First days

Saying goodbye is always hard. Leaving your home for a place you have never seen, where you do not know anyone and where you do not understand the language perfectly is not only hard but comparable to a suicide mission.  Leaving Berlin to spend 3 months in Taipei seems to be a really stupid idea as I enter the Airport. Leaving behind your friends and family is heartbreaking. Nevertheless I am too proud to go back now,which leaves me with no choice but to start this journey.

Munich Airport

Munich Airport is incredible! Free tea and coffee! I was lucky to have a whole row just for myself from Berlin to Munich! I am quite energetic and excited after my first flight and not worried yet, that I forgot the special sleep pillow for planes at home. Happy about finishing the first period of my travel I wait patiently next to a gate for my next plane, only to notice 30 min later that I am at the wrong end of the airport! After a sprint to the right gate, the boarding for my 2nd flight started.
This time I was not so lucky. An elderly Asian man sat down next to me. I still had a window seat, though.

9h of flight is a long time. Time seems to be even slower, when you can not sleep. Forgetting the special sleep pillow at home seems to be the dumbest mistake I have ever made. Air China does provide a pillow and a blanket but it is impossible to find a good position for sleep.





Beijing Airport is enormous! Unfortunately I do not have any pictures. I was too intimidated by the no picture signs! Arriving by plane I could not see the city at all. The smog is too thick. Everything which is not close enough becomes one with the smog. I fell asleep immediately as soon as I sat down on the plane to Taipei, only waking up when the plane finally landed.

The weather on my first day in Taipei was not too great. The taxi driver did not seem to understand me. I just had to hope to end up in the right place and that the room I rented was not a scam!

I arrived at the apartment right when a huge rain storm started. Happy to have finally arrived I met J, A and L my new flatmates. Everyone was really nice, welcoming me to their home with a big smile.

After sleeping for a long time I finally felt brave enough to have a look around the city. My flatmate J helped me to get a phone number, a metro card and explained to me how to rent bikes here!

U bikes are incredibly convenient!
You pay around 0,14 euro to ride it for 15 min!
Trying to put on a brave face, I ignored the crazy traffic and fought my way through Taipei. :)

Taiwan has so many Scooters, because the taxes on cars are 100%.
One could think the traffic is really bad, but after some time you notice that it has a natural rhythm to it!

The market is really loud. People are shouting. Different kind of smells melt into each other. People are very friendly here. They will do their best to explain the phone contract to you and smile, when you try to speak Chinese.