Since this is a transition time for me, I find that I have less to talk about these days and more to think about. However, I don’t want to keep you out of the loop. I’ve started a Tumblr with the goal being a picture a day since, you know, pictures speak louder than words. So continue to read this for the Taiwan stuff, but for the present, here goes.
So I’m officially back in Nashville. And it’s eerie how this city is exactly the same. Nothing’s changed. You can’t even tell that a devastating flood happened just a few months ago.
I’m living with my parents again for the time being, and it’s like going back in time. My parents moved right after I went out to Taiwan, and now my room isn’t really my room, but more like a storage. The furniture’s the same, the rules are the same, and I’m pretty sure the curfew might be the same too. (I haven’t attempted to break that one yet. I’ve been jet lagged this past week.)
It’s been a week, and I’m already getting a bit stir-crazy. I’ll be looking for some part time jobs while I brush up on those standardized tests again. In the meantime, I’ll try to find a new theme for this blog.
I arrived in Taipei two years ago on August 8th. I will be returning to Nashville on August 8th. It will be officially two years to the day since my adventures in Taiwan began. (Did I mean to buy the tickets like that? You got me.)
What will I do when I get back to Nashville? Quick preview: seeing friends, job, GRE, grad school applications.
In the meantime, I’m just going to focus on how am I going to cram two years of stuff into two luggages that have to weigh under 23 kg each. This may be my biggest challenge yet.
I get sick about every two weeks here in Taiwan. I’ve probably been to a doctor more times in the past year than in my entire life in the States. My biggest moments were probably the ten-day hospital stay due to a bacteria infection and getting H1N1 aka swine flu, which I caught from my students.
My allergies have also gotten ten times worse due to the humidity and the mold in all the old buildings so I’m always getting sinus infections.
And let’s not even get started on stomach problems. I always seem to have monthly stomach problems, and if it’s a bad day, it’ll result in a stomach virus like it did a couple of days ago, but thankfully that passed quickly.
But that’s living in a country without health codes for you. Boy, do I miss those pieces of paper with a big number hanging in restaurant windows, telling you that their place is fit for human consumption. I need to hit up the night markets soon so I can build up my immunity again. (Just saying that sentence kinda disgusted me a bit.) If you completely forget how tasty night market food is and really think about how clean they keep everything, you might not eat there ever again. But the tastiness level of those candied tomatoes and blood-on-a-stick easily lets you forget about all those insignificant details such as how often they wash those cutting boards and how much foot traffic goes by their stand hanging out in the open air.
Readjusting to a whole new climate and bacterial system is tough on a body. I suppose another factor of me not taking vitamins or not exercising at all doesn’t help, which is why tomorrow I’ll be hitting the gym after the winter hiatus. (Not only for health reasons, but also for the fact that I’ve been told that I’ve gotten fat by about half the residents in Taipei this week. Especially from the lady who does my nails whom I haven’t seen in a few months, and she even narrowed it down to “gained at least 2-3 kgs”. SIGH)
