Dear 914,
It saddens me to hear that you have decided to leave the beautiful island. I hope that you achieved what you came here to do, and that things will go well in the spare US with the bad weather.
Thanks for everything - using your Samoan muscles to get my tent up on the camping trip, and your patience with my dog.
Take care.
Mr. he.
Come on a hike before you leave, 914. We’ll guarantee to make it even more heart-wrenching for you to depart these shores, and I’m sure Irish will be glad to share his spuds with you when we stop for nosh.
We’ll miss you 914. You’re a special dude.
I’m gonna be jealous of you sucking in that crisp air. Number one improvement on leaving Taiwan is gaining the ability to breath deep again imo.
914, You know you’ll be back. They always come back. Vancouver will seem too boring for you. You’ll miss the noise level even.
That said, sad to see you go. Have fun in BC!
Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh…
Its one of the things about Taiwan that really sucks.
Eventually, the cool folks all leave.
[quote=“Tigerman”]Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh…
Its one of the things about Taiwan that really sucks.
Eventually, the cool folks all leave.[/quote]
Aha! Now I have the answer for when people ask me why I’m still in Taiwan after all these years!
Ever since you stepped into Games Club and explained the meaning behind 914 (number of women per day who fall in love with your foine samoan behind) I’ve felt blessed to know you. You will be missed…until you come back.
By the way, got any tips on how to finally get off this rock?
[quote=“Jack Burton”]914, You know you’ll be back. They always come back. Vancouver will seem too boring for you. You’ll miss the noise level even.
That said, sad to see you go. Have fun in BC![/quote]
Mr. Burton,
Why are you sad that 914 is leaving Taiwan. YOU don’t live in Taiwan either. Actually, he’s moving closer to you. Therefore, you should be happy, not sad. Got it?
Sincerely,
Ms. Erhu
Jack Burton is obviously projecting… something that quite a few of us are guilty of too! 
I hate it when people leave, even if it’s just Forumosans who stop posting.
The weirdest thing is that you tend to collect a whole bunch of people that are not really close friends, but that you run into at music festivals or political events or stuff like that. Or who you just run into at places like the Underworld or in Shida Road.
When I think about my varsity days, I often think about those guys who would stage strange poetry events on street corners, or who rode around on bicycles with tie-dyed clothes and dreadlocks. It’s like they were part of the scenery, and now they’re gone.
I want to go to the museum like Holden in The Catcher in the Rye, and see everything just exactly the way it always was, and the only thing that would have changed would be me.
Yep.
[quote=“twonavels”]When I think about my varsity days, I often think about those guys who would stage strange poetry events on street corners, or who rode arou[color=blue]nd on bicycles with tie-dyed clothes and dreadlocks. It’s like they were part of the scenery, and now they’re gone.[/color]
I want to go to the museum like Holden in The Catcher in the Rye, and see everything just exactly the way it always was, and the only thing that would have changed would be me.
Yep.[/quote]
Where was this?
Would the new dudes still carry on the tradition. Sounds really cool when and where you can have the inner strength to be an individual.
Back to the subject heading of the post - I’ll say it too. Taiwan has grown on me. After more than 2 years here, my time on the island is also up and I’ll be out of here in about two months or so, back to the good ol’ student life to get my masters degree.
This place has definitely grown on me. During my first four or five months here, I was literally counting down the days until I could leave this place (I think I still have the paper with the 365 - 0 on it!) and I just hated the place.
After that, I found that it actually wasn’t too bad here. By the time it got to the end of my first year contract, I liked it enough to sign up for yet another year. Of course, having a great girlfriend definitely helped to sway that vote. After that, I didn’t look back, although I knew that I was going to have to get back home at some stage. I’ve got that master’s degree that I have to get, a band that my best friends and I have been talking about putting together properly for years now, a novel to write, and a lot more of Africa to explore with my mates - hopefully on big bikes.
But now that the time has almost come, I really feel like it’s gonna be the hardest thing (even with my girlfriend, the main reason that I signed up for another year in the first place, coming with me) to finally get on that plane and say goodbye to Taiwan. 
It’s been a good two years, overall; I really feel like I’ve developed a connection with this place. Probably has to do with the fact that this is the place in which I achieved true independence. I mean, before I came here, I had never been to another country, never lived by myself before, never even been on a plane before, never had a full time job before. I had lived in the same room my entire life (went to university in my home town). I had no money before I came here, whatsoever. At the start of my final year in university, I had decided that I wanted to come here, so I spent the whole year working part time jobs to save up the money for a plane ticket.
When I first stepped off that plane with nothing but my suitcase of clothes, the last few bucks I had left in the whole world into this new, alien land of scooters, crowded streets, bright neon signs and a totally foreign language, I knew that I was in for quite an adventure…
And luckily, for every down, there have been twice as many ups 
And an adventure it has been. From knowing absolutely nobody in the beginning, I’ve met some fantastic people here, and made some great friends from all corners of the globe. As my friend said about Taiwan one night while we were having beers at the local watering hole with a bunch of mates of various nationalities, “Where else in the world will you find South Africans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, Brits, Japanese and Taiwanese sitting around a table, having beers together like this?”…
Taiwan, I’m gonna miss ya…
You find them in Canada. 
Good luck with the rest of your journey.
914 is leaving Taiwan? Woohoo!! I’m moving back!!
With 914 in Taiwan, I could never get any lovin’. I’d be chatting up a xiaojie, impressing her with my foreigness, and then 914 would come along with those big Samoan pecs, 6-pack abs and that tight, fine ass, and before I could say “I’m actually a TV star back in the States doing research for a new show about teaching English in Taiwan,” the xiaojie is off with 914 and I’m left alone with my Taiwan beer. :fume:
Now that 914 will be out of the picture, I can feel my groove coming back already. 
Best of luck 914. I am certain that all will be bright when you get back. 
914 - you won’t leave forumosa, will you??
You can always come back to visit Taiwan, right??! also, what will you be doing in BC?? Got a job line up??
Maybe now we can have northern america / canada forumosa happy hours!! 