Beginnings

I'll be honest: the main reason for my writing this first post is so my blog no longer looks like an empty shell. I created the blog structure a few days ago, toyed around with the fonts, colors, etc., and then thought, 'OK, now it's set. As soon as I actually get to Taiwan, I'll start posting.'

But that didn't happen. I have far too much to do (and, therefore, too much to avoid doing) and it's been far too long since I've written to allow me to wait until August. So I'm starting now, despite the dozens of emails and phone calls I have hanging over me, and the plentiful paperwork I still have to fill out.

Welcome to my blog! As my 'About Me' says, I'm Bekah (Chinese name 百合, pronounced Baihe), and I will soon be moving to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where I will work for 11 months as an English Teaching Assistant through the Fulbright program. I speak maybe 20 words of Chinese, mostly simple yet functionally useless stuff like 'teacher' and 'little brother' and 'father.' Not quite what I'll be needing to, say, haggle in the marketplace. But I'll learn!

Last week, I attended the Pre-Departure Orientation for Fulbright English Teaching Assistants in Washington, D.C., which was wonderful. The sessions were a bit long, and occasionally irrelevant to those of us going to Taiwan--we were grouped in with Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Macau, Mongolia, Thailand, and Laos--but the people there were fantastic. I got to meet the other ETAs I'll be living and working with in Taiwan, and my worries on that front melted away: we meshed instantly, and I am beyond excited to get to know this group of people better. 

Of course, in order to do that, I have to get through the next couple of weeks and actually make it into the country.

As of right now, I am still very much in the middle of preparing to leave: I'm waiting to get my final test results back so I can apply for my residents visa (I'm unfortunately rather behind in that process);  my stuff is strewn across three rooms in my family's house, waiting for me to sort it into 'bring,' 'leave,' and 'toss out' categories (and then actually do those things); and I still have loads of loose ends to tie up in my life here in the States (student loan deferments, last bills from my old house, final purchases before moving where my sizes are mostly unheard-of, for instance). And I leave July 31. Needless to say, it'll be an interesting 12 days.

So, perhaps I should go get productive, rather than writing a blog post just for the sake of filling up space. I'll keep updating. :)