So you may remember that one of the reasons I could not stay here was because I don't have a college degree. Taiwan is a little different than China so you can have an associates degree and a TESOL certificate and get a work visa. The first thing I did when I got back home was sign up for classes at the local community college. Now, in Nebraska we get financial aid in the form of what's called a PELL grant. It is a pretty good sum of money and if you go to a cheaper school and buy everything the right way you can get free schooling. And if you really do it the right way you can even get paid to go to school! Sometimes as much as a thousand dollars per semester. So I signed up for an accelerated course in Electrical Science and Technology and started to get my degree. I will be done in May. But getting back here was a bit rough. Due to problems getting a return ticket and having a pretty huge tax payment to make I had to pay off well over 3,000 dollars of debt. That was not easy but I was able to pay that off in about 6 months. Then I just started saving money. I did, however, have to stop pioneering to get it all paid off. But I will start again in April in time for the Memorial Campaign.
So that is basically is all I have been doing. Many friends of mine have moved away from Nebrsaka which does make it a little lonely here. Time has been going by really slowly compared to life in Taipei. But I am here now and I really am greatfull for that. I had recently read all of my and Dylan's old blog posts just rehash the old times. I realized that I really have recently had to grow up quite a bit. In fact, it seems so weird to think that only a year ago I was the kid writing those blog posts. I kind of had a very loose attitude about the whole thing and kind was only doing the trip for the adventure of it all. After about two months though my attitude completely changed. I had never experienced the feeling of having such a multi-cultural group of fiends all having the same goal of preaching in this need-greater territory. Most people I have met have had a few experiences in their lives that really make them grow up, and the change when looking back almost seems to happen over night. Well, for me it wasn't over night that I grew up, I am after all, well, me. But being here really changed my resolve and gave me a real purpose. I am the kind of person who really needs to always have a goal to work towards. My goal after being here for two months was to be a pioneer in Taiwan. Of course I have to still do some work before I can accomplish that. I won't lie, it was pretty rough at first having to live clear on the other side of the world from were my heart was. But in the end I had to let reason win out over emotion. Reason told me that even though I have a really good goal, when I had originally come over I just wasn't ready to do such a thing. I didn't have the means, the training, or the mind set. So I view the time I have spent back home so far as a blessing in disguise. It was hard, but everyday I spent by myself was a day I learned something new and valuable. I have learned I am not the kind of guy who does well without a big group of friends. I have learned also though that sometimes due to circumstances you can't help but be in an environment where you are completely out of your comfort zone. And when you find yourself in such a situation the only way to improve it is by fixing it yourself. I want to serve in areas were the need is greater, so I will in future find my self in places were I am a stranger. I like to be around people so what would I do? Well, I would have to be very proactive to endear myself to the congregation, schedule time myself to spend time with the friends, take the initiative to work in service with new people. Could I really do that before, honestly, no. Can I do that now, I have improve yes, but I can get better at it.
The other thing I have learned is that anyone who wants to do something that important for Jehovah need to be a very organized, self-sufficient person. Before you wonder if I was a year ago I will save you the trouble, no I wasn't. I may very well be the poster child for the wild haired ADHD kid. But nothing is really impossible. For me, I just learned that I can be very organized if I just compartmentalize everything in my daily life. I have a list every week I always keep on me, everything that can be a direct deposit from my checking account is a direct deposit. Alerts are on my phone for things as little as calling a bible study. I have a very silly amount of constant reminders and habits but honestly, it works for me.
So I am a little older (but not really) and a little wiser (but again, not really) and I do feel like a very different person. I have only really spent one day here in Taiwan but I will end the post with a nice few pictures and some nice encouragement. The best kind of goals are the ones that are hard to obtain, because when you finally obtain what you desire you get not just your goal, but everything else you acquired to help you reach it. I'm not really sure were I got that from. I probably didn't make it up though. I hope everyone reading this gets to accomplish their goals too. 加油你們!
The real group photo is always the one were no one is looking.
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