Easter?

Ok, I admit it, I am really really really REALLY lazy when it comes to holidays like Easter and Halloween.  I just couldn't muster up energy to find chocolate eggs, decorating kits, and so on for my kids.  I gave them a candy and made them papaya milk, and that is the extent of my Easter celebrating.  Maybe it's because it wasn't that big of a deal for us growing up anyway, and then there is the whole WORK side of finding things for the holiday.  We did get a couple of books out from the library to read about Easter.  Hannah had two fillings on Wednesday, so I also figure the less chocolate she has sticking to her teeth, the better.

I have spent the day trying to find out about jetstar and other cheap flight options to New Zealand.  I've read some NASTY reviews of jetstar, so if you have something positive to say, please let me know!  The tickets are a third less than the other airlines, and if you take the view "you get what you pay for", it should be OK, right?

On Friday night, we went to a wedding celebration at gardenmall, which you can read about on my other blog (http://www.kidzone-tw.blogspot.com/).  Here some pics of Kyle and Hannah, dressed in their flowergirl/pageboy clothing from the week before's wedding:

With the changing seasons comes the time of friends moving on.  This week, I have found out three lovely women and their families are moving early/mid June.  It's getting harder to deal with as time goes by.  It takes a year or so to get to know people, and most move on after two years.  Just long enough to form friendships but not long enough to really enjoy that friendship after you form it.  The nature of the expat community in Taiwan is, most expat women stay two or three years then move on.  It's really hard work to stay motivated to meet new people when they move away again so soon. But, with somewhat different philosophies toward child-rearing, and probably life in general, its also difficult to develop meaningful relationships with Taiwanese moms.  I mean, I know some lovely local women, but there is some fundamental difference that forms a barrier in total understanding.  I do  have some great friends who are not going anywhere soon, but I know they feel the same way about our social circle.

I've been updating my http://www.kidzone-tw.blogspot.com/ blog, so if you are in taiwan and looking for child-oriented things to do, take a look. 

Yuan Hsiao Jie - Lantern Festival

Yesterday, we attended a celebration for "Yuan Hsiao Jie" (known as the Lantern Festival), which marks the 15th day of the Lunar New Year.  The area where our cottage is invited everyone to make little dumplings, sing kareoke, light fireworks, watch a show, drink and eat, and enter a prize draw.  We arrived on time at 4pm, which meant the kids and I got to help out with the dumplings, and Richard got to sing before the crowds arrived.

Here are the kids with our neighbor and her daughter (next to Kyle), rolling the dumplings.  You are supposed to put the balls into the basket in the front of the picture and roll them in tapioca flour, but as we had so many, that step was finally skipped.  As you can see, Kyle saw it as a chance to roll some interesting shapes.  I think he was making a robot in this picture.

During the festivities, I think we met half of Kyle's prospective schoolmates.  So far, his first grade class has enrolment of 6 kids including him.  The parents told me it's fantastic, as the teacher knows each of the kids very well.  The children we met yesterday from the school really looked out for each other.  Having only 90 kids in the school will at least mean everyone will know all about me within a day or so.  It gets old explaining to kids where I am from, day after day, when I pick up Kyle at his current school.

I have a great video of Hannah working to throw the unrolled balls to us for rolling, but I can't figure out how to load it...

On Saturday, I took Hannah to my friend's wedding.  Hannah insisted on taking her crown, and waited for the bridal march before putting it on:

Serious case of red-eye, there, and a mouthful of candy.  Quite the stylist, she is wearing her Pumpkin Patch floral skirt and a t-shirt that says "Swiss Pretty Miss" and boasts a dancing cow.  Guess the last owner was from Switzerland.

It was really good to attend this wedding, as I got to see friends from my SPIN days.  I hadn't caught up with them since I had Kyle and really miss them.  Now they starting their own families, we might be able to meet up more often in kid-friendly places, who knows?

Today, Kyle was in school and I took Hannah to Ren-Ai Park in Yung-Ho to see the lantern display, and tried to find the Museum of World Religions.  Of course with my sense of direction, I failed to find the museum, but we did manage to visit a couple of bookstores and have a chat with a teashop owner and a Filipino nanny working inYung-Ho.  With temperature up to the high '20's (celsius), it was a great day for just wandering around.

School Christmas Party

It seems that Christmas Dress Up has become something quite popular in Taiwan schools.  Several of my friends have also posted fun pictures of their children dressed up for the Christmas Parade.  Of course, Kyle's school had this party again this year.  Kyle wanted to be Spiderman again, and I was really happy with that because we have a costume already.  His teachers would not let him be Spiderman, as he has dressed up like that several times in the past year.  So, Kyle and I got together to make:

Christmas Cookie Monster!

Here he is with Grandpa. 

The teacher congratulated Kyle on this great new idea and introduced him as "Cookie Monster for World Peace".  Just like last year, 60 children got on the stage one by one to introduce themselves.  This took over an hour and a half.  As Kyle was no. 11, it was a bit of an exercise in patience for Hannah and I to stay there and watch all the other kids.  But we did make it to the end, and were rewarded with...

The biggest sugar fest I have ever seen.  Honestly, I wish I had videod the explosion.  60 children descend upon tables loaded up with giant candy bags, cookies, sugar-covered crackers, cakes... I was the only parent who had brought in non-sweets.  And I only bought a little plate, not giant containers.

This was my offering.  Mini-sandwiches, cut from large ones at the bakery.  Total cost 90TWD.  I got exclaims of wonder at my imagination and skill.  Hmmm.

The feast went on for 20 minutes, with children stuffing and hoarding as much sugar as they could.  My sandwiches were eaten fairly quickly, too, though.  At 11:30 the teacher announces:  Everyone stop eating in five minutes... It's time for LUNCH!  I nearly fainted at the thought of those kids trying to eat rice, meat and vegetables on top of what they had just devoured.  I was so glad I had gone there to watch, as I also observed Kyle and made sure he didn't get too carried away.  Actually, he didn't and I was really impressed with how little junk he ate.

I think was surprises me is the fact people still think buying the giant buckets of jellies and candy is cheaper or easier than buying sandwiches or other things from the bakery.  In Taiwan, the bakery has a wonderful selection of things you can pick up really cheaply, and they even supply plates and things if you ask.  Some parents of kids in Kyle's class have told me, they don't take any notice of how much candy etc the kids eat, and were surprised on the zoo trip that I stopped Hannah eating all the candy that was handed out, because I wanted her to eat lunch.  Hannah complained, and they told me they just didn't like to hear their kids complain.  Bet their kids are glad they are not my kids!

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.