Thursday, June 19, 2008

arrival

I made it all in one piece! barely. I had a few meltdowns. Ok more than a few.
I cried every airport and on every plane, but I think I'm ok now.
My flights to Dallas and to LA were both delayed, but thank goodness for my dad and his blackberry. He kept up with my flight and gate info and I wasn't too worried.
A nice man, Jim, sat next to me on the flight to LA from Dallas. I know his whole life story.
The flight to Taiwan was long! I had a man with no deoderant one seat away from me
on one side, and a mom with the only crying baby on the other side when I first sat down. Luckily, the mom ended up having to move because she was in the wrong seat. She was replaced with a really nice American girl. I was fortunate to have the empty seat next to me and I slept on and off laying down in the 2 seats for a lot of the flight.
Once I got to the airport in Taiwan, the guy who was supposed to meet me, Steve, was nowhere to be found. The good thing about not looking like anyone who belongs here is that everyone wanted to help me since I was obviously lost. A lot of the taxi drivers let me use their cell phones and one guy let me use his laptop. The number I had for Steve didn't work, and I tried calling Alex but it was 6am so he wasn't awake. Just as I logged on to the internet on my laptop and was in tears talking to mom and dad, Steve found me. He was very apologetic.
Anyway he took me to the dorm and showed me around.
(I know this post is pretty scattered, but I'm exhausted).
As I was setting my computer up, I heard a knock on the door and it was my friend Alex. He's been here since October. Upon seeing him, I burst into tears again. He said mom had sent him an email that gave him an idea of how close we are, as it was evident she was having a pretty hard time without me already, which just made me cry even more.
But he and I walked to the French grocery store, I forget the name of it now. It's right down the street from my dorm though. I bought some juice and toothpaste. Then we ate breakfast at this little street vendor cafe thing that didn't have a word in English.

Anyway here are the pictures of my room.
Empty..


Full..
Do you think I brought enough underwear, shoes and books?! sheesh. Lesson learned.





6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh good, your apartment is tall enough for you to fit in. I was worried for a minute. =)

stace-c said...

Hey, if that lady with the crying baby had stayed next to you, you would have been able to calm the baby down ;)

Glad you made it in one piece!

megan said...

douglas, it's funny you mention that because the airport really was tiny. i could touch the ceiling so im guessing it was like 6'5. i felt like a giant.

stacy, her baby would not stop crying! and he had no reaction to me smiling or talking him at all. it was weird.

missris said...

I'm so glad you made it ok! And just for the record, there is no such thing as too many books. :)

Anonymous said...

Drink lots of water and get some sleep. Glad you made it safely.

Anonymous said...

Oh Megan, your comments remind me of arriving at Johannesburg Airport in South Africa 39 years ago and going in the "wrong color" women's rest room ... and having to tinkle really badddddd.

But I found the "right" one and was on my way to a new adventure! Many times I had to try two times (or more!) to get it right!

You are going to have so much fun!