One year ago today, I left America to become a Taiwanese resident.

My life is drastically different as a result. It feels like I willing gave up everything when I chose Taiwan. I thought I would miss so many of the comforts of American life. But I realized that even the few things remaining were more than I needed. I'm truly blessed to be here.

Changes.

Some changes are measurable. Like the 11 kg that I've lost, the hair I've grown out or the fact that my athlete's foot has cleared up since they're not trapped in military boots 10 hours a day. Other changes are less tangible. I'm most proud of my 2 semesters of studying Mandarin but 我的中文不好. Laura discovered the biggest change in our life: she is pregnant. That has my language learning on hold until after the birth of my daughter (due Oct 25). I quit school in August, after completing two semesters, but I will resume in January.

The world has also transformed. I left America 6 weeks before the first known case of COVID-19. Now, the world at large seems more isolated than ever. I was fortunate to have left America when I did. There was no way I could have timed my move so perfectly. If I attribute any decision in my life to divine intervention, it was this.

Relinquish.

The first thing I gave up was my car. I bought my first car before I could legally drive, I was 15. I saved money from my first job (working at my Uncle’s farm), and paid cash for a manual Chevy 4-cylinder coupe. After I got my license, I drove every week. By the time I was 16, my parents were so confident of my driving skills that they spent 2 weeks in Africa, leaving me to take my sister to school and shop for groceries. It was a practical and efficient car that I drove for a decade. During that time I carted friends around town, took road trips to Missouri and Florida, and even drove it through a dirt trail in the forest. I used it up. It was worth $250 when I traded it in, mostly because it had new tires and a full tank of gas. I’m not a car-guy, owning one was never about the prestige; it was my independence. But in October 2019 I quit cold-turkey and I haven’t driven since.

My good friend Ruth once told me that I was impossible to pay back. She observed that I had everything I needed and most of what I wanted. I have the aptitude, ability, and network to solve most of my problems and even extend help to my friends and family. I had engineered my life to be as independent as possible. Now I couldn’t even help install a gas line because I didn’t know how to say things like “a little to the left” or “right there, I got it” in Mandarin.

I gave up my job in the military: 9 years of service, my Captain’s rank, and nearly $100,000 in ¹annual salary. I gave up my house: a four bedroom, two-and-a-half bath with an attached garage and a fenced-in half acre backyard. I gave up my workshop, my hobbies, and my wall mounted television. I gave up my family, friends, and coworkers. I left my neighborhood, my state, and my country. I moved 12 time zones across the world to an island nation. I even gave up my language. I have a notarized copy of my declaration of a Mandarin name, now my formal legal name. I gave up Christopher, I am ²合起好.

The things that remain.

I arrived in Taiwan with 2 suitcases and a backpack containing ten days of clothes, an aging laptop, and a collection of legal documents. For reference, I had more than 2 suitcases worth of stuff at Basic Training.

Home is a ground floor apartment in a military housing block. It has an air conditioner in the bedroom only. Kitchen has three cabinets, a 2 burner gas-range, but no oven. We make do with a toaster-oven and a microwave. A water heater and a washing machine are installed on the balcony, no dryer. Our lease provides one parking space for a scooter, which we don’t own.

Our apartment is next to a bus stop. A few minutes bus ride north takes me to Taoyuan’s central train station and bus-hub. Or I can take a short stroll south along a river walk to get to a department store and a grocery-store that is wholly underground. Three kilometers east and west a running trail lies beneath an elevated interstate. My life here is more urban than anywhere I've lived before. I’ve mostly adapted, but I still miss my green lawn, the vast expanse of country road, and the mottled green and yellow of the soybeans in late September. As I am restarting my life in Taiwan, I cherish what remains.

The things I’ve gained.

I have gained my wife.

Laura is a wonderful soul. It would be your privilege to meet her, as it was mine. We met January 4th, 2013. Unlike the biblical Jacob, It only took me 6 years to be with the one I love. She was (and is) worth every moment I spent waiting and working towards our reunion. We methodically and systematically plodded through every option available to us for 5 years to find a way to be together. We explored every option to break her military contract before we considered ending my career in America.

I ended my career and gave up my life in America with no regrets, I love her.

Adjustment.

After a period of adjustment--strangely devoid of homesickness--I decided to focus on self improvement. I became a weirdly imbalanced guru who had an abundance of time but no income or pliable skills.

I began making and keeping small commitments to improve myself. I tripled my normal reading rate of one book per month to three. I haven’t read this much since high school.

I began jogging in the mornings and riding bikes as an alternative to the bus. I cook food at home, I do the majority of the house cleaning and laundry. These small changes built up to the dramatic 11kg I’ve lost in the past year.

By the time the first semester of language school started I began to feel like I had a purpose again… briefly, before becoming overwhelmed. It’s an understatement to say that learning Chinese is hard, especially since my first attempt began in my late 30s.

The Chinese language school is co-located at a Christian college in Zhongli and it primarily caters to immigrants from other Southeast Asian countries, only 2 out of 20 students in my class were westerners. Out of those 20 classmates, three became my good friends: Éstelle, Dara, and Pakpao. I still keep in contact with them.

I quickly found out that most of these immigrants were studying as a condition of their residency-visa. My spouse-visa has no such requirements and I am free to work and/or study as I choose. They had to maintain a passing grade if they wanted to continue to study and work in Taiwan. Many of these students had full-time jobs in addition to the 15 hours a week of class and home-study. I put in about 30 hours a week just to maintain my C average. For my Southeast Asian cohorts, deportation is a harsh motivator.

Redirection.

My wife and I found out that she was pregnant in the middle of my second semester at the school. We decided that I would not sign up for the next year’s classes.

I quickly discovered this was a good idea. My friends who continued school frequently lamented the weekly essays, quizzes, and in-class recitations. I am happily free of those burdens, particularly the exams. One entire class period each week (representing one-fifth of my total class time) was wholly dedicated to examinations. No thanks.

In lieu of studying I got a job to help with any unexpected bills that may arise before, during, and after pregnancy. I considered a full-time job but ultimately rejected the idea. I qualified for some engineering jobs in Taipei, but my priority was to bond with my new daughter and my wife during our first year of parenthood.

I decided to apply for part-time work as an English teacher at many different schools and after-school programs. I found out that I needed a teaching certificate to teach in Taiwanese schools but I could instruct at after-school English programs.

To my good luck and astonishment I was accepted at every job I applied for. The government is pushing to become a bilingual country by 2030 and the demand for formal and informal English education is at an all time high. Additionally, Covid-19 has made importing competent English teachers a nightmare, so schools are forced to settle for somebody like me.

I was elated! I preferred after-school programs because it would allow me to be the primary caregiver in the mornings before passing Baby 合 to the nanny in the late morning.

Honest Work.

I'm currently employed at 3 locations, working about 20 hours a week.

First, I teach seniors at a Presbyterian Church in Taoyuan once a week. The students consist of mostly educated elderly women and a few men who want to stay sharp. They are all wonderful and kind.

Second, I teach after school to early teens in a small town called Neili twice a week, totaling 3 hours. They are energetic and loud.

Lastly, I teach early grade school children in Hsinchu three times a week totaling 14 hours a week. They are somber and focused.

I recently quit my fourth job teaching college students in the evening. I loved this fourth job, but it took the most prep work and paid the least. In January I plan to backfill this free time with a Chinese tutor, so I can continue my lessons at my own pace, and focus on topics I deem important.

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¹ Throughout this article, I debated if I should use actual salary numbers or to give approximations. Ultimately I decided to go with actual numbers. I think salary-transparency and discussion is an important bargaining tool for employees and, as a government employee, my pay-tables were published every year. Real numbers lend a gravitas to my story. Plus, if you REALLY wanna get nosy into my 2019 salary, I was a GS-12, step 4, no locality adjustments, plus O-3 Drill pay at 9 years service.

² No phonetic translation provided, for emphasis.