The first 100 hours

The first 100 hours always seems to last as long as the whole rest of the trip. The intensity is what you remember, more than anything,


I traveled from Monday evening to Wednesday morning, not seeing June 9, 2009 on the ground at all. From the plane we saw a 13-hour sunrise, and the picture above is when the sun finally caught up to us just before landing. It's surprisingly the easiest flight of this length I've had, despite being the longest in actuality. Time flies when you have a lot of practice... letting time fly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -(this bus took me away to Taipei)- - - - - - - - - - - - -

I have a new camera! Photography is an art for which I've always pined. It's a very nice Cannon SLR, the Rebel XSi, and I spent much of the plane ride reading manuals and learning how to use it (to the dismay of the man sitting next to me). I will attempt to overcome laziness and post many pictures.

I planned less for this trip than ever before. I arrived with no concept of housing, not having used a word of Chinese in a month, and a general lack of knowledge of what I was to do upon arrival. It's great.
The first day was spent getting my life together, and it was successful. Upon the recommendation of a fellow Light Fellow, I found a house-like youth hostel from which I found apartments online. I got a few responses and visited the three best, and now have to decide between:

1. The cultural experience. An okay apartment with small rooms and a pushy landlord. It has one Taiwanese and one German tenet, about 10 minutes from school.
2. A nice apartment five minutes from school in a very nice area. It's with a guy a little older than me who went to ICLP in the past, and now works for the Princeton review in Taiwan - he seems like a great guy.
3. Also a nice apartment, slightly larger, less expensive, and (somehow) even closer to NTU, where I'm studying. The other renter is a very nice woman 5 or 10 years older than me who has worked in Taiwan for years. She has an interesting career, and I think we could get along well.

I hope to decide by tomorrow, any thoughts? I'm leaning towards the third.

My entrance exam is tomorrow, so it's time to study for once.