The Things I'm Thankful For

I’ve officially been in Taiwan for four months now. I can’t believe one third of my year long adventure has already flown by. I’ve never thought that time went by so fast until I moved far away and experienced completely new things. I have learned a lot in the past four months. I’m missing my first big holiday today and I've been a little sad about it, so in honor of Thanksgiving, this post is what I have learned and what I am thankful for. 

I am thankful for what I have learned. I have learned that I am stronger than I ever thought I was, and that I am truly capable of doing anything I could ever want to do. I’ve learned that I can move away from all my family and friends and still survive, and I’ve also learned that that is something I do not want to do again anytime soon. I’ve also learned that I can be a teacher. It’s so amazing to me that I can shape children and arm them with information. I was also surprised to learn that I work well with young children! They are my favorite to teach, and they are the most fun little human beings. 

There are a lot of people I’m thankful for as well. I am most thankful for my family. They are the greatest people I have ever met, and I love that I get to talk to them everyday. They support me no matter what, and I miss them more than anything. I also miss my cat, Rat, but I know he is in good hands while I'm gone. 

The person I am most thankful for, though, is my little sister, Elle. She is my favorite human being. She is so loving and honest and grown up. I still sometimes think of her as some dweeby little child, but she’s not! I am so proud of the person she is becoming. She keeps me sane and she is one of my best friends. 

I am also thankful for my boyfriend, Bobby. I love him endlessly and even though being apart from each other is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, I had to go on this journey for myself and I so appreciate that he let me do this.

I am also thankful for my friends. Especially Ali. She is by far my best friend and I miss her immensely. 

And I am thankful for the opportunity I had to come teach in Taiwan. It has been so eye opening and so educational for me on so many levels.

Anyway, I have had a wonderful four months so far, and I have a lot to be thankful for! I hope everyone in the states has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their family and friends. Eat lots of mashed potatoes for me!

Saisiat Festival

Today there was a festival going on called the Saisiat Festival. As far as I can gather, the Saisiat people are Taiwanese aboriginals. Biking around I saw a lot of people burning paper money, blowing off little fireworks, beating drums, and dancing. It all seemed very nice and wholesome until I found the strippers. This road was shut down and in the middle of it was this gigantic stage with strippers dancing on it. I am still so confused as to why this is part of the celebration of these aboriginals. There were also strippers on top of cars. And then I got mobbed by a bunch of Taiwanese people who all wanted their picture taken with me. Overall, it was a pretty cool/pretty weird day. Here are some photos from today:

Funny English Clothes, Part 2

Not all of these are misspellings, some of them are just really weird shirts with English on them. Enjoy!

this one is my favorite

"Around little pigs are around big cow"

Wisdom Teeth Are Stupid

I got my wisdom tooth taken out on Saturday. I thought it was going to be the most horrible experience of my life, but it really wasn't that bad. I got four numbing shots and the procedure only took about 40 minutes. I'm on day two of recovery and I feel moderately okay. I haven't eaten in like, 36 hours which is really rough. Here are some pictures of my face and my tooth. I had no idea teeth were really that big.

day one

day two