Flying to Taipei - Let the adventure begin!
So the time is 10:45a.m. and I am leaving the Columbus, Ohio airport to head to Cincinnati. The thought of living in a foreign country for a year has not set in yet, but I do feel excited about starting a new experience. My mind is racing like never before and I am wondering whether or not I packed everything that I was supposed to carry with me.
The time is now 11:20a.m. and I am currently waiting around in the Cincinnati airport waiting to leave for L.A. The plane ride there was short, but I know the worst is yet to come, especially the flight from L.A. to Taiwan. While on board the flight to L.A. I start to review my Chinese learning cds, but shortly into my study session I hear this loud screaming coming from the seat directly behind me. Oh yes, sure enough it was a baby and a very young one at that. This kid cried during the whole flight, and I had the worst headache getting off that plane.
2:30p.m. I am now about to pick up my tickets to switch airlines from Delta to China Airlines. Of course this task could not be an easy one, so I was told to leave the building and walk about 10 minutes to the international airport building. Once I found the place, I felt like Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. I was surrounded by signs written in foreign languages that I did not recognize and I was highly confused. Luckily there was someone that must have seen how confused I was and helped me along my way to the ticket booth then on to the right airline.
As I entered the plane I was amazed by the how nice it was. I have to say that it was by far the best plane I have ever traveled on. Aside from the plain being huge, there was a t.v. at the front that displayed a camera image of everything that was going on outside of the plane. Also, there were tvs on the back of every chair for us to watch and listen to for free. The service on the plane was amazing and I have to admit that I felt like royalty. A moist towel was brought to me to dry my face, along with slippers to make my trip feel a little more like home. Two full course meals were served that consisted of red wine, tea, lemon cake, a dinner roll, cookies and a chinese dish. Of course you know that I had to be picky being a vegetarian and all, so I asked them if they had any vegetarian dishes. Sure enough they prepared a noodle dish for me, and I have to admit that I really liked it.
Sitting next to me was a guy from L.A. named Scott. It was conforting to sit next to one of the few Americans on the flight because it gave me someone to talk to. He was a nice guy that told me it was his first time traveling to Taiwan too. He was going there for business, and so once the plane landed, we exchanged information and departed our separate ways.
I had no problem finding my ride because he had this huge pink sign with my name on it sitting on a plant fixture right next to the passenger exit. He was an extremely nice guy that spoke little English, but nonetheless I found ways of communicating with him. I spoke very directly and was able to find out that he had been to the states a few times, particularly enjoyed Vegas, won 700.00 dollars there, and wanted to go back. All in all it was a good conversation :-), but at this time I was starting to dose off. The time there was 8:30p.m. Thursday night, but in my head it was 8:30a.m. since there is a 12 hr difference there. I couldn't wait to sleep on my new bed so, after the driver dropped me off at my new place, I briefly spoke to my new roomies (Johnson from Texas, Joy from South Dakota, and Ainsly from London along with Abby from Taiwan) and retired to bed.
-- Next time, THE PEOPLE OF TAIWAN
The time is now 11:20a.m. and I am currently waiting around in the Cincinnati airport waiting to leave for L.A. The plane ride there was short, but I know the worst is yet to come, especially the flight from L.A. to Taiwan. While on board the flight to L.A. I start to review my Chinese learning cds, but shortly into my study session I hear this loud screaming coming from the seat directly behind me. Oh yes, sure enough it was a baby and a very young one at that. This kid cried during the whole flight, and I had the worst headache getting off that plane.
2:30p.m. I am now about to pick up my tickets to switch airlines from Delta to China Airlines. Of course this task could not be an easy one, so I was told to leave the building and walk about 10 minutes to the international airport building. Once I found the place, I felt like Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. I was surrounded by signs written in foreign languages that I did not recognize and I was highly confused. Luckily there was someone that must have seen how confused I was and helped me along my way to the ticket booth then on to the right airline.
As I entered the plane I was amazed by the how nice it was. I have to say that it was by far the best plane I have ever traveled on. Aside from the plain being huge, there was a t.v. at the front that displayed a camera image of everything that was going on outside of the plane. Also, there were tvs on the back of every chair for us to watch and listen to for free. The service on the plane was amazing and I have to admit that I felt like royalty. A moist towel was brought to me to dry my face, along with slippers to make my trip feel a little more like home. Two full course meals were served that consisted of red wine, tea, lemon cake, a dinner roll, cookies and a chinese dish. Of course you know that I had to be picky being a vegetarian and all, so I asked them if they had any vegetarian dishes. Sure enough they prepared a noodle dish for me, and I have to admit that I really liked it.
Sitting next to me was a guy from L.A. named Scott. It was conforting to sit next to one of the few Americans on the flight because it gave me someone to talk to. He was a nice guy that told me it was his first time traveling to Taiwan too. He was going there for business, and so once the plane landed, we exchanged information and departed our separate ways.
I had no problem finding my ride because he had this huge pink sign with my name on it sitting on a plant fixture right next to the passenger exit. He was an extremely nice guy that spoke little English, but nonetheless I found ways of communicating with him. I spoke very directly and was able to find out that he had been to the states a few times, particularly enjoyed Vegas, won 700.00 dollars there, and wanted to go back. All in all it was a good conversation :-), but at this time I was starting to dose off. The time there was 8:30p.m. Thursday night, but in my head it was 8:30a.m. since there is a 12 hr difference there. I couldn't wait to sleep on my new bed so, after the driver dropped me off at my new place, I briefly spoke to my new roomies (Johnson from Texas, Joy from South Dakota, and Ainsly from London along with Abby from Taiwan) and retired to bed.
-- Next time, THE PEOPLE OF TAIWAN
posted by Bob | 2:46 AM
2 Comments:
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Hey Bob, I'm so glad you made it safely and that, of course, you are already making fast friends. I'm also glad that I got to be one of the people you saw on your last night in the states. Keep up this blog so we can pretend you're on our cell phones for long long conversations, and not half a world away on a long long journey.
You know I love you and wish you everything great.
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