It's funny where you end up...

When you are looking for a gas station. Or at least, it's funny where the kids and I end up.  This afternoon, I took the kids to buy some supplies for their birthday party to be held this Saturday.  I had tried to get them to nap at noon but they didn't, so of course they fell asleep and slept for over an hour, which meant flagging the trip to the store that sells the party gear.  They woke up as I was diverting to the highway toward the cottage.  I realised we needed gas, so I got back off the highway and drove along to Xijr.  Kyle was hungry so I decided to find somewhere to stop if we couldn't find a gas station.  Of course, I couldn't (I have a GPS but it listed 20 in no particular order or direction, so I gave that up).  We ended up at Cathay Hospital.  It's like a huge community, and behind the hospital is the start of the cycleway along the Keelung River.  Walking along, we found "叮呱呱", the Taiwan Fried Chicken chain.  The kids hadn't been there before, so we ordered our takeout and sat at the park, eating our picnic dinner.  Our family verdict is, Ding Gua Gua is way better than MacDonald's.  Is that getting too local?  We were quietly eating when Hannah yells, "There's a cow!"  (She takes after me, suffering from the odd case of animal misidentification.)  Coming up to us was this giant pig, with a collar on. It had smelt the chicken and came to ask for some.  It was the cutest big pig I had ever seen.  It was talking to us, and put its head on my knee.  The owner of the pig came over and said sorry but he loves the smell of chicken.  It was fine with us.  It was certainly a "first time" moment for me.  Kyle decided he never wants to be a pig farmer as they "have to chop those gorgeous animals up", and Hannah declared pigs "fantastic".  Funnily enough, less than five minutes later, a man walking his cow walked past.  Now, please note that we were not exactly in farmland, but right next to a highway and large hospital. 

(The bikeway itself is currently 12km long, and eventually will connect to Taipei's bikeways.  It's in really good condition and not crowded at all.)

We then walked back to the carpark, stopping at the local community park.  The children there were very friendly, and both kids quickly made new friends.  But, the promise of a daytrip tomorrow convinced the kids to come back to the cottage when I asked them. 

We got back here and painted the paper clay models we had made a few days ago.  At first they were all painted beautifully, but then the kids decided BROWN was the way to go, and now all the animals are one color.   The kids were quite brown themselves so I had them jump in the shower and head off to bed for stories.

Talking of brown, I was saddened to hear Hannah tell me she is not happy that she is too dark, and not white enough.  And to tell me I am too fat to be a mermaid.  Taiwan media has so much to answer for.  Even if I don't let her watch shows like "美人女" (Beautiful mermaid, a superhero story for girls, with 3 beautiful cartoon mermaids doing cool stuff), even Disney channel shows ads for the mother, selling whitening products, slimming products, and anti-aging products.  There is no control over advertising at all.  Hannah is only four years old, and she is already worried about her skin and her waistline!  I'm going to have to restudy my "advertising ethics" paper materials and educate the little girl before she develops issues she shouldn't have at four years of age!

Sunday Morning at the Cottage

It's been just beautiful up at the cottage the past couple of weeks.  The good weather has brought our neighbors into the 'hood, and this morning was definitely a hive of activity.  I woke up at 6am to the sounds of:

• The great big labrador at the bottom of the hill barking nonstop
• The meditation group playing their Buddhist music at full volume, just up from the dog
• The little girl below us and her mother having rather loud dialog between the inside and outside of the house
• The gentle hum of locusts
• The occasional tweet and chirp from the resident birds

I decided to go and see exactly what the dog was barking about, and get a bit of exercise at the same time.  A TV crew had set up at the restaurant at the bottom of our hill.  They must be going to shoot a few scenes down by the river.  The dog did not like their constant movement, and barked everytime somebody spoke or walked.  After saying hi to the dog, I set off on a little walk along the road.  There were a few groups of hikers out enjoying the sun, too.  There were a few rustlings in the grass by the road, and I assume they were little snakes or lizards slipping away from all the noise.  I got a couple of kilometers down the road, decided I was hungry, and came back again.  Everyone was still asleep, so I had a chance to enjoy a "quiet" coffee before the day really began.  It's now almost 9am, and I think it is too hot for everyone, as there is no dog, no Buddhist music, no chirping birds, and no little girl calling out to her mother.  We are left with the gentle hum of locusts and a view of dragonflies darting by as they look for their mates.  Bliss.... oh wait, here is Hannah, cuddling me and declaring, "I love you, squashy mummy!"

It seems just yesterday that I was dropping Kyle off for his first day of preschool.  Now, we are getting ready for first grade!  And, Hannah will become a preschooler.  It's hard to get my head around some days, that here I am in Taiwan, sending my kids to local school (getting even more "local" in September when we move to the cottage fulltime so they can attend the school out here), where they get a Taiwan education and I have to help them with homework written in Chinese.  Facebook has made it even more strange to me, as many of my Taiwanese friends have moved abroad and their children are being raised to attend English-language-education schools.  The world really is an interesting place these days.

We started our summer vacation early, with Kyle's school closing because two kids in his class had the entereovirus.  It is very contagious, and the more serious strains can be life-threatening, so they are pretty cautious.  This threw my "plans" into turmoil, but we are still having some fun.  I have been driving the two kids around, trying out different places like the Science Museum, Riverside Park Children's Festival in Ilan, Happy Bear's gymnastic classes, and a number of different swimming pools.  Fitting my business around the kids is kind of exhausting and it's hard to focus, but last week I met someone who is going to change my life forever - a drop shipping company!  So, come September I hope to be doing minimal shipping myself, offering a better service, and focusing on developing markets and retail sales.  And of course, spending more time caring for and educating my kids. Exercising. Making exotic coffees... well, one can dream, maybe I will even mop the floors!

We did manage to enjoy Kyle's graduation ceremony.  In Taiwan, graduating students get a fancy book of photos, which you pay about about 30USD for.  Here are a few pictures - two from the book and two from the day:

Hannah is of course her gorgeous, color-coordinated self.  She seems to have my sister's flair for fashion.  A couple of pictures of the girl:

I look at Hannah and ask myself, "What did I do to get such a gorgeous little girl?"

She is seriously funny, creating songs all day long that keep the whole family laughing. 

Hannah and Kyle have been roleplaying lots of boy-girl situations recently.  For example, they "went to a party" where there were a lot of girls.  Hannah sent all the girls home, as nobody could be prettier than her.  Prince Kyle chased them all out to make sure they wouldn't come back and Hannah had the choice of boys at the party!  I guess I read Cinderella to them once too often.

Kyle has bronchitis.  I took him to the doctor today.  I think I have a bit of it myself, tonight.  The kids got up at 6:30 this morning, and Richard had been out, so I did the kid duty for the morning.  I was feeling a bit feverish myself earlier this evening and was almost asleep, but Richard woke me up.  Now, everyone is asleep and it's getting close to midnight.  It seems to be fairly common that the husband gets to sleep and the wife doesn't.  I guess we have a lot of things we have to organise and remember, and it's just harder to shut our brains down.  And, we tend to think of the husband more and let them sleep, keeping the kids quiet.  From discussions with friends, it seems a pretty cross-cultural thing, were the men will wake up the women just to have them help find something or to ask a question, whereas the women will try their best to solve any problems themselves, and keep the kids quiet, too.  Anyway, I won't be surprised if I wake up with a bit of a cough in the morning, having had looked after Kyle through his coughing last night.

On that note, I should try to get to sleep before witching hour!