Trip Over and First Day

I am sitting here in Kaohsiung, trying to decide how to begin my first blog post from Taiwan, and all I can think to say is HUMID.  There literally hasn't been a moment in which I have not been able to reach up to my forehead and wipe perspiration off of it.  I am not used to this.  It gets humid in Minnesota, but only for a little bit at a time, and I can usually go inside and cool off, but that humidity doesn't really compare to here.  Luckily, I do have a fan in my room, and it helps to relieve the heat and humidity.  Right now it is cloudy outside, and the winds are very high.  My host brother, Alex, tells me that a typhoon is due to arrive tomorrow, which makes me a bit anxious, but also excited.

Anyway, enough about the weather.  I will now describe my trip over to Taiwan.  I arrived with my family at the airport in Minneapolis at around 3:00 PM on the 24th, and proceeded to say goodbye (there were surprisingly few tears, although I miss them quite terribly already) and go through security.  After successfully finding my gate, I waited for a bit, then boarded the plane and before I knew it, we were landing at the Los Angeles Airport.  LAX is an... interesting airport (for specifics, see Connor Rohwer's latest blog post), but after a stressful hour of walking around, looking lost, and checking and rechecking monitors, I was able to find my gate.  After a bit of a wait, we boarded, and I fell asleep almost immediately on the plane, as it was around 4 AM, Minnesota time.  I awoke after about 5 hours of sleep, and proceeded to watch 3 movies:  The Tourist (a personal favorite), 21 Jump Street (Not sure what to say about that one), and part of The Social Network.  Time passed quickly, and soon we had arrived in Taipei.  As we landed, I was offered my first glimpse of Taiwan...

Not a great photograph, but you get the idea... verdant and rather beautiful, the lanscape excited me even more.  The Taipei airport was very nice, and I quickly boarded my final plane to Kaohsiung and was soon in the air.  After a quick flight, we arrived in Kaohsiung, I found my luggage, and was greeted by a welcome party and my host family.  They had made an amazing poster with a picture of my face on it!

Soon, I was in the car with my host mother, father, and brother, driving to their apartment.  My mother, whom I simply refer to as Mama, and Alex, my brother, both speak English, and were very talkative on the ride home and kindly asked if I was hungry, thirsty, tired, or if I needed anything.  My host father, who I call baba, is not quite as proficient in English, but he is also very friendly, and we can communicate in a sort of Chinese/English language combo (Chinenglish...?).  Driving through the streets of the city was great.  There are a ton of motorcyclists here, and on the major roads of the city they actually get their own separate lane.  Also, palm trees line the streets here, which is a pretty cool sight.  Right before we got to the apartment, I was surprised to see a huge Costco store right across the street from where we live.  My host mom got a huge kick out of the look of surprise on my face when I caught sight of the store... it was honestly the last thing I was expecting, but also somewhat comforting to see something so familiar in a sea of foreign-ness.  Another thing I was happy to see before arriving at the apartment was a room at the bottom of our building (we live on the twelfth floor) devoted to ping pong.  As some of you may know, I have a deep love for ping pong.  I plan on becoming a master while here, so I can show off my skills to my fellow ping pong lovers in back Northfield and respond to any challenges I may receive.  Anyway, we finally arrived at the apartment, and it is quite a wonderful place.  It is very new, has very fancy wood floors (which I was careful not to scratch with my suitcase wheels),  and it is also quite spacious.  I have my own bedroom, and a very large bed.  The bathroom is also very nice.  My host family has already made me feel quite at home.

That night, my host family took me out to a rotary dinner at a very nice restaurant called the Predestination Hong Kong Tea Restaurant.  There was a TON of food served, a total of around 9 courses I believe.  Though I can't really remember the order, there was:  Beijing Duck (served inside a wrap with a delicious sauce, it actually reminded a bit of a taco), some sort of a preserved egg dish, pieces of fried duck, a shrimp and noodle dish, a broth served in a large pot with an entire duck inside of it (head and all), a seafood dish with fried octopus and rice (this was very spicy),  a dish consisting of leg of pork, and finally a cake of sorts.  It was all quite delicious, although I didn't actually try the preserved egg dish, which I somewhat regret.  We were served tea the entire time, but my host mom asked if I preferred something else to drink, and I asked if I could have some water, as I was quite thirsty.  I was quickly brought a glass of water, but was surprised to find that it was a hot as the tea!  I still drank it however, and my thirst was soon quenched.  As the meal went on, karaoke was set up and many of the adults began to participate.  I was impressed by the enthusiasm of the adults, at an activity which may seem childish in the US.  They seemed quite unabashed about the whole situation, so when my host mom asked if I wanted to participate I said sure.  But then I learned that there were no songs in English, only in Chinese, which actually relieved me quite a bit.  But I am determined to do K-TV (their word for karaoke here) at least once before I leave!

Afterwards, I was accompanied back to the apartment by Alex, while my host parents stayed a bit longer at the dinner.  I was quite tired, and was soon asleep in my room.

And that is the story of my trip to Kaohsiung and my first day in the city...  I am off to go hiking at a nearby mountain with my host dad in about an hour.  I will be sure to let you know how that goes in my next post.  Thanks for reading, until next time, zaijian.