Update 0 - Travel + Quarantine Hotel

The trip over to Taiwan went without any hiccups, which is all you can ask from a day of International travel.

Denver ➡️ Los Angeles ➡️ Tauyuan

I spent four hours of the layover with my L.A. parents Reyna and Joe. I lived with these two when I was working on the tunnel boring project with Regional Connector Constructors in the Fall of 2017. Reyna was kind enough to invite me to dinner. She made quail and her famous rice - what a treat!

Reyna & Joe	Reyna & I

I left Denver at 14:00 on 5/5 and arrived in TaoYuan at 06:00 on 5/7 (+14 hour time difference + 26 hr travel time). I spent the flight sleeping and doing some financial planning.

Due to COVID-19 protocol in Taiwan, I am required to spend 14 full days in quarantine. After this quarantine, I must pass a COVID-19 test. Once my result comes back negative, I am allowed to leave my hotel room. I will go directly to my temporary housing in Tainan.

I am currently through 14 days of quarantine. I will be getting my COVID test tomorrow and leave for Tainan on Sunday.

The company has provided some high-quality accommodation, though the food is quite poor quality. At designated times, a bell rings, signaling that our food is ready and it is time to grab it from outside the door. A coworker of mine said it well when he compared us to “animals in the zoo.” Taiwan is world-renowned for its food, so I’ll be making up for this as soon as I’m free.

I’ve got a separate living room and bedroom along with a beautiful view of the city through 8 large windows. I’m supplied with the world’s finest instant coffee & tea. I've been drinking some "Taiwan Beer", which is basically the Coors of Taiwan from what I’ve gathered - A modest beer that tastes like Stella-Artois.

I have been spending my time performing my work training, diving into my personal projects, reading, FaceTimes, watching traffic, and studying Mandarin. The personal projects have helped stave off the looming insanity that quarantine threatens.

I wish I had something more exciting to share for my initial update, but that will have to wait a couple of weeks.

My next post will be released once I am free and out in the world.