BT = Before Taiwan

So in order to start organizing better I've labeled post BT or before Taiwan. It makes life easier.

BT: Been Busy

So it's been a little while since I've posted anything on here. Sorry although I've been done with work for a week I've become rather busy. 

I'm in the final stretch before I leave for Taiwan and there is a lot to get done. I'm currently in the process of cleaning and completely packing up my bedroom and all of my stuff. Considering this is the first time that I've really moved in my life there is ton of things to go through. I've already gotten rid of 5 bags of clothing since I won't be needing them in Taiwan. 

Another thing that has happen in the past couple of days has been that I've checked everything off of my list of things to buy before moving to Taiwan. These things were like a new swimsuit (I needed a second once since it is a tropical island), shoes for the plane, gym clothing, bras (yeah I'm more busty than your typical Asian), and Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver. I know that the last two on the list don't really make sense but hey I need something to do on the plane. 

I've also started making plans to see all of my friends before I go. I was able to see a good number of them recently since my sister threw me a surprise going away party, which will be another post. Anyway till next time 

BT: The First Goodbye

This morning I said goodbye to my brother and saw him off as he left to go move to South Dakota. This is probably going to be the last time that I will see him about 2 years and the first of my family members that I've said goodbye to. 

How much this effected me surprised me a little. My brother and I haven't been super close at all. We have seven years separating us but I guess since we lived and worked together this year we were close. Now he's moved away and our work schedules won't really permit us seeing each other for most likely two years. 

The biggest thing is that if my heart is shaken over saying goodbye to my brother what is is it going to be like when I bid the rest of my family, especially my twin sister, farewell. 

BT: Time with my Brother

Today was my last day to spend time with my big brother. Tomorrow he is moving away and since I'll be going to Taiwan next month this will be the last time that we will see each other in probably a year or two. 

We had to think of something that we could do together that we would both enjoy. We were originally going to go on a day canoe trip since we have one and live close to the Delaware River but he was able to get into the summer training program and is leaving much earlier than planned. So we comprised and spent the day hiking. 

Our first stop of the day was to Hickory Run State Park's Bolder Field. It is basically as it sounds. It is a natural field that is filled with rocks that a glacier deposited there hundreds of years ago. Its pretty cool and the last time I was there was when I was 15 so it had been a while. The nicest thing about the visit today was since we were there early we had the whole place to ourselves. 

The second stop today though was not as good as the first. My brother wanted to check out a new trail which basically turned out to be a paved trail along side a river that you couldn't even see because it was blocked with trees. We called it quits on that and headed over to Big Pocono State Park. As children we spent a lot of time there having picnics and flying kites. Unfortunately we didn't bring any kites but we were able to get the nostalgic feeling by eating our lunch there. After lunch we hiked two of the trails around the mountain. Once we had gotten our fill of hiking we headed home so he could finish packing. 

Here is some of the  pictures that I took today:

BT: Cleaning out the closet

So yesterday I started cleaning out my room and closet in prep for moving to Taiwan  I had to get my dresser cleaned out since my Mom decided to give it to my brother who is moving away first. I'm find with my bro having my dresser but I'm like "but but I still have a month yet but where am I suppose to but my clothes?" 

Needless to say she didn't really have an answer for me. I was able to get it all cleaned out while my brother was out at the garage getting a tune up for his car. Surprising I was able to move it outside all by myself. After getting the dresser out of my closet I started to rearrange things which was interesting considering I don't think the closet has been cleaned out since I was a baby which was ironic with the amount of baby clothing that I found. I also found some of my childhood favorite books that my mother had kept. There were also a giant purple ball, a hamper lid that doesn't match any of the ones that we have, two wooden trucks and  a full traditional Chinese outfit which didn't fit me in the closet. Though I have to say that the most interesting thing that I found in the closet was this:

No one in my family has any idea where this knee length sequenced jacket came from. Anyway afterwards my bro took me out to a really quaint ice cream parlor for a nice summer treat. It was really nice and in a historic inn. It was a type of small town America that I  won't be able to find in Taiwan.

Another thing that I won't be able to find is Friendly's. Those of you who don't know it's a restaurant chain in Eastern USA. It has standard food like burgers, crispy chicken, and salads but the thing that it is really known for is ice cream. The ice cream is why my family, especially my dad, really like it. I'm saying this because we went out to dinner to our local one. It was funny since it was on both mine and my brother's list of things to go to before moving away because we both will be moving to places that won't have one. Well till next time

Happy Fathers Day!!!

Dad and Me

Happy Father's Day!! So today was the last holiday/ event that my whole family was together. Not only am I moving to Taiwan but my brother is moving away too.

Today we one thing that I wanted before going to Taiwan and something my Mom wanted. My Mom wanted us to get a family picture done before I left so we did that. The photographer was one of my high school classmates which was fun since she didn't really change at all. My parents also decided to get a set of the siblings done too.

For dinner we had a traditional thanksgiving style turkey dinner. My mom asked me a while ago what foods that I wanted before I left for Taiwan and it was on the list. We mostly had it because it was the last family sit down dinner that we will have all together. Anyway it was super delicious. I would have taken pictures of it to put on here but A. I was too hungry and wolfed it down right away and B. I'm pretty sure I would have gotten yelled at for having an electronic device at the dinner table. Well till next time

31 to go

I just realized that this time next month I will be already in route for Taiwan. It's amazing how time flies.

Mennonite shopping

Ello. Although I haven't really been preparing for Taiwan the past two days really. I did get to go spend some time with my sister though. We decided to do some really American things before I leave. Thus far she has taken me to New York City and Washington D.C. 

Yesterday was another one of the American excursions. We went to three different Mennonite (think of kinda like the Amish) ran shops, including a Farmers Market. The first shop that we went to was a Mennonite fabric store. It was really interesting because we got to talking to one of the women that work there and her aunt and uncle are currently over in Thailand. I don't know about you but I don't really think of Mennonites really traveling outside of the country. Then we went to the Farmers Market where I got some nectarines and a watermelon. The last of the stores that we went to was a little health/ dry good store. Although they had a wide variety of dried fruits I bought some maple sugar candy because I highly doubt that I will be able to get that in Taiwan. 

Speaking of food that I can only get in America I've been trying to eat a lot of the local foods here as much as I can. To end our day of Mennonite shopping my sister and I met up with a friend and ate at the tavern by my college. All three of us didn't even need to look at the menu before ordering. I got the pulled port sandwich and sweat potato fires.  I meant to take a picture to put on here but I was too hungry and forgot. Yep, well I hope that everyone is enjoying some standard American food. Till next time

Hello and Welcome

Hello and Welcome to my blog. In almost a month I will be moving to Taiwan to teach English for a year. This is a really big move for me since I've never lived anywhere but eastern Pennsylvania, USA. I figured hey I'm young and I've always wanted to go abroad so why not and this way I will be paid to do so. 

A little bit about me. Since I've graduated from university I've spent the last year working to save money to go abroad. You could say that now that it's finally here I'm super exited. I'm a trained librarian and I love to read. I am also a huge Asian drama fan (I don't really watch American tv anymore). I really love tokusatsu (go check it out if you don't know what this is) and just learning about different cultures. 

Just a few things about this blog. I will try to update as much as possible but with life things can get side tract. I am also going to try to have a video portion of the blog updated once a week. So here we go.