#ISurvivedTheFlight

I feel like I need a T-Shirt that says #ISurvivedTheFlight because it was long and grueling.

When we got to hour 6 of 14, I was thinking, oh, this is a breeze and not too bad. I can totally handle this. And I did handle it, so to say. But let me tell you, it was a tough one. Regardless of how difficult the actual flight was, I had a very interesting and exciting experience while on the plane!

Hour 1: I sit next to this lovely young woman, and we really just hit it off. She spoke English, though she was from Taiwan. Very friendly, very nice. It was awesome and super refreshing!

Hour 2: Food. So we finally got some food. I called in ahead of time and let them know I was a vegetarian, so I got a special meal. It was curry, collared greens and rice with some rye bread and green tea ice cream. The ice cream was AMAZING! Super yummy. The other stuff was as well, but I really did like the ice cream.

Hour 3: They pass around tons of Chinese tea. I love this! My new friend and I are gossiping about differences between our two countries. Again.... she was so SO sweet.

Hour 4: All the tea has gone through everyone that drank it and every bathroom had a line. That's good though, because I needed a good stretch. I got my friend into my favorite movie, Forrest Gump, because it was on the plane. She watched it in Chinese and I watched it in English. That was a cool moment.

Hours 5-12. This was the time I attempted to sleep. I thought I could do it, but my body was getting restless and exhausted. Yet, no sleep came. I tried to watch Inside Out. Kind of worked. At one point, I took melatonin because I was over being tired and uncomfortable. In this time frame, I slept about 4 hours,

Hour 13: We got another meal. It was an attempt at breakfast. Because of me being vegetarian, it was pretty much the same as lunch. I wasn't really hungry for it.

Hour 14: We landed! I saw land, and praised how beautiful it looked from above. The customs line took an hour... but it's okay. I FINALLY MADE IT!

Some other cool things that happened...

When leaving San Fran, I saw the golden gate bridge from above! It was beautiful!
This new friend was so wonderful, and made sure I got to the hotel bus correctly. People in Taiwan can be incredibly friendly, I can already tell.
I get up very early for my train tomorrow morning. So, soon to bed.
I just ordered room service and got a pizza. Somehow, it still tastes sort of Asian.... But VERY good.
When I got out of the airport and realized that there was barely any english anywhere, I did have a moment of culture shock. Never the less.... it was amazing!! I did speak some chinese to the bus driver and the hotel manager!

Here are some pictures from the day/two days! I skipped Leap Day... so Its felt like one day... but it's actually been two!!

 This is at Dulles... taking off!!!

 My first view of Rocky Mountains!!!

 About to depart from San Francisco!

 The Golden Gate Bridge

 First meal on the flight!

 It went pretty quickly. It was very good.

 Second meal. Wasn't my fave, but no complaints!

 Departing Dulles!!

 Me and my new friend, Joyce!

My dinner tonight....


So, overall, it's been a pretty cool couple of days. I'm really ready to get on the train in the morning, and head to Kaohsiung and start my time at Shu-Te University!! Everything has been amazing so far, and I can't wait to continue the journey!

Lindy