New Years

New Years Eve I was planning on seeing a movie with some of my girls but that didn’t work out so me, Selin, Chloe, and Josephine ended up just hanging out in a park in Xiemen. It was a really cool park, it was coverd  in quite impressive graffiti. We were just enjoying each other’s company and appreciating Taiwan 7-11. As we were sitting there a couple asked to take pictures with us. The photo quality was really good and they sent them to us so I’ll share them with you. Now if you’re going to Taiwan for exchange prepare to have a good time on New Years. Find out where people are going to be and get there. I have a friend who paid for the high speed rail back to Taipei because he was on a family trip New Years Eve. The point is it’ll be fun. The fireworks didn’t last long but they were amazing. All of our host parents extended our curfew to 3:00 so we didn’t have to worry about getting home. Now I’ve mentioned how amazing the Taipei public transportation is in the past but I just have to take a minute to tip my hat to the city of Taipei. First of all they made all the MRTs ( Taipei Metro) run longer so people could get home. They let people into the stations in waves so that no one would be trampled. If a train was full and still in central Taipei it wouldn’t stop. It was amazingly organized. 7-elevens near 一零一 (Taipei 101) took out there front windows and opened cash registers out side. Fast food restaurants  took out tables and put down cardboard so that people could just sit on the floor. Taipei set up portable police and med stations. The police officers were handing out water, noise makers, and hand warmers. Big screens were set up in crowded areas so more people could watch the concert. Taipei is one city that knows why they’re doing. The US could learn a thing or two.
Thanks for reading,
Autumn 丁晚秋