Sergio Pratz

My friend Sergio left Taiwan on September 6th. I've been so busy with starting my IMBA and meeting new classmates that, thank god, I've hardly had the chance to absorb the loss and the fact that he's no longer here. I met Sergio on my first full day living in Taiwan, September 1, 2009. It's funny because I remember him from the second I saw him. We were in student orientation at the language center, and he spoke up in response to some question on ARCs, Taiwan's green card. I couldn't tell where he was from immediately... I think my first impression was he Arabic British. How on earth?! Show's how ignorant I was at the time. Sergio is of course Mexican.

I'm a realist, at least on a number of levels, Sergio will tell you... He says I'm the one that needs to get more in touch with my "girl cell" (after I forced him to watch Eve Ensler's Ted Talk). I agree, I'm not a girlie-girl, and I don't believe in what some consider to be the more feminine beliefs, like divine intervention or fate. I do however think there was a reason I noticed Sergio on day one in Taiwan. Throughout my first year in Taiwan he enriched my life and made the move so easy. I believe it's because I met Sergio that my life in my first year here has been easy and incredible. On day one, we went to lunch, and he created a checklist of everything I needed to do in order to meet visa/alien resident requirements, get a transportation card, a cell phone/sym card... All things complicated and essential.