I’m happy to report that we had a really smooth trip to Taipei. We didn’t miss any flights (which we’ve been known to do) so it can be counted as a success. We left from the Erickson residence at 11am on the 18th, drove to Bangor in a sweaty heat (that would serve as a preview to Taiwan’s sweaty heat), and then flew to JFK in New York- which could use a better restaurant selection I must add! How many Panini Expresses do they really need? Our flight out of JFK was delayed due to thunderstorms so we were at the airport for like 6 hours, which gave us time to catch up on our Big Brother UK episodes. Ugh, Bea is being so annoying! She needs to be evicted. Anyway…
We flew with China Airlines, which has a pretty sketchy safety record but also has the cheapest tickets which made it the flight for us! We sat 4 rows from the back of the plane in the only section that had two seats together instead of three. We’re snobby like that. Neither of us are good at sleeping on airplanes but by the time we took off we’d already been travelling for 13 hours and the small-headed stewardesses turned off all the lights so both Mel and I got some rest. Our plane seemed modern enough but it didn’t have those personal TV thingers that pass the time so well so we mostly just slept and read our way to Anchorage and then, on the same plane but after a quick stop-over, to Taipei. We've since found out that there was an earthquake in Anchorage a few hours after we took off. Crazy!
Quarantine!
When we got to the Taipei airport we went through quarantine (guess Mike didn’t give us the swine flu after all!), collected our bags, grabbed some free touristy maps, nervously but successfully passed through immigration, and then stepped out to find our driver holding a pink “MELODIE” sign. He didn’t speak any English, but had a big smile and directed us outside where we were hit with THE HEAT (OMFG). We loaded our bags into his van, and drove off. He called the school on his phone and passed the phone to Mel so she could speak with her contact at the school. After a quick call it was about a 30 minute drive to the Sinjhuang area of Taipei County, where we are living.
We were met at the school by Ivy, who works for the recruiting agency Mel got placed by, and Amy who works for the school. We knew we were at the school because it’s a Catholic school and there were Jesuses and Marys everywhere. Ivy and Amy were so so so good to us! When we first arrived they showed us to our rooms. Mel and I are getting an apartment, but while we get settled the school has offered us temporary housing in the dorms. However, the ladies and the lads are on separate floors so we can’t stay in the same room, which kind of sucks. We went to Mel’s room first… a kind nun lady met us and showed our group to the room, and it was really nice. It’s meant for 2 people but she is the only female teacher so she has it all to herself. She also has a little private washroom and shower. She has reported that her bed is hard as a rock, which must be an Asian thing since our beds in Korea were always really hard too. I recall that by the end of our time there we had like 4 comforters on top of our mattress to make it softer. MY ROOM is meant for the students. Since I don’t even work at the school, I can only be happy that they’re accommodating me like they are and the room is really nice, and it’s meant for 4 people and I have it to myself, BUT there’s no mattress on the beds! I also have to share the kids’ bathroom… and there’s only one western toilet! The other ones are all squat toilets! I hope I don’t run into any sitcheations with those… Anyway. No one even thought anything of the lack of mattresses until Mel asked “ummm will Shawn be getting a mattress to sleep on?” The response was “no” …hahhahaahaha. Basically, the students bring their own mattresses when they stay in the dorms.
Ivy and Amy then showed us to the huge pool next door to our dorms, which we can use anytime Mel trades in her whorish 2-piece swimsuit for a more Catholic school appropriate onesie. Then they took us to the teachers’ office where we were able to e-mail home and then they offered to drive us to a supermarket in case we needed to buy anything we hadn’t brought with us. At this point it was only 9:00am and stores were just opening. They offered to drive us to Costco because you can get foreign goods there, but we knew we could find everything we needed at a normal Taiwanese supermarket- and without buying a Costco membership- so they drove us to Carrefour. There were a lot of Carrefours in Korea and Thailand and we love shopping there! Seeing Carrefour was like seeing an old friend. We bought a double air mattress for me to sleep on, some TP (also not provided by the school for the students or teachers!), some batteries for our walkie talkies and some foods to snack on. We saw a lot of exciting items that are pointless to purchase until we have our own place/kitchen but I noticed that they sell hamburger helper! Schwing!!
After we got back to the school, Ivy and Amy walked us to a nearby store where they ordered our tired zombie bodies some food. Mel got a hugely epic BLT and I got some lovingly seasoned chicken tenders and a big orange juice. Did I mention how hot it is in Taiwan? That orange juice didn’t last long. The heat is like being in a sauna 24/7… it’s damn hot.
So, after checking perezhilton.com to make sure Michael Jackson hadn’t come back to life or anything, we went back to our rooms, had showers and got some much needed sleep. We’d agreed to set our alarms for 3pm so we could walkie talkie each other and make plans, but neither of our alarms worked and we wound up meeting around 5pm. We’re in the same building, except I’m on the 4th floor and Mel’s on the 5th, so it’s easy to meet up. Both of us felt like a million bucks after our showers and a little sleep.
We decided to walk to the main road in front of the school (a HUGE campus by the way) and to walk right. Tomorrow we’ll walk left. That’s how we roll. On our walk right we passed the little BLT place, a McDonalds, a perfectly fine grocery store with WAY MORE tasty food than any shop in Korea ever had (they sell Lays Chips here, y’all), and about a million pet stores and scooter shops. It was definitely the pet/scooter district. Also, the roads and traffic are crazy! If I make it through the year without being destroyed by a scooter it will be a small miracle. Sometimes there are sidewalks but most of the time there isn’t, and no one stops for pedestrians. Also, everyone drives a scooter. Everyone! And they prefer to drive it as fast as possible and as close to your personal space as they can. It’s nothing like any traffic I’d seen before… it’s insane. It’s basically what I’ve always pictured India being like. We were on high scooter alert tonight and walked single file in the dangerous seeming areas. Um… I’m sure we’ll get used to it?
It gets dark around 6pm here, which is kind of weird. I’d like to say the weather cools off at night, but it doesn’t. I was a sweaty Canadian pig all night. But we both really enjoyed walking around and getting our bearings… it’s truly like no place I’ve ever been before. We went into some of the pet stores just to enjoy the air conditioning and to ogle their kittuhs! We found a big market that sells all sorts of clothes and foods which I’m sure will take many of our monies, and then we went to a café for supper. I got spaghetti and Mel got some pork/ricey thing… and they were both very tasty. The cost of things is very low here. Our meals were about $4 each but they would have been $12-15 at home for sure, given the presentation and quality. At Carrefour my double air mattress cost $7, a lifetime supply of toilet paper was $2.50, 16 Energizer batteries was $2.50, and so on. Isa cool.
So, Mel and I hung out on a bench outside the dorms for a bit, chatting, laughing and looking at maps. She has no work obligations until Monday so we have a bit of time for fun and sightseeing. We’ve decided that tomorrow we are going to get on A BUS and try to find the SUBWAY and then maybe some of the bigger areas of the city. We’ll see how that works out.
Our dorms apparently have some sort of loud alarm that goes off at 6am every morning to wake the students… the man in charge of my floor has maniacally demonstrated it twice for me now and it is indeed loud. So Mel and I have agreed that when the alarm goes off at 6am we’ll turn our walkie talkies on and decide how we feel and when we want to meet up for our adventure. What she doesn’t yet know, because of our different floor situation, is that I’ve just met the other 2 new teachers (both guys, and thus both staying on my floor) and that I’ve agreed to show them to the office for their orientation at 9am tomorrow. They just got in and it’s too late for them to go to the Carrefour to buy BLTs, or to use the office internets to email home or to check on Jacko.
I have to say that it’s so far so good. It’s hard to really express how nice the school has been to both of us. They really bent over backwards to make us both feel welcome and orientated. This is a really freaking weird city and I’m mega excited to check it out some more tomorrow!
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