The Weekend Before Christmas

It has been such a fantastic weekend for me! I have seen several people from “long ago” and enjoyed catching up with them very much.




Last week, I got a facebook message from an old AIESEC friend of mine. Her father was my boss during my traineeship in Taiwan, and her University was my sponsoring Local Committee. For non-AIESECers, this means, I came to Taiwan on an AIESEC scholarship in 1995, and I worked for a company here for 18 months as a trainee. Michelle’s father was the manager of KONE (Taiwan), and was assistant to his secretary. Chinese Cultural University was my sponsoring committee, and Michelle, Besta, and Jerry did a fantastic job of making us feel welcome.



Michelle invited me to their LC’s 18th anniversary. Richard was kind enough to come along with me, which I thought was very brave. I did warn him they would probably do some kind of chant or dance, and the current members surely did, as soon as we arrived. But it was truly wonderful for me to attend this event. Firstly, I got to catch up with Michelle and Besta. Secondly, seeing those current AIESEC members, I could feel their motivation and inspiration. For example, one young guy works part-time for the Taipei City Govt, as he is getting practical experience whilst studying. And I also talked to two recent graduates, still so excited by life after university. I really miss the mentoring and sharing of ideas like we used to do in AIESEC. No wonder so many of us do return to act as alumni and advisors once we get to a certain age or level of experience.



Then, this morning, we attended the Taipei City Playgroup Christmas party. This is another chance to catch up with people I may hardly ever see during the year, even though I enjoy their company very much. We had about 50-60 families attend this year. Again, Richard was kind enough to come to the event, and to wait till well after the end whilst I helped Jennifer clean up. Actually, Richard knows a few of the dads in the group, and they did sneak off to the car for beers during the activity. All in the Christmas spirit!



Kyle was really looking forward to this event, and he enjoyed it a lot, getting into the singing, and waiting for Santa with great anticipation. Hannah waited for Santa. She wasn’t into the singing so much. Kyle got a Spiderman toy that spits out goo, it is a very cool and messy toy that didn’t fit with Richard’s idea of what a toy should do. The goo was confiscated… I passed it to my dear friend Angie, who is keeping it so we can goo up her house on Friday. Hannah got a Littlest Petshop parlor, so she can play with the little toy puppies inside. Kyle also liked this toy. He loves his models, and I would love to find him some small toy soldiers or similar to play with. Kyle’s friend Joseph was playing “weird superheroes” with the older boys and Kyle wasn’t into that, but he did find his other friend, Ian, who is more into cars and trucks like Kyle. Hannah was playing with the girls, and even gave Angie a big cuddle, which was great as I was also trying my best to help out and talk to people I haven’t seen in a long time.



Near the end of the day, a dad came over and asked me, “Do I know you from your youth?” I quickly realized he was a coworker from when I worked at a club called ALE, way back in 1995! It turns out Neil is married to a playgroup member, Berta. It was fantastic to see him again, and it brought back more great memories of my first two years in Taiwan, going to the beach on the East Coast, surfing, swimming, late-night barbecues, leading tours overseas… I cannot complain that life in Taiwan has been boring that is for sure!



After the party and cleanup, we headed up to Jerry and Brenda’s for pizza and drinks. I designated myself as driver for our family, letting Richard relax and have a few beers. I figured, after attending all these events with me over the weekend, he deserved it. Once again, we got to meet some more wonderful people and their children. Their friends had been at the Christmas party but I hadn’t really had time to talk to them. It was so nice to be with couples and let our kids play with others in their friends’ home. Jerry and Brenda are mom and dad to Ian and Kelly, who Kyle and Hannah like playing with. Jerry mentioned a stint he had on TV some years back, and I clearly remember seeing him on that TV show. It was funny because II “never” watched that gameshow and just happened to see it the night he was on. Just one more fun memory to add to the list from the weekend!



So, with all these year-end reunions, I really feel 2010 has great promise for me. Frankly, 2009 has been a little dull and a bit of hard work, but it’s winding up very nicely for a social Gemini like myself.