Day 1: A New Place
It took me a while to get used to the surroundings. This hotel room is maybe the smallest liveable space I’ve ever been in. It was to me a mystery how they got the double bed in here. It occupied three quarters of the room, and it was flanked by three walls, with one side left open. In one free corner stands a large flat screen TV. Now that was comfortable.
Of course, there comes a time when I wanted to get a refreshing shower. So when I went for the bathroom, I had the full right to expect to find a bathtub, with some kind of futuristic shower system and whatnot. If they have a flat screen TV, what won’t they have?
I was kind of disappointed while staring at the blank wall where instinctively should have been a bathtub. I was standing in a toilet room, a very hygienic one that is. And it is only after that I notice the shower head hanging form one wall that I realized why this room’s walls were so well tiled and why there was a drain in the floor. These Taiwanese really bring out the best of their space don’t they?
And yes, I took a shower.
Once ready, my luggage and me, we got picked up by another practitioner. I’ll call her Mahjong. I was really in luck that the local English-speaking practitioners came to help me. She brought me to my new place. And what can I say, I started to miss a little my small room in hotel Leo. It’s not that bad, just not ready. The apartment where I was to stay, stands in a northern suburb of Taipei, but is very close to a metro stop. There is a mall nearby, so I wasn’t really worrying about placement. I was more thinking about the amount of years my new home must have been deserted.
Apparently, I had to stay at that hotel in the first place because they were renovating the apartment. I did notice the new ceiling, floor and some painted walls, but that didn’t stop the neglected kitchen from standing out. That’s not difficult; all the other spaces were simply empty.
The kind practitioners, who came with me, spared me more of this by sending me with Ann to the university. I still had to register, and it was the day before orientation day. It was a bit late, but there was not much I could do about it. I don’t know what I would’ve done without Ann helping me. Most people we encountered were not all that proficient in English. How closer to the Mandarin Training Centre where I get class, how better I could understand them, but not by much.
I was certainly not the only one who is registering late. There were a lot of people in the main office going from one desk to the other, and as I understood that you start at desk number 1, everything went all right.
Ok, I’m just kidding, Murphy’s Law is never always wrong. I wanted intensive class, and they told me it was full. After quick check of the list I was doomed to stay in regular class. It’s not the end of the world, just a bit disappointing. So I had to give some preferences for regular class too. To top that, the machine that makes the student ID cards is broken. Even though I was sure of having repaired it, it just wouldn’t work.
So that’s the end of day one. No intensive class, no student ID and nothing even as near a home (unless an empty space with a mattress counts as one), and I like it. After all, when things are bad they can only get better. ;)
