6 months mark and a Birthday

Hello World, my name is Brian Buckley and I am twenty-three years old.

Life can be beautiful sometimes and one of those times is right now. Though I cannot say I live a blissful carefree existence dancing down the street to the beat of my own drum, with sunshine beaming from my glassy eyes and flowers floating delicately out of my ass, I can say that every day contains a smile. I have good friends, a better family, and a job which pays for my food, shelter and even frivolous wants and needs.

Taiwan has been a place of understanding for me and a place of self discovery. I live a solitary life for five days a week and spend the weekends hopping from place to place in the city with my friends who are gracious enough to allow me to sleep in their homes. Living alone in a city where no one speaks my language has been as invigorating as a cold shower on a thickly-hot tropical afternoon. I wake up to my alarm as I see fit, exercise in the morning and try to get out of the house before noon a few days a week, just to look around. Sansia is a city hugged gently by sloping mountains with thick swirling dragons of misty precipitation which stand elegantly and without malice. They are not the craggy snow capped peaks of the Northwest and contain a gentler character which is exuded in their humble size and deep green majesty. Make no mistake about it however, there are just as many ways to die in those hills as any other.

I look forward to the moments that I share with people who I've come to depend on. Having conversations which last through the night and sometimes into the unfortunate dawn of Saturday morning. Sitting over a perspiring glass of sweet fruit tea with chunks of lime, apple and orange floating among the ice and discussing literature, philosophy, gossip and witticisms with people who can throw around vocabulary with the best of them as rain pours down in tropical fashion outside our tree-house tea house, can make me want to prostrate myself before the clouds themselves and say thank you. I am truly grateful to this country for what it has given me: a perspective on my life and the places I've been in the past, as well as the places I will go in the future, and the determination to see my goals through to their fulfillment.

I miss Washington. I miss the entire west coast and I dream of what lies beyond the borders of my limited experiences of the American outdoors. Sometimes urges to just throw on a pack and stomp out my front door and straight into the Pacific Cascades are immense but I placate myself with the thought that those mountains will always be there waiting for me, which reminds me of something my sister mentioned to me recently "Don't hurry on back home, it'll still be here no matter how long you're gone." Though people and places may change, my love for the outdoors will not disappear and the outdoors are infinite and everlasting.

To all my friends and family back home, thank you for your support and I can tell you that I am a happy, healthy individual and it's thanks in no small part to your love.

(PS: I know this is a pretty heavy one, don't worry, I'll post a cooler one soon)