I'm leaving on a jet plane...

So... I have been in Taiwan for almost a week now and I am just now blogging. So I am about to post several blogs about my first few days.

Okay then… Where to start. I guess I will start with the flight. Sunday morning, we got up and hit the road by 4 a.m. Yes very very early. Mallory met us at the airport and I had just a few minutes with her and my family before it was time to board the airplane. It was a few hours from Birmingham to Dallas. I then had about 4-5 hours to kill at the Dallas Airport. After wandering around the entire airport twice, I went and ate at TGI Fridays. I had steak, mashed potatos and broccoli since it is likely I won’t have it again anytime soon. After that, I went to a chapel service at the airport. The chaplain spoke about Joseph and how God orders our steps/ Very very cool!

Then came the 13 hour flight from Dallas to Tokyo. Luckily the flight was not very crowded and I had a whole row to myself! I slept several hours, read some, and slept some more. There weren’t very many movies that I was interested in watching and I was sooooo tired.  

When I got to Tokyo, I found the gate and met Joy and Maria, two other teachers from the TEA program!!! It was so good. It really made me feel more comfortable. Joy’s parents are from Taiwan and she speaks Chinese. In fact, her dad is a Taiwanese missionary! Cool, huh? Maria is from El Paso, Texas and she has taught and been a principal for 30 years!! We also met Allen and Jessica as we were boarding the plane. 

After the two hour layover in Tokyo, we boarded the plane and again did not have anyone in the seat by me! Yes!!!! I watched the Adjustment Bureau because I knew that I didn’t need to sleep so I could sleep when I got to Taiwan! 

When we got to Taiwan, everything went very smoothly. We all got through customs with no problem and ALL of our luggage made it! Some people picked us up at the airport and we rode to the National Educational Agency where our Orientation was being held. Some American and Taiwanese educational assistants met us and showed us our rooms. And we collapsed into bed.