Troy Simpson

Great year all round. Lived in Taiwan for over half the year. That was a great experience and I think it helped me learn about myself as much as the new culture and language. Definitely more than the new language. Made for an interesting office as I worked on a new product this year. Some 5 star locations I worked at were a little more exotic than my home office.

During the trip I discovered I am not bothered by the heat nearly as much as the annoyance of bundling up for the cold. Even when it is this hot.

Winter is back here in Toronto. Looking forward to snowboarding again.

I developed an appreciation for clean drinking water while gone - it still shocks me that people drink from bottled water here in Canada. The tap water here is among the best in the world, use refillable bottles. Lugging around bottles for everyday use is quite inconvenient.

I am still a little blind to signage now after returning. Being illiterate is not easy even for a casual tourist.

I discovered I have a healthy fear of snakes after seeing and hearing a few hiking. On the other hand, I discovered I really enjoy aquariums. We went to a few spectacular ones in Taiwan and Malaysia. I would like to go to the enormous Japanese one - there are some incredible videos on YouTube.

(this is a massive shark a foot away from my head from an underwater tunnel)

To the shock of friends and family I got engaged to my longterm girlfriend. Shocking because I am a little untraditional - otherwise I would have married her years ago.

This year over people visited this site and my Taiwan blog over 100,000 times. Thanks for taking the journey with me.

I am looking forward to 2011. Make or break time for the business, moving in a month, some close friends are getting married. Happy new year.

Cheers
-troy