Back into the unknown

Well the time has come again. Over the past three years, I've been able to travel internationally for extended periods of time, and each time I've chosen to blog about it. This is the start of the Taiwanese blog. It is required for my program, as the government of Taiwan is paying for my flight, providing me a place to stay for the two week duration, giving me a cell phone, and bestowing countless other perks upon me that I can't list in their entirety here, so in the long run it is a pretty sweet deal.


But let's be honest. If you've read my blogs before, you already knew I was going to blog about this regardless of the aforementioned...


First and foremost I should thank my friend Phil Fong for turning me on to the program. Had it not been for him, I never would have known such an opportunity existed, and wouldn't have applied. I should also thank the SayTaiwan program and Taiwanese Government for selecting me, and thank my host family for agreeing to house me for the two weeks, and also for their wonderful outreach starting a month before the program is set to begin. From the looks of it I will be taken care of. I just hope they know what they've gotten themselves into.

The picture here is of Roy Chang, my host father, who seems to be preparing everything wonderfully for me. I haven't even met you and I can't thank you enough Roy.

Also a big thanks to my wonderful boss for agreeing to let me go on this adventure and keep my job! Mentioning that I might meet the president of a foreign country might have helped a bit...and I promise I'll pass out my business cards if you ever do read this, Walt!

The program falls at a strange place in my life, and a wise man once reminded me that you can have all of the money and success in your life, but at the end of the day, your life is set, and once it is set you inevitably find yourself longing for the past, for days of your young life when everything was still unknown. For you see, the unknown is the absolute truth. As paradoxical as it seems, there is nothing more pure and endearing than the unknown, and my current 'normal' life has recently still been rather unknown to me.

I've moved to the West side of Los Angeles, to the Beverly Hills area, and am working in Westwood, at a job that is both challenging, rewarding, and something I truly enjoy after my first three weeks. My core group of friends is still here, and many of them are now closer to me (geographically and emotionally) than ever before. I'll enjoy watching the seasons change and the settings change but familiar faces remain as we progress through this wonderful disaster they call life.

For the first time, I'm no longer under my parent's guidance, support, or subject to their will. With their blessing, I'm on my own and things are truly starting for me as a young man.

Now Taiwan comes into the scene.


I can't really say what I expect, nor can I say that I want to have any expectations. From my previous experience, you can have an idea of a place, though that idea can never mature beyond an abstraction, and in fact it is rather folly to waste energy or presence of mind on expectations when it comes to visiting foreign lands. No matter what, your idea or hope will not match reality. Reality, from what I've seen so far, while completely different, is always much better.




There is my host brother, and I think he told me his name is John. He also messaged me, and seems excited for my visit. He tells me he is a chef and his largest concern was that I wouldn't like him because he smoked. I told him those are two great things already. These are very polite people.