{Segue} Building my R.A.F.T.

Simple raft (Mykola Swarnyk) / CC BY 3.0

Nearly four years ago as I was preparing to come to Taiwan, I attended Pre-Field Orientation (PFO) and learned, among many things, about the importance of building my RAFT.

RAFT is a nice little acronym that’s meant to help us remember the foundational elements of a healthy transition:

Reconciliation
Affirmation
Farewell
Think Ahead.

It’s a term that’s tossed around the Morrison community a lot, probably because we’ve all been through PFO and because we say goodbye so often. When someone is leaving Taiwan to head home to Canada or the U.S. or to travel on to new exciting places, you hear a question like, “How’s that RAFT-building going?” Over time, I’d forgotten the specific components of the acronym, but the meaning remained quite clear to me: RAFT = healthy transition. Continue reading “{Segue} Building my R.A.F.T.”

A Whirlwind Summer & Other Thoughts

July 21, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been a whirlwind summer so far, and the excitement is just beginning.  I am less than a week away from hopping on a plane to Taiwan and heading to my new home.  My departure date is July 27, and though I have what seems to be an immeasurable list of things to do between now and then, I feel quite ready to go.

I guess this is sort of a catch-all email before I find myself with limited internet access and even more limited time during the first few weeks of this transcontinental move. Continue reading “A Whirlwind Summer & Other Thoughts”