about 3 AM
somewhere in the air over Japan
I’ve tried to sleep on as much of the flight as I could—broken up by cross-stitching, food, studying, and watching TV. Accio! Deathly Hallows is stuck in my head, again. Thank you, Sarah.
Friday went by in a blur of packing, unpacking, repacking, and goodbyes. I held it together until it finally came time for me to leave Mom, Mike, and Sarah at the security check point. I lost it a little. I’ve never gone so far away from home for so long before without knowing a single person I was going with. I feel like I’m going 6000 miles away and despite millions of people living in Taiwan I feel like I might be all by myself there. Since leaving them at security I’ve found two of mom’s notes hidden in my carryon bags and they keep making me smile.
I ran into a few of the other Fulbrighters jut before boarding the plane; they seem friendly. Some of them are going to Gaoshiung straight after we arrive in Taipei, some of them are in the Yilan group like me. The plane stopped in Anchorage to refuel about 3 in the morning local time, so my only impression of Alaska is dark and rainy. We deplaned and stretched our legs for a bit before getting back on. It gave me a chance to make phone calls.
I hope I got enough rest. I feel too alert to go back to sleep just now. It’s going to be a long, busy day and I hope what sleep I got is enough to sustain me. I’m going to try and keep my day to day thoughts alive in this notebook and get them up onto the blog as often as possible. Maybe I’ll even try to grab another hour of shuteye before we land.
Welcome to Taiwan, once more. Hope you enjoy your stay! There's no way you're alone, here...this place is full of wonderfully amazing people, just go out and start talkin' 'em up!
ReplyDeleteLet me know if you make it somewhere near Tamsui (淡水), then we can meet up.
End.
p.s. It's "Kaohsiung"...you'll get used to the romanization stuff, here, eventually! ;)