We’ve only been away from Portland for 9 months now, and the rate of change is evident - new buildings, new bridges etc. I was reminded of the things I miss about Portland and Oregon - the people - friends and just random people on the street - they’re mostly comfortable and familiar, engaged and energetic. I miss the food, beer, wine, restaurants, grocery stores with righteous local kale and fruits and so forth.
Away from the city during Cycle Oregon, out in the boonies, there was profound silence, stunning darkness and night skies that I don’t think are possible anywhere in Taiwan due to population density and general haze. Fall is just starting - you can see it and feel it. I don’t think there’s going to be much in the way of fall leaves in Taiwan and the shift in the weather is likely to be a great deal more subtle - going from stupidly hot and humid to somewhat less hot and humid? We’ll see and I’ll report back...
But while I was noticing all of the things I miss about Portland, I was also struck by the fact that I was far from home. Taiwan is now, and for a while at least, fully home - we *live* there. I was missing friends, missing the things that make it interesting, captivating and ever so occasionally frustrating - missing the noise and the lights and the scooter and road mayhem (seriously!). I miss our apartment, and the view that we get from 22 stories up, I miss the food there (it’s different, but good), missing the jungle like vegetation, missing the challenges of navigating a foreign language and culture.
I found myself chomping at the bit to get back to it and back to work on all of these new things - new work, new language, new culture, new home all the while feeling the pull of all that I miss and love about Portland and the larger Northwest.
It will be interesting to see how and if this all changes over time - it’s all still so new for sure - 9 months isn’t that long. Perhaps come my 2014 trip back for Cycle Oregon I’ll sing a different tune, we’ll see, and I’ll let you know how it feels a year later.
It is also interesting to consider the fact that I’m writing en route to Eastern Pennsylvania, where I lived from age 8 - 18. Given that time of life, most people would identify that location as “home”. Despite its good points, and the fact that family members are still there and close by, I don’t really feel like I’m going ‘home’ as such... It's certainly ‘home’ in the familial sense, but beyond that, not so much. I guess me and that area just never really ‘clicked’. I don’t type that with disdain or any kind of sneer - I don’t feel that I’m better than that place, nor do I harbor any ill feelings but I guess I feel that I don’t ‘fit’.
From a very early age it just wasn’t a place I saw myself staying - and in hindsight, my whole time there was a giant countdown calendar to when I could leave for points beyond, though I loved so much about where we lived - great woods to roam, good hills for sledding, a creek to play in during the summer - you name it, overall a great place to be a kid.
I feel fortunate to have lived a bunch of different places, and I’m grateful that I grew up in a family that moved around a bunch as a result of my dad’s career. I had it much easier than my brothers and sisters, I didn't move but once that I remembered, but I grew up in an environment open to new vistas and change. As a result I have welcomed the opportunity to experience new places and make big changes. And the time in Taiwan has been the biggest shift of them all thus far - and for that I’m also grateful.
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