So yesterday, I managed to get to Taiwan without collapsing from exhaustion. The missionary parent couple managed to wake me up before I missed my plane. This flight, which was United Airlines, was not as good in quality. They seemed almost inexperienced, as it took 45 minutes for them to take off, when it took only 30 for the previous flight to Japan, which had 2 more rows of seats and was packed full. But one thing was good--their seats were just sliiiiightly farther apart, which meant I could managed to get comfortable enough on the tray to get a short nap (risky as it was). Got an aisle seat, which was nice, and they also served another meal. Going into Taiwan, they turned down the lights in the plane. Although it was night in Taiwan, this went hard on me because I needed to stay awake for a couple more hours.
In the airport, customs went really weird. I got in, and there was no immediate line to get through. I had to wander around for a while before I found where to go. Before I got checked through though, I remembered to change my money (there was a guy next to me who changed $4000 US dollars!). I then got in line but realized I had not finished filling out my immigration card on the plane. The lady at the counter told me to go with the special officer. I was starting to get worried now. The guy brought me to a special desk, where he and another guy talked about me. They questioned me about what I was in Taiwan for, and I said I was here to teach English. They slapped their foreheads at this, but once I explained that I was a volunteer and not working for pay, they let me through. Boy was I glad. I thanked them--twice.
The baggage claim was frightening as well. I waited a good 15 minutes before two red bags the size of mine arrived. Grabbing one, I tried it with the key, and it turned out to be the right one. Side was busted good though--bent up pretty bad. I might have done something wrong here, because I walked out the entrance without having to show my baggage claim--was that legal? I don't know. Immediately outside the exit were two girls around 30 years old (I mistook them to be of college age, their reaction which you can imagine) holding up a green sign and shouting "Dan-eel! Dan-eel!". I was saved! To note here, there was supposed to be a famous Taiwanese tennis player coming back at the same time as me, so there was a full camera crew and cheer-leading squad set up. To the girls surprise, I spoke "good" [un-accented] Chinese (or so they told me). They had expected me to be not too good and had even chosen English names for themselves (and the boyfriend who drove the car--his name was "Monkey" curiously enough). Upon arriving at their house (four and a half stories tall), I was able to set up comfortably in the room they had chosen. Talked on skype with my family, then went to sleep at around 12. By this time, I had gone without a good sleep for over 30 hours.
Conclusion about flying: Either I was really lucky, or flying isn't the hardest thing in the world. Things were laid out fairly simply. Kind of like taking the bus, but more complex. I am thankful I didn't have any huge problems. It is now 12:30 (I should probably go to sleep soon if I want to fix my jet lag sooner). Hopefully, I can catch up on the blogging soon.
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