And so it begins

I almost can’t believe that I am writing this from Taiwan. I finally made it! It feels so good to be here, however the journey to get here was long and exhausting.

Flight delays suck, and that’s exactly what happened when I boarded my flight from Boise to Seattle. The smog in the north western United States is so bad right now that It caused my flight to be delayed for over an hour. To be honest, I freaked out a bit when it was delayed. I did not want to miss my long haul international flight. I did not want to deal with having to rebook that one. Luckily, we were in the air by noon, Boise time, and I had arrived at Seattle with enough time to meet up with another exchange student and find our gate.
That long haul flight was a little rough. It was about eleven hours to Incheon, South Korea, and I was sitting in a middle seat. I watched movies, listened to music, and tried to get some sleep, but sleep is hard for me to find on airplanes. I napped on and off for maybe two hours. Surprisingly though, by the time we reached South Korea, the time now being 3am Boise time, I was feeling just fine! I was excited to be in Asia for the first time, the airport was gorgeous, and I was probably riding an adrenaline rush. The other exchange student and I found our next gate and then did laps around the concourse to walk off the stiff feeling that sitting in a plane for eleven hours will give you.
The last two hour flight to Taipei, Taiwan was cold. I had never been on an airplane so cold. Luckily, I had my scarf blanket with me and I curled up and got one more hour of fidgety sleep. Then, we landed in the Taoyuan International Airport. It was late by then. Past 10pm Taiwan local time, and 8am Boise time. I had been traveling for over twenty-two hours. Luckily, customs was really quick and easy, and I found my luggage after only waiting a minute by the baggage claim. Then, I rounded a corner.
I almost felt overwhelmed by home many people were there to greet me. It warmed my heart and made me feel even more excited to be there! Almost my entire host club had come to welcome me, and, of course, my first host family. I got hugs from everyone and they all seemed so excited to meet me, and I them! They helped me with my luggage and then sat me down so that I could rest and have something to drink. My host family doesn’t speak very much English, but I think that is awesome! It really made it so that I had to use the limited Chinese I knew, and it will continue to help me in learning the language. However, the language barrier did not stop us from talking, and I can already see what kind people they are.

​My adventure in Taiwan has taken off! I can’t wait to enrich myself in the language and culture of this little island. It’ll be a hard year, and I will be faced with many struggles. However, the relationships I will make and the knowledge I will gain are well worth the hard times that come with them.