The First Day

This is it. The first day of school. 

Mom would do everything in her power to make sure that you were ready. Were your shoes tied? Did you bring your lunch? Did your clothes match?

Of course nothing could prepare her for that moment. The moment you get out of the car. The moment you see your new classmates. The moment you wave goodbye.

I looked into my families eyes as they stood there in the terminal, and I gave them one last "I love you" sign before I rounded the corner. I knew that I would not see them again for a long time, but I also know that God has a plan, and I knew that I was about to embark on one of the most epic journeys of my life.

The engines hummed and eventually roared as I watched LA disappear into the fog. I eased back into my very comfortable seat when the man sitting next to me, one of the only other caucasians on the plane, introduced himself as a Canadian Electric Car Designer. Not knowing how to respond to this, I gave him the polite nod, and almost immediately fell asleep.

While I was awake though, the flight was very nice. The seats were soft, the engines were quiet, the movie selection was good and so was the service.

They even had flowers in the bathrooms!

As my plane touched down into Taipei, I prayed a deep long prayer. A "this is it" moment passed over me as the reality of it all sunk in. I got off the plane and headed over to customs, where they let me through without a single question. I got my things, and walked outside not knowing who I would find, or rather, who would find me.

Finally, I was found by my new roommate, Brandon. Brandon, though a little quiet at first, has a lot of wisdom and is completely selfless. I have a lot to learn from him. He's been a teacher for ORTV for two years, and he's been in Taiwan for three. He graduated from Liberty college, and his family from Tennessee, has never visited him in Taiwan.

We took a van down a freeway which I had taken only nine months prior, so I easily recognized where I was. That alone made me feel more at home, as I didn't feel as much like I was going somewhere new, as I felt like I was returning somewhere familiar.

Our driver turned down a narrow alley lined with scooters and people barbecuing. My heart stopped when he pulled up in front of one of the most ghetto-fabulous buildings I had ever seen. This would become my new apartment.

Ugly though it may be on the outside, it is actually quite nice on the inside. It's quite roomy, there is a kitchen, a living room, and two bathrooms, and I get my own bedroom, which is awesome!

I rolled my only remaining possessions into my new room, and plopped onto my bed, and when I say plopped, I mean shattered. The mattress is about as soft as a Die Hard movie.

"Yippee kayay!"

Unfortunately, we don't have wifi, so communication will be difficult, but I am working to get it. We do, however, have a TV, which gets a bunch of English channels. Brandon turned it on, and we proceeded to watch animal planet until we couldn't stay awake any longer.

I wandered into my room and sat in bed spending a lot of time in thought and prayer. This is a whole new world, but I know God has a plan, and through every challenge, there's a reward.