12月18日(金)　　台湾滞在の時間：　1 day

Day one in Taiwan....although I actually arrived yesterday afternoon. Which was a memorable experience. I'd somehow managed to contract a terrible cold (just as I was for some reason afraid I would) a day before departure. Terrible in that I could hardly move at all on the morning I had to take the 6AM bus to the airport, which made the last remainder of packing I had left a living hell of a chore. I left more at Takashi's place than I should have...but I'll be back for it.

The bus ride went smoothly enough (though I missed most of my last chances of seeing Japanese scenery while sleeping), and actually I thought I might turn out alright soon enough after waking up at the end. Then came Living Hell Part 2. The attendants at Osaka Airport (KIX) were not satisfied with my lack of re-entry permit for my transit flight from Taipei to America in Tokyo. I needed another entry permit (my previous one had expired) to sit in Tokyo Airport (Narita) for three hours while waiting for my next flight.... Didn't know about that before. They said they could offer a one-time-only temporary re-entry permit requiring me only to visit the immigration office in Narita for confirmation upon my arrival there. ....But first, I had to follow an attendant across the terminal hall (which alone is massive) down an elevator, across a waiting area filled with booths and cafes, through a staff-only entryway and a number of halls....not finished yet....into a staff-only lobby, up another elevator, through some more halls (I'm trying not to gasp for air at this point), through a key-code door equipped with a security camera, and down a couple of more hallways before reaching the re-entry permission office. I may have gotten the order mixed up here, but then, I was running a high fever, sleep-deprived, without breakfast, and carrying three bags of around 10 kilos each on my person the whole time, all while trying to keep a mad pace with the attendant, who said we had to move quickly to ensure I reach my flight on time -- anyway, my brain had a lot of incoming SOSs at once. I was miserable and on the brink of literal exhaustion, but looking back I think I carried myself well enough, and was only called on once by any attendants as to whether or not I was feeling alright (to which I replied I was just tired). I slept through the entire plane ride.

Having arrived in Taipei (actually, Taoyuan), I decided to turn myself in after seeing a short video on quarantine procedure on the airplane. A moment of self-righteousness in my still mildly feverish state. The official was kind enough and even called my Taipei friend (E---), with whome I'd be staying, to give instructions on what to do with me, all with the intention of letting me go on with my Taiwan travels. (I feel pretty certain that this wouldn't have been te case in China, which is maybe partly, instinctively why I felt more confident about confessing myself in this place.) That's when I discovered that my friend had been in a recent motorbike accident and is now in a hospital awaiting plastic surgery. He told me his dad would come pick me up at a station described to me earlier.

Upon meeting E---'s father, we quickly realized that (1) he can speak no English (except "Hello", which subsequently became my name whenever he or his wife wanted my attention), and (2) my very slight ability in beginner Mandarin Chinese is nearly useless in a Taiwanese-only speaking situation.... A lot of grunts, gestures and one- to two-word affirmations later and I was at the nearest hospital where he kindly waited with me for an hour for the test results to my very minor examination. A small cold (ha!, not so small before, I bet!, I thought to myself). Some Tyenol, antihystimines and cough syrup to do the trick.

It was late when we got back to my friend's (very nice, very big, but very...peculiar) hous in the countryside. His little brother, Daniel (whose real name is Yide, I believe), speaks English very well for a non-native speaker at his age. He helped me get through the rest of the evening with his somewhat nervous father and his overt and direct-speaking mother. I gave them my Japanese gift and my apologies, and turned in for the night (to find myself soaking in sweat the next morning, not yet accustomed to the new climate temperature, I suppose).

>>><<<

That was all yesterday and included less than four hours from the time I arrived at Taoyuan Airport to he moment I hit the sack. This morning, I woke up after around nine hours of sleep to take a nice shower, feeling loads better already. A note under my door from Daniel told me to take it easy, that he was off to school and his mom was off to work (nothing about his father...), and to help myself to breakfast downstairs when I felt ready. Famished, I descended the beautiful mahogany stairway and passed through the etched-design kitchen to graciously find a loaf of bagged bread, a container of margarine, and two plates of one fried egg each. ...Now, in my defense, I was still slightly feverish and very hungry -- thus my reasoning powers were relatively weakened. And so I thought: "Well, that was nice of her! She obviously didn't want the contents of one egg to taint the other, so she put them on two separate plates..." Have pity on me; it's too late do anything about it now anyway. It just made perfect sense at the time. And it wasn't even a minute that passed before I heard an upstairs bedroom open and groggy feet carry someone to the bathroom for a shave. Only then did I recall that Daniel's note made no mention of his father. I'd eaten his breakfast. More desperate gestures and apologies. Thank god he's a light-hearted and forgiving man.

We visited E--- around noon, and I had lunch with him in the hospital boufet restaurant (which I both plentifully enjoyed and felt slightly guilty about following this morning's incident). E---'s injuries were nowhere near as bad as I'd imagined them after my phone call with him at the airport quaratine office. His speech was slightly impeded, but his overal sustained injury seems minimal considering the apparent severity of the accident. He is said to be returning home by next Friday, a week from now. We had a nice talk for an our or so, then I returned to his house to have dinner with his parents (Daniel still in cram school until 8PM), which was quite fun precisely due to the language barrier and his mother's more or less disregard of it in communicating with me (which also seemed to make her husband a bit more comfortable with the situation). A little forced English-tutoring with Daniel (who I already like a lot), and now I'm ready to call it a night again. (Although not before a full-family inquisition into the room I'm staying in, to check and make sure I've taken the meds the doctor prescribed. They have yet to prove that they can say my name, but I(m apparently supposed to refer to the mother as "mommy" ^-^)

This family is very intriguing, and I can feel myself already beginning to have a special liking to them. I'll decide by tomorrow whether or not I'll spend the whole of next week (as well as the time bewteen January 1st ～ 6th) with them or not. 晩安。