Am I There Yet???
Short answer, yes. I arrived sometime last night about 9:00 pm local time, or around 6:00 am my time, with maybe 2 hours of sleep on the plane total. I think if I were to see another plane again right now, there is a most excellent chance I would puke. I don't remember travelling being this brutal when I went to Denmark, but I guess it's because we had the parents with us and we knew we wouldn't be left behind. It's a bit of a different story when you are responsible for getting yourself thousands of miles across the world. This being an adult thing kind of bites every now and then.
The day started with Dad dropping me off at the San Diego airport around 9 or so. I caught an 11 am commuter flight to LAX in the smallest little plane I ever did see. I think total travel time was 29 minutes or something absolutely ridiculous like that. Ha, if only all flights could be that short. That flight dropped me off at gate 88 or so of LAX, and I had to get to gate 76 post haste to board to Tokyo. You might think (as did I) that 76 would be a mere 12 gate lengths from 88. Yeah, well not so much. It was one of those 'take a right after taking a left and make another right and walk three miles until you get to a fork and then take the right path' kind of deals. I got there with decent time to spare, though, so it worked out. We ended up leaving about 30 minutes late, around 1 pm, because of some issues with some seats being double-booked.
The flight to Tokyo was 10 hours and 39 glorious minutes. I ended up next to these two guys, Kevin and Genghis, who are students at Penn State who were also ending up in Taiwan. They said they were partipating in a mission trip of some sort for three weeks. During the flight, I read a little, watched a new Disney movie about automobiles, listened to the airplane music until the cycle started repeating, and twiddled my thumbs. I wanted to read all about Taiwan on the plane, but I was so tired I knew even trying would just be pointless. Meals, drinks, and snacks were served periodically, so all I really did was sit on my butt and eat, as I have the past week. I need to find a gym soon or I think I am going to go insane.
The day started with Dad dropping me off at the San Diego airport around 9 or so. I caught an 11 am commuter flight to LAX in the smallest little plane I ever did see. I think total travel time was 29 minutes or something absolutely ridiculous like that. Ha, if only all flights could be that short. That flight dropped me off at gate 88 or so of LAX, and I had to get to gate 76 post haste to board to Tokyo. You might think (as did I) that 76 would be a mere 12 gate lengths from 88. Yeah, well not so much. It was one of those 'take a right after taking a left and make another right and walk three miles until you get to a fork and then take the right path' kind of deals. I got there with decent time to spare, though, so it worked out. We ended up leaving about 30 minutes late, around 1 pm, because of some issues with some seats being double-booked.
The flight to Tokyo was 10 hours and 39 glorious minutes. I ended up next to these two guys, Kevin and Genghis, who are students at Penn State who were also ending up in Taiwan. They said they were partipating in a mission trip of some sort for three weeks. During the flight, I read a little, watched a new Disney movie about automobiles, listened to the airplane music until the cycle started repeating, and twiddled my thumbs. I wanted to read all about Taiwan on the plane, but I was so tired I knew even trying would just be pointless. Meals, drinks, and snacks were served periodically, so all I really did was sit on my butt and eat, as I have the past week. I need to find a gym soon or I think I am going to go insane.
Al-most-there...I think we had about an hour or less at this point, but after hour 5 I totally stopped counting.
After arriving in Tokyo, I had about 45 minutes to spare, which was spent at an airport gift shop sifting through some things. Tracey loves Japan, so I picked her up a little something, and then rushed back over to the gate to board the Taipei flight. The flight to Taipei was kind of cool cause they served authentic Japanese green tea (which I suppose I have at home anyway but it seems so much cooler when you're in Japan). After 3 hours of that, I touched down at the Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport completely confused with life, and followed the abundant neon signs to get to baggage.
Only a few minutes after I approached the baggage terminal, this airline worker brings over his dog on a leash, which proceeds to jump up and walk on the conveyor belt sniffing each and every bag. I know drug trafficking is a capital offense in Taiwan, but geez. No better way to say, "Thank you for coming to our country but we really don't trust you." Some interesting video footage will be posted shortly if I can figure out how to do this.
After stepping out of the airport with my driver (I had a driver!), I thought I was going to die. The next time San Diego or even the OC has a crappy 'muggy' day, I will be the first one to shut up and tell others to do the same. It's a bloody sauna here, and mind you that was at 9 pm at night. Thankfully my room is air-conditioned, which is quite lovely, but if I had a choice for today I'd just park it in here where it's cool.
Upon arriving at my dorm complex (which is apparently brand spanking new and I might be the first inhabitant of my room), I met one of my Syrian neighbors who showed me around, as well as the dorm manager, SheinPei Chang. Both were very nice in giving me the tour. I am meeting two of Dr. Yu's lab assistants this morning at 9 am to do some paperwork and then do whatever they tell me--I really have no idea what the day holds.
Stay tuned for the report of my first full day in Taipei. I'm very curious to see what happens myself.
Only a few minutes after I approached the baggage terminal, this airline worker brings over his dog on a leash, which proceeds to jump up and walk on the conveyor belt sniffing each and every bag. I know drug trafficking is a capital offense in Taiwan, but geez. No better way to say, "Thank you for coming to our country but we really don't trust you." Some interesting video footage will be posted shortly if I can figure out how to do this.
After stepping out of the airport with my driver (I had a driver!), I thought I was going to die. The next time San Diego or even the OC has a crappy 'muggy' day, I will be the first one to shut up and tell others to do the same. It's a bloody sauna here, and mind you that was at 9 pm at night. Thankfully my room is air-conditioned, which is quite lovely, but if I had a choice for today I'd just park it in here where it's cool.
Upon arriving at my dorm complex (which is apparently brand spanking new and I might be the first inhabitant of my room), I met one of my Syrian neighbors who showed me around, as well as the dorm manager, SheinPei Chang. Both were very nice in giving me the tour. I am meeting two of Dr. Yu's lab assistants this morning at 9 am to do some paperwork and then do whatever they tell me--I really have no idea what the day holds.
Stay tuned for the report of my first full day in Taipei. I'm very curious to see what happens myself.
posted by Shannon @ 5:46 AM
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