我會很想念你們!!!! (I'll miss you all!!!)

So I have 4 more days left...WHAT?! Ok, so that's crazy. I feel like I should have longer. Don't get me wrong, I am SUPER excited to get home and see my family, my dogs (including the new one) and see my not-yet-born niece, but I'll miss people and places and things. I'll miss hearing Chinese all the time and surprising the speakers when I understand what is going on. I'll miss being surrounded by beautiful Asian people everywhere I go and the funny looks that sometimes come with them. I'll miss adorable 老闆s (store owners) in the cafeteria, especially the very attractive drink store 老闆 ;). I'll miss the amazing friends I have made here and the places I have been with them. I'll miss soo much.

In the orientation I had to go to before I came here, they talked to us about "reverse culture shock." Which is just the culture shock you get when you get back to your own country. The last couple of times this didn't happen, but I feel like it is going to happen much more this time around. I have been gone for almost 5 months so I'd like to think I'm a little different. I've learned some life lessons and learned some new things about myself. One of the biggest differences I will experience when I get back is not being around Stephanie 24/7. We aren't roommates (which is probably a very good thing), but if we aren't doing homework/sleeping we are probably together. We are so alike it's crazy (except for the fact that she is studious-I'm lazy and other little things that happened because she is Asian), most of the time we don't have to say much of anything and we know what each other is thinking. She is one of the first people that I have let my guard and filter completely down for. So, when I go home and I say random crazy things that don't seem to be something I would normally say, you can thank her for that :) She helped me realize how much fun it is to be me without filters. I still have moments when I don't talk much, and the first time I meet people, I still don't speak much, but I have a feeling that won't change. The only thing that will really change is how much I keep myself from saying when things pop into my head.

Another huge thing I'm going to miss is the amazing public transportation!! You can just hop on the MRT and get pretty much anywhere in Taipei. Or the train goes to the main cities throughout Taiwan. Getting around without a car isn't too bad. I'll miss it. I'll also miss the people who have given me rides so I don't have to use public transportation. Like this kid named Chris who is super nice and is wonderfully sarcastic. He has helped us out sooo much. He took us to the airport when we went to Hong Kong and he is taking us to the airport at 6:30 am when we go home. He really is tons of fun.

Despite all the things I'll miss, I definitely think it's time to go back home. Although, when I get home I need to find a job, and I have no clue what that will be, but it will work itself out. Then, a year later, I'll come back here to study some more, probably for only about 3 years. Those are the tentative plans, we'll see what God actually has in store for me.

If I don't write again...see you all soon!!!

PS...No, I didn't find myself a beautiful Asian man (or not so beautiful) and fall in love. Sorry for the disappointment or the lose of any bets :)

Why is it always so awkward?...but I love it!

I realized as I was looking back through my posts, it was all telling you about what I do. Which if I don't now I will probably forget by the time I see you. But actually the things that I have enjoyed the most, I don't think I have actually written it down. They aren't adventures, they are the awkward situations I some how find myself in and the many life lessons I have stumbled upon.

First, I'll tell you about the awkwardness that surrounds my life in Asia...
I think it was the day of the Cheerleading competition, Stephanie and I were taking the bus back from the stadium and we saw this kid with crazy hair and an awesome watch. Well, Stephanie thought he was attractive, but we didn't see him again for awhile. Needless to say, it was a little disappoint, but one day I was having lunch with my Buddy at a little restaurant on campus that hides beside the gym and guess who was working?...None other than bus boy. From that point on we saw him EVERYWHERE. Really, it was crazy. This wouldn't have been so awkward, if 1) I didn't feel the need to acknowledge his presence since we interacted a little and 2)Stephanie didn't freak out a little every time she saw him. So, combine those two and you get me laughing every time I see this guy and because I want to be polite I acknowledge his presence, but with laughter. I'm pretty sure Stephanie avoided eye contact, and he may not have even remembered me, but that is what happened every time I saw him. Then eventually Stephanie got over it, but he still made me laugh...especially the one time Stephanie and I were walking up the bleachers and I said "I think my butt is numb" (we had been sitting for a while) and he and his friends walked around the corner, and by the way he speaks English. I asked him when he was taking my order that one day. Ohh the awkwardness which made laugh...a lot. Poor guy probably thinks some random white chick has a crush on him. But he did bring amusement to our lives :) Anyway, I haven't seen him for a while, but hopefully one last awkward moment before we leave.

Most of my other awkward moments can be put into one little category, the "Whoa...she's white!" category. They come from the looks I get as I am walking around. I don't always catch them, in fact mostly I don't notice them anymore. Stephanie, however likes to tell me all about them, especially the super good ones. They definitely are good for my ego, I don't know what I'm going to do when I go back and blend in and don't get the "What was that?" look. In fact some of them are super cute, like little kids (once a mother actually told her daughter not to stare - very nice of her) and old people (they look so perplexed hehe). But there are some...well lets just say I could do without them. Like the other day a group of 30-40ish year old guys walked by and they all looked at me, without even trying to hide it, definitely a little creepy. Looks that people try to hide are definitely more polite and far less creepy.

Other awkward moments have happened, but those usually lead to life lessons. That is for another day...

Love you all!! Promise I'm still praying for you all even if I haven't communicated in 2 months!

I disappeared...but I'm back!

SORRY!! I haven't written in...2 months? I promise, you haven't missed much. Most of that time was spent working on my Senior Thesis. I had to write 10 pages in English, 10 pages in Chinese, make a 15 minute presentation, write a song, and sing three songs (including the song I wrote)...which I am sure most everyone has seen this performance, thank you mother! (I say that with only a hint of sarcasm) So for a while that was pretty much all I did. The last time I think I talked about being frustrated with the ever changing Chinese class...I honestly don't really remember, but if it was, everything turned out good! I loved my Chinese class! There were 3 people from Africa, 2 Vietnamese kids, 1 German, 1 British guy (when he decided he wanted to show up), and then me and Stephanie. Everyone was really funny and tons of fun. We went out to celebrate Stephanie's birthday and it ended in a cake cream fight...poor Stephanie got it all up in her hair. Haha. Our teacher is also wonderful. She is a really good teacher, but she has a habit of saying "do you understand" repeatedly, except it is in Chinese obviously. And this is at 8:30/9:00 in the morning and we all know how much of a morning person I am...I stayed pleasant most of the time though...Momma would be so proud :) I'm talking about this in past tense because it already ended which is sad, but now I can sleep in. Yay for sleep!!

Anyway, after i finished my senior thesis, I still couldn't really go on adventures because Stephanie still had a lot of MCAT stuff to get done and I didn't want to leave her all alone so I discovered a website that had tons of movies on it...that was a bad idea. All my motivation to get things done for my classes just kind of disappeared and I watched a lot of movies. It took a good week and a half to find it again. Actually, it took a trip to Taipei, I think we went to the zoo, to get me going again. I think I was just a little tired of sitting in Taoyuan and not doing much of anything.

So the first outing we had after we liberated ourselves from Taoyuan was going to Taipei to see our Chinese professor from the US and the Chinese students she brought from WVU, plus two of our classmates from WVU who just moved here to work for a year. Sadly, Lin laoshi couldn't go because she had work she had to do, but that's ok we got to see her soon after. It was fun, although it rained some. Then the next weekend (which was last weekend) we went back to Taipei, but this time with a classmate who is from Taipei, and we met a new American friend. He is super sarcastic and his sense of humor is more or less like mine...it was weird. After we met up with some other classmates we all rode this Massive Beautiful Ferris Wheel. Pretty much we just walked around and talked and had fun together, but it rained a lot (it is Taiwan after-all).

Love you all!!

PS...The next post will be far more interesting, because it will contain awkward moments :) I will continue after I eat food...

Hmm...what was I saying?

Since the last time I wrote so many emotions have gone through me. First of all, extreme frustration. When we took the test to be placed in a Chinese class I was told that I could try both the basic and intermediate class because I scored borderline on the test. I was pretty proud of myself actually, but the catch is this was all a reading and multiple choice test. There is a big difference between reading and knowing what goes in a blank, and making up answers yourself. The intermediate class was way over my head, they were talking about presidents and impeachment, and I don't even know the word for trashcan (I know now, it's 垃圾桶). So I went down to the basic class and that was much better. I understood what was going on, but it turns out this class wasn't good for me either! So frustrating. To make a long story short, mine and Stephanie's Chinese is American Chinese. We use our American thought process to translate things into Chinese, and our grammar sucks. If you give me a sentence and tell me to find a grammar mistake, I can do it, but for me to make a sentence straight from my head and make it sound like a good Chinese sentence...天啊！(Oh goodness!). So we are now in a Beginner class...that is so discouraging. Anyway, I'm better now. I'm determined to learn tons over these next 3 months and hopefully I'll be able to find something here that will allow to come back and continue studying. One day my Chinese will be amazing!

After extreme frustration came tons of fun. I went with some classmates to a place called Yilan, it is pretty close to Taipei so it took about an hour to get there and we had to go through the longest tunnel in Taiwan, and then I learned to word for tunnel. It took the whole day to put the word into my memory, but I got it now. I ate some new tasty things, I don't remember what any of it was called, and then I ate some Stinky tofu. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but the aftertaste reminded me of the smell of a farm...I don't plan on eating it again. However, Stephanie liked it. Blah. Pretty much all we did was walk around and talk with our classmates. We talked about accents from different parts of Taiwan and different parts of the US. I let them hear my hick come out and then explained what "ain't" meant. AND THEN!!!...we found THE Ferris Wheel. In Taipei, connected to a mall is a giant Ferris Wheel. Last time we were here we saw it and wanted to go to it, but we didn't know they way, and then we kept seeing it in Taiwanese dramas. So, when we passed it on the highway, Stephanie and I freaked out a little and then they took us to see it. It was too late to actually ride it, but there is an MRT station right next to it so next time...We are definitely riding it.

Other than that my life has been consumed with my Senior thesis and other homework. I now know more about Wang Leehom than I ever thought I would know...now I just need to meet him and ask him to explain his music. One day maybe...

Love you all!! And Happy Easter!

I'm Chinese!!

So today in my Chinese Society and Culture class the professor gave us three ways to find out if you are Han Chinese. 1. You don't have double eyelids (I think) 2. Something about 2 sections on your little toe (She used Chinese to explain and when she used English it didn't make sense...so I think that is what she meant) 3. You have a crease on your forearm right in front of the inside of your elbow. So as everyone was looking at their arms to see if they were Han Chinese (I am the only white person in this class) I decided to look at my own arm and I have the crease! Muahahaha So I am apparently Han Chinese. I've also heard that this meant you had Native American ancestry, but who knows, maybe somewhere far back I have some Chinese relatives. My professor and classmates thought it was pretty funny also.

Another exciting part of the day...I saw a guy with a mullet! Although, it didn't go well with the rest of him. He had facial hair and a "manly" look...but then the mullet. It was pretty amusing. Also, I saw two motorcycles! Scooters are extremely abundant and very rarely do I see actual motorcycles so every time I do I get really excited. One day I'm going to make friends with a handsome guy with a leather jacket and motorcycle and ask him for a ride. Then I can pretend like I'm in a Taiwanese drama. :) Yea I'm a dork.

So much naivety to get rid of.

This past weekend I once again made the long journey to Taipei. Not only had we not heard from the Taoyuan church so we don't have a place to go in Taoyuan yet, but also the family we were staying with was going to an orphanage to teach a Sunday school lesson. So, Stephanie and I decided it was definitely worth it and it most certainly was!

To start this marvelous day off, the sermon was called “Three Chairs.” One was commitment, one was compromise, and one was condemnation. It was an amazing sermon! He spoke of how God wants us to be perfect, not just good but perfect, and the only way to do that was through Jesus Christ. Jesus is what you need to go from the condemned seat to the commitment seat. Then he spoke of how people compromise in their walk with Christ. We go to church and give to those who need, but then we go out and do whatever we want even if it against what Christ wants for us. We want the good that comes with Christ, and the fun that comes with the world. But we can't have both. His words were much more powerful than mine, but it was a very good sermon to hear.
After that we once again went to the Old Testament Bible study that we went to last time, but this time we got really off topic and started talking about the difficulties that Taiwanese people have when they make the decision to follow Christ. The family that we are staying with said that the first time they met their landlord, he encouraged them to hold a Bible study in their house and he believed Christianity was the right way. But when they asked him if he was a Christian he said no, he couldn't be. Although he thought his siblings should, and his tenants should be, he was the oldest son so he couldn't become a Christian. In the Taiwanese/Chinese culture the oldest son has most of the responsibilities in the family. He has filial responsibilities to attend to, and someone mentioned especially at the time of the parent's death. Some of the Taiwanese people shared their own experiences, and I realized once again how blessed I am to have such an amazing family. And my heart completely broke. As much as I would like to think that I am independent and that I would abandon all for God, I don't know if I can truthfully say that. Some people are beaten by their family for choosing Christ. That is true faith and love for God.
Then after church we went to the orphanage! In this particular orphanage there are mostly kids with HIV/AIDS. The kids without it are children from migrant workers or are babies that aren't old enough to know for sure if they have HIV/AIDS. Apparently you can't actually tell that until around 2 and a half or 3 years old. If the child has HIV/AIDS than they can't be adopted so they have to live in the orphanage until they are 18 and then they are out on their own. For the babies of the migrant workers, although the beginning of their lives are not happy, they are far more fortunate. The migrant workers come from places like the Philippines and Vietnam to work as maids or whatever. While they're here they aren't supposed to have kids, some have families back home, but things happen and they are sent to this orphanage to have their children and help out for a while. There are 3 of these children there right now. Two are going to the US and one is going to Germany. All of these children are so beautiful. I stayed with the babies the whole time and fell in love a little. Ming Ming fell asleep while I was holding her! (I think she was a girl – they don't really dress the babies according to gender) We are definitely going back, Stephanie was like “they come every other weekend...we can do that.” So we'll see. We might end up making a bi-monthly pilgrimage to Taipei.

Love you All!! And I pray that you all will truly live your lives for God.

Amazing people, food, and a dog...what more can you ask for?

It decided to get cold and rainy in Taiwan these past couple of days, and I'm not a fan. Mainly because there is no central heating in the dorm. It hopefully won't last long and then it will go back to the sunny warmth I love so much.

This past weekend Stephanie and I went back to Taipei to meet up with a family that a woman my mom works with knows. The story is a little complicated, but it was an amazing weekend! We got there Saturday afternoon and then we went to Sunday School at a little store-front church. They have children's Sunday school on Saturday because there isn't enough room for them to have regular church and Sunday school. Anyway, it was tons of fun. We sang Jesus Loves Me in Chinese, although I don't remember the words anymore, and then there was a lesson and the preacher let us use a Bible with Chinese and English! It was amazing and I am definitely getting one. I could try and read the Chinese and when I failed, I could just look over and see the English and then understand what was going on again. Then we got to draw and an adorable little boy loved Stephanie's so she gave it to him, then he said mine was ugly but I gave it to him anyway. After that there was a youth group meeting at the family's apartment and although there was only 5 of us, it was still tons of fun. I met a girl that spent most of her life in the US and is home schooled, and a girl that loves drawing and wants to go to school for Industrial design, in fact she has an interview for the school she would LOVE to go to so everyone should pray for her! Anyway, they were great girls and it was tons of fun to hang out with them and play spoons and rich man, poor man. Then on Sunday morning we went to Grace Baptist and met tons of fantastic people. This church just so happens to be the church Chiang Kai-shek went to and his minister came and talked to the congregation. A little bit of history spoke to me (which makes waking up so early for Chinese History that one semester almost worth it), and since it was his birthday, he gave everyone a gift, a beautiful cup (although that sounds kind of lame, if you saw it it wouldn't be. Also, Asians like their tea so it makes perfect sense). After the church service, we went to a Bible study and met some more fantastic people. There was an Australian guy, Canadian, and quite a few Americans. But the most exciting part, was out of all the people in the church that could sit next to me in the Bible study a woman sat down and started talking to me. After she found out I went to school in Taoyuan she told me about the her home church in Taoyuan. She said there used to be a fellowship for MCU students and even a program there for English speakers. How amazing is that?! She said she was going to give our contact information to the church, so hopefully soon there will be a place for us to go while we are in Taoyuan. I think the sermons are in Chinese, but that is even better! More practice!

In other news, yesterday Stephanie and I went on a journey to the store so that we could buy laundry detergent and do laundry (we tried this once before and ended up getting fabric softener instead...we didn't pay much attention to the characters on that particular occasion). On the way there we stopped by a little restaurant to eat dinner and after asking a couple of questions about what was what (we are a little illiterate especially with traditional characters) we finally ordered and it was good! Stephanie said it was just like home, and then told her when we had a McFlurry and fries the night before that was like home for me. Then we had a discussion about what non-Asian Americans have for dinner. It's kind of funny how alike we are, but how different our lives were growing up because she's Asian. Anyway, then out of nowhere this little dog walks up and stretches like it had just woken up. It was adorable, it just sat there and let us pet him (or her...I don't know which) and then we decided that we would make friends with the owners and go there more often. Good food and a cute dog, what more can you ask out of a restaurant?

I love you all and you're still in my prayers!

Nothing spectacular, but still tons of fun!

Now that I am in my second week of classes, I feel much less annoyed about things. My schedule has been set and can not be changed whether I like it or not, so I will start to have some kind of daily plan...which is good. I am a creature of habit after all. The only thing is, Stephanie and I still haven't heard anything about our Mandarin class yet. I hope it starts soon! We went to our first fully English class on Monday and because some of the students do not speak English as their first language, actually most of the students don't, the professor spoke very slowly. The only thing keeping me from feeling like this semester is going to be super easy, the fact that I have to do my capstone from back home. Does anyone know how to write a song in Chinese?

This past weekend, Stephanie and I went to Taipei to see Theresa and Zhang laoshi. We couldn't remember how to get to the bus station, so we asked some classmates to take us there. It was very nice of them...and it turns out it was super easy to find the train station. We got there with no problem, but once we got to Taipei Main Station, which has the bus station, train station, and MRT station all conveniently place, we couldn't find our way to the New World Mall, which is where we were going to eventually meet Theresa. It took us about 20 minutes but we finally figured it out, and actually after we met Theresa I realized that if we had just gone up the stairs next to the bathrooms we went in halfway through our search we would have made it much faster...well now we know. It was a pretty good weekend. We saw the break-dancers that I love so much (every time I pass them I get the urge to stop and watch, but I feel as though that would be weird – some of them are actually really good though). We found music stores, but sadly the CD's were more expensive than I remember them being. And we at dan-bing, my favorite Taiwanese breakfast food. It is a thing pancake-ish thing with egg cooked on it, and I got mine with bacon and cheese. So good!

While we were in Taipei we stayed with Theresa in her apartment, which is really small but still really nice. I would imagine any apartment in a big city would be small. On Saturday we met up with Zhang laoshi and she was so excited to see us! It was cute, she brought us gifts. Not just any gifts though...we got a pen, toilet paper (because public restrooms here don't always have toilet paper), some bus schedule booklets (that were in Chinese) and a pamphlet from the University she teaches at...always very practical that Zhang laoshi. Then we went to Shilin Night Market, but I soon remembered why I didn't like going during the weekends...it is super crowded. So after about 15 minutes we were ready to leave. The next day, we went to Ximending to buy a Sim Card for my phone so that I can call people if the need arises, and on the way to the store we came across an unexpected situation. A singer was set up to sign autographs and sing. Her name is Rainie and I don't really listen to a lot of her music because some of it is far too cutsie for me, but she is in some of the dramas that I watch (yes I'm a dork) and she is actually a really good actress. So we stopped to watch her sing for a couple of minutes and then we went and got my sim card when the signing started. It was kind of exciting because I'm living in a place that is so small that I can just randomly stumble across something like that...in the US, well in WV, that would have never happened.

Our journey back to Taoyuan was a little more interesting than our journey to Taipei. The MRT was an MRT ride, nothing spectacular, but when we got on the train (which takes about 40 mins) I was standing next to a couple, I think they were high schoolers, and they kept staring at me. It annoyed me, but then the guy started singing to his girlfriend and it was cute so I was no longer annoyed, but then they started staring at me again and I became annoyed again. Usually the looks don't bother me, but this did. I think it was because I was pretty sure they were talking about me, but they were speaking so quietly I couldn't hear what they were saying. I like it when I understand things people don't want me to understand. :) Then we got off the Train and it took us a while to find the bus stop. It turns out you just follow the sidewalk further than we were going, but we got confused. Anyway, now we know so next time it won't be so confusing. So really this weekend didn't have much excitement but it was really good to just hang out like we did the first time we were here.

Love you all!!

The first day...maybe the rest won't be quite so awkward?

When I first got to Taiwan, I was so excited. I kept poking Stephanie and saying, “Hey Stephanie, it's Taiwan!” I was excited to get back to Taipei and see the things that I saw the last time we were here. I forgot that this was a completely new experience, with different people and places. I think I figured that out today, and I'm not going to lie it was a little disappointing to come to that realization. I should have realized it sooner, but I guess better late than never.

Anyway, I have 3 roomies – 2 Korean and 1 Bolivian. They are super sweet and it doesn't feel crowded in our skinny room. Everyone pretty much keeps to their quarter of the room and it is all good. We had our registration thing on Monday. There were 2 Americans (me and Stephanie), 2 Mongolians (our new friends Oko and Anuka) and then the rest were Korean. There's a lot of Koreans here... Anyway, Tuesday we had a medical check-up and then nothing so we wondered around campus and then went to Taoyuan city with Oko and Anuka. I can't really describe how I feel about being the only white person around because I haven't really decided how I feel about it. Most of the time though, I think it is hilarious. For instance, we went with Oko to find a laptop and there was a guy that worked there and his friend who spoke English. They came over and the one who spoke English politely asked Stephanie and I if we needed help even though we were obviously not the ones who were looking at computers. Then when the one who worked there found out Stephanie could speak Chinese he started talking to her and didn't really pay attention to the ones who wanted to spend money. This encounter was definitely one of my favorites. Life is truly interesting here.

Today was the first day of classes and as expected, because my major is teaching Chinese as a second language, Stephanie and I are pretty much the only foreigners in our classes. Today was a little frustrating...I kept thinking everything was going to be in English...and then I find out in this major that isn't necessarily the case. I guess that means my Chinese will be even better...everything happens for a reason right? Chinese class doesn't start until March 15 and I seriously can not wait!! I want to speak Chinese and learn new Chinese and feel dumb when I don't know what is going on in class....I miss it! I can't wait...but I do like not having to wake up early in the morning. ;)

So, because Stephanie and I don't really have much to do here yet, every morning and evening so far we have gone out and sat on the bleachers at the sports field and watched whatever has been going on. There is baseball, soccer, people running around the track, and best of all...Cheerleading. There is a competition of some sort coming up, so groups of Ming Chuan students have been practicing, both boys and girls, and every evening they are out there doing their “cheers"...more like dances. It is so entertaining.

Anyway, when things get going and more interesting stuff happens...I'll let you know.


Love you all! Always in my prayers.

He's everywhere and it's beautiful!

I've told you about the food and how that has become the most prominent memory of my adventure in Malaysia. But I think the thing that impacted me the most was my experience with Stephanie's grandmother, or Ah ma as she calls her and I ended up calling her. Ah ma most definitely LOVES Jesus. I mean absolutely puts all Love and faith in God. She prays for everything, all the time. She randomly sings to God (later she told us that she sang a certain song to God when she was tired and then so was ok – I told her it sounded good once and she laughed and told me that it sounded bad but it didn't matter cause God didn't care.) She constantly reminded me that God would take care of me and there was no need to worry about anything (I later got the feeling that they were afraid of the police, but I didn't ask. I figured that would only freak me out a little). She is a beautiful woman who oozes Jesus love like nothing else. So of course staying with her meant we would be going to church.

Although Malaysia has a very high Muslim population and Buddhists (especially within the Chinese community there), Stephanie's family is mostly Christian. Going there I knew this, so I was really excited to go to church in Malaysia with her family. The first Sunday we were there we went to Auntie Mei Qing's church. (this is Stephanie's mom's best friend from college – she let us stay at her house for a couple of days and is pretty much a member of Stephanie's family. She and her son were absolutely wonderful!) This church was completely in English. They sang songs I knew and sang at church and BCM in Morgantown, so it was kind of like a little piece of home across the world. It was pretty amazing. I was standing beside of Ah ma and she was praying in Chinese and there were other people of all different ethnicities worshiping in their own languages. This was absolutely one of the best days, but the next Sunday was even more amazing. This time we were in BM (I'm not even going to try and spell that out) at Ah ma's house so we went to her church. Her church was completely in Mandarin! All of the songs, the sermon, everything. There was pinyin for the songs, so Stephanie and I could sing along even if we didn't know the characters. There was a band with two rocker chick guitarists, and one of the song leaders was adorable. He kind of looked like a Taiwanese artist named 牛奶(Milk – yes it is a weird name) and he was praising Jesus...so adorable. Anyway, the point is I didn't really understand most of the songs except for one line that said “I am made new” and actually Stephanie had to tell me that one. But that was the most important line because that is what the sermon was all about. Being made new in Jesus and how that involves changing our thinking and letting him take over. By the way, I understood most of the sermon! It was amazing! I don't think I can even describe how amazing I thought it was.

It was such a beautiful thing being in Malaysia and seeing God in my new environment. I truly do love the Khoo family now, I know you've probably gotten tired of hearing that, but they are kind of like a second family to me. Of course they are different than the amazing family I grew up with, but they are also so similar - loud, maybe a little crazy, but so caring.

Stephanie and I haven't found a church here, but I know God has something planned for us. I hope it's a Chinese church...that would be awesome practice!

I love you all! Always in my prayers!

I'm full just thinking about all that food...

I don't even almost know where to start. I could start from the beginning, but I'm not sure if I remember all that. So I guess I'll just tell you what I learned and hope I cover the important stuff. First of all Malaysia is made up of three major ethnicities: Malay (obviously), Indian, and Chinese. Since Stephanie's family is Malaysian Chinese, that subculture of the country is what I saw most of and experienced. Generally, the Chinese are more affluent than others so I saw the flat screen TV's, pretty cars, and beautiful homes. I didn't see the poverty that Malaysia has; although, I know it is there. So, keep that in mind when reading this.

So the first thing Stephanie and I did when we got there, besides meet her family was go eat. This nicely foreshadowed what the rest of the trip would be. A whole lot of eating, and then “have you tried this? You should, it's good.” And it is very hard to turn down persistent Asians. Anyway, the first night I had fishball soup, which is fish meet put into ball shape in soup, and I amazed Stephanie's uncle with my chopstick skills, then I amazed everyone with my Chinese. By that I mean I said “I'm good” when someone asked me how I was...very impressive right? I don't remember what all I ate from that point on. There was a whole lot of noodles, my favorite of which is bean hoon (I think that is what it is called). The food was amazing! But my favorite part of meals was how everyone was so loving. They weren't exactly “polite,” Stephanie's dad ate with his hands (which is ok in Malaysia) and everyone reached over each other, but it was so much better than politeness. They were extremely caring and gave each other food they even gave up the best parts of the dishes. They even did this for me! Even though it was with the utensils they were eating with, I didn't care because it made me feel comfortable and a part of the family.

For two weeks I really did feel like a part of the Khoo family. I even got red envelopes for Chinese New Year. Red envelopes are given to unmarried children (I'm pretty sure you are given these until you are married even if you aren't considered a child anymore). I was surprised when I received one, but t made me feel a little more Asian for the moment. :)

Malaysia and the Khoo family were amazing and part of me didn't want to leave. I hope I see them again, they are amazing people!

I have so much more I want to tell everyone, but it is going to have to wait for another day. I love you all and will be praying for you all! I pray that you all keep your hearts open to God because He has amazing plans for each of you! I wish I could hug you all, but since I can't this will have to work...*HUG*

If they tell you to put on a parachute...it probably isn't a good thing.

I'm in Taipei!!! Which would be much more exciting if this was mine and Stephanie's last stop, but it isn't. In about 6 hours we have another flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Then I will be an honorary Khoo for a couple of weeks. I am so very excited about that!

Nobody actually told me to put on a parachute, but that was a little piece of wisdom from my father. He is a smart cookie. All went marvelously smooth until we got to LA and then we had a nice little adventure. We had to change buildings, re-check-in, and then go through security again. The change of buildings wasn't bad, just a short walk down the sidewalk. Then, we walked into the international airport I was the minority!! People were speaking all kinds of languages and it was marvelous. Then we tried to find security...well let's just say we were tired and it took us a minute to find the large sign telling us where to go. Anyway, we made it in time to the flight to Taipei and that is all that matters. The 14 hour flight that followed wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I slept for the first 5 or 6 hours of it and then the last hour or so Stephanie and I started talking to the woman setting next to us. She invited us to stay with her in Tainan if we were ever there. Taiwanese people are so nice. Then we got to the departure part of the airport in Taiwan and discovered we could not actually check in our luggage until 1:30pm...that was at 7:30am. But that's ok because we got to walk outside of the airport a little and breathe in Taiwan. It was so warm I was walking around in a T-shirt, but there were people out there in winter coats...crazy people.

I'm not sure how much internet access I will have in Malaysia, so I don't know when the next time I write will be, but as of right now I have to do some research for my capstone. Tons o' Love!

Well now isn't this exciting?

There's this shout, or some kind of noise, that has been going through my head this past week. I don't know how to write it, but it is the most excited feeling/noise I have ever experienced. That sounds kind of weird, but I guess that's what happens when you don't outwardly show excitement easily. This past semester has been amazing and I have loved every second of getting to know my roommates and friends more deeply. I miss you all already, but this is going to be AMAZING! I can't wait to experience life in a different way. See things in a way I would have never imagined. Worship the same God with new people, in new places, in languages I may not understand. God has given me amazing opportunities, but throughout the semester I realized that I have lived out these opportunities in a selfish manner. God wasn’t a central part of those journeys. When I woke up in the mornings my mind was more focused on “Let’s see how many hot Asian guys I can see today” (those exact words didn’t go through my head, most the time, but you get the point). This time I want it to be more about what God wants me to see and where He leads me. I’ve been asked why I study Chinese and why I like Asia and traveling. I guess that’s the answer, this is where God is leading me right now.

I started this blog to stay in touch with everyone and let my amazing family and friends share this journey with me. I’ll try to write often so that you know I’m still alive, but I am usually not good at keeping things like this going. I love you all and you can always e-mail me, or if you get a skype account we can talk that way. Also, I know some of you are “concerned” with me being gone for so long in another country but don’t be. God is with me, just like He is with you. The safest place for me is where God leads me.

“If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” Romans 14:8