Well, it’s Day 4 of our new journey in Taiwan. We arrived safely last Wednesday and we were warmly welcomed by a fellow co-worker.
To date, there are daily communications in the form of personal visits, phone calls, and messages from one or more of our new co-workers here in Taipei. All of them are truly happy to have us as part of the team here, and all of them empathise with our daily struggle as we transition into life here.
However, the culture shock is setting in quicker than I expected. It just hit me in the face. Honestly, it’s probably a good indication of how stressed and tired I am from these last few months of preparing for this current transition.
I could entertain you with the things which frustrate me, but that’s the danger of culture shock, entertaining those frustrations about differences—not failures or mistakes, between my home culture and my current adopted culture—which fuel bitterness and anger, defeating the whole purpose of coming here in the first place.
Rather, my prayer and desire turns to Jesus:
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
He is the reason we are here. He is my hope and my salvation. He is the hope and salvation for all peoples.
I’ll still have days where I will struggle with the culture, but I know that my Lord and Saviour is able to carry me through.
