For starters, I have to say the plane flight here was the flight from hell. On top of having a four-hour Layover in Detroit, the plane was late to arrive so that added an extra hour to the wait time. Then, once we boarded the plane we had to sit there for at least another hour while they were fixing a mechanical problem. I had a window seat for the entire 14-hour flight to Osaka. At this point, I was so uncomfortable I just wanted to crash the plane. Since our plane was so late to arrive in Osaka, rather than staying on the same plane, we had to change planes promptly. At this point I had been operating on the two hours of sleep I received the night prior to leaving from Milwaukee. To make matters worse I was unable to get anything more than a few catnaps on the trip over.
When I arrived in Taipei, it was hot, humid, and raining. I was so exhausted I was surprised I had the strength to make it out of the airport. At this time it was approximately 11pm. I eventually found my driver and hurried to his van in an attempt to escape from the rain.
While he was driving, I looked out the window to my left and saw a city in the distance, comparably larger than Milwaukee. I figured this city must be Taipei, so I asked the driver, and he simply commented, no. When we arrived in Tianmu, the suburb of Taipei I was to stay in, we drove past a large night market. It was midnight by this time, and there were what appeared to be thousands of people out and about in the market. It is obvious that the United States lacks such nightlife. Everything remains open late; doctor and dentist offices are open till at least ten. The bars never close, and you can buy alcohol 24/7.
I finally arrived at the home of Rod and Amy Narayan, where I was to stay for the next week while preparing for class and searching for an apartment. It was here, finally, that I was able to rest.