January 14

Ni Hao (Hello), I am finally in Taiwan, although my sleep has not caught up with me yet. I left Minneapolis at 9am on Sunday and flew into Taipei at 9pm on Monday, a 22 hour flight once you subtract the 14 hours that Taiwan is ahead. Even without the hour long layovers in Detroit and Osaka Japan I spent a lot of time in the air. From Detroit to Japan was in a great circle, so we were actually over the arctic for a while. I could see miles and miles of ice and snow and huge cracks and crevasses. Upon arrival in Taipei, I was met by Paul, my roommate, and Chau-Yun Hsu, the EE department chair. They were both very friendly, and I had an enjoyable car ride to the dormatory where I will be staying.

The dormatory is one of a pair of eight or so story buildings that house all the students at Tatung, even the graduates. The room is nice and spacious, with its own bathroom. It is about the same as a dorm room in the states, with two exceptions. The hot water is only on between 9 and 12pm, making it necessary for me change my habits. Also the mattresses are very thin and hard, so it is not much different than sleeping on the ground, which I like. Paul was very helpful getting me settled in, especially helpful getting my computer able to connect to the internet. Since I was hungry, Paul, some friends of his, and I went to a small restaurant. We had goose, which they prepared by chopping sections of meat off the bird bones and all and lightly cooking. Along with the goose was large bowls of noodles and vegetables. After eating, we hurried home because if we are not within the building by 11:30, the doors lock. We returned with 3 minutes to spare. Then I went to bed.