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interstellarfishThree and some change years, five countries and countless airports later I am saying farewell to Asia and looking towards Europe. It's been a crazy way to spend my late twenties, everything from isolating and freeing to terrifying and exciting.
From my completely nightmarish arrival (think black mould and being locked in an apartment without food or ability to contact anyone) to making a small, one-room apartment into a home, it has been so much more than what I expected. I have driven up part of Mt Fuji and stood on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, surfed in Indonesia, protested against China, kayaked through Halong Bay and crawled through underground tunnels in Ho Chi Minh City. I got to discuss power tools with a Shinto priest, Anthony Bourdain with one of his show's local producers and watched the sunset in Bali with a chain-smoking surf instructor. I've been in three castles, two of the 50 tallest buildings in the world, one presidential palace, and due to one huge wrong turn in Japan, a U.N. diplomatic guest house. I've eaten nearly every possible part of a chicken, fish and duck, drank kopi luwak and given a speech at a Chinese wedding and a million other things I never once thought I would do.
My work has been incredibly rewarding, and I learned that yes I can be patient when it comes to really stupid questions asked multiple times and that kids can be incredibly funny if you listen to them, also they love to teach you every bad word they know (even if you speak horribly accented, garbage level Chinese). Seeing a student struggle through translating bit by bit and then light up when they realise they can communicate their ideas and thoughts with you never stops being amazing.
I had my last class with one of my favourite classes last Friday, and it broke my heart. Two of the students I had taught for half of their lives. Part of me doesn't want to leave, life here in Taiwan is easy, the food is decent and the beer is cheap but I know that it's time to find something else, new opportunities and chances.
I have one more Chinese New Year left in Taiwan, then I leave for the European continent. It's hard to say goodbye, and I'm sure I'll always carry a part of this island with me.
再见台湾 , 謝謝
From my completely nightmarish arrival (think black mould and being locked in an apartment without food or ability to contact anyone) to making a small, one-room apartment into a home, it has been so much more than what I expected. I have driven up part of Mt Fuji and stood on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, surfed in Indonesia, protested against China, kayaked through Halong Bay and crawled through underground tunnels in Ho Chi Minh City. I got to discuss power tools with a Shinto priest, Anthony Bourdain with one of his show's local producers and watched the sunset in Bali with a chain-smoking surf instructor. I've been in three castles, two of the 50 tallest buildings in the world, one presidential palace, and due to one huge wrong turn in Japan, a U.N. diplomatic guest house. I've eaten nearly every possible part of a chicken, fish and duck, drank kopi luwak and given a speech at a Chinese wedding and a million other things I never once thought I would do.
My work has been incredibly rewarding, and I learned that yes I can be patient when it comes to really stupid questions asked multiple times and that kids can be incredibly funny if you listen to them, also they love to teach you every bad word they know (even if you speak horribly accented, garbage level Chinese). Seeing a student struggle through translating bit by bit and then light up when they realise they can communicate their ideas and thoughts with you never stops being amazing.
I had my last class with one of my favourite classes last Friday, and it broke my heart. Two of the students I had taught for half of their lives. Part of me doesn't want to leave, life here in Taiwan is easy, the food is decent and the beer is cheap but I know that it's time to find something else, new opportunities and chances.
I have one more Chinese New Year left in Taiwan, then I leave for the European continent. It's hard to say goodbye, and I'm sure I'll always carry a part of this island with me.
再见台湾 , 謝謝
