7,984 Mile Journey

After waking up early, we all boarded the shuttle to the JFK airport at 6:30. Luckily we were to the airport early because we accidentally went to the wrong terminal. We took the shuttle all the way around the airport to get to the correct terminal. From there, it was smooth sailing. We all passed through security fairly quickly and then found our gate. We then had about two hours to walk around the airport. Our terminal was rather small, so we quickly explored the entire area. I ate some breakfast and then we spent time attempting to find reasonably priced snacks. We failed and eventually gave up after discovering that, even when accounting for the deals and promotions at different shops, the bags of candy were the same price everywhere.

Boarding the Shuttle

I grabbed myself a sandwich for lunch and then we boarded the plane. Overall, I thought it went much faster than my flight to China two years ago. We were fed a meal fairly soon after boarding the flight. The meal consisted of chicken, rice, vegetables, fruit and Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream. I also had a glass of green tea. After eating, I listened to Vivaldi's Four Seasons (one of my favorites!). I then proceeded to watch a movie and sleep for a few hours.

On the Plane

When I woke up, we were given a slice of egg salad sandwich and a slice of turkey sandwich. Then I watched Kung Fu Yoga, a 2017 Jackie Chan movie, with my resident director, Kripa. With a name like Kung Fu Yoga, the movie promised to be interesting and it did not disappoint. While it certainly was one of the worst movies I have ever watched, it was also incredibly entertaining. The movie's plot, though somewhat foggy, centered around an ancient lost Indian treasure which a Chinese archaeologist/professor (Jackie Chan) along with some of his relatives and TAs, were attempting to help an Indian princess discover. All the Indian characters spoke in English and the Chinese characters switched between Chinese and English so, although there were no subtitles, I was able to follow the movie with some translation help from Kripa. The highlights of the movie included a car sick lion, a dramatic escape requiring breath holding for seven minutes, and a wild dance number at the end. After Kripa and I watched it, the other NSLI-Y kids started to watch it as well. I am sure we will be joking about this movie for the duration of the trip, it certainly was different!

Kung Fu Yoga Movie Poster

I passed the rest of the time on the flight by reading Robin Hood and watching bits and pieces of movies. We were also served dinner. The flight arrived to Tokyo after 14 hours, although the landing was a bit bumpy. After going through security again, we had two hours to spend exploring the Narita airport. The airport was certainly different than what I am used to; it was incredibly clean, very quiet and things seemed to move at a slow, leisurely pace. Here are some pictures of the airport:

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Cool Toilet in the Airport

There was an interactive Japanese art booth set up so we all went and made recreations of a famous Japanese painting. There were multiple different wood molds which you would wet with ink and then press your paper down on to them. The final product was built up layer by layer of color.

Japanese Art Project

The Final Product

After we all finished, we grabbed some Japanese food from a restaurant near our terminal. I ordered some dumplings (they are called gyoza in Japan). They were absolutely delicious and reminded me of how excited I am for nine months of amazing Asian food!

The Restaurant We Ate At

We then said goodbye to the NSLI-Y Korean Academic Year students who had traveled with us up to that point. Then we boarded our plane. This flight was only 3 hours long so I finished up a movie I had started on the flight to Tokyo, worked on this blog post, ate more food, and completed my letter to myself (this was an assignment we were given at orientation and I'm very excited to read the letter later on).

We arrived at the Kaohsiung Airport and sailed through immigration and luggage pick up. We were greeted by three people who help coordinate our program in Taiwan. We took a bus to the hotel, had a cup of bubble tea and then went to our rooms. From the hotel in New York to the hotel in Kaohsiung, we were traveling for 27.5 hours, but it certainly was worth it! I'm looking forward to seeing more the city tomorrow.

Finally in Taiwan!