Conquered!!

Today, I took one giant leap toward becoming a “local” by getting to my intended destination using a combination of buses and trains without retracing any steps or asking for help. (Okay, I asked once.) That’s right. What nearly brought me to tears in the middle of the street yesterday became an experience of individual empowerment today. Woot. It’s pretty mundane, but don’t worry, I’ll recount the whole thing for you here…(Jeff, if you’re reading this, this one’s for you. I know you’re shaking your head at me right now!)

I left my room at 7:30 again this morning. I didn’t bother with searching for the local bus stop since it proved futile yesterday. I did, however, take the train exactly two stops, exit out of the right exit (number 2, not 1, in case you’re keeping track), cross the right crosswalk (some cross major roads all the way, some half way– I always end up on the wrong one), go to the right bus stop and get on the bus going the proper direction. In fact, I arrived at the university 30 minutes too early because I’m such a pro at riding the bus now. It gets better.

On the way back, I needed to meet a friend at my train station by 6:30. I had an hour and a half, but given my navigating history I thought that might not be enough time to make the 30 minute journey. You can’t get from the university to my stop by train, so I decided to brave the direct bus- the one that let me down just two days earlier. This is the part where I’m thankful that I learned some Japanese in my life. I found the bus stop, used the weird rotating plastic scrolls that list all the stops in Mandarin, located my stop and realized that two days ago I had gotten off the bus way, way too early (Police station 1 and Police station 2 are nowhere near each other). When you’re on the bus, you can’t see all the stops, and when you’re at the bus stop, the stops are all written in Chinese, so they’re indecipherable to me. But today I forced myself to look harder and realized that I could at least recognize many of the characters. I even took a picture of it in case I panicked while on the bus. The high school kids stared and giggled at me, but I was determined to be prepared.

My stop is the second red dot at the top right– the first character is my middle name so should be easy enough to remember!

When I got off, I had no idea where I was. The night market was alive right across the street, but that didn’t help me orient at all. I decided to ask someone, whose face immediately wrinkled into the panic that accompanies the “I’m sorry. I don’t speak English.” response. But today, with my confidence renewed and my wits properly about me, I rephrased my “Where is the train station?” question. Note to self and anyone else traveling this way: Don’t ask for the “train” ask for the “MRT.” As soon as the words came out, the wrinkles melted off this (ambiguously gendered) person’s face, and I was pointed in the right direction.

So, if there are any Taiwanese universities out there reading this and looking for a computational social science PhD student to do some research at your institution, I’m ready and I can navigate the public transit system. I’m so proud I almost want to add it to my CV!!

In all honesty, I think one of my favorite parts of traveling is moments like these. Just when something seems impossible, a solution presents itself and it’s so renewing and empowering I’m ready to embarrass myself and do it all over again! Trust the process…

Side note: Animal Planet is still my favorite channel, even when it’s all in Chinese.