An Untimely End
There is an episode of South Park that features a colony of gnomes with a very simple business plan:
1. Steal underpants.
2. ...
3. Profit.
I came to Taiwan with the notion that I would stay until I learned Chinese. I realize now that this is a very vague goal, having no solid structure or even a second step (like the gnomes), and also interminable because language can never be perfected. My reasons for learning the language were also based on equally rocky reasoning. I figured that if I learned Chinese, getting a job in the international relations field would be a cinch, because China is where the action is and is probably going to be.
Of course, things change, and my time abroad has taught me that I don't want to spend the rest of my life abroad. As much as I abhor most of my fellow countrymen's idea of politics and culture, I like the States and have found that in all actuality I want to live there. I've found out what 'home' means for the first time (I grew up moving around quite a bit), and I want desperately to go there and revel in it for a long while.
I have come to a turning point in my employment with Hess, I am given the choice of either quitting immediately or staying on and pretending nothing has gone terribly wrong in the past week. I am also presented with the opportunity to get a new job in Taipei and start over. I honestly would like to live in Taipei and stay, but it's just that. I wouldn't be truly happy, except in moments, because I am being drawn back home. I spend a lot of time thinking about my return, and more and more my time here feels like waiting for that day. And I can't live that way, even if it is to spend time with people of your caliber.
So with a very heavy (and still very divided) heart, I am announcing my intention to leave Taiwan. I will leave within the next two weeks, since that is all the time my visa will allow once Hess puts in the cancellation on Monday.
Many of you I will see this weekend in Taipei. Probably not long after you read this. To others, I will be traveling a bit in the country before I leave. I will see you then, for one last hurrah.
To those of you at home: I will see you very soon, after a brief foray into 'elsewhere.'
1. Steal underpants.
2. ...
3. Profit.
I came to Taiwan with the notion that I would stay until I learned Chinese. I realize now that this is a very vague goal, having no solid structure or even a second step (like the gnomes), and also interminable because language can never be perfected. My reasons for learning the language were also based on equally rocky reasoning. I figured that if I learned Chinese, getting a job in the international relations field would be a cinch, because China is where the action is and is probably going to be.
Of course, things change, and my time abroad has taught me that I don't want to spend the rest of my life abroad. As much as I abhor most of my fellow countrymen's idea of politics and culture, I like the States and have found that in all actuality I want to live there. I've found out what 'home' means for the first time (I grew up moving around quite a bit), and I want desperately to go there and revel in it for a long while.
I have come to a turning point in my employment with Hess, I am given the choice of either quitting immediately or staying on and pretending nothing has gone terribly wrong in the past week. I am also presented with the opportunity to get a new job in Taipei and start over. I honestly would like to live in Taipei and stay, but it's just that. I wouldn't be truly happy, except in moments, because I am being drawn back home. I spend a lot of time thinking about my return, and more and more my time here feels like waiting for that day. And I can't live that way, even if it is to spend time with people of your caliber.
So with a very heavy (and still very divided) heart, I am announcing my intention to leave Taiwan. I will leave within the next two weeks, since that is all the time my visa will allow once Hess puts in the cancellation on Monday.
Many of you I will see this weekend in Taipei. Probably not long after you read this. To others, I will be traveling a bit in the country before I leave. I will see you then, for one last hurrah.
To those of you at home: I will see you very soon, after a brief foray into 'elsewhere.'
