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!