Why Taiwan?

That I want to go out into the world and have an amazing life is nothing new. That I want to start a new life in Taiwan seems baffling to many of my family and friends, and even to myself. When I began the job search process back in September 2009, I targeted schools in Eastern Europe, namely Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. After a few weeks, I found myself broadening my search to much of the Middle East and Asia. Though there is a part of me that would love the challenge of teaching in Dubai or Saudi Arabia, I decided that I did not want to be the cause of my mother's early death from a daughter-induced anxiety attack. So I continued to pry into Asia.

While I've always been interested in Asian philosophies and culture, I had never considered living in Asia. Why was I all of a sudden flirting with the idea of teaching in China, Japan, or Taiwan? I knew that throughout the interview process, schools would ask me, Why China? Why Japan? Why Taiwan? I mulled it over for a while, thinking it was just my sense of adventure drawing me to the Orient. Then one Sunday in early October, the whole Seggerson clan sat down to our weekly dinner and the answer was literally staring me in the face...Alice, the most amazing 6-year-old in the entire world! If my calling is to venture to another part of the world where I will be unable to watch her grow and learn and become even more amazing, well then, I'm at least going to go to where she's from (or to an island just south of there, anyways). Cheers, Alice!