TAIPEI

It's hard to believe that I have been in Taiwan for a week and the Olympics haven't started yet. We left our training site in Chiayi this morning for a 3 hour bus ride to Taipei, the host city of the Deaflympics. When we finally arrived in Taipei, I was amazed how big the city looks. There are a lot of different looking buildings that I have not seen before. Here below are some pictures:

The city of Taipei

The Danshui River and Taipei

The Grand Hotel

Taipei

One of the coolest buildings that I saw was called Taipei 101, a 101-floor landmark skyscraper. It is the world's tallest building measuring at 1,474 feet from ground to roof. I was able to see the building during the day and at night.


Taipei 101 during day

Taipei 101 at night


Once we arrived in Taipei, we were checked into our hotel. The security here is amazing. On every floor of our hotel there is a 24 hour security cop on each end of the floor. Aaron and I met our security people for tennis in which they will follow us everywhere we go. I was amazed on how much security we are getting. The hotel we are in is beautiful. We are the only team staying at this hotel while the other teams are staying at various hotels around Taipei. We had a very nice dinner at the hotel lobby. They serve all kinds of food, fruits, etc. After dinner, we took a bus to the Accreditation Center for the Deaflympics to receive our ID badge. The processing took about 3 hours long. The ID that we have to wear at all times looks so awesome! I am starting to feel like an Olympic Athlete! :)

The Accreditation Center


I will try to get a picture of my ID badge that I have to wear and will upload a picture as soon as I can.


Tomorrow we have a big day ahead of us. A 2 hour practice in the morning and a 2 hour practice in the afternoon. Also, OPENING CEREMONIES starts at 7:30pm Taipei Time tomorrow!!! (6:30am Saturday Morning back in Wisconsin) I will try to let you know if the ceremonies will be broadcast online. Otherwise, check out updates at the US Deaflympics website.

Until next time...