The Journey

The Journey started three days ago. Something that probably won't be a surprise to most of you is that I only finished packing like three minutes before we left for Schiphol. But even despite my clear lack of planning skills I seem to not be missing anything essential, yet. Well, not counting the Taiwan travel guide I left behind on my desk in my room. I can still see myself looking at it and thinking I still needed to put that in my hand luggage, which in the end I still forgot. Thankfully, my mum and dad were nice enough to buy me a new Lonely Planet travel guide at the airport (they're visiting in November, so they'll be able to use mine then). Thanks again by the way!

Moving on; when we arrived at Schiphol we met up with my mother in law and Sharon (a family friend) and we got to the gate 15 minutes early. Checking my luggage went well and before I knew it I only had one suitcase to tow. Because I still had two hours until the gate would open we went to Starbucks to kill some time and it was nice to just take in these last moments with the people closest to me. 

Then, after what felt like both ages and seconds at the same time, it was time to head through customs. It was time for goodbyes. It felt weird to have to say goodbye to my parents since I have never been away from them for such a long stretch of time. But it was definitely hardest to say goodbye to my boyfriend Mark. He has been such a big part of my life over the last ten months that I really couldn't imagine what it would be like to suddenly not see him for 4.5 months. What it would be like to go to sleep alone, and to wake up alone, to not have him there to share all of the experiences that I was sure to experience over the following months. Yes, some tears were shed, but only reasonable amounts haha

Now, I will skip the very uninteresting parts about boarding and being on a plane for 17 hours. It will suffice to say that it was not the most comfortable experience of my life and that I spent it watching more movies than I have ever watched in one go before. 

Thankfully there were no delays, so, at almost exactly 13.05pm local time I arrived at Taoyuan International Airport. The moment I stepped off the airplane I was almost literally hit by a wall of heat which was thankfully followed by the cool welcome of the airconditioned arrival hall. At the airport I was supposed to be picked up by the university who had arranged shuttle buses for international students going back and forth between the airport and the dorms. Not only that, there were also Taiwanese students present to help me withdraw some money and buy a sim card. That was really appreciated, because the woman who helped me at the telecom provider did not appear to speak that much English.

Which brings me to an interlude relating to English in Taiwan. I've been here for two days now and I have already noticed that not being able to read, speak, or understand any Chinese is quite a handicap. Yes, I have managed so far, but life would be much easier if I would have some prior knowledge of Chinese. Especially when it comes to food. Eating out is the norm here, and I don't even have a proper kitchen to cook in even if I wanted to. And unfortunately it turns out to be challenging to find places that offer English menus, or even pictures of their food. In the end I'll be fine, and I'm sure I will start to recognise some characters quickly enough but for now it is a handicap.

Back to my arrival. The NTU (National Taiwan University) shuttle buses were comfortable and dropped us off right in front of the dorms, so it couldn't really get any more convenient. At the reception desk I was handed a stack of forms that I had to fill in before I could even get into my room. Afterwards I got my keys and was able to check the state of my room and to see if everything was there. After reading some stories about the rooms not being all that clean I was afraid I would encounter the same issue, but thankfully that is not the case. I've got a nice rather empty looking room on the ground floor of the building. This might not provide me with spectacular views, but like we say in Dutch 'ieder nadeel heeft zijn voordeel' (every disadvantage has its advantage); I can be outside in about thirty seconds, which is nice when you're late for something or when you've forgotten to bring something (especially the second thing will definitely occur).

On the first night I needed to buy everything for my room, ranging from a mattress and pillow, to a shower curtain, to a trash can. Thankfully, there was a temporary shop set up just outside the dorms, which saved me a lot of time and trouble. Even though I've been here for two days now I still haven't really settled in yet. Yes, I have everything I need. But I need to clean and personalise it still. My suitcases are still on the floor and my desk looks like my desk at home, aka full of sh*t.

The first night I went to sleep at 11pm and woke up at 10am the next morning, which was fine and I thought that this meant that I would not be troubled by jetlag. However, as I am writing this blogpost my MacBook tells me it is currently 3:30am, so I guess my jetlag has caught up with me. Which is not so good, since the second hand bike auction starts in like 5 hours and afterwards I have a campus tour and international student orientation. I hope I will survive, wish me luck!

P.S. pictures will follow!