An American in Taichung

The Long and Winding Road...

Well, we finally made it! Due to bad weather, our flight from Anchorage to Taipei was redirected, adding about another two hours to our airtime. There was still a pretty good amount of turbulence -- at one point, everyone in the cabin actually screamed after the plane suddenly dropped several feet in the air during a particularly rough patch -- but other than that the flight was nice.


We touched down at last a little after 8:30 AM. After going through the visa check station, baggage pickup area, and customs (Kevin and I adopted a lost little high schooler named Phoebe on her first solo international flight and seemed a bit overwhelmed) we met the students who had come to meet us (Julia, Gentle, and Anderson) as well as a bunch of other students from UC San Bernadino.

The bus ride to Taichung from the airport took about 3 hours. I believe it usually it takes less time, but our trip was artifically extended by two pit stops -- one at a place called "Fancy Land" (a rest stop with a little pair of pink and purple dinosaurs as its mascots) and another at a gas station so some people could use the restroom. Finally, we arrived at the school, disembarked, and headed up to our rooms.

My dorm room, pictured above, is quite nice. Usually made to hold four people, it currently holds just two, and has a toilet, sink, shower, and, most importantly, AC. The beds, as I think you can see from the picture, are lofted. At first I was a little dubious about having to climb a ladder just to go to bed -- and on a plank surface softened only slightly by a tatami mat -- but it's turned out to be not so bad. Shortly after moving in, I was greeted with a boxed lunch, chocolates, and a little "yogurt" drink. As you can see from the picture, even lunch boxes are covered in cute cartoons and sayings.

Everything is just beautiful here -- the mountains in the distance are an unfailing source of delight, the vegetation lush, with flowers and palm trees everywhere, and the pollution and humidity not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. I wish I could write more but we have orientation soon... I will report with more later!

posted by Kelly @ 4:29 PM