Well, Good News is I’m Employed.

My current home sweet home at Cozy Planet Hostel

The first few days in Kaohsiung were daunting.- a lot more so than I expected.  However, what will be will be, and my faith that everything will work out the way it should still runs thick. Plus, Dom and I have managed to keep a pretty positive outlook on the whole situation. I guess when I decided to pick up and move to a country blind, I didn’t really factor together all of the other elements. Actually, to be quite honest, I don’t think I factored anything together. But I am still a practical person, and I do take note of certain numbers. And so far, these are the only ones that matter:

Six Pieces. This is the number of bags we arrived with . Four of them being mine of course, considering my boyfriend lives in the same four outfits. I possess a small backpack, a large travel backpack, a tote bag with my laptop and DLSR, and a fairly big rolling suitcase with images of peacock feathers plastered on the front and back. Dom keeps it simple with his backpack and duffle bag. In my defense, my large suitcase is filled with bed sheets, teaching books, and of course Scrabble. Any wise English teacher knows the benefits of Scrabble in the classroom, so the sacrifice is an investment worth its weight in gold.

We got off the bus at 8 PM, and contemplated taking a taxi with all the bags.  It was dark, we were tired, and the last thing we wanted to do was haul six pieces of luggage three miles. However, there was one little bitty issue- the fact that we don’t speak Chinese, and the directions to our hotel were in English. At this point, we said screw it, and flipped my trusty compass coin. The coin said turn left, and this we did.

Two. This is the number of times we were stopped by helpful people. It didn’t take long for us to realize that the people here are nice. We had only been walking for five minutes before an older Taiwanese man approached us and asked us where we were going. We told him Central Park Metro. He kindly pointed us in the right direction, which thankfully, because of my lucky coin, we were already headed. Ten minutes later a group of Taiwanese teenagers asked us if they could help us with our luggage.  At this point, Kaohsiung was earning major brownie points at lightning speed.

30 minutes. Time it took to get to Cozy Planet Hostel with our luggage. We were greeted by the manager Louis, who has been nothing but helpful our whole stay. After taking care of check in logistics, Dom and I were out the door to explore and find a hot meal. Which is easier said than done. The hardest thing so far is not finding a job, apartment, or orientating ourselves on a map, but ordering a meal.  It’s pretty much a game of chance.

One Hour. Time it took to find a place to eat. After aimlessly walking around Kaohsiung, searching for a place that had pictures on the menu, we finally sat down at a Japanese restaurant. We decided on the place after the owner chased us down the street. We had originally walked away because the menu was picture-less and in Chinese. The owner, however, enthusiastically persuaded us in English to dine in his small and rustic establishment. Luckily we did, because it was delicious. For less than three dollars I enjoyed a lovely dish with chicken, rice, and seaweed. We will definitely be going back there again.

My first meal in Kaohsiung

One Day. This is how long it took us to meet new friends. In our search for living accommodations (we can’t keep on living in a hostel believe it or not), Dom came across a thread on a forum posted by an American couple who moved here a week before us. I contacted them by email, and the next night we got together for beers and dinner.  In addition to the helpful advice they were able to share, they are a lovely, down to earth couple we now have as friends.

4 days. This is how long it took me to find a job. I sent out my resumes to at least ten schools on Monday, and by Tuesday I had my first interview. It was a perfect fit, so I accepted the job.

6 days. This is how long we have been in Cozy Planet hostel.  And it is getting a little cramped. Hopefully by next week we will have signed a one-year lease somewhere, and can start making a home for ourselves.

Good news is, there is an Ikea…..