Finally in Taiwan

After over 24 hours of airports, airplanes, a bus, and a taxi, I am finally in Taipei and at my friend Cyndi's apartment! The flights went pretty well and the 6 hour layover in LA wasn't too bad. For the 14 hour flight, I had a window seat and there was no one in the middle seat...can you say AWESOME? It was nice having extra room to stretch out. They had a lot of trouble with the entertainment system. It took at least 2 hours for it to start running correctly. I attempted to watch several movies but wasn't really in the mood for some reason. I did watch Kung Fu Panda 2 though and it was really great! I was glad I finally saw it. The guy in the aisle seat of my row was pretty cool. We talked for about an hour or so. It was a nice way to pass some time. For the rest of the flight, I pretty much just slept and ate. China Airlines does a pretty good job. Their food is surprisingly good for airplane food (chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner, cheese omelet and sausage for breakfast), especially their dinner rolls. Throughout the flight, the stewardesses/air hostess/whatever the PC term is nowadays would walk up and down the aisles offering tea, water, coffee, wine, sandwiches, snacks, wet hand towels, etc. I am not sure if this is pretty standard for flights this long, but it was a nice touch in any case.

Cyndi, Viola, and Cindy all met me at the airport! It was so nice of them to travel out there to see me as soon as I got here. It is difficult to feel sad about leaving home when you have such great friends to greet you the second you leave baggage claim and customs. Cindy and Viola went back to the school and Cyndi and I took a bus to Taipei and then a taxi to her apartment. She lives in a 3 bedroom apartment in Neihu. It is a nice apartment! I will put up pictures later. So far we don't have many plans other than going to the beach sometime next week. I assume we will probably try to get me a cell phone and exchange my currency tomorrow. I am really thankful to finally be here and that I got here safely!