The Roving Reporter

Welcome to the other side of the world...

Posted by: Amy Reiter

Tuesday, March 6, 2007 7:00 PM

Well, the flights were loooong. Of three flights to get here, we were in the air for 18 1/2 of 24 hours. The best part was flying over Alaska. We flew northwest past Seattle, past Anchorage and flying over middle-of-nowhere Alaska was just amazing. The mountains were everywhere and covered with deep piles of snow and not a road to be seen. Then we flew over the Bering Sea, which was covered with big, flat patches of floating ice. Then I fell asleep.

Sometime between naps, we crossed over the International Date Line, and now I'm in Wednesday morning and East Central Illinois is in Tuesday evening.

When we arrived at the airport, a whole group of Rotary members met our tired selves with a big sign and lots of photos taken. Can't wait to see how we all look on very little sleep and no showers. Actually, I can wait.

First observations from driving to the hotel last night:

1) There are as many motor scooters on the road as cars. From teens to grandparent-aged people carrying tote bags, they seem to be the way to get around.

2) Kaohsiung is a big city. We drove for probably 45 minutes of densely packed buildings and many brightly lit signs advertising things I couldn't understand. I think there's over a million people in the city. I'll give you better stats when I'm slightly less jet lagged.

Hope everyone in Central time zone is having a good day!

Amy

Phrase of the day:
Ni hao = hi!

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