Monday, October 18, 2010

Home?

Today I paid my tuition for the coming up Winter semester and went to the Taiwan Immigration Office to get my Visa extended. I could only get it extended to Dec. 4th, 2010 and must return again before Dec. 4 with the same 3 paperwork to extend to January 18th. I'm sure there was some sort of mix up. But the guy behind the counter said thats all I could extend it to, and I won't be able to get a ARC card either. Basically i'd have to leave the country. This doesn't sound right. This means it isn't possible to stay in Taiwan for more than a 6 month period to study at a school. Either way, at least it buys me time to straighten things out since my 90 day visa end Oct. 22 (in 4 days). Or even just get my citizenship and throw the whole stupid student visa/ARC crap out the window. While waiting for my ticket number to be called, it really occurs to me that I love living in Taiwan more than the first day I arrived. I've been told that 3 months is the honeymoon period, so to say, for your emotions to wear out. By 3 months, most people would start missing "home" and have regrets. So I'm still as happy and motived as I was day 1. I still wake up every day loving where I am, what i'm doing, and even going to class. I love learning Chinese. My wish is to continue into a 3rd or 4th semester or however long it takes me to be fluent in reading/writing/speaking/listening. I have no regrets and I have no longing for my american home, Taipei is my new home!

13 comments:

  1. Wah! That's hella lame... hopefully things will work out for you.

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  2. not surprised ur not homesick for bay area. nightlife in asia is best in the world. if you come back for a visit ur going to be bored silly.

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  3. That does sound kind of funny - even in China, you can extend a single visa at least twice before you had to apply for a brand new one. Check around with your other US expat friends to see if they can offer any advice. Good luck!

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  4. @Jason: Yes, the bay area will be so boring. just about the only thing i miss is the track events and wrenching on cars with friends and beer/pizza.

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  5. @B Huang: track events *if* the dumb car would work. last friday: car broke (detonation). fixed. went back out. car broke. detonation, but different. spent $$ on 100octane. went back out. car broke. high temps big water leak. parked it.

    u win some u lose some. i'll try to harden the most failure-prone areas over the winter so u can enjoy it when ur back for a visit

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  6. Detonation and high water temps Oh My!! It didnt get a chance the overheat and warp the head did it? good thing we have a spare.

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  7. naaa its ok. turbo miato... always scheming on ways to blow itself to bits. i would push a little and it was go to 22XH and then i'd back off it wuld go back to 210. repeat. (pretty much one lap slow one lap fast as it would climb 10* per lap if i was on it). if there is damage it will be from the detonation. i'll pull the head and take a gander.

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  8. Yes, you should do things that can maximize your happiness. I am the grad student who ask you information regarding to your Chinese Language Program last time in your another blog.

    Frankly, your adventures display nothing but euphony and excitement. I am really envious because as a semi-professional in science, facing chemicals and sitting in the office (over 10 hours)is our daily's routine. Sad!!!!!

    The way you take language classes, exploring around East Asia with so many of your classmates, enjoying the night-life and cheap food in TW, and learning Asian culture is something that the science grad students like ourselves desperately dreaming for.

    From reading your blog, I learned that perhaps things important in life is not simply a paycheck, but the experience that we can get while in lifetime. I hope you can extend and stay longer in Taiwan. Especially learning a language for 6 months is obviously not sufficient. If you stay for 2 years, I believe you will at lease reach 9th grade level due to the intense training and exposure of language.

    I wish you luck and hope you can maximize your happiness.

    Warm Regards

    Javier

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  9. Thank you Javier, I so glad that my blog has been so inspiring to you. Perhaps after graduation you'll have some time to be free and explore. IF your ever in Taiwan, look me up. btw Are you in USA or another country?

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  10. I go to school at UCLA, where all the stress and competition located especially if you are in 1)Biomedical Engineering, 2) Grad School

    (>_________<)

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  11. It is nice meeting you too, Brian. I truly hopes your visa issue can work out.

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  12. Wow, that's really great that you love it so much! ^^ After 3 months, I was definitely not liking it in TW too much, but I had a "special" situation, being a high school student (and girl no less) of puerto rican decent (read: dark brown skin. most people around me were pretty racist and mean... >.>).

    I hope you stay for a few more semesters too, cause I enjoy reading your blog!

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  13. If it wasn't obvious, I'm really big into taiwanese cuisine and culture. But it was a big surprise to me that racism exists here. Against darker skinned people. I don't know how it originated, but it certainly sucks you had to experience it.

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