Every saga has a beginning...

Hi everyone,

This is my first blog entry for my trip to Taiwan 2004. Wow! I can't believe it's happened so quickly. In 3 days time I will be boarding a 747 to Singapore to start my first trip overseas! Yay! I must admit that I am more than a little bit nervous at the moment ... I am in the 'flight' 'fight' and 'fright' modes of the sympathetic nervous system all at once! (for those med students who may be reading)

I'm excited because of the many cool opportunites that lie ahead... only my Father in heaven knows the cool things in store over the next 2 months!
I'm nervous because although many of you have commented on how well I seem to fit into Asian culture I have only ever done that whilst in the comfort of my own territory. Once in a land where I am the foreigner, I think I will struggle with this a lot more. My Mandarin/Taiwanese learning has not been happening and so I'm going to go and buy a phrasebook tomorrow in the city.

The reason I set up a blog was because usually what happens is when people go overseas they email EVERYONE they know with epic emails that usually take 3 cups fo coffee/tea/Coca-cola to read about the amusing little anecdotes. Now PLEASE don't hear me wrong, I luv those emails and have nothing against them... but in the interest of saving everyone from MY boring rantings about life, I decided to make this whole thing a passive thing... so if you wanna hear about my travels, then visit this website frequently; but if you'd rather go and study/watch-paint-dry/calculate-the-number-of-days-till-Star-Wars-III-comes-out, then feel free not to logon and I wont be offended at all! I WILL still send some emails to certain people eg. Mum and Dad, my sisters, my flatmates (reminding them of the rent that's due or when to throw out that milk thats been in the fridge for 3 weeks) but just don't be offended if I don't email you... it's purely a time thingy... but you will increase your chance of getting an email if you send me one first! I will still be using my usual email address (jamesmitt@hotmail.com) while overseas.

In addition to writing this blog, I hope to share some pictures of my travels in Taiwan online but cos I don't wanna use up too much webspace here I am gonna set up a Gmail account which you can all look at. The URL is www.gmail.com and the Username is "jimbointaiwan" and the Password is "pulihospital". Please feel free to look at the pics and stuff BUT DO NOT DELETE or modify the pics cos they are there for everyone (including me when I get back!)

However, despite all this I must start this blog/journal of my travels by giving thanks to God. I haven't even left the country yet and already I have SO much to thank God for!
1) For saving me and loving me even when I was a sinner and his enemy! (thats the most amazing thing ever!!!)
2) For providing the finances for me to go overseas when I wasn't sure if it was possible (he answers prayers in mysterious ways!).
3) For sorting out the problems I had with the visa department (I tried going as a tourist but they rejected it and we had to call around and email people and it wasn't looking good... but it forced me to trust Him and rely on Him for ALL things...both big and small! And he was generous and provided what I needed!)
4) For allowing me to go with my best mate Pete and his wife Jade. These guys are gonna be so much fun to go to Taiwan with and I'm proud to call them my friends!
5) For allowing me to go to a Christian hospital and see how medicine and ministry work together overseas and to think more about how I can be involved in furthering the kingdom for Jesus!

Well anyway, this blog is getting quite long... but just to let you all know, I will be updating this blog on a regular basis (maybe twice a week??) with news/stories/cries-of-help/prayer-requests/thanksgiving-points/etc. so stay tuned for more!

May God bless all of you guys and gals out there! I've been so encouraged by my brothers and sisters who have been praying for me and encouraging me and helping me prepare for this trip...even just by asking me how it's been going. I'm gonna miss you guys all so much and can't WAIT to come home (even though I haven't left!) in January and tell you all the cool stuff!

God bless,
Jimbo