10

It's always startling when someone asks me how long I've been in Taiwan so far and I realize that I have to add another month to my count. Somewhere around 7 months I understood just how long I'd been gone from home. Another month passed and I changed my response to 8, but I seemed to have skipped over nine altogether and just realized today that I'm in my 10th month. In fact, I'm almost done with my 10th month.

On Friday Julianna drove me to get a lunchbox (rice and whatever meat and veggies you choose from the many dishes they have prepared that day) and then treated Yating, another teacher, and me to bubble tea. Yating was napping in our shared office when we got back to school, so Julianna and I went to the English classroom to have lunch and chat. She pushed two desks together so that they were facing each other--it was our own little table for two. Julianna is so much fun to talk to because she's a co-worker, a friend, and a mom all rolled into one. She went to grad school in the States so it's very easy to compare American and Taiwanese culture with her, and we find that we usually have very similar opinions on things. I always look forward to lunch time when I get to chat with her, but I especially look forward to the extra hour after school when we grade together or just chat without the interruption of the many things that happen during school hours. Friday's lunch wasn't anything too out of the ordinary, but I think it was just one of those days after a really long week when I felt really glad to have Julianna/Nicki time. As we were driving to get lunch we were talking about her children and she suddenly said "I really hope I get to see your children!" She added that it would probably be another 10 years or so, but still, she'd really like to know them. I was incredibly touched--it was probably one of the sweetest things I've heard.

Tonight I went on what has become a pretty routine Saturday night stroll around the Cultural Center. Shana's grandma came down from Taipei to visit her before she goes back to the States in a few weeks, and she took us out to the Korean restaurant for dinner. Shana and I along with the rest of the ETAs spent the whole day (9am-5:30pm) filming our year-end project, and it was nice to relax for a while.

On the way to the restaurant we passed the shop where my friend Kinki works, and it happened that she was working tonight! I used to see her all the time when I passed by, but it's been months since we've seen one another. She was really surprised to see me, and it just so happened that our friend Jessi, who studies in Tainan, was back in Kaohsiung for the weekend. Jessi had run out to get dinner and I was afraid I was going to miss her, but it turned out that we had a 20 minute wait at the restaurant, and I was able to chat while we waited. Jessi told me that she has a pet hedgehog now too! Hers was born this February, one year after Leo, so he's just a baby. I gave her some friendly mommy hedgehog advice, and we made plans to have one big get together with everyone after their final exams before I head back to the States.

Dinner was delicious, especially since we hadn't been there since December, but we were so full after! We took a walk around the Cultural Center, stopping to buy gifts to take back home. A nice man selling interestingly oval-shaped flute-like instruments taught me how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." I had quite a crowd going. We continued on, stopping to peek at the jewelry, trying on rings, bracelets, and necklaces. We finally stopped and special ordered the bracelet that Shana's been wanting ever since I first showed her the stand. About half-way around, Shana and her grandma headed home, but I continued on to say hello to some friends I've made from my frequent visits. I also just like the atmosphere. White lights fill the sidewalks, families with their babies and mini dogs stroll along the tables, and there's almost always a cool breeze even though I am inevitably sticky by the time I make it back home. Tonight I stopped to say hello to Emma, a girl just a few years older than me, who makes intricate leather bookmarks, bracelets, wallets, etc. with etches of various colors and designs. Last time I stopped by to say hi I met her brother Steven, a little guy of just 8 (almost 9, he told me tonight) years. As I was about to say goodbye tonight, he came over looking kind of down. I could tell right away that he's definitely a personality--a good talker, quick with a sense of humor. He's willing to talk to me a bit in English, but tonight we used mostly Chinese. He's very curious, asking me many insightful questions about what I think of America and Taiwan. He's surprisingly very well-informed about life in America, and knows a lot about religion. We talked about differences in Christianity, Catholicism, and Buddhism tonight. We also talked about pets, and he told me about a special kind of gray crab that he bought at a store. He was also very interested in my experience as frog and hedgehog owner. We were getting pretty technical, and I found myself struggling for the correct words in Chinese, but he was patient and filled them in for me as I went along. We talked until his sister packed up her table and was ready to go home. I told him I wanted to bring my holiday Snoopy videos and my computer next weekend so we could watch together. Steven stays with Emma from about 4:40-10pm on Saturdays while she sells her crafts, and he tells me the problem is not getting tired, but fighting the boredom. Spending time with him was so much fun--it reminded me a lot of my cousin Jaq, who at the age of 10 (he's now maybe 13), had become one of my absolute favorite people to spend time with. Steven was really disappointed when Emma said that they wouldn't be there next weekend because she has a performance on Sunday to prepare for, but he seemed to perk up a bit when she invited me to come watch. I left her my number so she could tell me when she had a ticket for me.

One of the things Julianna asked me on Friday was whether or not I would write a book to share my experience in Taiwan with others who might not understand it as well. I was a little surprised by the question, but soon remembered that I originally started my now neglected blog for this purpose. As I mentioned before, I started writing much less after I felt that my life had become routine; my day-to-day activities in Taiwan are not that far from what I might do if I were home. I told Julianna I wouldn't really know what to write about anymore--when she asked me what things my American friends and family might find most shocking about Taiwan I had to think for a while. I felt a little disappointed that I could no longer write captivating accounts of my life here. But my encounters over the past few days have made me see how amazing it is that I do live a standard life in Taiwan. As a foreigner it's easy to spot all the things that seem odd or even plain wrong. It's not necessarily easy to find life-long friends or to find that by going back to one home, you're leaving another.

I've decided to come back to Taiwan in the fall, although I will be living in Taipei and not Kaohsiung. It makes me incredibly excited to think about all the reasons I'll have for visiting Kaohsiung--my friends and family away from home, my students who will be graduating 6th graders, having a meal at my favorite restaurant and browsing my favorite stores, the owners of which all know me well. I'll be happy to be back home for a short summer visit, but I'm equally happy to know that I get to come back for another year.