After only a month of living in a completely foreign culture, a place where English is an afterthought (though fairly widely spoken among a good portion of the population) and 30+ hours of travel back “Home” to the United States,…
The Month of Living Expatriately: Part 5 – That Evening, She Wept
Wednesday started off melancholy for me. It was my last day in Taipei, my last day of work in the office at Taipei 101. My last night in the only other city in the world that feels like home. Tomorrow I would…
Review: Pacific Business Center Hotel, Taipei
Now that I’ve lived in this hotel for a month, I thought that on my last night in Taiwan, it would be a good idea to do a review. I’ve stayed in hotels all around the world, from cheap 1…
The Month of Living Expatriately: Part 4 – Weekend Shenanigans
Taipei can be a very busy city. The locals work hard from morning and often well into the night. It’s not uncommon to see businesses that westerners would expect to be closed by 6:00PM to remain open until nearly midnight.…
The Month of Living Expatriately: Part 3 – Xiaochi Fever
Ahhh, have I ever mentioned how much I love street food? In China and Taiwan, these delectable treats are called xiaochi. Loosely translated in English, it means snack foods. It’s something you can find at the hundreds of thousands of…
The Month of Living Expatriately: Part 2, The Acclimation Tango
Since I was to be living in Taipei for a month, getting acclimated quickly seemed like a good idea. I’d been to Taipei several times before, however given my short week trips I never had time to venture beyond Xinyi,…
The Month of Living Expatriately: Episode 1, The Packing Menace
Recently, I had the chance to become a true expat and live abroad for a month in Taipei, Taiwan. My job here is fairly simple, but busy, doing a lot of backlogged test work to help my overworked co-workers with…
TIP: Getting into and out of the Philippines
I must admit I made a rookie mistake this past week. I am currently living in Taipei for a month and since February 28th was a national holiday here in Taiwan, I took that and Friday and turned it into a…