Scooters and Saunas

This post was intended to be an account of my arrival in taiwan, but I am hot and exhausted, so here is what I wrote on the plane:

It’s 1:09 in the afternoon on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009. In Pennsylvania. It is 1:09 in the morning on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 in Taipei. I (think) I have crossed the International Date Line which means very little to me. I am suspended somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. I know it’s nighttime…I can tell by the stars outside. And I am a five hour flight from Taipei which means that if I knew how fast we were going (about 650 km or miles an hour…which doesn’t help because I don’t know which) I could figure out how far away we are and then figure out which time zone I am in. But anyway that will change soon enough so let’s just say it’s nighttime for five more hours and then its 6am and I am getting a car to the office and then ten hours after that Josh picks me up. That will be early Wednesday for the east coast and it will be afternoon for Taipei, both on Thursday, and who knows what time for that spot in the Pacific above which I currently am.
Also, I have acquired a new super power of knowing the future. But only within twelve hours. This means that I get to celebrate your 22nd or 67th birthday before you do. I figure I’ll just read the morning newspaper here and if anything bad happens in America, I’ll call to let you know to stay in bed.
But in all seriousness, all of the stewardesses are gorgeous.
And the food is really good. Except that they gave us two dinners, and I was totally in the mood for breakfast (it was 5 above Alaska, which means it was 9 above Pennsylvania, which meant I wanted pancakes and not chicken.) But the first chicken dinner was the most delicious chicken thing I had eaten and they gave us lemon cheesecake that I didn’t eat before we got to AK and they took it from me. Booo!
Am I supposed to be writing about how nervous I am? I’m not really that nervous. I walked into JFK to check my bags and I felt peaceful. Mom and I didn’t even cry. Most of the people in line were going home to Taiwan or the Philippines. Lots of people make their home in Taiwan and there will be really cool people there. At the gate it was the same. And everyone on this flight-the flight attendants and the captain and the safety video all speak both English and Chinese and when they are offering hot tea everyone knows what it is. I’m so lucky that my language is the second (or fourth) language used all around the world. It makes traveling a bit easier when I won’t be able to read road signs. Everyone smiles on this flight. Even the guy next to me who got on and immediately apologized for his smell. He had a few drinks so he could fall asleep. Thank you for the apology and then for staying awake to ask me awkward questions.
I took the GRE and passed and I finished a rough draft of my personal statement for Michigan. I had a nightmare they cut up my passport and blackened out my face on my visa. I am so glad I packed a toothbrush in my carryon. And also big crazy hiking socks. Someone I was talking to asked if Josh and I liked the outdoors and my first thought was to say “look at my Tevas.” The same guy has THE CUTEST children. First he had a 3 ½ year old little boy. I feel asleep and when I woke up he was referring to the kid next to him as “she” and this kid had pink pants and totally looked different than the kid I thought I had seen before. It all became clear to me when I saw his wife and the little boy a few rows up. No wonder little kid number two didn’t know who I was when she woke up. I guess I’m a creeper.
This is far too long for your enjoyment, but I am sitting here trying to stay awake so that I can go to sleep in a few hours and wake up well rested in Taiwan. That’s probably a pipe dream but I’m’a try it. More soon I’m sure.