Day One.

In all honesty, regardless of how much you prepare, you're not ready for this. No one is. Regardless of how much you pack, you'll still forget something. I certainly did. And regardless of how much you research, you won't find out the little things that are exceptionally important. Like toilet paper. Laugh, take it for granted, come to Taiwan, sit on the pot...and see who's laughing when you reach for it to get up. At least, here in my dorm that is how it is--one "normal" toilet for number twos and in-the-floor urinals for men and women both for number ones. I'm not quite set to assimilate yet however, so I stick to the "normal" kind...let's just be honest; I'd either fall over or pee on my shoes. No thanks.

Another thing that would have been nice to know is that when you arrive, there is no mattress or anything on your bed. I slept last night fully clothed, covered in my bath towel (still damp from my freezing cold shower) with my neck pillow for head support, on a hard, wooden bed frame. Let me correct myself, I shivered and dozed. It's freezing here at night. Lesson learned? Bring warm clothes to sleep in, and bedding...or get here early enough to go to the supermarket and purchase it.

On the happy side of things, I have Vy for moral support and we've befriended two other exchange students who have been here for a week and know their way around a little. They've taken us under their wings and are getting us settled. They took us to get our MR

T cards and bedding and the Ethernet cables we didn't know to bring. I can't wait to get to know them better, I think we're going to have some fantastic adventures together...speaking of adventures. Take a taxi. It's an adventure in itself. Especially when of the four passengers, YOU are the only one who can speak Chinese to the driver. Wheeeeee. At least I've established myself as a valuable ally to have around.

As you see from the the time on this post, I have major jet lag. It is 4:08 AM here...I went to sleep at 3PM and woke around 2:45 AM. To those of you good with time zone changes, you see a striking resemblance to my normal sleep pattern--sleep at 2AM EST and wake at 1:45 PM EST. Hopefully I'll get out of this soon.

Orientation is tomorrow...today...at 1PM. I get to sign up for classes and meet Amy, my buddy assigned by the university. Outside of the university, I'm doing my best to speak only Chinese with the locals and, much to my surprise, have had major success. I'm also very happy to see that regardless of my foreign appearance, they give me a chance before speaking English. I successfully purchased a juice at 7eleven this morning, talked my way though the line at the supermarket with the cashier (much to her surprise and delight), and navigated a taxi driver back to my dorm all in Chinese. Day one. Complete. Let's get ready for day two.

Goodnight, World.