NOTES FROM TAIWAN #1: JUDGEMENT DAY

So begin the chronicles of my life in Taiwan. I will (hopefully) be posting at least once a day. Enjoy.

NOTES FROM TAIWAN #1

May 30th, 2008

JUDGEMENT DAY

After months of preparation and anticipation, the day finally arrived: the day I departed to Taipei, Taiwan to intern for the summer. Leading up to Friday, I had been feeling overwhelming excitement. But the few days prior to takeoff, and had started to feel a little differently.  Not worried or nervous, maybe more uneasiness. Before this trip I have never traveled outside the North America (and the only other countries outside of the U.S. I had been to were Canada and northern Mexico, neither of which really count as a foreign country experience). I packed my bags: one large suitcase and a backpacker's pack, the latter more for the August trip to Thailand. I moved out of my apartment, which had been host to many a magical nights of drink and song. I had my final supper (the monster platter at El Cholo, in preparation for 3 months without good Mexican food). And I said my goodbyes. All the while a growing sense of uneasiness had crept up and displaced my wide-eyed excitement. Now I was still very excited, mind you, but for the first time since being accepted into the program back in January, I truly grasped what I had gotten myself into.

So on Friday night, my LA mama Tlee and friend Matt drove me to LAX. After parting ways, I hoisted up my luggage (which I immediately realized was more than twice the amount than what I would need), and entered the battleground that is Tom Brady International Airport.

Having never flown internationally from LAX, I had no idea what to expect. Little did I know how much of a modern-day gladiator coliseum that place is. Hundreds, if not thousands, of American and international travelers climbing over each other in an attempt to check in. To say I was impolitely brushed against a few times would be the grossest understatement of my life. Highlights of checking-in included watching a group of Indian men shout at each other as their moving tower of 30 suitcases cascaded to the ground, and seeing a small Chinese man sprint from one end of the terminal to the other in 15 seconds flat as he leaped and bounded over bags as if he was an Olympian hurdler. This experience alone was enough to dissolve any small concerns or doubts I had had leading up to this point. My excitement was back. The next three months were gonna be friggin' amazing.

After passing through security (a surprisingly quick and easy process) I made my way to my gate, where I met up with my fellow Global Fellows Ben and Craig. We passed the next two hours talking about all of the things we wanted to do as soon as stepping foot in Taipei. Our conversation was halted and our jaws dropped when a flock of a dozen gorgeous Asian women in revealing clothing strutted past us and onto our plane: our flight attendants. Needless to say, this was a very encouraging way to start the trip.

We boarded the plane, and I seated myself in my home for the coming 14 hour flight (a middle seat of course). I check the movies available for viewing: Mad Money, How She Move, and 27 Dresses... this was going to be a long flight. The plane taxied onto the runway. Began to pickup speed, and lifted of the ground.

The flight passed by fairly quickly, surprisingly. Sleeping was a bit of an impossibility considering my seating situation. After trying a few positions which can only be described as fetal mixed with Flying Lotus, I gave up on sleep. I fumbled with the control panel on my arm rest, trying to find the switch for the light. As I'm doing this, the Taiwanese boy in front of me figures out his light in a matter of seconds, and then proceeds to strobe it for the next half hour. I didn't know it was possible to acquire epilepsy from such things, but trust me, it is. Then came dinner/dinner/breakfast time (at this point time had ceased to exist). The meals were delicious, something I never thought I would say about airplane food, and having them handed out by cute flight attendants does wonders for keeping a man's spirits up during a long flight.

The plane touched down in Chiang Kai-shek International Airport at 6:00am. Looking out the window as we descended into the city I saw farmland and rural areas not too different from that in America. It didn't really hit me at that time that I was in a foreign country. Yes, I had noticed that the use of the English language had dissolved and been replaced by the use of Chinese. And I had noticed the overwhelming majority of Taiwanese that were on the plane in comparison to the few Caucasian passengers. But I had yet to be hit by the realization that I was on the other side of the globe in Taiwan. That changed, however, immediately after stepping off the plane...

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