Day 2

Today was my second day in Taipei, and my first official day at AMI.

I met some of my co-workers including George and Leonard.  They had me working on some stuff that I didn't quite understand but tried my best to learn.  George also showed me the digbil website where you can manage electronic billboards across Taiwan.  Pretty cool.

Leonard got me started working on some stuff that involves testing via Selenium.  It is quite difficult to understand.

I asked Clas how many hours he expects me to put in each day and he said 16.  I wasn't quite sure if he was joking or being serious, but he insisted that he wasn't joking.  I don't know how it is humanly possible for someone to work 16 hours a day, let alone an unpaid intern, but I decided to just chalk it up to his weird personality my dad insisted he has.  On second thought, this makes a lot of sense.

After work, I decided I would spend the evening biking around.  I was very excited about the news that Taiwan's public transportation system involved public bikes that could be rented from kiosks.  Clas told me that there was a place I could rent from at the corner of the park across the street from the building where I work.  I went there and noticed three little Taiwanese boys who looked like they had just gotten off school.  They were by the bikes and I approached them and asked if they spoke English.  They said no but they were very enthusiastic and helped me figure out the kiosk.  One of them even took me to a 7-11 so I could buy an EZ Pass, a necessity if you want to rent a bike.  After purchasing my pass and grabbing a bike, I thanked them and went on my way.

The public bikes are bright orange and have a basket in front, as well as a little bell you can ring.  It almost looks a little girly but I was just happy to be able to ride one.

I rode down to my hotel and back to the park, just killing some time riding around enjoying the city.  There are so many motorcyclists and you have to be careful when crossing the street because one may come out of nowhere.

The bike ride really soothed my soul and I'm glad I have it.  I'm not sure how long I am allowed to keep the bike before returning it, but this seems like a trivial issue.  It seems that the bikes are on a timer basis, and if I go past my allotted time I will just use my entire EZ Card to pay for it, and that will be that.

Now I am back at the hotel, resting a bit from my ride and getting ready to go out to get some dinner.  There are a lot of places to eat and I am a little overwhelmed by the nightlife here but I am sure I will get used to it. All in all it has been a pretty eventful day 2, and I have no idea what to expect in the coming days, but I hope you'll stay tuned.