Sunday, March 24, 2019

Things To Come

Rain dampened what I had planned for the previous weekend, so not much happened. But it is always good to have those rainy day activities. Like watching movies with a new friend crammed on a bottom bunk in the dorm, while eating noodles from a 7/11 convenience store. Or by planning a new trip for the long break we have coming up! 


Mitsui Outlet Park

This coming week we have roughly five days off, which I extended into nine, for a "spring" break of sorts. I am getting very excited as time draws near. The plan is to visit three different countries. Hint: one I needed a visa for. πŸ˜‰The rest of the details I am going to keep a secret for my next blog! And get ready for more pictures! Like I said before my friend and I planned this all just a few days ago, and well there are a few things that I would do again if I could go back in time. 


1. I would have planned it earlier. Yes, the tickets were still very cheap, and the planning went well. But if I would have done it earlier, it may have been even less expensive. And I would have more time to prepare. I am a major procrastinator, and this is one time I really think I would have less stress about getting ready if I would have done it earlier. 

2. I would have payed more attention to the dates on the applications. All of the flights need information on your passport, that's no surprise. But sometimes different applications have different ways of formatting the date. Sometimes it's Month/Day/Year, and other times it's Day/Month/Year. I definitely flipped some numbers and had to run down a rabbit hole to try and fix it. So, just something to be aware of.

3. I would have checked visas sooner. With the planning it earlier comes the issue of visas. I got extremely lucky and my visa application was a simple online $20 USD app that processes in two days and I receive it upon arrival at the airport. Some other friends didn't quite have that luck, and had to make a last minute appointment to visit an embassy to get their visa, which luckily the embassy was in our city. Here is a site where I found all my visa info for any country: https://cibtvisas.com/visa-quick-check

Nonetheless, it has all seemed to work out. It is hard to convey how excited I am! And I just continue to hope that everything goes smoothly along the way... and if not, well that's part of the adventure! 

Other little things I recently been thinking about and have forgot to mention in previous posts-
The exchange rate for USD to New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) is really good. It is approximately 1:30. This makes things mostly cheaper than in the U.S., but other things, mostly clothing, they have increased the price so it is roughly equivalent to back home. 
Another thing is the outlets here are the same as in the U.S. I brought a universal converter with me, but I haven't used it once! I am sure it will come in handy for other travels though! 
Lastly, the clothes I brought with me are wearing out pretty fast. Holes have started to appear in pants and shirts feel thinner. It makes me sad, but then again now it's time for some local shopping! πŸ˜„

To be honest, I don't know how I am going to leave this place and all the new friends I have made. It already makes me sad, and we still have three months! 

Cheers to the rest of semester,
Ayla