritize. And until now, I have been so busy teaching and getting to know my new friends that I really didn't have time to miss home. Unfortunately, summer school is winding down and now I have more time to think about the people and things I left behind.

I miss being able to call my parents whenever I want just to talk about silly little things that happened during the day. We are making it work with the thirteen hour time difference but it was just such a habit when I lived in Wisconsin that sometimes I still reach for the phone like I'm going to call or text them and then have to put it back down. It's a hard habit to break.

I'm extremely fortunate that I have the relationship with my parents that I have. Sometimes they take on the role of friends rather than the role of parents, but when the time and situation calls for it, they step up and resume the role they were meant to take. My parents are two people who were brought into this world to raise a loving and supportive family. It's in their DNA. Both come from loving and supportive families so having one of their own is natural and easy.

It's because of them that my brother and I are so close. E and I can talk about anything and hang out for hours and pick up right where we left off after not talking for a couple weeks. I love spending time with my brother because, once we both got to college, we were able to stretch out and become our own people. Amazingly, we didn't spread too far out where we didn't have anything in common anymore. It's like we spread apart but still moved forward parallel to one another so our close relationship hasn't changed, just who we are individually, all for the better.

Before I left, I was asked "Why are you moving to Taiwan?" more often than I care to admit. The question wasn't because they were interested in my answer; they couldn't understand why I would ever want to do something so drastic with my life. When I got here, and started posting updates and photos online for friends and family to see, the support from back home was overwhelming. I pride myself on not caring what people's opinions of me are, but to know that I have a support group back at home cheering me on is a feeling no one will understand unless they do what I am doing.

I started writing this post as a sad, I miss my family a lot, pity party, but have come to the realization that this is normal and it is going to happen. As of right now, my parents are planning on coming to visit me during my spring break and, honestly, that week cannot come soon enough. 240 days!