Here in Taiwan it is quite common for people to remain close to their high school, or even junior high school, classmates throughout their entire lives. Many of my Taiwanese classmates spend weekends throughout the year, going back to their home city to visit with a group of high school classmates that planned a get-together. A fifty plus year old Taiwanese man we know went on regular walks with one of his high school classmates up until his untimely death. While these are only two examples there are countless others.

I am understanding more and more why this is the case. Like my current university program, Taiwanese high school students spend every day and every class with the same group of students. It is bonding to say the least. Everyone knows exactly who the slackers are and who the hard workers are. Everyone knows who is getting into playing guitar and who is getting into partying. Everyone knows everything about everyone.

At first, I think it was pretty strange for us as foreigners. But I have to say that after three years of it I have really come to enjoy it. There are definitely the clicks and groups and all that. But at the same time there is definitely an overall togetherness amongst us. I am hopeful that this bond remains even after graduation. Next year won’t be the same with Gina and Jennifer and Ken and the rest of my classmates who will be exchange students away in their various locales.

While I disagree with educational philosophy and practices here in Taiwan in many regards, I have become a big fan of grouping students into classes that remain together throughout a program’s duration.

Our visit in California proved to be fantastically cultural and extremely enjoyable…you can tell I’ve been in the US for ten weeks ’cause I’ve got such a big vocab to draw on.

We made last Sunday a beach day and our friends took us out to Newport Beach. The sun was great and the waves were awesome. We all did our fair share of body-surfing, sun-bathing, and frisbee. Later we went to the evening service at our friends’ church. Monday we went to The Huntington where I saw a Gutenberg Bible as well as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales that had the Gutenberg beat by like 50 or a hundred years. The gardens there are huge and we only made it through a third or so before the place closed. It’s a pretty cool place! Tuesday we went to The Getty. Again we only made it through a small portion of this place because it is stinking huge. Incredible collection as well and thanks to the wishes of its founder, J. Paul Getty, they aren’t allowed to charge admission! I of course liked the French Impressionism section the best but they also had a bronze exhibit that was pretty incredible as well. Actually the whole place was magnificent and I would definitely go back.

Tuesday evening brought a mini-reunion for Emily and I. Some of our friends whom we had met in Taiwan were in Long Beach for various reasons and the three of them came over to Genevieve and Kevin’s house for an excellent meal of spaghetti coupled with lots of talking and catching up! That night definitely ranked high on the most fun of our summer list.

Wednesday was a relax day and that night we were driven to the airport, graciously given exit row seats upon request, and settled in for a long but good (remember my high endorsement from a few months ago?) flight on Malaysia Airlines back to our little island. No joke I even slept for several hours which hardly ever happens!

We lost a day coming over and Friday morning after landing we made our way by bus and MRT back to our home in Taipei. I had planned on being out of commission but I felt fine. I even went to my Friday afternoon class and got to say hi to everyone.

Well, since then we’ve been grocery shopping, cleaning the apartment, and in general settling in for another year.

Today we made it to church at New Hope and had a wonderful time worshiping God and catching up with friends.

Now its back to cleaning…

Sunday, August 9th, I led the Bible discussion at the church meeting in Sturgis on John 9:1-5. It had been a while since I’d done any Bible research and I had a blast diving into it. For some reason, up until now, I’ve never used Bible commentaries but I saw The Matthew Henry Commentary on the bookshelf in my parents’ house and read what it had to say on the passage. It was great! The actual leading of the discussion was interesting and fun as well. I like Jesus!

This past Friday we pulled our last corn tassels of the summer. It was a good summer job but its nice to be done with the six-o’clock mornings for a while. That evening we also got to spend some time with my brother, his wife, and their girls! If anyone is ever in Kalamazoo I recommend Schwarma King…you won’t be sorry. Over the rest of the weekend we were able to have a wonderful visit with one of my best friends, John, and his wife and daughter. John introduced me to mountain biking. I can see why people get into it! Emily and I had a great time chilling out with them, eating lots of good food and catching up on life….one of those things ya gotta do when you leave for a year at a time and when you come back your friend has a one year-old that you’ve never even met.

Yesterday evening we took off to head down to Florida where one of my other best friends, Marty, is stationed with the Navy for a visit. After sleeping in a parking lot for a few hours south of Nashville we hit the road again this morning and arrived safe and sound to his Huckleberry Finn paradise right outside of Pensacola this afternoon. So far we’ve kayaked around his bayou, shot bottles out of the water with a .22 and toured the area complete with Marty warning us of where the cops hang out and stories of his escapades talking his way out of tickets. Can’t wait to see whats next.

Its crazy how fast the summer is wrapping up. I’m a little bummed I wasn’t able to go camping up in Ludington with my 2nd family but I guess that’s life. After we’re done here in Florida we’ll swing through Tennessee and Kentucky for visits with Emily’s extended family. It has been a while since I’ve had a good, long road-trip and so far its been awesome!