eeeeek!

Ok guys... I'm getting REALLY excited... and REALLY nervous... and REALLY happy... and REALLY scared... these are some really big emotions and sometimes I wish I was Tinkerbell and only feel one emotion at a time... but with my luck I'd probably just feel fear and then probably pass out.



Well I am currently excited (for the time being) because I just ordered my business cards =) YIPPY SKIPPY!!! Just very simple the blogsite and fansite and my name...


If you've been to the FB page you'll also see that I had a Garcia family gathering at my restaurant. It was so much fun, my make up managed to stay on my face, my hair actually stayed in its place and I only cried like 2 tears (thanks a lot Jason!). As excited as i am to meet and get to know the other side of my family I will miss my stateside family something terrible when I leave.
They've been my family for 24 years, they were the ones who've seen me grow up and they were all a part of making me who I am. I love them all.

and I'm going to have go now because I'm finally crying all the tears I didn't want my family to see.

hmmm...ummm... and OH YeeaAHH

Hello world!

I find myself constantly apologizing for my lack of constant blog posts… well this is me saying my bad once again for lagging. I suppose it’s just that I’m not used to keeping a blog.

Well let’s see if there’s any news to tell you… Hmmmmm

You’d be proud to know that I’ve been able to keep my shopping habit at bay. C’mon you gotta give me some props for that… I’ve only spent money on food, ya know “sustenance,” ok fine; FINE… stop looking at me like that… I bought a skirt… but it was on sale… for a really REALLY good price and it’s SO cute!

Ummmmm…

I’ve packed away almost everything I could. It made me really REALLY REALLY sad to box up all my books. I’ve either donated my clothes and shoes, given them away to some very grateful friends, or I had to destroy them (for the sake of avoiding the temptation to try and somehow squeeze them into my suitcases). Le sigh =/… I already miss them. My books, my shoes, argh my lovely winter coats … ok, getting a grip here. It’s not like I can take everything with me and I’m sure I’ll be getting new and amazing things there too. It’s just really hard to pick and choose what I have to take with me.

My current project is to go through all my CDs (yup I still have em, buy em, and burn em) and make sure all my music is on my external. This way I won’t have to lug them half way around the world. ;)

It shouldn’t take too long because it’s just a run though of the CDs to make sure I have em on my external. It’s also kind of fun cuz some of the CDs are really REALLY old and I haven’t heard the songs in a long time.

My next project is probably going to be a little lot more involved. I have to go through the rest of the old family photo albums, scan them, and make copies on disc for everyone. There are more than 10 albums full of pictures and a box of loose photos. You can see some of them on my [personal] Facebook page.

Speaking of pictures and such… I’m not as computer savvy as I let on. I need to teach myself how to edit videos and stuff so I can start vlogging and start posting pictures here and on the Facebook fan site

facebook.com/goneandsaidit

Facebook told me that I’m kinda sucking right now at the fan site stuff… hahah. I’m sure I’ll have a ton more stuff to post once I get there.

I’m happy to say that my excitement is finally outweighing my fears. I’m mostly attributing that to my lovely friends who have decided to give me the greatest gift they could possibly give me, and that my dear readers is their time. For anyone who knows me you know how I feel about how precious time really is.

For anyone else who wants to hang out please let me know as soon as possible because the next few weeks are filling up fast and I would love to see you before I leave.

ooOOoo ONE MORE THING YALL!!!! MY PHONE WILL BE TURNED OFF ON THE 19^TH SO PLEASE CALL ME BEFORE THEN OR IF IT’S AFTER THE 19^TH MAYBE MY DAD WILL BE NICE ENOUGH TO LEND ME HIS PHONE OR JUST REACH ME VIA FACEBOOK!

♥ ♥ I LOVE YOU ALL ♥ ♥

iFail

A week ago I had checked out some flights to Georgia and with the points I have accumulated with my credit card I could have gotten a round trip ticket for $180 bucks...

and iFailed.

I waited too long and now it would be at least $300 for a trip out there. And so I must say I'm so sorry I wont be able to see my sister Jenn before I leave for my trip. My hearts a little broken. =/

flying the coup

Good Evening STARSHiNE Alicia says hello...

THiS iS iT.... ONE MONTH AND COUNTiNG

Can you feel it? It's definitely fast approaching and I just can't believe it.

Well the more I think about it the less I believe it.

I know this is going to sound really stupid because I appreciate everyone for calling me brave but I think this is the beginning of my freak out. Shit, yall I'm really scared.

Only to repeat what I've written before... No job, No place to live, No language, No close family or friends... I must be crazy right?

Ok now that I've gotten that out of my system I would like to open up my schedule to YALL.


Ladies and gents if you would like to add your name to my dance card this would be the time... I have every intention of spending my time with you. Yes, you. And, you. And yes even you.

So whichever... or however.... please... call... text... write... facebook... ♥ i love you all

can i get a what what!?!

HEY.Hi.HELLO

sooo... my patootie is sitting in Borders again... ugh I know right?!?! I hate how cheap we are and its ending result in our being internet-less...le sigh

well this is me updating and I am happy to announce that my TAiWANESE PASSPORT has finally arrived... woot woot... throw ya hands up... shake your bootay... put a ring on it =P

I would scan it and put a picture up but I don't know how legal that is... and I don't want to get into any trouble before I leave. (I did have quite the scare with CHP the other night... whew)

I have more good news though.... I heard rumors that my mom might be coming back to Taiwan to check in on me this December... well she didn't tell me... but its true... and what's more amazing is that I think my sister Jenn will also be joining me in December. =

Things, I'm sure, are going to be drastically changing for me in the next year. This is definitely a whirlwind experience...

I feel like I'm Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ (which by the way my awesome friend CATHY took me to see WICKED and it was indeed as awesome just like my friend)... Right now I'm getting swept up in spending time with my friends and packing my life away only to be dropped down into a world unknown to me.

and people... I'm scared.

But just like in the Wizard of OZ I just have to know and believe that I already have everything I need within myself to succeed.

well off to work... life is expensive... and so is my shopping habit ;) ily

Isn't that the point?

I know, I know! I haven't posted in a hot minute, my bad! =/ SO here I am... sitting on the floor at Borders using their WIFI to update my blog. I think I might have been avoiding updating because there hasn't really been anything new to post... kinda.

Since the last time I've posted all I've done is just submit my paperwork for my passport and now I'm waiting for it to come in the mail. Which by the way I'm totally stoked to see my Taiwanese passport. I wonder if it would be illegal to scan it and post a picture of it on here???

Well annnyyywaaay... another reason I've been kinda avoiding the whole blogging thing is because I've been getting some static from people about going. I mean it's the same old shit. You don't have a job. You don't have a place to live. You don't speak Mandarin.

Um, duh people, I know all of this. You'd figure people would realize that this REALLY is happening since I purchased a one way ticket. SO if you have a problem with me going or don't have anything nice to say about it... do what your momma told you to do and don't say anything at all.

The other thing is that everyone's been been asking me what I'll be doing for work once i get to Taiwan. You know what? That IS a very good question... here's what I got...

Yup... nothing.

The fact is, I don't have a clue what I want to do.... which (I assume to be a natural conclusion) would be the obvious answer as to why I don't know what kind of job I am interested in. Do you honestly think that I would still be at Sushi House for this long if I knew what I wanted to do with my life? If i did I probably wouldn't be moving to Taiwan. I'd be making moves to pursue my dream career.

But I guess that's the point... I'm on my way to figuring it all out.

Who knows that the job availability is like and what might change in the month ahead. But don't fret my pets... I do have some fields of interest.

Ok don't get all excited folks... these fields are pretty difficult to get into (and being in a foreign country with a language barrier doesn't make it any easier)...

PAUSE....maybe I should just explain a couple things first.

Teaching and being a private tutor for English is major biznasss over there... as long as you speak english, you're gold. But if you know me at all... you'd know that first on my list of things NOT to do is be a teacher.

There are a lot of American based company's in Taiwan but could you imagine me confined to a cubicle (well hmmmm I don't know if they have cubicles over there... I'm sure they do.) and most of them require a firm handle on the language (which I do not yet possess.)

Onto things I would like to dabble in...

Any and all things music.. possibly taking over a music station and playing only the best music ever... (or whatever they tell me to play.)

well you get the point... in general... broadcasting and radio...

Journalism... writing (online or for a paper or ohhh maybe on online paper)

maybe even the entertainment industry..... production, behind the scenes... ya know.

but I don't really know... ya know?

I know that this adventure is technically going to be my new life and people are wishing for me to be a little bit more apprehensive and prepared about the big move but hey... what do you want me to do? Spend my remaining time in my room learning Chinese while searching for jobs and apartments???

I think I'll go hang out with my friends... deuces! (haha for now, I'll post soon, ily)

time...

This is it people... this is the beginning of the countdown... 61 days and counting yall!

I need to add one of those countdown thingies to my blog.

Thinking about the time I have left has brought up some very difficult things that I'll have to deal with very soon...

first and foremost... leaving my DADDY =(

which is probably the worst of all of this.

leaving my family and friends...

second worst of all of this.

but all this thinking has got me wondering exactly what am I leaving behind.

I'm giving up my family, my friends, my home, everything I've known... even my last name... I know it sounds like whining and complaining but it's actually true.

We're getting the release of my last name notarized tomorrow. On Thursday my mom and I are submitting my application for my Taiwanese passport.

Once I get to Taiwan and apply for my citizenship the official-ness of no longer using Garcia will be well... official.

...

I've spent some time in the attic clearing an area for storing my stuff... I've even started to haul stuff up there... yeah, I'm sore.

I've also gone through my shoes and I've narrowed it down to 19 pairs (plus the four I forgot i had stored in my closet... look I'm going to need my rain boots... and my caramel colored riding boots... and my mid calf black boots... the hiking boots I'm debating about...)

I KNOW I KNOW... I can't take them ALL with me... but I'll try my damnedest

I've sorted through my clothes and separated things to donate to the Goodwill/Salvation Army

some of them I literally had to cut up so i wouldn't try to take them with me... I KNOW I don't need 5 black camis, 3 white tees, or 6 v neck shirts all of different colors.

Folks... I am making progress, I promise.

The downside to the new focus of packing is that my self teaching Chinese is almost at a standstill... I'm pretty sure I've got the first 30ish or so radicals.

Well its 2 in the morning... I think that's time for me to go to bed but I DID promise a more lengthy blog soon and I kinda failed on that... so hope you enjoy... I'll try and perk it up more next time.

love yall

woooo.saahhhhhhhh

Hello World!

I just wanted to do a quick post before I hop in the shower and then straight into bed. I'll either rewrite this into a longer post or add another soon but I wanted to give everyone a really quick update...

I got my tickets on Tuesday... Yes, that means I finally have my departure date.

I'll be leaving on Thursday, June 28th... Yes, that's in about 2 months.

We will be flying out 6/28-1:30 AM and arriving 6/29-6:00 AM... Yes, that means the flight is 13 1/2 hrs long...I lose a day of my life in the sky.

(I thinks that's pretty cool and not all at the same time.)

that's it for now... but ill be back... ♥

aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

I AM SO FRUSTRATED AND MAD RIGHT NOW... I could cry...

I thought everything was set to get going...

my mom got her passport...

I was on my way to getting mine...

I finally picked my name...

I got the the GREAT news that my Sister and her Boyfriend were going to come too (well Chris is a maybe.. but maybe I'll convince him with surfing and yummy food)...

and then my mom squished it like bug under her heel....

SHE JUST TOLD ME THAT SHE MIGHT NOT WANT TO LEAVE AT THE END OF JUNE

and CHANGE IT BACK TO AUGUST...

seriously?! SERIOUSLY?! I'm going to shoot myself in the eye if it changes one more time...

I'm sitting in Borders literally shaking because I'm so pissed right now... (why Borders you might ask... it's because we're cheap and we steal WIFI from a neighbor and its quite unreliable...) I came here to book my moms and mines ticket... and when I call to check if the dates and prices were okay for my mom... she drops that bombshell on me... gee thanks

I know I had more to write before this happened but I just can't... I can't even think straight right now... work is definitely going to SUCK tonight... FML seriously!

passport photo nazi... need I say more?

Hello world… Hello readers… all five of ya!

Moms and I finally went to the consulate today! TWICE!

Well here’s the skinny or the fatty, whichever you want, so we go to the consulate to renew my mom’s Taiwanese passport and we were able to do that without a problem and…

We got some answers to the questions that we had…

• My mom can renew here passport
• She has to verify her Taiwanese citizenship when we get there
• I do not need to get a travelers visa
• We can buy our tickets with the names on our American passports

The best thing that we found out was that I can apply for a Taiwanese passport!!! I know, right? I don’t exactly know how it’s possible for me to get a passport for a country I’m not a citizen of… but I think it’s kind of like a temporary visa or the first step towards getting a residency visa or even my dual citizenship. ::shrug:: I still need to register with the local department of housing or some shiz when I finally settle in and find an apartment.

So after we renew moms passport they give us the news about me being able to get a Taiwanese passport but they need us to bring my birth certificate and my parents marriage certificate. So we end up running back to Oakland then right back to SF in under an hour! I know, right?!

It’s not till we get back to the consulate that they tell us that they need my dad to be there to sign off on a document. Seriously I wanted to smack my forehead.

The paper that my dad has to sign off on is him basically relinquishing my American name… weird right? He has to sign in front of a notary to make it all official.

There are a couple of other papers that need to be filled out, my mom has to translate some of my documents and her marriage certificate into Chinese but other than that I should be set to get my passport too!

Funny story: The Taiwanese consulate sent us to get our passport photos done at this place up the block. This old Chinese dude, totally a passport photo Nazi (the equivalent borderline on being worse than Seinfeild’s Soup Nazi), was the meanest old man you’ll ever meet and it was WAY over priced!!! Twelve bucks for six 2x2s, yeah, I wanted to smack HIS forehead on that one… well anyway we got our photos done…. And there are all these crazy regulations on the way the photo needs to be taken things like…

• No hair should be covering the forehead
• The hair must be pushed back behind both ears
• Glasses are not allowed to be worn in the photo

AND

• You can NOT show your teeth

(…the rule makers obviously never heard Lady GaGa’s song… I digress)

Well the dude is yelling at us to push our hair behind our ears and to get the bangs off our foreheads. My bangs keep falling over my forehead and he's yelling for me to push it back slowly... NO MORE SLOWLY... NO SLOWER... I SAID SLOWER. ugggghhhh....

Then he tells us we only get three shots and then we get to pick. The dude doesn’t count or anything its all CLICK CLICK CLICK… Seriously, could ya warn a girl?! I couldn't even concentrate on taking the picture I was so worried my bangs were gonna fall over my forehead then he'd run up on me and smack me in the forehead with a light meter or something. We finally pick our pictures and get the photos and head back to the consulate.

End of story… but I really wanted to smack that dude… that big ol’ meanie. Dislike!

Although I didn’t walk away with my passport at least my mom got hers… Its going to get mailed here which should take about 3 weeks. Once her passport gets here I’ll be able to submit my paperwork and it should take about 3 weeks till I get MY Taiwanese passport!!! I’m SO excited, YAY ME!!!

P.S. I also put my Chinese name down on an official document FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY!

♥, 艾
俐

29 down... 185 to go

I would like to start this blog by thanking my sister, Jenn, for sending me a much needed boost of support and love. I hope that her trip to Kenya was rewarding and fulfilling.

I know that she loves and believes in me. Her faith in me gives me strength and I love her more everyday for it. ♥

I think I should start posting more... there are major time lapses between my posts... my bad! And I'm also sorry for throwing the biggest pity party ever and the lapse in confidence. It wasn't like me and I'm over it, promise! Girl Scouts Honor!

My mom and I are finally making our way to the consulate in the city on Tuesday! I'll be excited to get some answers. I feel like I've had to wait forever for this visit before we can move forward. But hey, you know what they say! Slow motion's better than no motion!

I must admit not having my tickets and a date set has been the cause of all my anxiety. Not having my tickets made me feel like at any moment my idea of moving could just stay an idea. I am still a little ehhh about not having my tickets yet but I'm hopeful that once we go to the consulate on Tuesday we will at least have a heading and things can get rolling from there.

As far as I know the possible dates of departure are June 24th or the 28th (we're waiting on a weekday so it'll be cheaper) ... this means that I have a little less than 3 months to get all my shiz straight.

Besides going to the consulate I will also be clearing out the attic to make room for storing my stuff... I will also need to start sorting through my belongings as well. The more I think about it the more I believe that it shouldn't be TOO hard to get rid of my stuff... some things i just hold onto because I don't have the heart to throw it away.

I've also started to tackle the traditional radicals and I've got the first 29 down...
Okay, okay... so there ARE 214 but I managed to get those first 29 down in a day so I think I'm going to be okay. =)

As I've said before my mom gave me a manly man name... my name might as well have been Mr. Manly Mann...
At this point I would like to end this blog thanking Monica Platt. It's because of her nickname for me that we've settled on my Chinese name. Yesterday my mom, aunt and myself finally settled on a name that everyone seemed to like. The pinyin is Chou Ai Li (sounds like: zhou-eye-lee). It's actually super cute because when I introduce myself it's going to sound like I Love You. And of course I will be using my mothers last name Chou....

周
艾
俐

frustrated... steam is practically coming out of my ears

First we were leaving in March... no

then August... no

then July... no

then June... YES then no

then back to August... then no again...

Currently it's back to June (the 24th ish). For the sake of my sanity I hope it stays that way.

My mom's been in contact with her family in Taiwan and it seems every time she gets off the phone she's more excited and more nervous about the trip. She's worried that I won't get my paper work done and have to come home in three months. She's wondering if she should go to Taiwan with her Taiwanese passport or her American one. She's worried I won't find a job or a place to live.

She has all these questions and most of them can be answered by a phone call or visit to the consulate in SF... but she's just sitting on her thumbs saying she doesn't have time or has too much work. Well I'm gonna make her go with me next week when she has spring break.

As far as not having a place to live or a job those are problems I can't tackle until I get there (and so I've been avoiding them since I don't need the added stress). SInce talking to her family, some of them were nice enough to offer us a place to stay for a day or two. Although it does make me feel a bit better that we will be welcomed by my family in Taiwan I would like to do this mostly on my own. (Although I must admit that I'm very lucky to have my mom with me to help me get acclimated.)

Recently I've been hanging out with my friends Grace and Mel like A LOT... and I love it... even though they're both in denial about me leaving I feel that they're the only ones taking advantage of the time I have left here...

this is not a news flash people--- I broke the news a hot minute ago...

I'M LEAVE THE COUNTRY IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS... I won't be back for a long long long time...

I know that I'm not the center of everyone else's lives... well I'm the center of mine... but thats besides the point. Honestly I'm a little hurt that I have to chase after people to hang out with me before I leave... and I don't think its fair for yall to wait for me to have my goodbye party to see me... because if that's the case I might as well save my money and not have one.

UGH I seriously think my blogs are becoming more and more uninspiring, discouraging, and worst of all... faithless (I don't know if those are quite the right words but thats how I'm feeling)...

li ho...

I've started to learn Mandarin! Yay me =)

I've learned how to say 'hi' and 'my name is...' in Taiwanese. In Mandarin I learned how to say 'how much' and 'how do I get to...'

Ok so I haven't really learned all that much but it's a start! I think my goal is to memorize the traditional radicals... some of them are super easy and some are hard but there are 214 of them so I need to get crackin!

The other thing that I've learned is that I have a man's name! ugh SMH... seriously? My mom gave me my manly name on purpose too!!! *sigh*

She says that my grandfather gave her an ambiguous name too.. and a name with only a single character... weird, right? So she's given me and my sister names that were also ambiguous and very strong... but everyone says that my name is TOO strong. It also doesn't help that I was born in the year of the tiger. I don't think my mom really wants to change my name. I have to decide before I leave what I want my name to be because once I get there thats when I'll start to sign my Chinese name =D.

I guess on a funny note my Grandma told me that while I'm there... I should find myself a husband.

nothings change since yesterday...

Haha so that's pretty much self explanatory... I haven't added a word of Chinese to my vocabulary =/ but I am reading The Rough Guide to Taiwan, by Rough Guides, about my future home. I must say that I have learned some very interesting things (however this book has been written by a Brit or at least someone who says "expats," "flats," and uses shit like Celsius instead of Fahrenheit.)

• We HAD the tallest building in the world, standing at 1,671 ft. tall (or 509m). Yup, until Dubai built one almost twice at tall at effin 2,717 ft. tall... yeah.. that's one tall building.
• Taiwan is bigger than Belgium
• We're bisected by the Tropic of Cancer
• Half of Taiwan is covered by mountains
• We are not a communist country... we've got a president and everything!
• Our main exports are electronics (is that really a surprise??? well actually you'd think it would be clothes or something coming out of a sweatshop.) 75% of the world's laptops and 40% of its LCD screens... yup =)
• Unless you're in a mixed gender hot spring... you are EXPECTED to be naked... um not this expat, that's for damn sure.
• When the weather is just right... surfing can be pretty AWESOME!

I'm still reading a learning a lot about Taiwan... I'm just going to pretend that that counts for something... amidst my other attempts.

Time for bed... it's been a long day.

tears...

I don't know if I was just remembering a dream that I had last night but the first thought I had when I woke up this morning was the thought of having to say goodbye to my dad at the airport come this summer. I just couldn't help it... I curled myself into a ball and cried my little eyes out.

My mom is coming with me and my sisters are already in another state but my dad... sigh... I feel like I'm leaving him behind. Thinking about it makes me sad and I can already feel the tears welling up my eyes. He's my favorite guy in the whole world. Never a discouraging word about the adventure that lies ahead of me. Hopeful that this will be the point in my life when everything changes for the better. And the saddest thing is is that he wont be near me when any of it happens. Everyone has been saying that I'm brave and strong for attempting to do this big move but I really draw my strength from him because he's literally my Superman, I've seen his fingers get closed in a car door and he didn't even scream... just say calmly, "Alicia, will you please open the door." There is not one person I know who wouldn't call me a Daddy's Girl.

as for any other progress towards my departure... I feel kind of stalled...

• We have yet to purchase our tickets or even set a date

• My mom has not renewed her passport (she's waiting till her Spring Break)

• I've bought my Chinese dictionary and a Rough Guide to Taiwan and graph notebooks to start doing writing drills... but have yet to start

SMH... and encouragement seems to be in short supply... it's always "It's going to be tough" "You don't know the language and culture" "You'll get taken advantage of" "You're going to be ALL alone"... haha "You might have to prostitute yourself" (that one made me laugh)

I understand all of this... I do. Believe me when I say that those things are very present in my mind. I have faith in myself, conviction and courage to know that I can do this but hearing it from a friend doesn't hurt either. (This is NOT a solicitation of praise or encouragement esp. those of which are feigned and/or insincere)


that is all for today...

Well...I will not be applying for my visa yet. My mom says to wait till we get closer to the departure date. That's fine by me.

A couple of things I forgot to mention yesterday though which I'm happy to report today.

The first and most exciting is that Monica and Daniel Platt will be joining my soon-to-be side of the hemisphere in 2011! Although they will be on the mainland, Daniel (my high school friends husband, hahaha yeah, mouthful much!?) had ties to Taiwan and Monica has told me they wont pass up the chance to visit my future home. I'm totally excited at the prospect of having someone from home see me in Taiwan.

Next is that my aunt and I are going to trade between being tutors and tutees for each other. I will help coach her in English and she will help me with my Mandarin (and hopefully Taiwanese too).

and lastly... I bought a Chinese dictionary... which I will (try) dutifully to learn some basic characters in Chinese before I get to Taiwan.

There have been a few minor problems I've been mulling around in my head (and maybe yall can help)

• how in the hell am I going to get ALL my shoes over there =)
• how can I possible live without See's Candies/Sushi House/Fenton's/OB chicken/VH...etc.
• I can't help but miss all my books and DVDs i have to leave behind (I gotta make room for my shoes)
• how can I safely package my sunglasses collection/and my lovely perfumes
• am i taking my computer??? (probably not but I will NOT leave my music behind...I'd rather die... seriously)
• Mercury say's that I'll need jackets over there.... but really??? (I just checked the weather... it's raining but its still 73* over there)

Then there's the major problems (well more like one big one)

HOW WILL I SURVIVE WITHOUT MY FAMILY and FRIENDS??? smh...

and I'm actually going to move my shoe problem into the "major" category...

Just had the funniest convo with my cousin Jason... he thinks Taiwan is flat and boring... well when he comes to visit me (which he BETTER) I'll show him all the cool things he couldn't possibly have seen from inside of the airport.

ENDING THIS ON A GOOD NOTE:

Everyday that brings me closer to leaving my fears and apprehension are slowly fading and excitement it taking over. This will be good for me and I know that I can and will do this... and most importantly I will succeed!

Passports, Visas, and documentation... oh my!

So it turns out that my mom will be able to renew her Taiwanese passport without a hitch. But life is never that easy on me. The consulate is making me apply for a Travelers Visa. The only problem is that there's all these things I have to bring to the consulate next Saturday

• 2 passport photos
  
• my American passport
  
• $131 bucks
  
• my Itinerary (which includes a return ticket!!!)
• and a copy of my bank statement (I think it's weird but whatever)

but thats not all... I can start the paper work and get my visa but if I want to apply for dual citizenship I'll have to do that once I get to Taiwan... I guess its better than nothing and it's at least a step in the right direction. *thumbs up* woot woot

There's no real update other than the aforementioned but I must mention that my sister Jennifer's comment on my first post made me cry (happy tears of course) and put the biggest smile in my heart which made my day... and my friend Kristin Hara had to Google Taiwan... and that made my night =)

two steps foward... one step back

Welcome to my first official blog! yay me! (ps thanks in advance for reading)

Well if you're here reading this then I assume that you now know that I have made the decision to move to Taiwan. I know that it seems as though this has come out of the blue but I have wanted to move there for a long time. I really want to go and explore that side of my family and learn the language and just live somewhere else for a while. (This should go without saying that I will miss everyone here very VERY much.)

Rita's super excited and surprisingly Pops is 100% supportive of the move. If I'm not mistaken I believe he's telling everybody it was his idea... and i suppose as long as he's willingly letting me go I'll even let him believe that. =) My mom and I had planned to leave at the end of next March(which would coincide with her Spring Break vacation). Yes, I know that that is about a month away! I know right??? Since the decision has been made my brain has been trying to mentally pack and organize my life and thoughts in preparation for the month ahead.

but....I hit a little roadblock today... named Mom.
Out of the blue she had decided (after I put in my notice at work and after i told a gazillion people that I'm leaving the country in month) to tell me that it might not be the best idea for me to go to Taiwan... uggggghhhh SMH
After talking to her... we've made the decision to wait until the summer (JULY/AUGUST) to take the trip... She's going to give up teaching summer school this year to take off the extra time just in case we hit a couple bumps in getting me settled. (alicia=very appreciative)

Tomorrow I plan to call the consulate for advice on Visas and the Dual Citizenship process... keep your fingers crossed that it'll be a smooth transition. Hopefully after I talk to the consulate I'll be able to set a firm date for departure and buy my ticket!

I will try to update this blog as much as I can... even if its just to tell yall that I've made the tough decision to leave my glee magnets here in the states.

love yall!