Looking back in 2024

2024 is my first year in Taiwan.  I don't normally do this, but I decided to reflect on this special year.  "We do not learn from an experience...we learn from reflecting on an experience."  ~John Dewey.  Moving to Taiwan feels like the story of a country mouse moving to the big city, plus so many more challenges such as language and culture.... etc. 

Taiwan is so different.  I so appreciate having good AC here because it's on all year round, even now in the winter season, I still have it on at night because it's so hot.  There are good things about living in tropical weather.  I have no need for thick winter clothing, so I only kept a bag full of "winter clothes" in case it gets cold.  I haven't had to wear them much since I live in southern Taiwan which is much warmer than Taipei.  I was quite excited a couple weeks ago when I had my personal retreat at the cabin, I got to wear my jacket once when I took my morning walk because it was very windy there.  I miss the cold for sure and sometimes wondered about the environmental impact of everyone here blasting their AC all the time.  Oh well, it's for another time to think about.

We moved May 2024 into a small apartment in an ideal location in central part of Kaohsiung.  I came to Taiwan with two luggage full of my stuff, and I am surprised how much we had accumulated by the time we moved.  My sister came with her van to help us, and it took two trips to move everything.  I love the new location and the place we live now.  It's decorated with shiny brass everywhere and the lobby floor is granite.  This is nothing to most people but for me it was as if Father God is indulging me a bit for my loss of what I collected in the U.S.  My family knew about my obsession with shiny metals and rocks.  It makes me happy walking past the lobby every day.  We are also right next to a Catholic church, which is pretty rare here.  I get to hear the sounds of their singing and worship at times.  I learned that I can actually get by with very little.  Now with all that I accumulated, I probably still own about 1/5 of what I did in the U.S.  Storage spaces are very limited, and most kitchens are tiny.  I got by without owning a microwave, a dishwasher, a regular oven, a dryer, a rice cooker or Instapot (which I love and may still consider buying).  Life is simple here.  I just recently started going to Costco because there are some American items I am starting to miss, and I can always find them in Costco.  Otherwise, I don't shop there because I simply don't have the storage space for Costco size things.

Food is so amazing and cheap here in Taiwan.  I would say it is probably the main attraction here.  I loved most things and wanted to try a lot of the street foods.  How do the people stay thin here?  It took me a year to try almost every Taiwanese food item I wanted to try, and I loved them all.  However, this holiday season, I am starting to miss simple American foods, like turkey, pumpkin pie, mash potatoes, ham, casseroles...etc.  Other items that are in every Safeway are actually pretty hard to find here such as microwave popcorn, hot chocolate powder, bagels, baking supplies (chocolate chips, marshmallows, vanilla extract), and American spices.  One of my favorite food memories this year was I cooked this thanksgiving soup for my CR family using a giant rice cooker at church.  I used chicken instead of turkey and other substitutes for spices I couldn't find here.  But they loved it so much that we ran out quickly and they were scraping the pot.  Last month I bought a can of hot chocolate powder from Costco, and I have been drinking a cup whenever I need a picker upper.  I barely drink hot chocolate in the U.S.  but I guess you always want what you can't have, just ask Adam and Eve. 

I met up with many family/friends whom I had not seen for a long time.  Because Taiwan is so small and highly populated, I was able to see many surprising people that I may not get to see otherwise.  During the election season last year, many came back to Taiwan just to vote.  I got to see my childhood friend from elementary school.  She currently lives in London, so getting to spend almost a month with her was such a treat.  I got to see Ted's sister from Connecticut, my cousins from Houston and FL.  I sure hope that I will get to see many more who come to Taiwan to visit for one reason or another.  There are also familiar people that I got to see last year.  I got to see my brother and his three kids that came visit Taiwan for the first time.  I got to see Nancy, an old friend from my youth group days who lives in San Jose.  I got to see my daughter Pearl who came and stayed for 3 months with us.  That was so nice.  I have a junior high friend who lives in Taipei, and I got to see her plus a lot of my classmates whom I had very vague memories with.  I have a college friend in Taichung whom I got to see quite a bit.  Every few months she invites me to her beautiful home, and we hang out together.

I've always wanted to be a self-supporting missionary after seeing my sister's life as a missionary family.  God has granted me that desire here in Taiwan.  I wasn't sure how He was going to use me, but it turned out that He used me most in my recovery experience here.  I had been in Celebrate Recovery for 11 years as a codependent.  As it turned out, I move to a city where a local CR just got started and they are mostly codependents.  I went right to work, training, teaching, and sponsoring. In May I sponsored 7 women.  It was the most sponsees I've ever had at once time.  But I didn't have a job or family here so I had lots of time.  I poured into them and boy, they had a lot of dramas and kept me quite busy.  They gave my life a purpose.   I was so proud on the day when they completed their step study class, and each gave their testimony in CR.  God is truly amazing and powerful.  All of these ladies are now my new friends.  I also served as a pianist in a Taiwanese church.  It was something I was reluctant to do but the need is there and the lady in charge wouldn't let me off the hook.  I also volunteer in the church office to do some clerical work.  Some days, I wake up thinking that perhaps my short-term mission is almost done, but God says it isn't short term, it's long term.  I don't know exactly what that means, perhaps long term means greater than 5 years.

I am getting much better in reading and speaking Mandarin.  Some of my sponsees do not speak any English, so I had to practice using my Mandarin a lot.  God has a funny way to make me learn.  I felt so stupid at first but after a while, I actually remembered how to do this.....and reading too.  I am reading some children's books from the library.  And I read my Bible in Chinese with pronunciation.  Some Chinese names are weird in Old Testament, but I keep going and almost finish half of the Bible by now.  Though I speak Mandarin ok, I still know that I am different because I lived in the U.S. for 40 years.  I look like them but inside I am not like them.....still in culture shock and in the process of being ok not fitting in and accepting who I am.  So what if I am different inside, aren't we all uniquely different in some ways?

8/28 Ted had his knee replacement surgery.  It was the hardest one for me ever because this time, I had to stay in the hospital room with him day and night.  I didn't know that was how it works here to keep costs down.  After he was released, he had many complications and ended up having his second surgery 9/12.  Two surgeries and two weeks in the hospital.  The whole month of Sept was a blur, but I got through it and thankfully, Ted is on his way to recovery.  He is now walking and going through physical therapy.  I learned what they said on the airplane, that in case of emergencies, put on your own mask before you help your little ones.  I had to really take care of myself in order to properly take care of Ted.  

Pearl, my daughter, came to be with us mid-September for about 3 months.   At first, she excitedly did all the touristy things.  Then when that slowly lost its appeal, she struggled with the difference of culture and not understanding people.  It was hard to watch her go through it, because it was what I went through.  But I am so glad she came.  We were not sure what God has for her future, or whether it has to do with Taiwan, but at the end of her stay here, God gave her the next right thing to do.   Oh, how we would love to know a few more steps ahead and what our future holds!  But do we really want that?  If we know something really good is coming, we may just not try now and wait for that lucky break or get cocky about how God chose to bless us.  If we know something really bad is coming, it may ruin our moment of peace and joy right now in anticipation of what is coming.  So, I am kind of thankful now that I don't know what the future holds, yet I can trust the God who holds the future.  Like Joshua who led the Israelites to step into the Jordan river, when we take that step, that's when the water parted.  Sometimes, all God wants to reveal to us is where to go next.  Once we do that in faith, then He reveals to us the next right thing.

Overall, I enjoyed the most my slower pace in life here.  I now have much more time in the morning for Quiet time with God, journaling, reading, and playing piano.  Once I worked for a cafe in a senior living facility, and I had to start at 7am.  That is early for me, and many days I had to rush out the door and talk to Jesus in the car on my way to work.  I was really longing for the weekends when I can wear my PJs for a bit longer and take my time leisurely reading my Bible.  Now I can do that most days.  can you believe that?  It's like fully recharging my phone so I can properly use it during the day.  I feel recharged and refreshed most days.  I don't know if I will ever work a part time job here, perhaps down the road when I master the language here.  I am kind of a workaholic, and it just felt like this slow pace is strange. But now I am enjoying it for this season in my life. 😊