Candace in Taiwan!

My room on June 1st. *heavy breathing* As I sit down in Chicago O'Hare Airport once more, I consider how much has changed not only since the last time I posted to this blog (more on my absence later), but also since flying over to Taiwan. I reread my "Goodbye America" post and noticed that God used John 15 in ways I never would have imagined. Let's backtrack. A few weeks after my Dad visited in October, I hit a metaphorical wall. I was emotionally and spiritually drained. My health was being negatively affected by my stress as well. It felt as though I had nothing to give my students, and I couldn't figure out why. I ended up seeing a trusted Christian mentor and discussing what was going on for 2 hours straight. By the end of that first conversation, God opened up my eyes to a few things: 1. I had wrapped up my worth in how "good" I was at teaching. 2. I had found busyness in teaching instead of purpose in teaching. 3. I believed my stud...

Hello all! The weather in Kaohsiung has dipped into breezy with a bit of sun. Everyone keeps saying, "Wow, does it feel nice out!" The last two weeks since Dad flew back to the states have housed MAK's Fall Break as well as the last week of Quarter 1. In the words of Mr. Steve, "You're 25% done!" Here's a recap: For Monday and Tuesday of Fall Break, I cranked out grades, reading, and lesson planning for The Odyssey . On Tuesday night, McKenzie moved in with me! She's sleeping in my guest bedroom while James is in the military, and BOY has it been swell! To kick off our roommate-ship, we headed to THE BEACH WOOOOOOOO ... I mean, Kenting on the southern coast! Wednesday: We drove down to Kenting and marveled at the beautiful mountain highway which borders the sea for much of the stretch. After we dropped off our stuff, we met up with Caitlyn and Connie at the Yoho Resort to swim in the late afternoon. Christina offered to loan us her swim c...

Hello, everyone! Before you protest my lack of posting, hear me out: I think it's a good sign that I've forgotten to post a blog post for 5 weeks straight. On one hand, I've kept busy with school and grading. On the other hand, I 've gotten into a rhythm of life here that has made the time pass swiftly. I was also especially busy preparing for two busy weeks: my dad coming to visit last week and our fall break in Kenting this week!  Now that Dad's touched back down in Arkansas and started recuperating , it's time for a breakdown of Dadventure week! Breakfast on the patio! Day 0: He landed at 11:45pm. He cou ldn’t believe how much the interstate back to our apartments looks like the Madrid roads. We FaceTimed with Mom, dumped out his suitcases (basically Christmas in October), and went to bed. Day 1: He taught Judson’s 6th grade first thing in the morning. I sat in the back of the 6th grade class and rubbed my eyes to make sure I was truly seein...

Week 4 of school is complete! Woohoo! I had a few new experiences this week, one being TGIF (Thank God It's Friday), the school's youth group that meets on Friday nights. It was so nice interacting with some more of my students outside of the classroom. Plus, I got to play games with Jon, Grace, and Melissa afterward! As of Wednesday of last week, I'm breaking my record for time spent outside of the United States. I'm officially in uncharted waters (if I wasn't already). Good thing I got a guide this week!  On Saturday, Ben, Kelly, and I got to spend a day being led by Tim McGill, the superintendent of Morrison and a missionary kid who grew up in Taiwan. He took us to an amazing waterfall and up to Sandimen, an aboriginal village in the mountains of Taiwan.  For the rest of this post, I'll give the general quotes from Tim along with the pictures of what he's describing- I needed to type furiously to catch even the biggest parts of his stories, but...