What I Recommend…

I ate dinner with B and R last week. D is doing well, had a kid and is enjoying life in Idaho. S and K also had a kid and moved closer to parents in Michigan. J got married to a national or so the website says. H is living in Vegas, baby. N finally got back and is looking for a job. We are spread around the world, with different jobs, and little contact. But we are still friends and share one intimate bond. We all survived our time in Taiwan.

The decision to go over there is one of the few choices in my life I have never regretted. Difficult sometimes: too hot, too humid, strange, gross and stinky all describe the county. The friends I made over there are life-long. The experiences will never be repeated. There are no do-overs.

I hope I contributed to the city of Chia-yi. In the perfect world, I had a permanent impact on peoples’ lives. It was not all for me; I wanted a chance to make a difference.

When every other job requires experience to apply, the time overseas did not. It let people live in new and different place and as they bent down to help found themselves lifted up.