Are you glad you moved to Taiwan?

My mother asked me that question a few weeks ago.  Hmmm.  That is a big question.  My honest answer at that time was, "I don't know".  There is a lot to that question.  There are a lot of things I miss greatly from the good 'ol US of A.  Friends.  Family.  My last job (why did I quit that job???).  Well, parts of my last job ;-)  No language barrier.  Golf.  Wait, maybe not golf.  But maybe golf.
I could go on and on.  There are a lot of reasons that could make me answer that question "No".  But - I feel very strongly that, later in life, both Rachel and I will be extremely glad we made the move to Taiwan and will confidently answer that question with "Oh heck yes we are!".  I'm not sure why I'm starting the blog with that statement, but I do think of that question often.  We are gaining a whole bunch 'a new experiences over here.  Maybe more than we bargained for!

Anyways, life is good.  I have had a really good past 1.5 weeks of work.  I think I am finally settling in to being a teacher.  It is not as overwhelming as it used to be.  And it was rather overwhelming for the first two months with the schedule I was thrown in to.  But it feels good now knowing how to teach and being able to (somewhat) manage the classroom.  I do have just a few crazy little monsters I haven't quite figured out yet...

Guess what?  It's raining and there is a typhoon coming!!!  Definitely not unique weather as we have been through 3 typhoons now.  But unfortunately the timing of this one is horrible.  This is just the beginning of a national holiday here in Taiwan - the Mid-Autumn Festival (aka the Moon Festival) and we get Thursday & Friday off of work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

Taiwan is just left of center in the picture.  Can you
guess where the typhoon is?  

We had planned a trip to Taroko Gorge National Park but I just now pulled the plug on the whole ordeal (it's 8pm Wed evening).  We had train tickets booked and paid for to leave at 7am tomorrow morning but I just returned them.  Luckily I got a full refund for the round-trip.  We will be losing our first night deposit at the hotel, but it wasn't too expensive.  The weather is supposed to be ok tomorrow (Thursday) but raining Fri and Sat.  We are going to go to Taipei instead as there are a few hikes on our list we can check out while the weather is still good.  Once it starts raining there are many more options for indoor activities in Taipei than Hsinchu.  One that we hope to check out is the National Palace Museum.  It's supposed to be phenomenal.

That's really all I have to report at this point.  I got off work earlier than Rachel tonight so figured I could write a quick blog.  Hope everyone back home is doing well!

Eating 'mooncakes' is a tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
My boss gave me a box.
They are as delicious as you are imagining.