TO DO LIST:

1) KTV (last time got cancelled)
2) Go to a beach and eat seafood
3) Eat a bowl of Taiwanese beef noodles
4) Thoroughly walk through Dream Mall
5) Go to night markets in any city I'm in
6) Watch a movie at the theater
7) Walk in a rainy day
8) Eat stinky tofu
9) Explore my university's campus
10) Meet up with old friends
11) Go to Kenting
12) Go to Taipei
13) Drink a Taiwanese beer (I'm legal here!)
14) Ride on mo-pads
15) Skype with someone from Chicago
16) Play those claw machines and win something (Jerry kind of did this for me...)
17) Go on an adventure with my DSLR
18) Eat exotic foods
19) Learn Taiwanese (um... yeah crossing this out after a year)
20) See my old babysitter and family members 

Comment if you have anymore suggestions! (:

Mommy&Daddy

Mom and dad came to Taiwan two days ago! We went everywhere: Da Tong Mall, Rue Feng Nightmarket, my University, etc etc. It was definitely a wonderful two days with them.

Grandma and Dad

Mom and Taiwanese shaved ice 

After they left today, it made me reflect on many things. Instead of rewriting it, I'll just copy and paste what I wrote to my prayer group:

"I think it's really clicking now haha... everything. How I'm here, and new school, and everything. I think it's because I've finished all my government stuff: ID, health insurance, bank account, medical examinations.
I just hope I'll make some friends this year that can speak English, haha. All the people I've met so far... it's so hard to communicate. I never knew how much my chinese suck until now.

Anyways... yeah, parents came to visit... Had a good time shopping and eating with them after also. But now that they've left, I think it's really clicked that for the rest of my life, it'll be harder to see them instead of an hour train or car ride away...

It's just all the memories of me wanting to grow up fast, move out fast, so I can be independent and the now me regretting it ... now I am actually, really, alone and independent in the world now. 20 years old is so young... how come I never treasured those years when I had the chance to be a child with them? ...Haha I hate how all of this is clicking now! ... "




Mommy and daddy, thank you for loving me. Thank you for all the times when I rebelled, you embraced me when I turned back around; all the times when I was rude, you both still yet spoke to me gently; all the times you called to check up on me even when you both knew I wouldn't pick up with a loving, welcoming voice; all the times you both worked so hard to save and support this family. We were never considered blessed with a lot of money, but all the worldly treasures cannot replace what we've always had as a family. Love you both.

"Listen, my son, to your father's instruction
and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
They will be a garland to grace your
head
and a chain to adorn your neck."
Proverbs 1:8-9

jeremiah

"Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number." 
Jeremiah 2:32

"What is faith?" 
I cannot even begin to share how long that question has been repeating in my head. Like a taunting voice, it won't stop echoing and repeating itself; rebuking and challenging me. Ever since the plane ticket was bought for this one year in Taiwan, it just feels like I don't know the answer anymore. Flipping back and forth through His word, His love letters to me, I've just been getting more rebuking words than reassurances. 


I've been reading Jeremiah for a long time and of course, the first four chapters are all about Israel and her brokenness that keeps driving herself away from Him. Impossibly hard to not see myself as her, Jeremiah's words hasn't done anything else except pierce my heart with guilt, doubt, and questions. Thing were going well... 


What does it mean to be His daughter? To live a life of faith? To truly be immersed in His joy and love? Do I actually believe in all this or am I just so used to living a life "of faith" because I grew up with it? If I let go, how many people would I disappoint? 


I just want to have that child-like faith again. 


Taiwan's been so hard in a way that ... it's definitely a spiritual battle every single day. My family here challenges my faith with their questions and sarcastic jokes sometimes; seeing idols and temples on every streets and the people offering up their lives to them more passionately than I can love my God. 


If I'm not living for You, then what am I living for? What can I live for? 






Why am I here? 

Faithfulness.

7/26 – 11am: High speed railway to Kaohsiung

-          Arrive around 1pm and get picked up by Aunty

7/27-7/29: Finish school registration, medical appointments, and government registrations

It's been four days since I've arrived in Kaohsiung now and honestly, amazing thing has already happened. I'm sorry for not updating everyday! Internet's been kind of hard to "catch" because I've been using some neighbor's wireless and he/she turns it off around 10pm at night... unless they stayed up with me.

I've officially, FINALLY, finished unpacking and settling into this room. Blame the stupid "set up yourself" wardrobe that took me forever to fix.

What it was before...

My friend from Chicago, Jerry, and I actually did get a chance to meet and boy, were the two days an adventure. To start off, in order to pick him up I had to ride the subway train by myself for the first time. 

Inside of one of the stations

It is definitely not as complicated as the one in Chicago since Kaohsiung only has two lines (orange and yellow). But with the station names in Chinese (and them being somewhat hard to read English translated), I was frightened. I made it though with an hour to wait since he missed his first train. An hour later of finally seeing him and heading back home, we headed out to the night markets. 

We practically ate everything we saw: stinky tofu, Taiwanese style fried chicken, noodles, drinks, chicken again, beef on a stick, etc. The two markets we went to were PACKED to the point that right when you start walking into it, you can't move. Other than being all sweaty and sticky at the end of the night, it was awesome.

The next day we headed out to a church he served on a mission trip at 4 years ago: Shou Shan Church. It was kind of awkward because the whole church thought Jerry and I were dating because Jerry told them he stayed at my place overnight for the trip in Kaohsiung. This one lady who knows Jerry made him stand up and introduce himself, then shifted her eyes onto me and said, "Who is she? MMMM?" in front of the whole congregation. Jerry right away said A friend! A friend! But she smiled and said awkwardly, oh, a FRIEND but right away came and sat down and said Girlfriend, right? I thought it was hilarious. Oh, the culture difference.

Met a lot of people but there was one particular person I met that still amazes me God made us meet. Her name is Gloria, graduated from UIC, been teaching English in Kaohsiung for three years, goes to this bilingual church I'm planning to check out, and was the fellowship of Servants. We even got to talk about how we were doing spiritually and how these three years were for her spiritually. What scared me was what I'm going through spiritually, was how she started off also. We exchanged contact information in the end with a ride offered if I ever want to check out the bilingual church in the future. God provides.

Jerry left that same day for Taipei with the mission team and I headed back home alone. It felt weird, not speaking in English and having someone I know from home not with me. To be honest, loneliness was, and probably still is, one of my biggest fear. God has definitely already placed a lot of people next to me. Many churches, through the connection of my mom, called me asking how I am doing, if I've settled down fine, and if I need rides to anywhere just call them. A lot of English teaching positions in these churches has opened up also!

I cannot say more that God, really, truly, provides. Always have and always will.

Schedule:

7/31-8/5: Visit family in Taichung

-          Meet up with Jason Lee

-          Maybe a short visit to Taipei with cousins?

8/5: Return to Kaohsiung

Prayer requests:
1) As these teaching English positions opens up, I will with wisdom and discernment, know which ones to accept and reject.
2) I got my state ID and signed health insurance forms! Next are the medical appointments and last school registrations. Please pray that these will continue to go smoothly!
3) Church searching has started. Please pray that God will make it clear to me which one to stay committed to this one year.
4) I've had a lot of opportunities to share the Gospel with my grandma already but her heart's still hard. Please pray that God will soften her time and continuously remind me His timing, not me; His wisdom, not mine.

HELLO, TAIWAN.

8pm: Land in Taipei, Taoyuan International Airport

-          Get picked up by cousin and head to his apartment in Taipei

-          Stay over one night

Currently 3:12pm in Tokyo and I just landed in Narita International Airport with already hearing a lot of Taiwanese mandarin all around me as I wait for my flight to Taipei. No internet so I’m writing this on my word document and the Taiwanese girls behind me probably is peeking over my shoulder to see how I’m typing in English so fast. I swear, they already crept up next to me three times and I think I should just start getting used to that. 

So, flight got delayed right when I got to O’hare. They never really mentioned why but I had to wait an extra two hours. I would have to say ANA is WAY better than UA though… like everything: the food, the service (well, the service was kind of intimidating with the flight attendants always at your face for SOMETHING), and the plane itself. I had my own TV SCREEN!!!! Result of that were three and a half movies for the whole duration of the flight. I got pretty air sick in the beginning after the GLORIOUS first meal we had (picture below) and I was so scared I was going to throw up right there. Thank God I didn’t… instead I just knocked out.

I had two plane letters to read (from Hyein and Jeka) and I almost started crying on the plane after reading them. I’m already missing home. Finally realizing that this will be my first time actually FAR, FAR from home and to return isn’t just an hour train ride away anymore. No more AAIV community surrounding me with love and discipline; no more parents that are just a phone call away and no more usual places to escape to when I need time alone. Already in amidst of Asians, I feel American and different. The comfort I feel when I see Americans surprises me compared to the intimidation and judgment feeling I get when Asian faces surrounds me. I’m no longer different on the outside. I guess it’s the identity crisis that’s kicking in as I’m already trying to fit in. I haven’t even landed in Taipei yet.

Dang, one of the girls just came over and just laid her back and head towards my chair. Talk about privacy differences I have to start learning…

Well, I had a schedule going on but it got changed two nights before my flight day. Jerry (the person who came up with this awesome blog name) and I were supposed to travel together the first three days around Taiwan but due to time conflict and money, I don’t even know if I would be able to see the only friend from Chicago that would be visiting! Sad…

EDIT: Well, now I’m in Taipei and going to spend a night at my cousin’s! It’s already been an adventure: had to ride the subway and bus in order to just get to his apartment, nightmarket for a snack, and finally seeing Taipei 101 on his roof.

Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll be sleeping tonight since it’s currently 11:27AM at Chicago…

SCHEDULE:

7/26 – 11am: High speed railway to Kaohsiung

-          Arrive around 1pm and get picked up by Aunty

7/27-7/29: Finish school registration, medical appointments, and government registrations

~7/29-8/1: Visit family in Taichung

-          Meet up with Jason Lee

-          Maybe a short visit to Taipei with cousins?

8/5: Return to Kaohsiung

Prayer requests:

1)      All registrations will go smoothly

2)      All safe travels during these first two weeks

3)      God will start opening my eyes and heart to see what He sees in this country and my grandma, who I will be staying with

4)      Safe travels for my parents who will be visiting me in Taiwan on 8/7.

Miss you all!

Leaving in 12 hours!!

Goodbye, Chicago.

Moved back to my suburb home and finally left that little city apartment behind...

...so not looking forward to unpacking tonight.