Hey guys!
I’m SO EXCITED to say that the new blog is launched!
Meanwhile Jessie (New and Improved) is now up and running!
This blog is moved to meanwhilejessie.com
and I promise you’ll love it!
…Oops..
Hello Lovelies!
Missed me?
Yeah sorry about that.
I wasn’t planning on having mty life here in Taiwan be overly-hectic.
Turns out this blog thing is 20x harder without Wifi for most of the day or having an actual computer.
I do so many amazing and wonderful trips on the fly that keeping up with a schedule is NOT happening.
What I’m trying to say is, Goodbye blog.
For now.
It’s too impractical for me at this moment, but who knows?
Maybe in a couple months it will be?
Right now I’m updating everything worth updating on my Facebook, I’m making Videos on Youtube, and keeping a nice and tight Journal.
I’ve got this recording of events thing down everywhere …….except for here.
Oops.
I really do like owning a blog, but without a computer or wifi, It’s kind of not cool at all.
So for now, Goodbye my dears!
Till next time!
Much Love,
Tbh Taiwan is…
Hello Lovelies!
So, TONS of stuff.
SO MUCH to say.
Sorry for the humongous delay of any words ever.
I’ve been extremely busy (and a tiny bit lazy)
But REALLY REALLY busy.
My life in Kansas is a nap compared to what life is like here.
Here us what a schedule of what a typical day is like:
Monday
6:20 Wake up
6:21 Wish I had more sleep
7:00 Buy breakfast
7:30-8:00 Travel to school
8:10-12 Normal school
12-1:20 Travel to Different school
1:30-5:00 Chinese class
5:20-6:10 Club activity
9:00 Eat dinner
10:00Awh yeah bedtime
11:00 Actually fall asleep
I’m not making excuses, but I’m making excuses.
To be honest, I go through SO many new things each and every day it’s exhausting just remembering what I did, let alone actually recording it.
But all in all, Taiwan is amazing.
You can never be truly alone or comfortable because someone is always watching you.
ALWAYS.
Which is totally weird and hard to get used to, but it keeps me on my good behavior.
I have gotten lost more than I’d care to admit.
Google maps is my bestie
Been put in situations where peer pressure is HIGH
Been offered the weirdest foods to ever be foods.
Wut
Sang on the rooftop
Called a ‘Crazy American’
I use the MRT (Subway) at least twice a day
Got rid of ‘personal space’
Always so many people
Learned how to be independent
Made friends to where the only communication is acting and bits of Chinese.
Made a speech in Chinese
It was only 2 minutes long. BUT A SPEECH NONETHELESS
Got used to seeing SO many people at once.
Traveled to breathtaking places
Went to many a night market
Cried because I was so happy
Accidentally cussed someone out
Got kicked out of a classroom for knowing English
Learned how to never be embarrassed ever
Had a conversation with someone of just smiles
Discovered that the traffic here is scary
The roads are really narrow
All in all, every day has been filled with so many adventures.
So many exhausting adventures.
I have so many ideas on what to write. I just need to take more effort into actually writing it down.
Until next time
(Which BETTER be soon)
Much Love,
Arrival! Part~2
Hello lovelies!
You wouldn’t BELIEVE how crazy it’s been around here.
Except for this morning while I woke up at 6 doomed to stay in the apartment for 4 hours while everybody is asleep and the wifi is down, and the only thing to do is watch tv in a language I know not of, and did you know that watching tv is kind of an uncomfortable experience for me if I do it for more than 30 minutes?
Am I alone on this?
Oh, okay.
I couldn’t explore the city because I didn’t have a key and would unfortunately be locked out.
Needless to say, the windows are fully looked at, I still can’t do a handstand, there is an actual puppet show on tv, and the apartment is pretty darn clean.
Also, BLOG POST.
Okay, moving on.
Welcome to the second and final part of what my adventure arriving in Taiwan was like!
Okay, so unfortunately I was still on the plane.
This is a selfie of how I felt about the flight btw.
But now that the windows were all finally opened because people were finally waking up, I feasted my eyes on awesome view.
Blackness.
And lots of it.
With cute little lights that meant it was a city!
And I’ve seen cities from airplanes before, but I’d never seen TAIWAN city.
Or a city that I will LIVE in and had to jump through some pretty ridiculous hoops to stay in.
When we finally landed, I locked eyes with my fellow foreign exchange friend, and we exchanged looks that meant, “I thought we would never land”
Waiting in line to get off the plane, I thought I would feel differently.
I was still excited, but I think I was more excited to be standing up than arriving in Taiwan.
If you’ve been on an incredibly long flight I think you’d understand.
When I was getting off the plane, us exchange students automatically regrouped and talked about what the plan was.
Are we awesome or what?
We got off the plane, and then my friend who I made on my second flight (born and raised in Taiwan) walked with us.
We said our goodbyes and well wishes, and then it was just us.
The foreigners.
No, the awesome foreigners.
Minutes away from meeting our host families!
We went through customs, and got our luggage and found more exchange students!
We were MULITPLYING.
Haha just kidding.
Everyone exchanged business cards except me because I decided to forget where mine were and not be able to give anybody anything.
Nice going Jessie.
After walking clear to the other side of the airport
We heard people meeting people!
WE WERE CLOSE TO MEETING THE HOST FAMILIES.
Now I was extremely nervous and excited.
Since we are all in different clubs, we parted ways, off to find our families!
Screams!
Lots of them.
Oh, everyone found their families!
Where is mine?
Uhhhh….
*walking around awkwardly*
Uhhhhh…..
*More walking around*
UHHHH….
Am I in the right place?
So after walking around blindly for a while, I found some people mulling around and talking.
I pretended like I didn’t see them, but to make sure they were in fact my club or not, I walked close enough that they could see me but far enough away to not look as desperate as I felt.
(Classic girl move haha)
They saw me!
AND KNEW MY NAME
YUSSS.
I recognized 2 of the people and assumed they were my new parents.
They were! And I hugged the mom, and shook hands with my host brother and host dad.
I was hot and sweaty, and wearing a portable sauna (My Rotary blazer)
Also my hair was messy and I probably looked like a zombie.
But they didn’t seem to mind and that was nice:)
They started rapidly talking in Chinese with each other and it was awkward standing there and knowing nothing of what they were saying.
And let me tell you guys.
It’s still is pretty awkward when everyone around you is in a conversation and you can’t even join in because you have in idea what they’re saying.
Being an extrovert that’s been something I’ve had to really get used to.
Sometimes I have to be a wallflower.
And other times I need to use my super strength hearing to understand what the heck they’re saying in Engrish.
But I used that awko taco time take a picture!
One time everyone was looking at me and asked me a question and I answered in Chinese (just thank you)
And they all gasped and applauded.
It was AWESOME.
After many photos and and people asking me if I’m hungry, we were off to my new home!
It was a 40 minute drive from the airport, and I sat in the back of the car with my host brother, who knows barely any English at all.
The parents were talking in Chinese, my host bro was looking out the window, I was still super hot and sweaty, and surrounded by words I do not know, and places I had never seen.
It was wonderful.
And a good reminder that I need to remember to enjoy every single minute of this ‘Amazing once in a lifetime-people usually only dream of doing’ year that was ahead of me.
When we arrived to the apartment, they showed me where the bathroom, the kitchen and where my room was.
And left me be to calm down and get settled in.
Once I was settled in, I went out to the living room and hung out for a bit.
My mom was very welcoming and said to ask of I have a question, and I should go to sleep because I must be exhausted.
So I said goodnight and while laying in my new (humongo) bed, I realized that
“Man, I’ve got it good.”
And I do.
Much love,
Arrival! Part~1
Hello lovelies!
I LIVE IN TAIWAN.
Yes I know what you’re thinking.
And no, I’m not dead.
Just settling in.
The things I’ve had to do to end up in Taiwan has turned out to be quite an adventure!
A very LONG adventure, so I decided to split it up into 2 different parts.
So, Arrival! Part 1
The flights that I took were
1 Wichita-Denver
2. Denver-San Francisco
3. San Francisco-Taipei
August 22nd of 2014 felt like a whole week.
I woke up with minimal crying!
Then left with minimal crying!
That was a bonus!
Maybe I was all teared out…
My first flight was about an hour and 20 minutes.
While I was waiting for the flight to board I sat by this nice couple, and while I was trying to find my seat, turns out I had a whole plane ride with them!
They are totally adorable, newly-weds, and Holdeman mennonites!
The whole plane ride we had a lovely talk about traveling, faith, family, and strangely enough, Canada!
It was pretty great.
They kindly showed me where in the magazine was the airport map, and the general area that my airplane was boarding.
Thank goodness for them!
It turns out that my gate was CLEAR on the other side of the airport, and I truly discovered how slow people walk that day.
When I finally got to the gate, it was 5 minutes before it was supposed to load.
But it turned out to be delayed so I freaked out for no reason at all.
*typical*
BUT I got a good spot in line, and was able to stand and catch my breath.
When we finally boarded, (at least 40 min late) I sat with a window seat, and to my right was an older man, and next to him was a girl who was born and raised in Taipei!
So THAT plane ride was also pretty social.
Turns out the guy thought that I was going to Thailand (as almost everyone does) and showed us pictures, and tons of stories of when he lived in Malaysia for 4 years, and he met and married his wife there, and so many other amazing things!
He showed me his phone wallpaper which is a rotting head that they had hanging around everywhere over there.
He was there in the 70’s and still thinks of it.
Tells you how impactful traveling can be!
But nevertheless a rotting head was a surprising choice for a background.
The young lady that was from Taipei, we ended up going off the plane together, and tried to figure out the airport together. A quick and lovely friendship.
Unfortunately our gate that we needed to be at was ALSO clear on the other side of the airport.
I’d say we walked 2 miles.
We decided to eat, and she was craving some Mexican food, and thus my last time eating Mexican food happened.
Now unfortunately I got dehydrated (Even though I drank 2 water bottles per plane ride) and I had a screeching headache, I was tired, and super hot.
But even with those components in play, I really did have a good time eating Mexican with a new friend.
Turns out she’s currently getting her Masters in Pittsburgh in ROBOTICS.
After we ate, we headed back to our gate, and then I had a fellow rotary exchange student introduce himself, and he ended up sitting beside me, and we started talking about where we’re from and where we’re going.
Another new friend!
And THEN we found another exchange student next so us, and she sat by us, and we had a mutual agreement that we are pretty awesome.
I was on a ROLL with talking with pretty cool people.
It was so easy to talk to them!
But by then I also had a stomachache and an even bigger headache than before!
By the time the plane took off I felt pretty darn awful.
I was internally moaning and wishing I could wither away.
I know I’m such a drama queen.
The last and longest plane ride was pretty awful.
I had a window seat, and I have a love-hate relationship with window seats.
I LOVE looking out the window, but we have to close them on long flights for most of the time for people to try to sleep.
So no beautiful skies to look at.
😦
And then I’m just stuck and I have to make 2 grown men pause everything and move so I can pee.
It was just a super long time to be sitting down, and every 5 hours or so I walked up and down the asiles for a couple minutes.
I watched like 4 movies, tried to sleep, failed, watched tv shows and wished I could stand up.
that was basically the last filght.
I didn’t talk with my seat neighbors or really look at them straight in the eye.
It was kind of weird.
My favorite part about the flight was the map on the back of the seat.
Loved seeing the distance that i’ve gone.
Of course I still had quite a ways to go 🙂
Much Love
Departure
Hello Lovelies!
Tomorrow is the day.
I have Procrastinated and Procrastinated in writing a post for a very long time.
I’m sorry!
I have SO MUCH to tell you!
But for now, I am leaving tomorrow.
Today I have packed up my life, cried, hugged, and nothing seems real.
I am so emotional, and so ready, and so not ready.
This past month I have experienced everything so differently, I have felt things so much more than usual.
A sentence, a look, a pause, and I’ll start crying.
I’ve seen the extravagant love that I recieve day after day, and the support and the huge amount of caring that I’m surrounded by.
I will miss them.
I will miss them terribly.
I will miss them so much hit’s hard to breathe.
Today is emotional.
Today is another step forward to changing.
I will be posting again, and it shan’t be sparce anymore.
(Raise your hand if you still use “Shan’t” Anyone? okay.)
I’ve just been taking in everything.
Saying goodbye, and learning how to say hello.
This is me right now.
Well this is what I’ve been trying so hard to do.
Today I’m taking everything in.
I’m going for the change!
Much love,
Where in the world is Jessie going to be? Part Third times the charm
Hello Lovelies!
So, here’s the deal.
I went on a trip and had to make some blog posts.
So I made them.
While I was still on the road.
They were finished.
Turns out, that this iPad of mine does NOT function well without wifi.
And it saved none of it.
So, My initial reaction was:
And then go into fetal position and cry for a couple of days.
😦
Let me tell you guys.
Transitions are hard.
And lame (sometimes)
But no more!
For I shall figure this iPad and this transition out!
it may take a little while, and be depressed at all of the fails I’ve done, but I SHALL PREVAIL!
And you guys, I have BIG NEWS.
DID YOU WANT TO FINALLY KNOW WHERE I AM GOING?
I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED IN CHOOSING THE COUNTRY THAT I SHALL RESIDE IN.
DRUM ROLL PLEASE
Are you drumming the roll?
I don’t think you are.
It’s okay.
I can wait.
OKAY.
I AM GOING TO:
YUP.
It’s officially official.
I know what you’re thinking.
“FINALLY.
SOMETHING THAT IS OFFICIAL.
ABOUT TIME THERE JESSIE.
I WAS STARTING TO GET REAL SICK AND TIRED OF THIS I DON’T KNOW BUISNESS.”
I feel ya man.
But now I can tell you that I am 110% sure that I am going to Taiwan as my foreign exchange.
Breaking the news to Australia was actually not as bad I a thought it would be.
Their whole attitude was kind of stand-offish and I don’t care about you really at all.
While Taiwan’s was wonderful and kind and welcoming and more than willing to assist in any way possible.
How crazy is this?
Taiwan wasn’t even on my radar, yet here I am, MOVING TO TAIWAN.
TAIPEI IS A HUMONGO CITY.
WILL BE IN A CITY.
*internal screaming*
If I would of chosen Australia, it would have been a itty bitty town of less than 3,000 people that is over an hour away from the next City.
IS SHALL BE GOING TO COLLEGE IN TAIWAN
Even though I’m not even graduated yet here in ‘Murica.
It’s turning out that I go to college, then come back to here graduate high school.
They told me what school I’m going to, and I got to Google Map it and walk around the Taipei streets like I will in a couple weeks! Only this time was virtual and not even the real thing.
BUT STILL.
PRETTY AWESOME NONETHELESS.
Taiwan has given me a time frame in which it would be best if I could arrive.
(Aren’t they wonderfully effecient?)
August 22nd-27th is the preferred time, but they’re pretty flexible 🙂
(How nice)
And apparently The Rotary club is HUGE and totally respected over there.
So many bonuses.
So many beautiful bonuses making me want to live there as soon as possible!
Gah.
Much Love~
P.L.A.S. ~ Pre Leaving America Situation
Hello Lovelies!
A LOT of crazy stuff has happened.
But first, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!
Boy, now is a great time to appreciate the freedom given to us by a many a great sacrifices, but dont’t remember it’s not the only time to!
So, lately there hasn’t been many posts.
Well there is a reason for that.
I’ve been working 6 days a week!
Which means that the days of the week have been blurred together so crazyly, that I actually think it’s a couple of days before I need to do a blog post.
Then I find out that it’s the day after I’m supposed to post.
And I may or may not of face-palm myself.
(Spoiler I do)
Fortunately, I’ve been getting a lot more money because of the crazy working schedule. Also Fortunate, I had enough to go computer shopping.
So I did.
I Went in the store for a Netbook or a Chromebook, and came out with an iPad and a wireless keyboard for it. Funny how stuff like that happens.
I brought my tech-savy brother and all-knowing dad with me, and they asked a couple of questions but they kindly stayed behind in the background because it was time for me to put my big girl panties on and do the shopping myself.
And I DID do some of it, and when I was at a loss of intelligent things to say, they kindly stepped in a asked a few techie questions (that totally flew over my head btw.) And with that semi-frightening experience I came out with a lovely IPad Air and a super cool case for it and a beautiful keyboard.
New things make me happy.
Unfortunately they tend to gash a huge hole into my wallet.
And that makes me sad.
Buying things is a confusing and emotional ride
(Thanks female hormones and tendency to never buy anything)
(You Suck)
So to sum it all up, I’m busy being an awesome worker and get money, and buying expensive essentials for my trip.
My days have consisted of me wondering how my room got dirty, working, being exhausted, and mowing the grass that is too long too fast, and working some more. I’ve called this weird phase that i’ve been in P.L.A.S. Which stands for Pre Leaving America Situatiom.
It’s been crazy, and most of my energy is going towards my foreign exchange. –
-Wake up so I’m alive for the exchange.
-Work to get money for the exchange
-Take naps for energy for the exchange
Look up information about the exchange Forget to blog about the exchange Falce-palm myself for poorly documenting the exchange. Buy things for the exchange Answer when I’ll be leaving for the thousandth times for the exchange Download apps teaching country’s language for the exchange Watch videos in different language for the exchange. I have been on full blast thinking about the exchange. And I’ve gotta say, I love it, Although it seems like a lot of work and no play, I’ve really been loving the changes in my daily schedule if it means it’s getting me closer to the Country of my exchange Anywho, That’s a little update for why I’ve been as scarce as I have been 🙂 Much love~ 
Where in the world is Jessie going to be? Part: Two too many
Hello lovelies!
Ever heard of the saying “Don’t compare Blue Elephants to Orange Elephants if you like both of the colors equally?”
Me neither.
But it fits really well in this situation.
Now right I need to choose either a blue elephant, or an orange one.
And I like both of the colors equally.
Granted one is of the cools, and one is of the warm color spectrum so they cannot be any more opposite.
It’s still incredibly difficult to determine which one will be best for me.
So, I decided to create this blog post of comparing and contrasting of the elephants.
The Orange elephant (Australia) VS The Blue Elephant (Taiwan)
(BTW how crazy is it that I have to CHOOSE WHICH COUNTRY TO LIVE IN?)
Okay, now I need to start with the real reason why I wanted to be a foreign exchange student in the first place.
It was to see and experience a completely different culture
Australia:
Pro’s
1. Has a super laid-back attitude
2. People dress slightly different
3. Like living in vacation for a year
4. Won’t have a lot of frustrating “We have it in America but not here” situations when I get homesick
5. Get to scuba dive and snorkel anytime I have the money!
6. Would much rather be influenced by the fashion of Australia than of Taiwan
Con’s
1. Not really a big difference in culture
2. Not really a big difference in food choices
3. Not really a big difference in schooling
4. Speak the same language as me
5. Live in a super small town
6. Like living in vacation for a year (Again. I am not going to go to a country to be on vacation but to learn cultural immersion)
7. Won’t have a lot of frustrating “We have it in America but not here” (I’m here for cultural differences for goodness sakes not for a nice slight change)
8. Price of living there is MUCH much higher
Taiwan
Pro’s
1. Has a completely different culture
2. Always going to have someone staring at me because i’m white and therefore totally different (I’d be famous! Without the money and fame part)
3. I’d be living in a super huge city
4. Language of the country is Chinese, (lots of people can speak english too!) So I would learn to be partially bilingual!
5. Tons of super crazy foods to try
6. Price of living there is MUCH MUCH lower
Con’s
1. Always gonna be super humid
2. Always going to have someone staring at me because i’m white and therefore totally different. (gotta admit it’s kind of creepy)
3. Much bigger chance in finding out I’m allergic to something
4. SUPER easy to gain weight because people will NOT STOP giving you food.
5. Would much rather be influenced by the fashion in Australia than in Taiwan
So this has been going through my mind the past week or so.
This whole comparing and contrasting is exhausting! but a very necessary part of choosing.
Much Love~
Where in the world is Jessie going to be? Part: one too many
BIG NEWS YOU GUYS
I MAY OR MAY NOT BE GOING TO AUSTRALIA.
MOSTLY MAY NOT.
I know, I know, you guys are probably all like,
and all like
“Geez Jessie you told us about one part of the world saying that it’ for SURE, and then you disappear for the next week or so, and show up with a completely different destination that you had in mind!
WAY TO BE A FEMALE.”
And I deserve that.
Sorta.
That was kind of mean you guys.
Remember in my last blog post where I just kind of mentioned that I was looking at going to Taiwan or Spain while Australia was failing in every communication way possible?
Well I looked more into it.
And to tell you the truth, I’d rather go to Spain, but that’s not going to happen.
And ACTUALLY I had absolutely NO intention of going to Taiwan if I could help it.
But whilst in another hiatus with any sort of communication with Australia, I got this strange email from Taiwan!
There was this girl introducing herself and Taiwan, and wanted to know what kind of school I’d like to go to.
I of course was flabbergasted and kind of weirded out.
So I sent an email to Macho Man saying, WHAT IS THIS. WHY. WHAT DOES IT MEAN.
And he calmly answered with “It means if Australia falls through, then you’ll have a place to stay.”
So as communication with Australia still not happening, communication with Taiwan was booming.
We were emailing each other back and forth, my questions have been answered, I’m going to a business school, and I even have a link to it!
So, with all of the communications going splendidly, I just wanted to know more about Taiwan.
And as I looked at the videos, and blog posts, and articles, it was all overwhelmingly positive.
And I know if you look up anything it’s mostly positive about the place because they want you to go there, but I was looking in the comments section.
and the comments were full of nothing but praises to Taiwan.
About wanting to go back.
Calling it the “Hidden Jewel”
Saying that they wouldn’t trade anything for the experience that they had.
And MUCH MUCH more.
So I looked up Australia, and most of the videos were about large cities, and swimming all day every day.
If I were to go to Australia, I would live in a town of 3,000 people with over an hour and a half to the nearest city.
If I went to Taiwan, I’d be going to Taipei!
The largest city!
The busiest!
And turns out, there is a girl that was a foreign exchange student to Taiwan that lives in a town like 10 minutes away from mine!
So I’m going to meet up with her before I have any final decisions.
Basically this explains what’s happened during my absence of posts on this blog.
that’s me at the computer btw
And I’m going to dedicate a blog post to the Pro’s and cons to both places.
So stay tuned for that! 🙂
But this is the crazy update right now.
Boy I’ve been changing my mind so much ya’ll must think I’m a mouse in a cheese shop trying to choose his favorite cheese.
Now that I think about it the differences aren’t that significant.
…..
….
…
..
.
..
…
…
….
…..
Brb, reevaluating my life.
Much love and deciding to do,
MeanwhileJessie 