Routine

Life is pretty much back to normal for me here in Canada. Living at home, I am back working at Great Wolf Lodge, and hanging out with my friends. Only thing that is missing is Rick. Some days, it is easy to not see him but I am always reminded of how much I miss him whenever I send him a message knowing that he can't respond for at least eight hours because he is asleep. What scares me is that even though we have been talking at least twice a day, some things are still hard without him here. We went from seeing each other all day every day for over a year to talking on the phone twice a day and texting in between. This scares me because soon he will be leaving the comfort of a friend's couch in Taiwan to actually start his travels. On February 26th, he leaves Taiwan. He comes back to Canada on April 3rd.

I've been thinking a lot about this blog and how much I actually enjoyed writing in it, and whether or not I should continue to write in it. Or maybe if I should start a new blog, we really aren't a couple living abroad anymore. We are now half a couple living abroad and half a couple living in Canada. Lots to think about.

For now, I have my routine here. Work. Hanging out with my mom. Watching my favourite TV shows. Babysitting Aberdeen. Cuddling Atlas. Hanging out with Saher. Planning our next vacation! Repeat. 

I leave you with a picture of my soon to be goddaughter (Aberdeen) and my baby Atlas:

Cutest freakin' kids alive

STORY TIME

I was at a bar with some friends this past weekend and there was a pause in conversation. I heard a conversation to the right of me, all in English, and I was shocked! I jerked my head to the right to look at the other foreigners who were in the bar, what a coincidence!

Some old men stared at me because apparently they noticed my very sudden head turn. Forgot I was in Canada and that English is spoken by everyone. Guess there are some things I still have to get used to now that I am back home.

13 Things I Miss About Taiwan or 13 Reasons to Try Living in Taiwan for a year

I don't want people thinking that I didn't enjoy my time in Taiwan or that I don't miss it there because that is not the case. So in order to counteract my other list, here is a list of things I DO miss about Taiwan or a list of reasons why you should move there for a year.

1. How nice the people are
I noticed this almost immediately after getting off the airplane in Canada. As a small 95 lb girl, people in Taiwan saw me pushing a cart with four suitcases on it and holding a dog and they would either a. offer me a sympathetic smile or b. HELP ME. I received neither of those in Canada. Not that people in Canada aren't nice, but we really have NOTHING on the niceness of the Taiwanese. Canadians; fix this.

2. The weather
Maybe I complained about the rain a little too much. What I wouldn't give for some of that rain and heat in this -20 degree weather I'm dealing with now.

3. The cost of living
Everything is cheap. You can eat our for every meal during the day, have GREAT meals, and spend 1/10th of what you would spend doing the same thing in Canada. Even more than the food, rent is cheap. Gas is cheaper. Clothes are cheap. Oh, the cost of living makes it all worth it.

4. Driving a scooter
When I first got to Taiwan, if you wouldve told me I would be driving a scooter to work every day, I would have told you that you were nuts. I was very against it, convinced I could find other ways to work. The ending of this story is that I did end up buying a scooter and I loved it. On those sweltering days, there was nothing better than getting on your scooter and enjoying the breeze. Granted, the rain sucked while driving but now that I'm back in this cold, snowy weather, all I can remember are the good times driving my scooter.Funny how that works eh...

5. #shameless #selfie #nation
If you think that people take a lot of selfies in Canada, you are mistaken. The amount of selfies I would see being taken on any given day while living in Taiwan was astronomical in comparison to the amount that I see being taken in Canada. Its not that Canadians don't take them, its that usually we take them in the privacy of our own home. In Taiwan, there is no shame. At a party? Selfie. At a bar? Selfie. In class? Selfie. And at first, I thought it was a little weird. But it turned into a little quirk that I love.

6. Hamburgers for Breakfast
Not only are hamburgers eaten for breakfast, they were a staple at breakfast stalls. Can someone inform my mother of this?

7. Passionfruit Green Tea with Bubbles
The amount of tea shops available on any street in Taiwan was ridiculous, along with all the different kinds of fruit teas for a super cheap price (please see #3 on the list). My favourite will always be passionfruit green tea; give it a whirl!

8. Rick
He's still in Taiwan..... I personally believe that everyone should move to Taiwan just to see Rick. He'd be worth it.

9. Dumplings and Hot Pot
Two types of food that I ate twice a week each, at the very least. Look it up. Try it. You won't be disappointed. 

Hot Pot

10. My coteachers
I had the luxury of being pretty lucky in that every one of my coteachers was one of the nicest, most genuine, and helpful people I have ever met. Working with these teachers on a daily basis really helped me when I first started teaching and didn't really know what I was doing and continued to help mold me into the teacher that I am today. I will be forever grateful for each and every one of them.

11. Free time
Being a foreign English teacher in Taiwan = working only 30 hours per week, getting paid a lot to do so, and thus having a lot of free time. Even when we did work, my longest day was 7 hours of actual teaching in one day. I start back working this week and I'm not looking forward to it

12. Ease of traveling
Taiwan is so close to so many other countries in SE Asia and getting there is so cheap that it is almost stupid of you if you don't go and travel a little. Visiting Hong Kong and Thailand was amazing and I am so glad we went to both of those places. As well as travelling around the country itself. There is so much public transportation available for great prices that you never get that guilt while being a tourist that you're paying way too much for stuff. What guilt you ask? Oh, that might just be me and Rick... living in Taiwan has made us pretty stingy...

13. My students
Last, but certainly not least, my students. It is amazing how attached to my students I have grown over the past year. Saying goodbye was very hard and it really made me reconsider if leaving Taiwan after only one year was the right thing to do. I really got to know some of my students on such a personal level and I'll miss seeing their faces every week. 

In conclusion, if you're looking for a cheap, beautiful, different place to live; choose TAIWAN. You won't regret it.

Home Sweet Home

Now that I've been home for a week I figured it was time to update the blog. My last few days in Taiwan were filled with lots of goodbyes to my last classes and to Rick. Leaving him behind was one of the saddest things and I think it is because, for the moment, I don't know when I will see him again. When I left Canada to go to Taiwan, I knew I would be back in a year. The same went for saying goodbye to my parents, I knew they would visit me in Taiwan and after their visit, I knew I'd be back in Canada. 

My flight home felt longer than our trip to Taiwan even though it was ten hours less. My direct flight was comfortable and yet filled with worry about my baby Atlas, sadness about leaving Rick behind, and excitement to see my family and friends. I took off from Taiwan at 7:40 PM on January 30th and I arrived in Canada at 8:30 PM on January 30th. I may, or may not, have traveled through time. Be jealous.

I struggled to get my three massive bags, one small suitcase, and one small dog and we were off. It was actually relatively easy to bring Atlas back, a lot of people said it would be so difficult but it wasn't at all. And he was perfectly fine after the flight! A little scared but as soon as I got him out of his crate, he was the same cute dog who was super excited to see me and to meet so many new people.

Being home has been pretty weird so far. The second day I was back, I already felt like I had never left. The jet lag didn't hit me until this Saturday when I fell asleep from 7-10, woke up and couldn't sleep until 2am and then woke up again at 5am. I think I've got a handle on the jet lag now, my sleep is pretty normal. But it is still weird getting used to life in Canada. The cold, the snow, English, my family and friends so close by, English, English, English, high prices, English.

I had planned to stop this blog upon returning to Canada but Rick is trying to convince me otherwise. But I don't think my life is all that exciting enough to write about here. I guess we'll see what happens.

For now, I am home. Rick is in Taiwan. 

The End

Tomorrow is the day I leave Taiwan. Still not feeling like it is all real but also managing to get sad about leaving this place, and Rick behind. I will definitely miss Taiwan, all the friends I have made here, and all the places that I like to go. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. While I didn't blog as much as I had planned on, I'm still glad that I did blog as often as I did. If only for the reminder to myself of the time we spent here.

Our journey is ending. Rick will be in Taiwan for around another month while his fractured foot heals and then he is off on his own travels. I'm excited for him but also scared about how much I'm going to miss him. The airport tomorrow will definitely be heart breaking. How different from when we first arrived in Taiwan; crying at the airport while saying goodbye to our families to crying at the airport saying goodbye to each other. I've grown accustomed to relying on Rick to pick me up when I'm feeling down about missing my friends and family but now he will be the one I'm missing. It will definitely be a challenge but that doesn't change how proud I am of him for having the courage to take this trip on his own. That is something that I don't think I could ever do.

Tomorrow, Atlas and I will be making our way to Canada. Wish us luck. Here are some pictures of me saying goodbye to my classes. I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry after saying goodbye to some of these little cuties.

The first class I had to say goodbye to

 My babies

One of my favorite older classes, I will miss them all so much!

 Cutest weirdos ever

This class lined up for a hug from me after wards.. pretty much started bawling by the fourth hug

Goodbye dinner with some friends

My very first class I ever taught in Taiwan and my very last

Accidents and Goodbyes

On Friday night, Rick got into a scooter accident on the way to class. During the accident, his scooter fell on his foot which caused him to fracture a bone in his foot. Originally, the doctor had told him it would take eight weeks to heal. He was pretty upset, considering his plans to travel around Taiwan and elsewhere. We were 99% sure that he would be coming home with me on December 30th. But he had a follow up appointment first and we were hoping for the best.

Our friends, David and Monica, offered Rick to stay on their couch while his leg healed and then he could travel. Rick's spirits were lifted. He was thinking of asking to work at Gloria longer while he healed and then doing his trip around Taiwan (but now on a train) and then going to Sri Lanka. We headed to the doctor yesterday with high hopes. He said it was a 4-6 week healing time so that was very exciting. Rick decided on staying and working and he just had to talk to our boss.... who told him he can't work for Gloria any more because his working permit will be expired :( Set back again but Rick has decided to stay and try and look for some work during his healing time.. then travel once his leg is back to 100%.

So now instead of thinking I won't see Rick for about a month to two months.. 4-6 weeks is now added on top of that. I will miss him a lot BUT I am very excited to get to see all my friends and family. Hopefully everyone will keep me busy. (Mom and Dad, I don't mean busy with housework....)

In other news, Tuesday marked the beginning of saying goodbye to our classes which has turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. I thought that the younger classes would be harder but so far, saying goodbye to my older classes has sucked. I have been given so many cards and hugs, it feels so bittersweet to be saying goodbye. I am going to miss all my students, co-teachers and friends so much. I really wasn't expecting it to be this hard to say goodbye so maybe that is what is making it harder. I think a big aspect of it is that when I left Canada, I knew I would be back. I don't know when or if I will ever be back in Taiwan. I think that is more sad than anything.

Only eight days to go.

Two Weeks To Go

Officially two weeks until my flight. Still doesn't feel real. This week, I am telling the rest of my classes that next week is my last week. With my younger classes, my coteachers and directors didn't want me telling them yet so now I will tell them. I told one baby class yesterday and it was so sad. They are one of my favourite classes, along with one of my favourite coteachers. Every Wednesday from 2-3:30, I will miss them.

In other news, Rick and I booked a trip to Tainan this weekend! Tainan is the old capital of Taiwan, before Taipei so it is one of the bigger cities in Taiwan. It is also in the Southern part so I am hoping it is a little hotter there than it has been here. Lucky for us, Taiwan is so small so we will be taking the High Speed Rail after work on Saturday night and back on Monday morning. We wanted to do something a bit further away but were unsure of what to do because of Atlas and then one of my friends reminded me about Air BnB. We've used it before and always had a great experience. With Air BnB, you are renting someone's home to stay in for a few nights AND we found a place with pets allowed.

Tainan will be our last trip within Taiwan before I leave which will be pretty sad but I am so excited. Today, we are off to lunch with some friends who are leaving for a vacation before we leave so we won't get to see them a lot. Last night, we went to a nightclub in Chungli with two other friends. It is called Search and its pretty popular among the teachers at Gloria bu we had never been before. One more thing I crossed of my to do list before leaving.