Ni Hao!

It's Emily, Meredith, and Kylie here blogging to you during our afternoon siesta.

Well we've made it. We are currently in Taipei, Taiwan. We got here late last night after about 25 hours of traveling. As you can see below, we had a long exhausting trip and we slept anywhere and everywhere we could get reasonably comfortable. We flew from Birmingham to Atlanta. From there, we embarked on a 14 hour plane ride to Tokyo, Japan. After a short layover in Tokyo we had another 4 hour plane ride to Taipei. From the airport, we got in taxis and they took us to the Grand Hyatt Taipei.

Thus far, our first day has been adventurous and wet. It is raining in Taipei but that hasn't stopped us from exploring the city. A group of us, consisting of the three of us, Will Thomas, and Tiffany explored the area around our hotel for a little bit and then ventured onto the MRT, Taiwan's metro system, to go to the Jade Market. We walked around the shops for a little bit and saw pretty much what you'd think you see in a Taiwanese market - and it was really awesome. We didn't buy anything there, but mostly because we've heard great things about the night market and want to conserve our money.

After the market we met up with Jackie. Kelcey, Jo Flo, and Will Warren. We found a food court nearby, so we went to check out some of the local cuisine. It was kind of intimidating because there was really know way to know what you were ordering, but most places had pictures, so we just pointed and smiled. This is how the conversation about food went with pretty much everyone:

"What are you eating?"

"I don't know."

"Is it good"

"Yes!"

Hopefully meals will continue to be so successful!

Update later after the night market!

Zai jian