Friday, August 14, 2009

week 2 and the business kicks up a notch

Thanks for those that responded last time, it's always a joy and a highlight to hear from you all!
Week 2 begins! I’ve been back in Taiwan a little over a week. You probably wonder what my life is like. Life is very different compared to teaching full time! There is definitely less flexibility of only being at work during class hours. I miss that,but I'm grateful for that I don't need to prep! A ton of the teachers are prepping, but I just sit and read (see below).

Week one was a lot of traveling and meeting different principals, talking to them and just adjusting physically to a new country. Work has been unstructured and will be for awhile since this week we are moving offices. I’m looking forward to having my own desk! I’ve been doing a lot of outside reading for my job and reading past publications of the school. I’m looking forward to working on publications, layouts, photos, and writing! I’m learning a lot and its helping me figure out more of my job. My whole team and I are learning what my job looks like and we are helping each other.

For those of you that don’t know, there was a really big typhoon in Taiwan and it affected my parents a lot. Both our cars were submerged under water. The water is slowly beginning to reside and they are learning to get along with life with only electricity and no running water yet. School wasn’t affected as much and I stayed in central Taiwan at my place.

With the weather and limited transportation, it has given me a lot more time on my hands. I’ve been able to read and pray a ton. I’m grateful for that. Thanks for all of you that pray especially for my family.

Here’s a short testimony:

This Sunday because of the typhoon, I ended up staying at my school rather than going home to be with my family to celebrate Taiwan’s father’s day (Aug 8). I was super excited since I get to visit a church! I didn’t know which church to visit and I needed one close by since I didn’t have a car. I was able to visit a Gospel church about 15 minutes walking distance. I’m going to visit several churches before I decide on a church. What is amazing is that I haven’t looked for a church so much that I didn’t even know what to look for! The worship was good since I knew several of the songs. The message was by a missionary in Taiwanese! Yes! In Taiwanese and translated into Mandarin. It was very interesting, but it was good. Though I was super excited about going to church, I didn’t know how my parents would respond. My parents and I haven’t talked about church in a long time. At the end of service, I checked my phone and I saw that my mom had called. I was panicking and nervous since it was church time. I didn’t know what my parents would say or if she would yell at me! After the service, my friend and I stopped by the fruit stand to get fruit. I called my mom when I got phone and I said, oh, I was at the fruit stand. She said, oh, I thought you had gone to church. Then I said, yah, I did and then I went to get fruits. She was completely okay! She didn’t yell at me or complain or try to tell me not to be so religious. Praise God! What an answer to prayer. I was nervous about going to church, but I had been praying about it. God does answer prayer and will have all things be for his glory. May God continue to reveal Himself to my family.

I hope you all are doing well!

first week back on the island

I made it to Taiwan safe and sound! My flight was a lot better than I expected since I slept a majority of it. It was the much needed sleep that I'd been lacking the past couple of weeks.

It's surreal that I'm here for good, or at least for the next two years rather than just a visit like I normally do during this time of the year.

I like my new place! I was welcomed with flowers and food already in the fridge! Then I met up with another new teacher (a familiar face from my orientation NY) and we went to our respective work places. It's exciting to see where I'll be working.

Since I've gotten here, I've been fighting jetlag and just trying to spend some time with my family before I head off to school again. My brother picked me up in central Taiwan and we drove home later that day after picking up some things for my place.

Saturday was filled with appointments and a wedding reception! I'm feeling rested, but am also anxious to get back to my home and spend the night there!

I will be blogging rather than sending mass emails soon, but I need to set up a page. I'm also without internet at my place, so my replys maybe rare.

Thanks all for praying for me, for wishing me well, and for sending me. I miss Seattle already and the people there, but I know that God has a reason for having me here in Taiwan.