The 14 hour flight from LA to Taipei felt more like a 14 day flight.  It was uneventful, but I suppose no news is good news when traveling several tens of thousands of feet above the Pacific Ocean.  Finally, we landed in warm, sunny Taipei.  Oh wait, did I say warm and sunny?  I meant chilly, cloudy, and rainy.  I guess it is still winter, after all.  At any rate, it was exciting beyond belief to actually be in Taiwan after months of planning and preparation.  I was greeted at the airport by a friendly driver who took me to my hostel straight away.

For my first four nights in Taipei, I stayed at the Happy Family Hostel. The owner, John Lee, was incredibly accommodating and helpful.  I arrived rather late on the first night and he didn't feel like taking me all the way to the one-person room I had booked, so he put me in a two-person room that was unoccupied.  He let me stay there for the rest of the nights, but still charged the rate for one-person room.  Like I said, a real nice guy.  

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The main hall at Taipei Main Station.  This is a central hub for the local subway system (MRT) as well as trains that go to other parts of the island.  There are restaurants and food stands all over the station.

On many walls you can see the outlines of where other buildings used to be.

Artwork just outside the bus station.

Fashion at its finest.

That there building reaching up into the clouds is Taipei 101.  For a while it was the tallest building in the world.  The architecture is based on a bamboo shoot.

SPOT is a wonderful little cinema that shows independent and art house films from Taiwan and the world over.  It has a little film museum, a gift shop that has all sorts of cool stuff (most of it not having much to do with film), a cafe, and a tea/coffee/bar lounge. 

The cafe has very reasonably priced Western style food.

I was in Taipei for about two weeks while finishing training for my employer, and although I had a great time, I am happy to be moved out of the big city.  I am now in Hsinchu, which is still a fairly large city but not nearly as big as Taipei.  I am just about all set up in my new apartment, and I finish up the last part of training this week.  I'm excited to teach my first class on Thursday.  These first weeks and months will certainly be busy and a bit stressful as I get into the groove of teaching.  Nevertheless, I can't wait.

More to come soon.