One Year

Today is a pretty big day. One year ago on this day I left home. I left behind everything I knew and everything familiar. I traveled to the other side of the planet. Today marks a year of living abroad.

It is also my birthday. There is a profoundness to leaving on my birthday. It truly marked a turning point in my life and a new beginning. I wanted to be away from the old, to leave the old me behind and grow anew.

I am different now in ways that make me barely recognizable. I am not in the best shape of my life, but I have lost 10 kg. Also, I now use the metric system and Celsius.  I can speak a little Mandarin. I have taught myself how to play a bit of the recorder among other skills.

Most importantly, I have traveled. I have seen. I have experienced. I have taken the big step out of my own backyard. I have been to four new countries and met people from around the world. My mind and soul have absorbed other cultures and perspectives while my body has transition between boarders.

Still, I want more. I need to feed this growing desire. With each step I hunger to see what is around the next corner, to be fed new knowledge. I have always had need, but now I have glimpsed the buffet and cannot be suited without sampling everything.

So how do I celebrate today? A few ways actually. The first, and most obvious is to go out and have an adventure. I choose to visit the Lin Family Mansion and Garden. I had wanted to for a while but had not had a chance yet.

The MRT deposited me a short walk from my target. It is a pretty part of town with some very nice statues. As I passed through an open air market I stopped to buy myself a little present for myself. I got Legos (or a Chinese knockoff). Don't judge me.

I visited two temples. One was fairly standard, but the other had an open air courtyard. More enchanting was a small park next to the second, or more precisely an extension of it. It had statues of various figures that I think we're different Buddhas. They were arranged around a path shaped like a buddhist symbol. I sat for a bit to reflect and look inward. Today seems a good day for that.

Tranquil park.

Finally I arrived at the Lin Family Mansion and Garden.  It proved to be well worth the trip. It turned out to be one of the most gorgeous and interesting structures in Taipei. It was constructed in 1778. The family spent more on it than was spent on the construction of Taipei at the time. Over time it fell into disrepair. However, the city eventually designated it as a historical park and renovations were undertaken to save the beautiful construction.

Wolf mountain?

It definitely showed it's age. The surfaces were weather worn and the recent typhoon had left a mess. Despite that, it was still a breathtaking sight. The open design allowed for a variety of trees to grow inside. Some of them had even grown to be part of the walls. It seemed like every surface had been designed as a piece of art. As I moved from section to section it was like moving from one garden to another. Little relaxing islands connected by stone hallways. It has several ponds that made for relaxing spots to sit and enjoy the breeze. My mind was transported back to a time before air conditioning and I imagined how nice it would be to live in a place like it during the summer.

Several features struck my fancy above the rest. The first was an elevated sitting area in one of the yards. It was like a mountain rising from the grassland below so that whoever sat there could look down like some deity on those below. Stone steps wound around to the top. Stone seats and a table were carved out so that three could sit and have tea.

Next was a wall that divided two portions of the compound. It had a section that was like a mountain and a tree grew from it. I could see that the wall was also a bridge of sorts. There was a path on top, sadly inaccessible to the public, that would have let someone stroll to another sitting area.

Finally, there was an area that I suspect was made from quarried coral. The bare stone of the walls stood out against the worked walls the connected to it. That was all part of its beauty of course. It gives the impression that you are still touching nature. Walking inside the hallway that it created felt like traveling through a tunnel.

A final worthwhile note is that of the other visitors. I was making an effort to be friendly. A lot of women from South Korea where visiting. I met a family from Australia. The real topper, though, was a group of cosplayers. There were seven girls dressed as characters from Love Live! and were nice enough to let me snap a few pictures. They really were some good cosplayers and I think they made a great location choice for a photoshoot.

Love Live!

After all of that I headed home and got ready for dinner. I had dinner with friends on Sunday, but I also wanted to have a dinner on my actual birthday. I was meeting my friend Grace to go to Texas Roadhouse for a taste of home. Despite our recent choice to just be friends, we are still very close. I was glad to spend the evening with her because one way or another she has been one of the best parts of this past year. She helped and pushed me to try and do so much. So we stuffed our self on good food and talked and had fun.

Picture of the polaroid she took and put in my card.
That one left a mark on her face, we thought it looked cool.

So that is one year past. Things tired, lessons learned. It is time to set new goals and try new things. I will have to see what the next year holds.