I had a couple going away celebrations with friends before my departure. My first was one that Howard organized and hosted at his apartment, which was so sweet of him to do. (Thanks again, Howard!) Tammy, Howard, and I all went to pick up pizzas and drinks down the street and carried them back to his living room. Howard’s many roommates (from all over the globe) trickled in as it got later. A Swedish guy, a girl from Poland, and guy from Thailand who would be studying in the United States accepted our invitation to share some pizza and drinks and hangout for a bit. We started collecting a roommate here, a roommate there, and soon we had amassed a nice group. It was fun chatting with new and old friends, the perfect sendoff with Tammy and Howard, my Taiwanese friends, resources, and “saviors” in a sense; I don’t know what I would have done without them.

Right to Left: Tammy, Howard, me

Later, a girl walked in with a massive suitcase. Her name was Roxanne, she was from Geneva, and she just made it here from a crazy-long journey, complete with delays and layovers. I couldn’t believe how awake and upbeat she was after all of her airport mishaps. She seemed so eager to dive into Taiwan’s culture and food. Right aways she was asking where to go eat, how to get around, all of the questions someone brand new in a foreign country would ask. I loved that she joined us for a while because it seemed like the best, full-circle addition to our party… I was leaving my year of adventures in Taiwan and she was just arriving, bright-eyed and curious about what lay ahead in this new country. One chapter ends, another begins.

No party is complete without a blurry mirror selfie

My second “last” hurrah in Taiwan was my going away party. I invited people from work, TUSA, board games… all parts of my Taipei life to come to “Continue?,” a video gaming bar. A lot of people came, including Sally from TUSA who I hadn’t gotten to see yet (she had just moved to Taipei). We took over the entire upstairs there were so many of us. We played Rockband, Virtual Reality, and Overcooked. I was so glad to see everyone one last time before I left.

Sonia, Gaurang, and me at Continue?

The true, true last hurrah though was on my very last full day in Taipei. The board games group went out to dinner at a western style restaurant called “The Diner” for Adrianna’s birthday. Everyone from games was there, about twenty people. Joyce had arranged a birthday card for Adrianna and a going away card for me. It was heartwarming to finally get one of these huge cards arranged by Joyce. I had signed so many throughout the year for different friends’ birthdays. I didn’t know them very well yet around the time of my birthday in December. Now it was my turn.

At The Diner with my friends

After dinner, a big group of us went to Joyce/David/Susan’s and played more games (fitting for us). We took some group pictures together and when I walked out that door, I knew my time in Taiwan was virtually over. The next day I’d be headed to the airport, where I’d have a dramatic reorganizing of my overweight suitcases. (I had to buy a cardboard box at the airport to evenly distribute the weight… -_-) It ended up working out well until the third checked bag on my domestic United flight was an unadvertised $150. I digress.

Here are some photos of my last day and journey home:

The Crew: “Smile”

The Crew: “Be Silly” Take 1

The Crew: “Be Silly” Take 2

The Crew: “Everyone Point at Allison”

Joyce and me:

David and me

Kevin and me

None other than board games

The girls

The guys

Almost home!

Home ❤

Chipotle at last