Fate...?

I have arrived in Taiwan!!! Woot woot! And I have the craziest story to tell you; it makes me believe in fate, hahaha! Our flight from Ottawa to Detroit was full and so Matthew (the boyfriend) and I were not able to sit together. I am not sure if I have mentioned that but essentially I told Matthew back in November that I needed to get out of Ottawa and once I left for Calgary in December (to visit my mother) I seriously consider this; that is when I was applying to jobs in China. Matthew followed me here and it has definitely been great so far and without him I think I probably would have been sleeping on the streets right now; he knows lots of people.

Anyway, back to the story. The flight was full and Matthew and I were separated. Our flight was also delayed because of weight problems; the airline had to ask for four volunteers to disembark the plane and wait for the next flight, thank goodness we weren't delayed by too much so we did not miss our connection. Matthew ended up sitting next to a man his age and they started talking; asking the basics like where are you headed, where are you from, etc. This man said he was headed to Taiwan, as our we! But actually this man has been living in Taiwan for the last 13 years. Matthew told him he was from a small town half way between Ottawa and Kingston; and this man is from that area too. He told Matthew that his town was called Smiths Falls and Matthew remembered him right after that. His name is Grant and they both went to high school together and were in the same year! Small world I would say. Grant accompanied us throughout our travels thus far. It has been great so far having him take us around and especially as he has been teaching English here in Taiwan for years and had a lot of great advice to give; we have learned tons of new information.

Grant made the long flight from Detroit to Tokyo more interesting and he had so many positive things to say about Taiwan, he really loves this place. We landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and took a shuttle bus (for $1CAD) to the high speed rail station. Then we took the train to Hsinchu (also known as the Windy City) where Grant was headed. We have made 5 new friends, all foreigners and also all English teachers last night; and spent the night here at Grant's friend's place. Grant needed to come here because his friend has been taking care of his dog and car while he was away for holidays back in Canada.

Today we are planning to take a walk along some park paths here in Hsinchu and later this evening we will head to Taipei with Grant in a car, so we will get to experience what driving is like here (they drive on the same side as we do).

The first day is ahead of me and I cannot wait to explore this place!