Six Months in Taiwan

Today is a real milestone for me. I have been living and working in Taiwan for 6 months. Half a year. It’s crazy to think of it like that and how fast the time has gone by.

This is also the longest single time I have ever spent away from my home, and what better place to do that than in a foreign country and working in a company where I am the only white person.

Thinking about my life here it is strange in a way, to me this is my “normal.” Normal is getting up and spending most days not seeing white people—it is strange when I do—Taiwan has become what I define as normal. To me, my life here is utterly normal. I have my routine, I work, I buy food, I go out for some dinners, etc. In fact, what is more interesting to me is that I can have time to bitch and complain—as I am known to do—instead of caring or worrying about life here. In the list below of the good and bad in Taiwan there is nothing about culture shock or such it is more mundane, which tells me I have settled into this place.

Since Thanksgiving I have been thinking about what I am thankful for. I am going to mesh that with a list of some of the good things about my life here:

Good: I have a job when so many people do not, I have a stable job for at least one more year or longer (if I want it), I get along with the people at work, I can get around here easily, I have plenty of little haunts, my language has improved, I have two good friends in Calvin and Kara, my boss is a good dude, I am getting a crazy load of experience with my job, I am increasingly running the show at the office in terms of international business, and I get to achieve my dream of working abroad.

Bad: I have nearly abandoned the LSAT, I hardly run anymore, I don’t get around greenery enough, my language—especially business Chinese—is not where I want it, I am losing my Chinese handwriting (damn computers), my English regresses the more I speak Chinese, I still don’t have a lot of friends, the lack of travel for work, I have a shit-ton of work and I keep getting more, and I always seem to be the youngest person no matter where I go.

Par for the course. Whenever I feel angry, stressed, or overworked I just have to remind myself how luck I am to be here and have a job. Even if I never stop bitching.