I finally made it! No need to worry now. My strong ability to sleep anywhere really came in handy on the long flight to Taipei. Fifteen hours later we landed and a group of around 30 other Fulbright ETAs (give or take a few - it was really early counting wasn't a big focus that early in the morning)and I headed through customs and got all our bags. The next two hours was spent standing in the middle of some arrivals lobby waiting as more people arrived. Once 7 o'clock hit we boarded a bus to take us to yet another airport in the center of Taipei. Now I understand that Chicago has two airports: Midway and O'Hare, with O'Hare being labeled Chicago's airport. However, when they say 臺北松山機場 (Song Shan Airport) is in Taipei I really mean it. Taipei 101 seems to be only a couple blocks away as you walk out onto the tarmac to the plan.
Unlike the first flight where you couldn't see anything but black out of the windows (what a waste of not getting that perfect shot for insta), the second flight was amazing. One member of my group stationed in Taitung is on his second year in the region and was sharing so much about the coast and islands underneath us like he was Jacques Cousteau. I now have an even larger list of places to go see now.
We didn't really get to enjoy the region much yesterday. We arrived in the county around 11am their time and got put straight to work filling out paperwork. I swear I could've been signing my life away and had no idea. We filled out forms to get a phone number in Taiwan, forms for an Alien Resident Visa card that will enable us to go in and out of the country, and forms we are using today to open up bank accounts. All these forms were filled out while sitting on the floor of the airport in small groups deciphering what each box of traditional characters meant.
The group in my region are already so much fun and are much more prepared for all the changes Taiwan brings. Half of the people have studied abroad either in Taiwan or China already with most being close to fluent speakers. Then there is me. The kid that studied Mandarin seven years, but not in the last three years who has only ever been out of the country to go to London for a week. Can that even be considered going abroad? They speak the same language, pretty much live the same, the only difference is they share my affinity for tea. Thank god so does Taiwan.
Although my Mandarin is somewhat broken I did find that I could piece together conversations and with the help of some of the other ETAs was able to somewhat understand the Immigration officer's interesting speech. I guess in the past the ETAs have stayed on the bus while their paperwork was being documented and filed. However, this year we were brought to a conference room and hung out for around 2 or so hours while a officer had fun talking to us. His "lecture" seemed to be something out of final destination as he had fun scaring us with stories of people hitting cows in the street, scooter accidents, typhoons, and the ever present earthquakes (that I guess I will have to get used to).
I became a deadman walking after that point yesterday. Everyone kept going through waves of energy as we battled jet lag with our packed schedule. Somehow we managed to fit a trip to RT Mart for toiletry supplies (or in my case to also get Ritz's crackers just in case I want something I am familiar with instead of eating something I have no idea what's inside), to a phone store to get SIM cards (which I didn't understand how they worked in English let alone in Mandarin), and to get bikes for the month. Not much was shared once we finally made it to the two apartments we are staying only temporarily till the end of the month. Randomly we choose strips of paper to find our roommates and house with two people to a room and around 10-12 people per a house. We made it till 9pm 8/1 and finally got to take the shower I wanted since my first flight landed. I could tell you all more or share pictures of my room and apartment, but I think all that has to wait. I literally fell asleep in the seven minutes it took for my roommate to take a shower (thankfully it was after having already showered and putting on pajamas). In other words my "unpacking" yesterday was just opening my suitcase to find shorts and a shirt for pajamas and leaving the suitcase open on the floor, not bothering to take anything out. Once I get really settled I promise to share more.
Wish me luck in navigating the city this morning to find the bank to open an account! Taitung doesn't have the Sears Tower to use as a point of reference to not get lost here.
-Special note to my Mom: hiding a clown doll in my bag was 1) not needed when jet lag had me pretty much pulling an all nighter 2) didn't scare me because like I said I was too tired to care and 3) just shows I could've packed that pack of Bananagrams if I tried hard enough.
You live and you learn, till next post
-天美藍
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