I have figured out the weight loss secret!!!

I will keep this one short and sweet...

After eating a wonderful traditional (I think) Chinese meal tonight with a fabulous group of fellow teachers, it dawned on me why Asians seem to be so skinny...the ultimate weight loss secret...CHOPSTICKS!

I was sharing a great meal of scallop dumplings and beef noodles with a friend, and trying to accustom myself to the culture here, I used chopsticks as I have with 2/3 of the meals I have eaten here.  In trying to get the noodles out of the bowl along with the veggies and beef, and to dip my dumplings in the delicious sauce, I ended up taking about 45 minutes to get the equivalent of uber small portion.  At this time, I was not longer hungry! 

Moral of the story, use chopsticks whenever possible!

Oh what to say...Life is good!

Well, I have been in Kaohsiung for less than a week now and I still can not tell people what street I live on.  The good thing about all of this is I have a little card I keep with me that says "please take me home" then gives my address in Mandarin.  So don't worry, I just hand that to the cab driver, sit back and relax.

Life has been totally different, I have to take about 3 showers a day since I sweat more than I ever have before in my life.  I can not read any of the street signs unless they are in English, which some signs actually are, I can not talk to anyone unless they speak English,  so for the first time in my life I feel illiterate.  I am using a new currency where I carry around $1,000 bills in my wallet and spend them like they are nothing, because in New Taiwanese they are worth about $34.  I have to get the super sweet women who work in the office to translate any mail I have.  My air conditioning units only turn on when I walk into a room and turn off when I walk out and I do not have a shower curtain.

LIFE THOUGH HAS BEEN WONDERFUL!  This is probably one of the best things I have done in my life so far.  I am working with amazing people.  I feel as if I walked into automatic friends.  They like to go out and do things, but are hard workers in the process.  I have found restaurants which not only have Jack and Diets but also serve quesadillas and nachos.  The city is HUGE with anything and everything I could ever want.  People here are more friendly than people in the south.  They are willing to literally bend over backwards to make sure you have everything you need.  At dinner tonight the waitress asked if we wanted the leftover salsa to be boxed up.  You do not have to tip anyone for anything, the price is what it is.

My staff training so far has consisted of going to the mountains one day,

and then the next day being able to put my feet in the ocean!

The best part about all of this is they are only about 20 minutes apart.  I am already learning more about myself as a person.  I have totally stepped out of my comfort zone and have enjoyed doing it.  Tonight I was able to walk by myself to meet people for dinner and then walk home!  This is what life is all about.  I know it will be hard at times, but I can already tell this is something that I not only needed to do, but something that will change me as a person forever...of course for the better!

First day craziness

Well I am finally here in Kaohsiung.  After what seemed like traveling for a week, even though it was only 26 hours I landed, got picked up and managed to make it to my apartment, which by the way was changed at the last minute.  I of course could not sleep, so I unpacked most of my things and watched one of the 5 channels I get in English before finally crashing.

I woke up this morning and got to skype with mom, dad and Syd which was wonderful.  I could not wait to hear their voices.  It made everything seem somewhat normal.  I then made my way up to my new school.  It was totally different than what I expected.  The whole campus it wide open with plants and water fixtures everywhere.  I loved it!  The middle of the campus is a track and soccer field and they are in the process of building a new cafeteria.  I met some of the people I work with, most of them were native to Taiwan, but there is one lady from North Carolina, Beth.  It was so nice to hear a southern drawl.  She is a retired teacher from the mountains, super nice and friendly as most people in North Carolina tend to be.

After taking my first cab ride by my self, and giving the cab driver the little slip of paper which says "please take me to ..." I made it back safely and decided to venture to the grocery store.  This store was in the basement of the mall I live beside.  Kinda crazy but they had everything I would want, I just had to look at the pictures on the packages because I could not read anything.  The mall was crazy though.  It is 2 times the size of any back home and is literally on the corner of the street I am on.  This could be trouble.  Now I am sitting here.  I have to say I am a little homesick, but I hope after tomorrow when I get to meet all the rest of the new hires that will get pushed aside for a little bit.

I would say so far this has been a pretty successful day.  I am overwhelmed but I know I will eventually get the hang of everything.  It is just really weird to be one of the only Americans in a city.  I know that is not really the case, I just have not seen a lot.  I will have to say everything is a lot nicer than I thought.  Especially my apartment.  Below are some of the pictures of the place.  It is two bedrooms so PLEASE come to Taiwan and visit!

The time is almost here...

Now that I have recovered from an amazing going away party and can really process all of the blessings I have received over the last few days it makes me realize what an a wonderful life I have.  I always knew things were great, but I have what many people can only wish for.  I have a family that supports me in everything I want to do, like moving to a new country across the globe where I know no one, they are there for me through thick and thin.  I have friends who are so precious.  They do things like fly from New York to come down for a weekend just to send me off and make me laugh, give me a shoulder to cry on.  I really am just astounded at how much love I have in my life and surrounding me.  I guess it takes something like moving to make a person see just how lucky they are.  These are the things that matter.  My life it complete because of the people that are in it.  They mean more to me than anything else.  This is what living is all about, people who love you and truly care about you.

Now I am really getting excited...

So after some further research...I am staying in the neatest area I can possible imagine.  I am on the same street as an amazing shopping center, a sporting arena (where the world games were played) and right by the love river.  I think I am going to have a hard time leaving my street.  I can not wait to see everything.  check out this really neat link that takes you on a panoramic view of everything going on just on my block ...I am starting to feel REALLY lucky

http://www.360cities.net/image/hansin-arena-shopping-mall#195.92,18.99,88.7

Apartment and Resident Visa, OH MY!!!

Well this week I have managed to secure my resident visa (so I will be legal) and my apartment in Kaohsiung.  If I thought everything felt real before, it is really real now.  I have a place to stay once I land at the airport on August 3rd.  As scary as I think I should feel, I am just ready to get there and see everything.

The apartment is on Bo-Ai 2nd Road (I don't have an exact address right now).  There is a HUGE mall on this road, along with a gorgeous park, and a sports arena.  It looks like there is going to be tons for me to do to keep myself occupied.  If you google map the street you can pull up some really neat pictures of everything.  Below are the pictures I have received of the inside of my new place.  It might be a little too pink for my taste, but I think I can get used to it :)

Let it begin

There is always a first for everything, and this is my first blog post ever.  I guess I need to get used to doing this, I have promised a lot of people I would keep them posed on my adventures (which I hope to have plenty of).  This whole moving to Taiwan thing is coming up really fast, it seems like just yesterday I was saying no worries, I have 6 months left before I leave, now we are at 3 months.  They are going to go so fast.  

I am trying to to get in as much as I can within these 3 months.  It seems like every day I am planning something else, I just want to see everyone I know and love before I leave.  I am going to be leaving behind some great people who have impacted my life on so many levels.  It is going to be hard to leave, but knowing I will be coming back soon helps.  I mean, I can do anything for 2 years...right...

So LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN!