Taiwan Blog I

I am going to be in Taiwan for the next 3-4 weeks serving an internship for a Taiwanese business. At the same time, I'll be trying to savor my experience here. This is my first time in Taiwan since 3-4 years ago. The following are short postings of daily experiences, posted every few days. 6/25/08: The flight was 18 hours from Detroit to Taipei. I had to stop at Osaka, Japan to connect on to Taipei. At Osaka, I decided to speak to a girl that I saw in Detroit who I believed to be American and traveling alone like I was. She turned out to be 1)Taiwanese-American and 2) a friend of a friend I know from the Taiwanese American Foundation. This is exhibit A of a reason I love TAF: building connections with people, creating a smaller world for people to know each other. When I finally touched down in Taiwan I was greeted by my uncle and my grandparents. Seeing my relatives again when I arrive at the airport is one of those experiences I love repeating. 6/26/08 The jet lag is awful. Taiwan time is a perfect 12 hour differential from the East Coast US time. I find myself nodding away when I am eating my afternoon snack. I explored Tien Mu today by myself. I bought a cheap 25 NT milk tea (less than a dollar US) and wove in and out of the towering department store near my grandparents' home. When I tell my friends that Taipei is a lot like New York, they don't really believe it. To me, the city of Taipei is progress, commerce, and culture. A daily stroll yields ruthless motorists (who rarely get into accidents!), extremely unique "mom and pop" shops, and opportunities for window shopping. I also met up with my other grandparents today. They own and operate a bead and sequin store and I used to love hanging out in that store and watching the shoppers go in and out. 6/27/08 A Millet art exhibit debuted today at the Museum of National History. I've never seen lines so long for an exhibit! The throbbing heat is unbearable, but I think the people are accustomed and the 1-2 hour wait is perfectly fine with them. We got to cut in line because my grandparents are senior citizens. Sometimes being old is a blessing! The area of the exhibit was too small for proper viewing. Schoolchildren on field trips packed the halls and hundreds of people crammed in to view the beautiful oil paintings of the French agricultural era. I was quite impressed with not only the paintings, but the people's appreciation for art. After returning home, I arranged to meet up with a TAFer and explore the night market. However, the rain came pouring down right after I stepped out of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial metro station. Coincidentally, another TAFer was at the same station and our party of two soon became three. We ended up going to Shimending (I compare it to Times Square) and we hopped from store to store checking out bootleg fashion items, arcades, and restaurants. Taiwan is much more fun with friends. More updates coming soon! Feel free to ask questions or let me know of any interesting places to visit. Justin is a senior in high school who is visiting Taiwan on an internship. He will be updating his log on a consistent basis as his trip progresses.