TALL!

Finally, my classmates Nellie, Sweta, Emily (my roommate), and I have arrived safely after a seamless 15 1/2 hour flight from LAX to Taipei. We were greeted by our professor, Jim Glavan, and Alice Chaing, our Taiwanese liaison, at the airport. Before I was even 15 feet from Alice, she exclaimed, "You're so tall!" I think I'll be getting a lot of that for the next 5 months! (The Mandarin word for tall is "gao")

After our 45 minute drive (on the right side of the road, I expected the left) in the swanky passenger van Alice rented for us, we arrived at Taipei National University of the Arts (or TNUA as I will refer to it from now on--the Texans like to call it "TUNA").

For the first month, Emily and I are staying in the apartment on campus next to Jim, while Nellie and Sweta will be in the building Emily and I will relocate to, once our apartment is ready. I would love to stay here (though I've yet to see where we will move), as we have a GIANT shower! The shower head is 6 inches above my head, and you could do yoga in that shower! It's amazing! :)

The apartment is beautiful, with extremely high ceilings and a lot of storage. The view is spectacular:

The night view from my room!

And what I woke up to this morning.

Mountains!!

After an adorable (and we'll say healthy, haha!) breakfast, we are going to meet the TNUA staff, have lunch, and then go shopping at "Welcome" (like a Taiwanese Costco, we're told--they also have Costco here), and the 7 Eleven, which are a lot like Walmarts, I'm told, grocery shopping, and then to the night market before returning home at 8pm. Woo!

Some sort of rice flour bun filled with sugar (maybe lychee?) and butter--YUM!

So far, no major culture shock, just enjoying the view and the experience! :D