Ni Hao! Well, it is 5:30AM Thursday morning here in Taiwan. For most of you who will be reading this, it is Wednesday evening, between 8-10:00PM (depending on the time zone). I left on Monday morning from the Tucson Arizona Airport and traveled for approximately 26 hours before arriving at my destination, The Berhan Language institute in Feng Yuan, on Wednesday morning around 1:30AM. The trip consisted of a 2 hour drive to Tucson, a 1 1/2 hour flight from Tucson to LAX, a 2 1/2 hour lay-over, a 13 hour flight to Taipei. Upon arrival in Taiwan (Tuesday night at 8:00PM) there was much confusion in the Taipei airport where we were informed that our school representative was NOT going to be picking us up (family emergency), so the ten of us had to figure out how to catch a bus from Taipei to Taichung. Fortunately, one thing we quickly realized was that the Taiwanese people are SO friendly and helpful (well, those who speak English :). We had to take the bus in two shifts to accommodate for the vast amount of luggage we had. I stayed with the later group to wait for one of the other teachers who had to fly with a different airline and arrived an hour later then the rest of us.

The bus ride took around two hours, and we were dropped off at an obscure location literally in front of a street vendor. There were about six men working at the stop. Some I think were taxi drivers (taxis were parked on the curb) while others used lighted batons to direct the busses that would come by. There was a TV hanging under an awning playing the World Cup, and a long bench painted bright yellow running along a fence. We had all of our luggage unloaded from off the bus, which took up most of the sidewalk space. You had to be quick to claim your luggage because the men unloading were pulling suitcases in and out rather quickly (it wasn't a final destination, so some of the luggage would be going on to other stops). Climbing off the bus we weren't even really sure if it was the right stop because we couldn't read any of the signs, all of which were fluorescent. By this time it was well after midnight. We had been told our representative would be at the stop, which he wasn't. So one of the guys was able to communicate to the little shop owner that we needed to use the telephone. We found out that we would have to wait there for around half an hour for our pick-up. So just imagine six ragged-looking Americans on the streets of Taiwan drowning in a sea of luggage at a bus stop with six Taiwanese men trying their best to entertain us, even though they didn't speak a word of English...It turned out to be a lot of fun and an exchange of water and American candy took place. I was too afraid to drink the water, but all the other teachers drank it (and are still alive).

Just when I thought we would be staying the night at this establishment our ride pulled up. We were picked up by a little van without any seats (accept for the driver and a passenger seat) So we had to pack our stuff in, and pile in the back among the luggage. This was also our introduction to the wild driving that takes place in Taiwan. We had to hold on tight to a bar separating the two seats from the back to stay upright. Upon arrival at the school (where we are living) we had to haul everything up four flights of stairs. Now these flights of stairs are much taller than I experienced back in the states and feel more like maybe six flights...no joke. The time was now around 2:00AM. I chose one of the few spaces left in a room with four other teachers. The bedrooms are a comfortable size, probably around 15' x 30'. The school has provided a nice arrangement allowing everyone a wardrobe, desk/vanity, night stand, and a bed (of course). The beds, appear like western beds, but are pretty much a wooden box on a wooden platform (meaning they are VERY hard). We did some basic unpacking and went to bed around 3:00AM. I think I maybe got about 2-3 hours of sleep, since my inner-clock is completely out-of-whack right now.

Later that morning we began orientation. This consisted of filling out paperwork, touring the school, and being assigned a bike. Each bike has a basket (very important I have learned), and a keyed bike lock. Then, with little warning we were given (almost literally) a "crash course" in riding a bike in Taiwan. To describe this process would not give this experience justice, so I will only give a brief description now (I am hoping to videotape it from my basket some time to really illustrate what it is like) One of the school secretaries drove a scooter while we chased behind on our bikes to go to a photography shop to get some passport type photos taken (needed for all the paperwork). On our way back we stopped by a grocery store to pick up lunch. I'd say 75% of the food I didn't recognize. I bought some fresh pineapple, some little rolls, and cranberry juice (all pretty safe looking :).

Later that afternoon we rode on or bikes over to the hospital to do the mandatory medical examinations for our working visas. Everything was fine until they wanted to take my blood. They draw the blood at two stations along a counter in front of the entire hospital (a main hallway runs through it, and there are 20 or so seats facing the counter. You take a number and they serve you in that order similar to going to the bank...) I survived, but not without much anxiety.

We then rode to a giant superstore called "Asia Go", which is pretty much a super Wal-Mart with a few twists. These guys sell everything. The main portion of the store was like Wal-Mart, but as you exit there is a series of privately owned shops that sell all kinds of stuff from educational computer games to pets to cars. Yes, there was a car dealership with three cars on display. We were at this store to purchase pillows for our beds to make up for the fact that they are ridiculously too hard. So most everyone purchased a pillow. We thought we would have to then carry these pillows on our bikes, but the two school secretaries escorting us piled them up on their scooters. We returned to the school and promptly departed once again for dinner. This time we chose to walk. We went with our school representative to an Italian restaurant. I was very curious, because it was a Taiwanese Italian restaurant. The waitress didn't speak English, but we were given English menus and were able to point to what we wanted. I ordered a 9" thin crust chicken pizza which was amazing. It easily was one of the best piazzas I have had. I'll have to go back soon. I cost 230NT, which translates to about $7USD. A little pricy, so I can't go back all the time if I want to be thrifty and stretch my money (which by the way is so "pretty"--it reminds me of Monopoly money). After dinner I was even more adventurous and went with two other teachers (this time no escorts) back to the Asia Go to get a mattress pad for my bed. One of the girls was nice enough to ride her bike and hold the mattress pad at the same time. (I really wish I had my camera, because I was very impressed with her skill). We got back to the school in one piece and feeling very accomplished.
Well, that is a quick update on what has transpired in the last few days. Don't really know where Tuesday went, so if any of you see it, please let me know!