Basking in the light of Taipei 101

Turn on the TV on New Years' Eve in America and, after watching the pre-recorded yet utterly necessary footage of the ball dropping in Times Square, you'll be treated to a montage of fireworks going off all around the world. You'll see Paris. And Sydney. And Taipei, where fireworks spurt from the many tiers of Taipei 101 to create a magnificent spectacle of light and color.

And guess where I'll be?

If you guessed the Eiffel tower, you're wrong.

This is the view from our hostel window. Really. See, Karina booked us for a hostel out in the countryside of Taipei because that was what was available, but apparently, they were overbooked, so they offered us an alternative--you know, MERE BLOCKS AWAY FROM THE MAIN EVENT. We didn't say no.

I'm psyched. This will be my first major New Years event I've ever attended--New Years has historically been an understated affair of board games and watching the ball drop for me--AND it just so happens to be one of the first celebrations, too. It had never really occurred to me before, but obviously all the footage shown on New Years Eve is pre-taped; America's actually the last place to get New Years, while Taiwan comes in at around the halfway mark. (Though, major country-wise, it falls behind just Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Korea, and parts of Russia, since it turns out time starts in the middle of the Pacific.)

Tomorrow, I'm sure we'll wander around in the crowd for a while. Karina wants to see if we can get a primo place to stand in the crowd, but I'm skeptical. In my mind, we should just come back to our hostel and hang out with our brilliant view of the focal point of this New Years celebration.

So when the time rolls around in your neck of the woods and they start showing the fireworks, keep an eye out for us, basking in the light of Taipei 101.