So here it is, the beginning of my Taipei teaching adventure. I didn't think I'd be able to get started on this so quickly, but my first afternoon thunderstorm is upon us, and I'm relegated to hanging in my room looking for apartments and perusing maps of the city and subway lines so that it will be easier to get around when I actually have time to explore. I arrived late Saturday night, and will be starting work Monday morning. Not much time get my bearings, and my home for the first week will likely be the hostel that I'm staying in tonight. I figured it would be fitting to include a few images of my journey here to get things going:



Half of our reason for being airborne.


















Logging roads and clear cuts. I had never seen anything quite like this before.















My first solid view of China's mainland while flying into Hong Kong. My flight was an hour late taking off from Vancouver, B.C., and so I missed my connection and had to take a later flight. Twenty plus hour flights are great.








Closing in on Hong Kong at Sunset. Flying west was interesting as it seemed like we were perpetually chasing the sunset. My flight left Vancouver at four in the afternoon on Friday and it was light for our entire 12-13 hour flight, only to be landing at sunset on Saturday night.









Inside the Hong Kong airport.




















I have never seen so many scooters in my entire life. There are rows of them everywhere, and every stop light has groups of them lining up while waiting for the light to change. Watching them navigate traffic was a tad perplexing and I don't think I am in any hurry to get one of these for myself.











Lastly, here is a little footage of my first of what I am sure will be many afternoon thunderstorms during the monsoon season (which runs from March to October).