Last Day in Taipei

July 26

Today I had my journey from Kaohsiung to Taipei to prepare for my flight back to America tomorrow. When I woke up, I still had no plans on where I would stay in the evening. I had talked to Sabina (Indonesia) and she said she had a friend that lived in Taipei I might be able to stay with. In the morning, I found out that her friend was out of the area, and that would not be an option. Luckily, I talked to some other staff members and they were able to help me find a cheap hostel that was also really close to the train station.

Leaving Wenzao was really weird. When each group of people left the school, a group of the other students would help to send them off. However, I was the last student from the Wenzao program to leave. Once one of the staff called a taxi for me, I began my journey by walking to the back entrance of the school by myself. It was an eerie feeling and it made me realize how little time I really have left in Taiwan.

Upon arrival in Taipei, I had some problems finding my hostel. At the train station, I talked to the information desk and they showed me what to do, but I still had a few problems. After walking around the area I knew was close to the hostel, I still couldn't find it. I stopped and put down the luggage that I was dragging down the sidewalk. After trying to see if I could get any visual clues for about a minute, a woman came up to me and asked me in English if I needed any help. I showed her the address I was looking for, and she said she would walk me to it. Luckily, it was just right around the corner. Not only did she walk me to the building, but she even went up the elevator to the floor I needed, just to make sure that everything was alright. Can you imagine many people doing the same thing in the US? The Taiwanese are easily the most hospitable people that I've met in my life.

After I got settled at the hostel, I called Sabina and tried to arrange plans for the evening. We settled on meeting at the Taipei 101 at 7:30. I decided to take a nap and just relax for the rest of the afternoon until then. A left for the Taipei 101 a little bit earlier than I needed to because I wanted to run by the bus station to see what I would need to do in the morning. One of the disadvantages of Taipei is that the airport is actually a little bit south of the city. In order to get to the airport, the most common way is to take a 45 minute bus ride. Since I need to leave so early in the morning, I wanted to make sure that I knew how to find everything ahead of time. Luckily, the signs were easily readable, and I am confident that I will make it to the airport tomorrow.

The journey to the 101 made me realize how much different traveling alone is than traveling with friends. Especially in an overcrowded city like Taipei, walking alone amongst all of the people can make you feel very insignificant. Once I made it successfully to the 101, I still had 30 minutes to burn. Even in the world's tallest building, filling those 30 minutes seemed to last forever.

When Sabina arrived, she had brought a friend with her. I was thinking that we were going to eat together, but found out that they'd already eaten. However, they were nice enough to join me in the food court while I ate. We had a nice discussion, and it helped ease my nerves of the traveling I have to do in the morning.

After dinner, they took me to a night market close by, where we sat down for some drinks. I had the last mango smoothie I will have for quite some time. It was well worth it. We also did a little bit of shopping for any last minute souvenirs, but I couldn't find anything worth purchasing. After that, Sabina helped me get back to the MRT station and I was on my own for the rest of my time on the island.

Back at the hostel, I spent a little bit of time interacting with a couple of my roommates for the night. One of them was a Korean high schooler that spoke decent English. He explained that he had spent the last two weeks traveling the island with nothing but a backpack of supplies. He only brought one pair of jeans, and each night would turn them inside-out to let them air out overnight before he would put them back on in the morning. It was pretty awesome to hear him describe the process.

The other guy that I talked to was a man from Kaohsiung. Unfortunately, his English was about as good as my Chinese. We ended up using his computer to translate for us. It was during this painstakingly slow process that made me realize how much I really want to learn Chinese. It really bothers me that I am only able to speak one language. Hopefully, within a few years I can become fluent in another language. Well, it's off to bed for me. See you in America!