seeing as how it is after midnight here, i can proudly say that i have officially spent my first holiday ALONE. i mean completely alone, devoid of any english speakers or americans. it was horribly sad. its thanksgiving, for heaven's sake, and i ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and my tea didn't have one DROP of sugar, much less a half a pound. no turkey, no parade, no chill in the air, no family, no "happy thanksgiving" text messages...but, it did give me a lot of time to sit in my quiet apartment and think about the long long list of things i have to be thankful for.
1. i am thankful for my family. they know i am crazy, but they loved and trusted me enough to let me haul off to england only a day past 20 years old, and to pack up and haul off to taiwan the second after i graduated uni. i am so so so greatful for a family that loves and supports me so much. i miss them all so much on this holiday! i am thankful for my dad's health.
2. i am thankful for my friends. everyday i think of them, and wonder where they are, what the weather is like in their countries, and i dream of the day that we can be together again.
3. i am thankful for all my good memories. i can be at the absolute BOTTOM, ready to swim home, and look back on the last almost 23 years at basically any random time...a friday night half time show, 4th of july trip with my family, or random i-house snowflake making in the stairwell...all the good times i have crammed into my life! i can look back to these memories and smile.
4. corny, but i am thankful for skype and how it allows me to do the impossible and keep up with my family and friends!
5. i am thankful for my job. i am thankful that i was given the opportunity to come to taiwan and learn more about the world and the people in it, mostly myself. i am thankful that i can go everyday and make money doing something i love (98% of the time), because i know it was hard for so many people in my profession to find and keep teaching jobs lately. i am thankful that the thought of going to work everyday is (usually) exciting, and that my kids keep me smiling. i am thankful that more often than not, i am the student, and not the teacher, in many ways.
6. i am thankful that rika and tadao will be in taiwan in 11 days! i can't even begin to express how good it will be to see them again.
7. i am thankful that my most-used chinese phrase is no longer "我聽不懂". (i don't understand).
8. i am beyond thankful for my friends here in taiwan. i can't imagine being completely alone and having no one: no one to travel with, or learn the dance to "sorry sorry," or act out our orders in restaurants.
9. i am thankful that, in the land of live octopus and fish heads, i haven't starved to death yet.
10. even though it sounds really stupid, i am thankful that people find the time to write me a card, tape my chinese address to it, and that it can come alllllllllllll the way across the world to my little house. that means so much. sometimes, i feel like the rest of the world forgot me, and then i go down to my mailbox and see a letter, and i remember that real friends and family never forget :)
11. i am thankful for my church family back home that has always kept my mailbox and e-mail inbox full! i am thankful for all their prayers.
12. most of all, i am so thankful to have been given this opportunity and for everything to have worked out, and i'm glad to have made it 4 1/2 months! in some ways, it seems like i just stepped off the plane, and in some ways, i feel like i have been here 400 years. still have a long way to go, but i am excited to see what the next 8 months have in store for me!
i am so thankful.
*Likes
ReplyDeleteYou forgot about all the good memories in Barrier Hursey's car and in methods...bahaha.
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