self-discovery & solidarity

I talk to taxi drivers, teach English and speak Chinese.

For the last two years, I have been immersed in everything unfamiliar, doing things I've never planned to do, and using my degree in completely unexpected ways. And the the three things I named above are only the beginning.

I'm about to start year three of it all. And I am little scared, to be honest. I'm scared, because when I look behind me, I see volumes of people, memories, experiences, students, teachers, friends; and this is only looking back two years. The farther I go with my life here, the more of myself I establish - HERE. And anyone with two or more years of life experience on me knows what that means.

I've had an eventful summer, and it's reaching a tragic end, as the third first day of school (September 1st) is almost upon me. After the two trips I made to Cebu and back (read previous blog), I found myself rushing headlong into a season of teaching and traveling here in Taiwan. It was my first summer in Taiwan, and it was HOT. (Last year I had spent the summer in the Philippines for the first time.)

Here's my 2011 TAIWAN SUMMER in a nutshell/bullet point/timeline form:

• June 30 - last day of school
• July 1-3 - personal retreat to a town in the Southern part of Taiwan called Dulan
• July 4-14 - first session of summer school
• July 10 - July Ximen Worship night
• July 15-20 - Mom in Taipei!
• July 20-July 29 - Cebu
• July 31-August 2 - Cebu, round 2
• August 1-11 - session 3 of summer school
• August 7 -  August Ximen Worship night
• August 11-14 - weekend trip to Penghu
• August 15-24 - LAST session of summer school!
• August 25-26 - break
• August 27-28 - pre school year orientation
• August 29-31 - break

swimming in the ocean

the guest house

Now for the visual  form of my summer's highlights, accompanied by captions and brief summaries.

complete and total relaxation

I strategically started out my summer with a 5-hour train ride that took me away from the city to the beauty of Taiwan's east coast. I'm not kidding you: the sun is so strong here, I lost a layer of skin that weekend. Peeled right off of me like potato skins right after I got back.  

I already told all of you about my mom and Cebu (read previous blog) with words AND pictures. :-)

The trip to Penghu (check out Wikipedia for information on this beautiful part of the world) was beautiful, fabulous and unforgettable. I'm going back. That place was absolutely glorious. These photographs are taken by my talented photographer friend James. 

I also made a myriad of videos about the trip that can be viewed on my YouTube. Look for the Penghu videos!

And now, just for fun, here's a clip of some of the crazy yet adorable students I taught all summer. They're only crazy, because they have a crazy cool teacher. :-) I was teaching phonics and Dr. Seuss. It got extremely old for ALL OF US, teacher and students included, by the end of the summer.

Like I said at the beginning of this blog, for the last two years, I have been immersed in everything unfamiliar, doing things I've never planned to do, and using my degree in completely unexpected ways. And this whole time I have been discovering things about myself I never knew were there, and it's only because I've been navigating a life in the unknown, striving to become known and to know. As a result, I'm more grounded. I have roots, despite the distance that separates me from home. My faith is now tangible and immovable element in my life. 

I miss all of you. Thank you for reading these words, looking at these pictures, watching these videos. Thank you for being a part of my life.