So this morning, I got on a plane, and headed to Taiwan.

On the plane, I had the same exact feeling that I had when I was flying to Russia. Excited but nervous. The excitement far outweights the nervousness, but it’s still there. Excitement because you don’t know what to expect. Everything is new. Everything is unknown. Everything is an adventure. Everything promises an exploration, a discovery, and an experience – usually with a long story. But at the same time, nervousness because you don’t know what to expect. Nervousness because everything is new. Nervousness because everything is unknown. Nervousness because everything truly IS an adventure. Nervousness because sure the world is here with exploration, discoveries, and experiences with long crazy stories… but all this to share with…yourself. And the mixture of those feelings of excitement and anxiety is so strange.

The only difference between this trip and Russia, was that this time, I wasn’t terrified. Going to Russia terrified me. I love(d) Russia. But even now, it still slightly terrifies me.

I will say though, that when I got off the airplane, and was walking towards immigration/customs, I had that… about-to-get-on-a-roller-coaster-for-the-first-time-feeling. Like… it’s the first time you’re gonna ride… lets say Dungeon Drop – for old times sake… You’ve finally convinced yourself that it’s what you want to do, even though you know it’s scary… You don’t think about it. Until you start getting close to the front of the line. With each step closer, you can feel your insides resisting more adamantly… The moment comes, when you sit into the seat. You pull the restraint down. It locks. And all of a sudden, everything within you screams, “NEVERMIND, NEVERMIND, I DON’T WANT TO DO IT ANYMORE. LET’S JUST NOT AND SAY WE DID. OK? OK…”. And then comes the doubt. “WHAT IF IT CRASHES? YA, IT’S PROBABLY GOING TO. WHAT IF I’M A HORRIBLE TEACHER? YA, IT’S PROBABLY TRUE. WHAT IF WE GET STUCK UPSIDE DOWN? WHAT IF I GET DENIED ENTRY AT CUSTOMS?..” I had a moment where I felt like that as I was walking to immigration. Just a moment. After I realized what I was thinking, I laughed, because I really did think of how many times I’ve felt that way before riding a rollercoaster. Especially back in my chicken days. I didn’t make that up for the blog, I legitimately thought about that. Haha.

So, anyway, I was told that someone from my company, ALV (American Language Village) would meet me at the airport with a sign with my name on it. Cool. No problem. But you have to understand that this added to my being nervous because the last time I was told that a driver would meet me at an airport with a sign with my name on it, I was greeted (if you can even use that word to describe the situation) by a large, burly, dirty, sweaty Russian man in boots. And although I was sure I would not be met by any large Russian men this time, that memory still haunted me. I was, at the least, expecting a middle aged Taiwanese man who spoke no english to silently escort me as he carried my bags and then awkwardly, and again, silently, drive me to my destination.

Luckily, it turned out to be a much more pleasant situation. As I walked out of customs, I scanned the crowd for a sign with my name. Before I could even find it, I heard my name shouted excitedly! By 2 Taiwanese girls that looked like they were around my age. They were introducing themselves enthusiastically as Cherry and Iris before I had even fully made my way to where they were standing. It was exciting! Next, we waited for 2 other teachers to arrive. I was hoping we would be able to somewhat relate to each other… One is a guy from Washington state and one is a girl from South Carolina. Both had been teaching in South Korea the past year. So that’s cool, cuz we know I all love Korea (but where don’t I love?)

So, anyway… as far as where I’d be and what I’d be doing exactly, I never got a lot of information… At first, I was feeling a bit insecure about it, because I do have a tendency to be slightly clueless as to what’s going on sometimes. But, I soon found out that the other 2 teachers were as clueless as I. So that was refreshing…

Everything has exceeded my expectations so far. I mean, I still don’t completely understand all of my schedule… We seem to be taking the method “one day at a time” VERY literally. Which is fine by me.

Let me tell you what I had expected and then I’ll explain:
1. Location: Camp in Taoyuan (in the north)
2. To share a dorm room on the campsite with 3 other teachers
3. To probably not have internet during the week
4. A HUGE program, with a LOT of teachers
5. An intimidating camp director

Let me tell you how it actually is:
1. Location: Tianan (in the south)
2. My own room, in a hotel
3. Wireless internet
4. Small program. 4 teachers… (really 3 because 1 didn’t show up). 4 TA’s (teaching assistant – one assigned to each teacher). 3 camp directors. 1 photographer.
5. The head of our camp is 3 sweet girls, very unintimitading, probably near my age, a little younger perhaps.

So, I (and the other teachers) had understood that we would be at camp in Taoyuan (the city close to Taipei where the international airport is). See, on the map, the red dot is where I THOUGHT I was going to be. The green dot is where I actually am. Haha. So ridiculous.

I also found out, that I will only be here in Tianan until July 16. After that, we’ll move to another camp in a place somewhere in the north in Xinzhu. It’s at a golf resort apparently! AND… if I’m reading my schedule correctly, I get a week off from July 19 until July 25. This is not a bad gig!!!

After meeting us all at the airport, Cherry and Iris (who work for the company), bought us lunch, and then we all hopped onto a highspeed train to take us to Tainan. It only took an hour to get there! On a normal train, Iris said it usually take 4-5 hours. Cool!

When we got to a hotel, they gave us the keys to our rooms. Whitney and John (the other teachers) and I thought we would be sharing with at least one other person, but we were surprised to find we all have our own room! So cool! It’s not a top name chain hotel. Just a Taiwanese hotel called Akira Top Hotel. It’s fun. And we have our meetings in the lobby. I’ll put up pictures later.

So, after setting our stuff in our rooms, we met our TA’s. We each have a Taiwanese teaching assistant. Mine is a guy named Timmy who’s working on his bachelors in education. I LOVE all the TAs. They’re all undergraduate students at universites here. There’s 5 in total (one guy is in charge of photography). I can tell we’re all gonna be good friends. I like kids and am going to enjoy teaching, but I think I’m going to enjoy getting to know the TAs more than anything else while I’m here. They remind me of all my international friends back home. Several of them are from this city – Tianan, and have offered to show us the highlights on the evenings and weekends (because we don’t have to work then). Awesome!

Lastly, our camp leaders/directors are really cool. Cherry, Iris, and Angel. I’m pretty sure at least 2 of them are younger than me. It probably sounds ridiculous, but it’s kind of nice, because it’s not as intimidating. I also really love that there are so few of us. It seems like I’ll really get to know everyone, which I’ll love.

So, anyway, I can’t think of too much more to update you on. I’ll fill you in more later. I start tomorrow. Wakeup call at 6:30am. Yikes. Good thing I’ve been waking up at 5:30 on my own anyway…

P.S. Can I mention that I ate the worst thing I’ve eaten since I’ve been in Asia… A chicken leg sandwich. You heard me. Not a chicken sandwich. But a chicken leg sandwich. Weird. But I guess if that’s the worst, I’m not doing bad at all!!!

Anyway… HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!