K: The many joys of the Taipei, Taiwan airport

On grounds of not displeasing a most beloved father (whom I made a promise with that I would write in the blog before the end of this week), here I am making my second, yes, second, post! I know, Nicole totally has me whipped at blogging, but hopefully I can slowly redeem myself beginning right now (with emphasis on “slowly”).

I believe my last post dealt only with my plane flight to Taiwan, so I’ll skim over a couple things and do my best to catch everyone up!  Basically, I got off the flight in Taiwan and (having thankfully listened to Nicole’s step-by-step recordings of telling me what to do) followed the majority of my fellow flyers to the customs line. Once there, having no idea what was going on, I simply jumped in line (which of course, wasn’t what I was supposed to do). After waiting patiently for several (or more like twenty) minutes with an over packed carryon that I was regretting more and more by the minute, I reached the front desk and spoke with a man that immediately asked me for my paper work. Now, if I had been paying more attention, I would have noticed that before most of the individuals were getting in line, they were filling out a small piece of white paper with basic information on tables nearby. I, being somewhat dazed due to the 14-hour plane flight, had completely missed this small detail and was sent back to fill out the slip. After getting back in line and reaching the same man yet again, I was told that because I didn’t have my visa (thanks to the San Francisco Embassy who had been in the middle of some switchover before Nicole and I left, or something of that sort) I needed to go to a different line and then come back. I tried to explain that the school, Berhan, was going to get my work visa once I got there, but I think that when he heard the “six-month” part he didn’t think I wanted to get the temporary visa that would have allowed me to go to baggage without any problems. So after leaving the line yet again, I got in a third line, spoke with an individual who was confused as much as I was (I think the whole language barrier was the majority of the problem), and ended up simply jumping back in the line I had just left. Once again, I returned to the front of the customs line and this time, speaking with a different gentleman, was allowed to get a 90-day visa and be on my way.  Hallelujah! I swear I could hear the angels singing.

Once I got to baggage and found my luggage, I stayed calm, found Nicole waiting for me, and made it to Berhan without the slightest of struggles. NOT. I mean, where is the fun in having something workout according to plan? Instead, I got my baggage, couldn’t see Nicole anywhere, and slightly (okay, maybe more than slightly) began to panic. I sat down on my suitcases, pulled out my laptop, and got on facebook to see if Nicole had written me. While reading her message that she had made it to the airport, I began responding when I heard a voice ask if I were a teacher going to Berhan. I looked up and with a flood of relief, realized that I had just met one of my fellow teachers, the amazing Kylie Weiser, and instantly began a conversation.  Nicole and the fantastic Sunny (also another teacher) met up with us after a few minutes, and thus began our journey to Berhan

Okay, seeing the length it took me just to tell the above story, I should probably take my own advice at the beginning of the post and condense. We found a currency exchange station, traded out our money for our first Taiwanese bills (well, with my college funds it wasn’t bills quite yet, just coins), and found a pay phone. Surprisingly, using payphones in the Taipei airport is about as fun as waiting in lines at the DMV on your day off (you can all thank Nicole for that brilliant analogy). After finally receiving help from a woman at the lost and found, and thanks to Nicole’s Chinese skills (which although she says are “ incredibly limited… sad, really” are ten-thousand times better than any of the other teachers at Berhan), we were able to reach the school and let them know we were on our way (or more
correctly, Nicole was able to reach the school and let them know we were on our way, while I read a  fascinating display on the quality of Taiwanese coffee beans). Once finished with the phone, we made our way to the side doors of the airport, bought bus tickets to Taichung Station (or so we thought…), and boarded a bus that started us on one awesome adventure.

As the hour is growing late, I’ll end here with promises of posting again on the morrow (…or maybe in a few days)! Trust me, the story is worth reading.