Studying in Taiwan has been the longest consecutive period of time I've been out of the United States - 5 whole months! I've since traveled back to my home country for a couple of weeks to attend the Sundance Film Festival. Being back home for the first time made me realize just how long I had been gone after all: seeing signs in English surprised me ever so often, finding a good noodle dish for dinner took a little more effort than usual and greetings of 你好 (ni hao) were replaced with "Yo!" I am now back in Taiwan ready to begin my second semester and end my Reach the World journey.
Before moving, many people warned me about the possible difficulties I could face. Feeling homesick was one of them. While I definitely had moments where I longed to see my loved ones again, home-"sick" might not be the exact way to describe it. I would say I appreciate my home country now more than ever. There's no other time I've felt as American in my life. The beauty of it all, though, is that I can appreciate what I miss about the United States while also enjoying everything I'm learning here in Taiwan. Without this experience, I would have never learned to speak Chinese as well, nor would I have discovered my newfound love for soup dumplings (小籠包 - "xiao long bao").
