The Hugest Power in the World #2 How to Change?

In my previous post, I mentioned a great YouTuber that I found out recently. He always shares his positive thinking to all his fans. That's really match to me, because I like to watch something like that in my spare time. As he said, the hugest power in the world is "GENTLENESS." (For more information, you check the video below.)

Today, he mentioned about how to change yourself to become a positive-oriented person? There are many things that can affect our mood in the daily life, so how we think are really important for every of us to see the same thing. Change your angle before you get angery. Nothing can turn you down, only you can turn yourself down. Everything will be fine as long as you are willing to make a difference. Peace!

The Hugest Power in the World: Gentleness

We always idolize tough figures, because being tough seems "STRONG." But have you ever considered what is POWER? True power resides in a word "GENTLENESS." How can that be? Don't you think being a powerful person suppose to be strong? Because the word "Gentleness" sounds soft! How can a soft person powerful? Watch this video, and figure it out! (He is my favorite YouTuber now. I really like his energetic and positive attitude.)

Got the point? Be GENTLE, but POWERFUL! Water is soft, but it is the only thing that can cut through a diamond, other than the diamond itself. Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for remitting our sins. He fought back by saying "Love your enemies," right before he died. Look what he's done to change the world. Centuries of history for what he is endured. He wasn't soft, but gentle! Being tough cannot solve the things, GENTLE is the hugest power to settle down yourself and solve problems wisely. Peace!

How this Guam internship effected me?

I have to say... this Guam internship made me grew up a lot, and also made me certainly knew what I really wanted in my life. After I came back to Taiwan, I missed everything there on Guam so much. I wish I could stay there one more day so that I could spend more time with my friends. I didn't cry to say goodbye with my friends, but seriously, I was in tear when I am alone. 

It was funny when I always said "I need a GREEN CARD, so I can legally work there on Guam." I was just joking, but I really wish I could stay there if I have this opportunity. I wish...! It sounds sad...! How come my Guam friends effected me so deep....? If you ask me, maybe I'd say I love their warm, I love their passionate, I love their open minded. Since the first time met them, it a thing that I couldn't see from others. I can't tell, but it's true! 

I've thought of many ways that I can do to reach out my dream step by step! I made a decision! I want to become a flight attendant, and I am going to spend one year to prepare that! If I do so, I could have the quality to apply for this position after I graduate and finish my four-month military. It's gonna be a long way, but I don't want to waste my one year to work or intern in other places. I'd rather spend one year to rich myself, go for it when I am ready. 

Flight attendant is a tough job, but it is also part of my dream jobs. The idea in my mind wasn't strong before, but compared with becoming a teacher or a tour guide, I'd rather to become an air host to service passengers. I'd like to work in a multi-cultural workplace like the US., and share my warm personalities to others. I mean... Doing so will always make me feel like I am a world citizen, always open minded, and always not to limit myself to learn new things.

Why people from Asian countries pick up an English name for themselves?

Most Asian people would give themselves an English name, especially people from China, Taiwan, and Korea... If you are an English native speaker, then you might wonder why people use an English name to call themselves instead of using their original name? And some people's name might be very strange especially in English native speaker's eye! Are they really dislike their name? Or even feel ashamed for their name? 

As a Taiwanese, I know some Taiwanese name might really difficult to pronounce for those who are not able to speak Chinese fluently. Especially we have 5 tones in Chinese, but for those English native speakers, they don't know how to pronounce correctly even if we pronounce in English. That's one of the reasons why we Taiwanese people would like to give ourselves an English name to instead, because English has only two tones and it sounds flat. However, I disagree with some people say we suppose to proud of our name and we shouldn't have an English name! Seriously, having an English name doesn't mean we don't proud of our name! 

I will take an example of myself, my name suppose to be Gan, yu-ting (First name and last name) in Chinese, but in English, it will be Timothy Yuting Gan (Last name, middle name and first name). I have my English name since I was 4 or 5, even though I really forgot who gave me the name, I didn't change it for any reasons. Now, my English name became a formal name to me, and it shows on my passport and visa card. After I grew up, I found out it's a name from Bible. For me, I am really proud of my name, and I am willing to share the stories' with others. 

Here is a following link of the explanation for my name below,

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+1

If you ask me why most Asian people have an English name, I cannot give you a proper answer. However, there is an interesting thing I'd like to share you. In Chinese, every character has their own meaning, even sometimes one character has multi-meanings, so it's really hard to tell when you see the same pinyin in English. They look the same in English, but actually words in Chinese are totally different! For example, my name Yu-ting, it's a really common name in Chinese, especially most girl's name are Yu-ting. It's kind of embarrassing, but the characters are totally different. My name yu-ting (聿廷),  the word "聿(Yu)" is actually a word from an ancient officer's pen in court, and the word 廷(ting) means palace. In other words, my name yu-ting (聿廷) is a wish that I would become a person who works in the court in the future, or even represent me as a person who is a scholar. But for those some girl's name which also pronounce yu-ting, but in Chinese it may looks like 玉婷, the word 玉(Yu) means a jade, and 婷 means a beautiful girl with a good temperament. See the differences? We have same pronunciation but totally different meaning. If you do research about the culture in Chinese, then you will find out most of our name related to family, good wishes, a future, or a personality. 

For more English name information, you can follow to the link below,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7R41LB9FF0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGnw5EePA4

All good things come to an end

There is a saying, "All good things come to an end." No matter where you are, this is a lesson you must learn in your life! Separation is suck when you have great connection with your friends. However, it is a growth process, and we all have to experience that. Though, it might make you feel sad!

Days on Guam passed by one month more already, sometimes it makes me feel sad when I am alone! I've got good friends here both from my church and workplace, but I still must be leaving them in less than one month soon.

Honestly, before I came here, there was a factor bothered me to make this decision. If I take this internship opportunity, I have to pay the visa fee and the flight ticket myself, and to balance the salary I get, actually it will still be negative. In spite of my purpose for choosing my current university was for this internship program because I've been self-learning English a couple years already, I wanted to know if I can really support my life abroad independently. Anyway, there was a voice came up to my mind and said, "If I didn't take the opportunity, I must regret in the future." Honestly, it was a crazy decision!

Many people asked me, how do you like Guam so far? And I'd always say I really love here! It is not joking though. When I say I love it, which means I really fond of it. Since I first came here, I did treasure every moment here on Guam because I knew that when time pass by, the day I stay here will be less and less, now I still feel like time flies so fast though! The sad thing is that, some of my friends will be leaving sooner than me! I feel sad because once they leave, I don't even know when can we meet up next time! I do deeply feel the word, "All good things come to an end, and it's a lesson we must learn from it." It's true though! It is a growth process, and it is all we have to experience!

If you ask me would you regret your decision coming to Guam now, I will definitely say I am really glad I made this decision! No matter what, I reached out part of my dreams because of this internship! If I didn't catch this opportunity, until now, maybe I will still be the one who keep the dream in my pocket and waiting a day to reach out! All I want to express is that, "If you have a dream, you should do everything that you can to achieve it!" Life is short, if you do something you don't like, then just don't waste your time! If you get limited time to reach out your dream, just purse it little by little! However, never say never! As long as you start to do something different from now on, trust me, it will reach our one day! Even though separation makes everybody feel sad, it makes you grow up and excited to meet them up next time! Care about people you meet, truly treating them, then that is a really great connection to keep up with!

- Timothinks 

Christianity versus Homosexuality

Gay marriage has been legally conducting in States a long time already. However, in Christian bible says, "Same sex relationship is a sin to God!" I am Christian, but I am bisexual. I believe the words in bible, I also trust God made us and he loved those people who follow him. It's not we love God first, but God loved us first before we knew him, because we are made (the spirit) by God. 

Maybe now you would have a question? Why you still love God but the bible says same sex relationship is a sin in Christianity? Then I would say, every of us has a sin, even though we are already the believer or even the follower of God. We all have bad idea to get benefit ourselves, we all think ourselves first before think or care of others, seriously, that is human! We are all selfish, don't you think that is the sin also? How come people judge homosexuality but still accept those who have bad actions in life? You are right! Homosexuality is the sin, but this is not an option! God made us, he made the current us! He knew us before we knew him! He knew our life more than we knew him! That is the reason! He made us, and we acted how God made us! We are born this way! If God says homosexuality is a sin, then why he made us this way? 

In States, homosexual people and Christian people have a big versus! Some Christian pastors against Gay people in church, and they kick those people who love God out of church. But these pastors didn't know the way they kick Gay people out betray the words of bible says, God loves the human. You can disagree, you can not to congratulate Gay couple, but you have no right to kick people out just because they are born this way. 

There is another situation exist also! Some gay couples asked Christian bake stores to make cake for their wedding, but if they reject them just because those Christian people feel like they are uncomfortable if they accept the request, then those gay couples will record the words they reject and say that it is a discrimination, and they will try to destroy their business. For those some gay couples, a great wedding may be important, but you can actually look for those who can accept your request to make a cake for you instead of finding those whom you know they disagree and feel uncomfortable but you still find them on purpose! 

Even though the gay marriage are legally in many countries already, I think the problem of homosexuality and Christian would always exist! A person's power may be small, but if every of us can get back a step to accept each's opinion, then the problem will not to be as serious as now! I am a Christian, a follower of God, and I am a bisexual! I don't think God will be happy if he sees the versus happen! Again, you can disagree, you can unhappy with that, but you have no right to force or try to destroy people. God made us, of course he wants us to live happily and peacefully. He knew us before we knew him, he knew us more than we knew him! He knew everything more than what you knew! So stop arguing with this stupid question! Let's pure our mind to get closer to our father, Jesus! To do what he likes we to do! Amen!  

Life on Guam

This month of 4th, I arrived the awesome island Guam to start my 2 months internship. After arrived here, the first impression that came to my mind was that... Woah! It is a really countryside place. As a person whom grown up in the city and never lived in the countryside before, it was a big shock actually! But honestly, I didn't take too much time to adapt the life here. 

There were two things that I am really proud of myself that I've done in the first week were that I borrowed the bike to ride outside alone when I haven't known any of locals here. It took almost 2 hours from my workplace to the awesome place Hagana. I really love the view of the beach when passing around. Secondly, I met an awesome person on Couchsurfing site whom I haven't met in person yet until now. I am a Christian, and of course I don't want to miss the Lord day every Sunday. So I messaged a person that I think we might matches, and I told him if he could tell me the nearest church to my workplace. Due to he had the toothache, he couldn't ride me there. I walked for thirty minutes long after I offed my work to the the place called "Safe House." Seriously, it was quite embarrassed that I entered into a room while church ppl. practiced singing, and I introduced myself that someone told me this place and there is a meeting at night. Fortunately, ppl. there are really nice and welcome me! I also met awesome friends there in church, especially an awesome young pastor friend. This experience made me believe that church the best family in the world. No matter where you are, as long as you are a follower of the God, then he will guide you a road to go. That is also the main reason why I love here.

I really love my job and my life on Guam so far. I always tell people or my colleagues whom I met that I always feel like at home here. However, I am telling the truth! I didn't lie! Even though Guam is really small, I can explore the culture and the lifestyle here more easily because it is small. There is a saying on Guam, "Every one knows every one, because Guam is really small." Exactly! So don't do the bad things to ruin yourself, because every one knows every one. Lol. Comparing the culture here and my country (Taiwan), are really different! I love Taiwan, but I also love here! I really love exploring the cultural differences and to learn each's pro and to adopt it in my life! For me, maybe two months are really too short! There are many things that I still want to figure out and experience! If I have an opportunity, I would plan to work here in the US. or other English speaking countries after I go back to Taiwan. I want to save money and travel around the world step by step! Since living here, sometimes I'd start to think things that I've done before and to think of God made me the way I go when I am alone or in the room. There is another reason why I am in love here is that... I am using English living here. Actually I was the one whom couldn't understand a word in English five years ago, but there was a voice came up to my mind telling me that I have to learn it! That is why I started to learn this language my own, the more I learn, the more I figure out more cultural differences, the more I like to research about languages and to explore by traveling, the more I get more friends from other countries, and the more opportunities I can get to experience! 

Thanks god's bless made me met awesome friends here, no matter people I met online, church or my workplace. I do treasure every of my day staying here! I know days staying here will be less and less, but I know it will be my best summer in college. And I know this experience make me more confirm my plan in the future! Thank you the lord, Jesus! You are my path, and I wish you can bless people around me, especially my friends and my lovely co-workers. Thank you the lord in Jesus Christ name, Amen.

Work Attitude

In the low economy generation, especially for 90's young people who are going to finish their last education, which means you are soon to get into the real society for living. Let's count if we have 40 years to work, we divide the jobs into four different sides, which are employed, self-employed, business owner, and investor. That is the main cycle for every of us to experience in our future job. And you have to plan what kind of job is best for you to balance your life and to achieve your dreams as soon as possible. 

Let's talk about the first one, "employed." After you finish your last education, you will soon to experience the first one if you don't have any backgrounds, and if you are currently a freshman at your first job, then you will get employed by a company that you will have a fixed salary for how many works you do, but maybe you will have to consider about if your job have enough challenges or not for you to learn more and have a transparent promote system for you to get into a higher position to win a higher salary. 

Second, few years later, maybe you have saved a bit money. And you prefer to employed yourself to have a flexible time to use, and you have your own opinion as for your previous experiences. Congratulations! You are at the second stage of your job. At this stage, you will have more flexible time but more responsibilities! Maybe you have a dream to run a restaurant, so you can start to employed yourself to learn how to handle things yourself. And you will need to learn how to manage a team, and how to count the costs and benefits to prepare yourself get into the next stage, "A business owner."

When you own your own business, you need to have these four skills, which are time management, leadership personality, management, and growth target! These four things are the basic skills for every owner who is going to lead a team to achieve their goals together! 

Few years later, your company is stable and you know how to lead a team quite well! So now you will want to make your company bigger! You will start to learn about the investment! The sure thing is that before you start your investment, you have to learn how to manage your finance! You will have to make a right option to decide what investment will make you grow your company bigger! Seriously, this is really important! Your decision is really important! If you have no knowledge in the filed, sorry you don't have the ability to manage this stage! However, you still have the better option which is suit for your personality.

What I want to say here is as we can see, we people are all have different personalities. Some people are good at making decisions, some people are good at analyze circumstances, and many some are suit for doing a same thing as well as having a stable life and salary! Life are full of choices and ricks, no matter what kind of person you are, you all have to experience that! So my conclusion is that... Know your lack, and improve your knowledge! And be humble with things that you are good at! Learn, observe, and being humble, they are the basic attitudes for you to start your future career! Once you have the right opinion, you will know how to make the best option! 

Love & the purpose in life

Before starting the topic, I want to ask how many of you really know the definition of love? Is it just like as simple as you guys like each other then you would get the eternal love with the person you lovin' with? The answer is "Definitely not!"

The more important thing excess the love is how to maintain the relationship and how you to enjoy the moment getting along with your lover. No matter how many arguments you guys did, how many different opinions existed when making a decision together with, different viewpoints on things to produce a differences of point. These are all you need to learn and include to receive the upcoming challenges that you are going to face. 

It takes time, but it's worth to each of us to practice and learn how to treasure every relationship we get in different stage of our life. The video below was about a twentysomething girl encountered a trouble that she didn't know the real love in life. She was dating down, but she slept with a knucklehead. Yet, it was not like she is going to marry the guy! A psychologist talked about how she dealt with a case that happened to her, and how her supervisor said, "Not yet, but she might marry the next one."

As a twentysomething person, I've dropped into a very depressing period before. I lost my purpose, passions, hobbies and targets in life. Somehow, I was really disappointed, and I didn't know who to talk because likewise I didn't want to talk to any of my friends, all I wanted was just faced it alone. 

Several weeks before, I still made myself dropped into that dark period! Suddenly, there was a sound appeared from my mind that told me to stop being like that. I tried to figure out the problem that I was currently facing... 

Finally, I found out that that thing occupied me was "Empty." I felt like I lost the purposes and I felt like nothing is important in life. How did I solve the problem I get? I started reading a book I've read before, "The Purpose Driven Life." It is a Christian reading. As a Christian, I've read it in Mandarin version when I was 18. Now I read it again in English version. 

Miraculously, I discovered that the real purpose in life is how god created us and gave us a purpose. All challenges we face are all the test from the god! Life on earth is just temporary, but the eternity is where we go after we die. God picks up those people who believe in his son, Jesus; and open the door for them. That's how god does! 

I am not going to talk about the religion in this article. I just want to express that how I tried to find out the reality in life, and to become a more positive person than I was. Watching the TED speech about the topic today, which made me re-definite ourselves and the purpose of life again. 

I am 21 currently! The twentysomething's life can't begin later until thirty. That is what this psychologist reminded me after watching this video; I re-connected the book I am reading and also the viewpoints she mentioned. I've got a conclusion! Man, treasure what you have, love what you do, plan your life positively, spread your active attitude in life, follow the words in bible and most importantly, enjoy it no matter how bitter or how sweet it is! 

Thank for your reading! I'd be appreciated if you can tell me your opinions.

- Timothinks

Facing fears

Have you ever felt fear in your life? How did you overcome it? When talking about this, I would say I am my greatest fear. I am a Pisces, and for me, feeling scared or depressed are parts of my personality.

Since I was a kid, there were many things that I had to learn and overcome. I even remember, once, I really felt stressed up when I was a Filipino study tour counselor; that I had to manage and do tourist spot introduction to students older than me. I didn't have enough confidence and didn't know how to speak in a fun way.

Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed during that period. Since the first experience, I decided to overcome the fear in my mind. I’ve begun the Thai study tour in 2016, and I’ve changed my way of leading a group of people, and talked to them in a more enthusiastic manner. Seriously, even though I didn't think I do the best, students were really fond of me and most importantly, I feel more confident when I try to overcome my fear built from a previous experience.

We all have the biggest fear in our mind, but what matters most is how we overcome it and make ourselves better.

The biggest fear is actually within ourselves! As I mentioned, my personality make me feel depressed oftentimes. We are not becoming better versions of ourselves by thinking of things we can't achieve or overcome. We shall change our attitude; face fears and learn to change our ways to avoid committing same mistakes.

Trust me, it will be better when you try to face your fear! Challenges exist in life, whether we escape or face them are all depending on us, but the truth is we can escape for now but we can't escape forever.

- Timothinks

What makes you happy?

Happiness is a natural ability of every human being has. We all have emotions on things that we encounter, and how we handle these in various circumstances is controlled by our brain.

Admit it or not, people are always separated based on their social status. We work for a living, to pursue our dreams, to maintain our family’s economic rank, etc.… but are we really satisfied with our lives? Are we happy about our current circumstance? Are we looking for a way to make ourselves happy?

Happiness is easy to get, but it is also hard to feel. Totally, it depends on how you define it! Even though I feel lonely sometimes, I am really satisfied with my life. I have an awesome closed family, perhaps not rich, but we live happily when we get together.

August last year, I traveled solo to the Philippines for two weeks and stayed in my host’s family to experience the local lifestyle. Seriously, the life in Taiwan and the Philippines is really different. Our salary, quality of life, and transportation system maybe are better than the life there. Once, I asked a staff in a mall about her salary. She worked 12 hours per day, but she only takes home 491 pesos (USD 10. That is, at that time, the minimum wage  in the Philippines. I am not going to talk about the economic problem in this article. People here work 8 hours per day as a full-time staff, and the basic salary is more than 1,000 NTD (USD 31). In most Asian countries, the workload is really heavy.  However, most people would complain to their government, and hate their current life.

Perhaps, we should find some other ways to balance the quality of life we live. I often say that I am really fond of Filipinos, because during those two weeks of staying there, even though I knew how tough life they have, as long as they live together, no one can stop their positivism and enthusiasm in life. Satisfaction, in the end, is the key to a happy life.

Things that make you happy all depend on how you see the things. We can’t control the life we have, but we can make an effort to change it and make it better. Change your attitude now, enjoy the things you do, and complain less on things you encounter. Remember: Always look at the glass half full rather than half empty.

- Timothinks

What maturity taught me

My birthday is a very important occasion in my life. It is a special day to me, for it was the very moment that I was delivered to this world, and to my greatest mom, for it was the day that ended the nine months of hardships and pains. I really thank my parents who made me and let me see the beauty of the world. I have had energy and curiosity to learn about unknown things since I was little. 

When we talk about my childhood, I have to say it had been very awesome! Because I am the youngest one in my family, I’ve obtained many free toys, free clothes, and even free video games from my elder brothers, and I've been the most loved kid at home. 

My parents educated me about the importance of managing money when I receive my allowances. They also opened our eyes to the things we should not do. I still remember when my dad let me smoke a cigarette when I was five, so that I realize how bad it smells. It was a really awful experience to try smoking. I've never wanted to touch cigarettes since I knew how bad it smell. That's how they taught me to learn things that we are curious about.

Let's talk about my own elder brother! He is five years older than me, so we actually have a little bit of generation gap. My brother and I have totally different personalities. Honestly, by seeing my brother’s growth, I’ve always thought about  what kind of person I will be when I grow up. I think that’s the reason why I became a crazy thinker! 

Each of us might have experienced the period of rebellion as we grow older. However, since I am the youngest in the family, I took many examples from my brother, and I constantly remind myself to avoid making the same mistakes that he did before making any decisions. I became braver and moe independent when I saw my how my brother encountered problems and learned how to handle them. Sometimes, I think I am overly matured to plan things in life. It seemed like I don’t have any of relaxing time when making them, and my life would become extremely tight. That's weird that I enjoy it so much! 

Once, I encountered a chaos when I didn’t know how to realize my plans, since I got too many goals to achieve. I learned to focus on one aim at a time to be able to move forward.

Seriously, achieving goals one step at a time made me feel better. Even if I have too many interests, and I wanted to try a lot of new things in life, I am just one person and I cannot make everything happen at the same time. I will admit it If you say I am such a crazy guy.

Finally, I really thank my parents for always allowing me to try anything I want! Although they have contentions at times, they’ve never stopped me for doing things I like since I was at the right age to know the consequences of the decisions I make.

Thank you for raising me up! I love you!

Your son, 

- Timothinks

On goals and fulfilling them

Each of us has goals to achieve. It could be good grades at school, a job that we want, or a huge fortune. Do you still remember the last time you set a goal, and finally achieved it?  Do you remember the feeling of fulfilling your visions? Close your eyes and think about it! We've been working hard in life, but when was the last time that we did things that we are fond of? Maybe, we are currently in the journey towards our dreams, although sometimes it might feel like we’re off track, or lost in the crossroads of choices and regrets. Perhaps, we got doubted with our choice when we felt it was the right thing.

I have had many goals in my life, and planning before a new year begins have been my personal tradition. When I was 15, I didn't have a huge passion for studying. I played online games round-the-clock while my schoolmates studied hard for their high school entrance examination. However, I realized that I didn't like to study general subjects, so I needed to find out what my real interests are. Honestly, I participated in many hands-on classes during my last year in junior high school (the government provides hands-on classes to figure out what hobbies students are interested in, especially to those who plan to study in vocational high schools). I took classes in every different field: hairdressing, electronics engineering, computer science, word processing, catering, car repairing, performing arts, among others.  Guess what? My dream was to become a hair stylist when I was 15, but I finally chose computer science as my major in my final school year because my parents denied it. Recently, I was thinking that maybe, I would become another Timothy if I finally chose the road of hair styling. Later on, however, I ultimately realized it was just a temporary interest for me. I am not a person who easily gives up on things I choose, but then things, so do people, change.

You might be surprised why I am studying applied foreign languages and travel management. As a former computer science student, I must admit that I am not good at math and I don't have a genius brain to learn computer languages. (Trust me! It's really hard, unless you have a golden brain.) 

In the past, I wasn't able to speak and write in English. I had a very terrible grammar, even if it had been my favorite subject when I was a kid. Few years ago, there was an idea that appeared in my mind that I decided to be fluent in English. Therefore, I began to adopt many ways possible to be able to perfect the language, but I didn't see any improvement. One day, I watched a YouTube video that talked about how Taiwanese people learn English. Suddenly, I just figured out I had been using wrong methods in learning the language. I even remember that I messaged the woman who made the video via email to ask her how I could better my English. 

She showed me the site "Lang-8" which I had been used to write entries since October 2016. I have published 756 entries since.

(These are my first entry's corrections on Lang-8.)

I think I will improve a lot by practicing day by day for 4 years, and that's why I changed my major in college. Apart from this, I also love traveling (I will talk about it in my next article!). Now, what I want to say is that, our dreams and goals may change over and over again, but never stop dreaming and pursuing your goals! If you encounter challenges, overcome them and find the right methods. Good luck and always follow your heart! 

Best wishes,

- Timothinks 

First times

Seriously, it was a very wonderful week. After I finished being a ten-day class mentor, I still had a one-week-holiday before the new semester begins. One night, I was browsing the Couchsurfing app on my phone, looking around for a traveler visiting my country, in the hopes of giving him/her a tour or even host him in my home. 

As I mentioned, I am a wanderlust! I love traveling a lot, so I thought maybe I could give someone a hand by helping him/her tour and appreciate my country as his/her first time alone! I clicked the “traveler” option, and started looking for someone whom I think might match my schedule. Finally I found one, and I sent that person a message and I also did a brief introduction to tell him my purpose and what I can offer as a host.

He is a Filipino, and honestly I know the Filipino culture quite well! (I traveled there twice in 2016.) It was actually an awesome experience that we met each other on CS! His flight was at midnight, so I wasn’t able to pick him up at the airport. However, I guided him how to get to his hostel and how to take the train by himself. I know the feeling of being a solo traveler, having the same experience before. It is exciting but scary as well. We hung out for dinner for his first night, and I found out that he is such a great person who has unique viewpoints on current news as a social media manager.

That's really awesome for me! Even though I know the culture of the Philippines quite well, I learned and saw something different through him. He is young, but he's doing something big and brave! During the days he stayed here, I brought him to places he wanted to visit, taught him the local lifestyle by hosting him in my home. Honestly, it was my first time to bring foreign friend at home, and it was awesome to share thoughts with him! We talked a lot that night, and I didn't know that my family can be really hospitable, as they treated my friend like their own son! I was a bit jealous that they treated him even better than me! Just kidding!

Time flew so fast! His four-day trip already drew a period. It was really hard to say goodbye when you cultivated a friendship like that in a span of four days. That night, I sent him to the airport and we talked a lot in the food court before he checked in. We seemed like a super close friend who can share everything to each other! I will truly treasure the limited time we had. Wish you succeed in your job and achieve your goals after heading back to Manila!

Thanks you chose Taiwan as your first foreign country to visit! I always believe that everything that happened was pre-destined. I really appreciated everything in the past week. Anyway, I didn't cry by saying goodbye because I know it will not be the last time that we will meet!

Thank you for everything,

Timothinks

What is Timothinks?

My name is Timothy, a new blogger here to share my thoughts, imaginations, and viewpoints about anything. I’m also here to explore new things in my life. I am a crazy idealist who loves to think every single day. The name "TimoThinks" was created by a friend of mine. He combined my name "Timothy" and the word "thinks", which meant that I am a crazy thinker to share things with. Welcome to my blog and enjoy things with me together!