12 Days Video

Two friends each sent me the link to this men's a cappella group from Indiana University --thanks to Kris and Joanne for some wonderful holiday cheer! Merry Christmas everybody!

Things to do while your spouse is traveling

As of December 14, we're on day 16 of McLeod being out of town, and I have to say, we are ready for him to come home to us! Not that we've had a bad time. It's just time to move out of my "hold down the fort" routine and into the more balanced family life we love. I am beyond blessed to have a network of fellow moms who know the ins and outs of life as an expat gal. They understand those crazy weeks when hubby travels to the far flung reaches of the galaxy or has to work extremely weird, late hours because the US is just waking up while everyone in Taipei is calling it a day. When the grump-inducing exhaustion kicks in, there is nothing like having a friend that will kick you in the pants if needed, remind you of how good life really is, and then meet you at Chili's for some comfort food with your squirrely, sleep-deprived, daddy-missing kids. I did, in fact, have just such a meal with friends last night, a meal during which my daughter spent most of the time either climbing on me, hanging upside down over the bench, or crawling under the table. Barret, meanwhile, hand-cuffed himself to his friend Aiden and devoured half a grill cheese and half a hamburger.

Of course, I haven't spent all my time eating at Chili's and being consoled by friends. I have also taken the kids to McDonalds for "Liang ge Happy Meal" - that's how I order two Happy Meals using Chinglish and gesturing toward pictures of french fries, burgers and yogurt drinks. We also made the trek to Jake's Country Kitchen, which is styled after a U.S. truck stop/hole-in-the-wall. Here the wait staff serves up pancakes, bacon, eggs and burritos but secretly eats rice noodles and dumplings behind the counter. And there have been multiple visits to the American Club for mac and cheese or grill cheese sandwiches, bowls of applesauce, and ice cream for dessert. When we aren't eating out, we consume peanut butter sandwiches, hot dogs or pizza with random side dishes of broccoli and carrot sticks. Since the dining table has been covered by craft projects, Christmas goodies, soccer paraphenalia and library books for the last three weeks, we have eaten most of the "home meals" at the coffee table in front of various Disney movies. Yes, nutrition and wholesome family conversation have taken a back seat to surviving the spiraling-out-of-control hours between 5pm and bedtime.

One would think that just getting kids out the door in the morning, getting them home again, feeding, bathing and putting to bed would be enough of a job while on my own. Yet, somehow, though I always vow to keep life simple while McLeod is out of town, I have once again managed to do a lot of stuff anyway. So if you are looking for ideas to keep busy while your spouse is traveling for weeks at a time, feel free to use a few from my list:

• Take your child to his first modeling shoot - 3 hours of outfit changes, hair and face touch-ups, posing, and bribing with candy. American and European kids get tagged for all sorts of ads here from clothes to cars. More on that in another entry.
• Rehearse and sing at two Christmas events, during one of which a teary-eyed daughter should come on-stage and stand there holding your hand and sniffling because she needs her smelly pullup changed in the middle of Silent Night and you can't exactly help her right then. I had to laugh (later) at this reminder of the first Christmas. You know, the one where another child shows up at an inopportune moment (think, "there was no room for them in the inn")?
• Run a Coloring Contest and Letter to Santa booth at the elementary school Winter Wonderland. Now, this was truly eye-opening for me. There were a lot of standard "Dear-Santa-I'd-like-a-bike-please" letters but there were also quite a few "Please-give-me-good-grades-so-I-can-get-into-Harvard" letters in there, too. Did I mention these were K-5th grade kids?
• Plan a class party. Thank the Lord that this was quite easy since Barret's teacher, Mrs. Winter, is like the fairy godmother of fun, easy crafts and party ideas, and she is blessed with a great teacher's assistant who does a lot of the prep work ahead of our get-togethers. We had tons of parents pitch in, so I basically mananged the train of confirmation emails and showed up with the teachers' gifts. We had a fun time of activities, cookies, ice-cream ("snow") and a great music performance by the kids. Since I was busy with Barret's party, I opted NOT to volunteer to do anything for Caroline's Christmas party other than show up with a bowl of popcorn and my camera. She was a doll singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"!
• Find extra time for standard Christmas shopping/holiday gatherings/card and stocking-stuffer exchanges/stuffing your face with your kids' candy late at night after they go to bed. One of Caroline's gift bags from school had really high-end dark chocolate in it. Wasted on a three-year old, I say. Much more appreciated by three-year-old's mother, which was no doubt the giver's intent!! I definitely believe chocolate should be a staple of any mom's survival kit.

McLeod gets home on Dec. 15, and then it won't be long before we are having a little beach bum time in sunny Guam. (Yikes, gotta pack for that!) I think I'm good for one more round of Easy Mac and carrot sticks until then...

Southbound to Kenting

We've been experimenting with Voicethread.com so thought you'd like to see and hear a slideshow about our recent trip to Kenting, Taiwan. We had a blast at the very family-friendly Howard hotel, swam a lot, ate lunches concoted from things at the 7-11, played arcade games and generally relaxed. We managed to snap a few pictures, so click on my smiling face beside the image to start the commentary and the arrows to browse through the pictures. The kids add their own thoughts later in the show (you'll see their icons appear)--Enjoy!



During the voicethread, I mentioned our cramped return journey to the train station, but I had to quote from my friend Kim's account to her extended family:

It was a great vacation. Well, until we all decided to pile 8 of us in a Ford Escape for our 2 hour trip to the train station. Yes, our friends who had rented this very compact SUV somehow convinced us that it would save on having to hire a driver to take us back to the train station 2 hours away. I have a 6-letter word for that, STUPID. But we all climbed in, 2 men in front, and of course, since the ladies have smaller derrieres, we got to sit in the back with a kid in each lap and 2 in between. (Remember there are no seatbelt laws in Taiwan and in most cases you can't even find the seatbelts in the cars). I will never get in a back seat again unless I have checked for air vents. Cassia and I both gave it each other the “what the heck have we done” look after about 30 minutes of driving. I was already nauseous from the magnification of heat through the sunny window , 98.6 body that had fallen asleep on top of me, and lack of air circulation, when Barret announced he might get sick. We quickly had to shuffle kids around so that should he need to hurl he was closet to the window. Air quickly got turned up from the front. You can only imagine after trying to entertain kids in a sardine can for an hour and a half how well-mannered and calm they are. While we still had the “I’m a little bit nauseous” feeling going on from 2 of us, Nick woke up and decided he should be able to get up and play in the ½ inch space I had between my knees and the drivers seat. Then, Caroline started crying that she was hungry and (I noted) she was drenched with sweat, when Jacob announced quite loudly with his hands over his ears, “These people are annoying me. When can we get in a nice quiet cab??” It continued to escalate at that point only to hear from the front, “Did we miss a sign?” Shoot me now was all I could think. I am, however, happy to say it was a very minor error, and as we pulled up to the train station my hand was on the door handle awaiting the great “escape” from the nightmarish journey into the fresh, polluted, but cool air of Taiwan. What a relief, and we are all still friends.

Poor Kim! She was so traumatized that she forgot to mention that McLeod faced his own bit of trauma while driving. He ran over a pigeon in the road. But never fear. After the thump-bump under the wheels, he looked back in horror to see the bird pop up like a weeble-wobble or one of those blow-up clown boxing dummies we all had as kids. Yes, it was a fake: a rubber pigeon placed in the road by an enterprising veggie-stand man as a ploy to slow motorists. Then, he could wow them with his bins and bins of onions. With the carsick moans, kiddie bickering, complaints about the air vents and general unpleasantness in the backseat, I can see why McLeod didn't brake for the pigeon, much less the onion stand. Just get these miserable people out of this car and on the train!

Caroline turns 3

Our Caroline is a three-year-old! This was her first year to have her very own party--not a family celebration or a joint gathering with Barret but a bona-fide birthday party with her friends. She decided to have a Little Mermaid Princess Tea Party. I decided it would be at the ice cream shop near our home since it's new, it's usually empty during the early afternoon and it has gorgeous ice cream cakes. Fortunately, Caroline told me what theme she wanted while we were in the US this summer, so I was able to buy Little Mermaid party supplies. Otherwise she'd have had a Hello Kitty-meets-Snoopy party, as those seem to be the main heroes here. She invited five girl friends to dress in their finest princess attire. They had a luscious strawberry ice cream/red velvet layer cake (with a Mermaid candle on top, of course) and enjoyed pouring each other "tea" from minature tea sets. Yes, extreme girliness at its finest. It always amazes me that I, the girl who played more in the mud puddles than with the dollhouse, should have a daughter that dresses head-to-toe princess or ballerina everyday, loves pink nail polish, sleeps with a collection of Barbies and baby dolls, and takes great delight in matching her shoes, hairbows and outfits for preschool. While I was typing this, she just came in, took a look at my baggy sweatshirt and old jeans, and sympathetically offered me her golden crown. (I'm wearing it. It is a vast improvement.) Of course, I've always had a thing for make-up and gorgeous evening wear (I've been known to play dress up on more than one occassion). So maybe, despite my pony-tailed hair and uniform of t-shirt and jeans, there's some girliness in me, too.

Here is a video of some post-cake, sugar-induced spinning with her friend Sarah. It really was a nice party, thanks to our dear friends and our funny, fiesty, Princess Caroline:

Thanksgiving 2007

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope it was a great one for all of you. Here's how ours went:

On Thursday morning I walked the five blocks up to Barret's school to pick up two pumpkin pies ($18US) from the school sale--I truly am thankful for this resource in our land far, far away from Krogers and Wal-mart! I wasn't sure how to get to the school kitchen and started wandering around, for some reason heading down to the basement and up a back staircase where I found an employees-only entrance. The kitchen staff were quite startled when I appeared among the industrial mixers and wire racks like Alice in Wonderland popping out of her rabbit hole. But they were happy to give me my pies--two greenish brown circles that tasted kind of funny but filled my mandatory Thanksgiving requirement for pumpkin pie. Walking back from school, I grabbed a coffee from the newly opened Dunkin Doughnuts (another thing for which I'm thankful!), then dropped by the vegetable stand at the street market for carrots and cherry tomatoes for our nibble tray. I began the final two blocks back to our apartment, nobly balancing my two pies, bag of veggies and coffee, congratulating myself on how well I function without a car these days. Then, a gust of wind hit me, and I had to sacrifice the coffee to the wind in order to hold onto the pies. There was a time when I would have felt embarrassed by the dramatic splatter of latte all over the walkway in front of a nice shop. But considering the offerings of doggie doo also on the sidewalk, I figured the coffee smell was an improvement.

Once home, I thawed out some lasagna for our lunch, then pulled out my horded supplies, procured from 3 different stores at a cost of $9.00US , to make one medium-sized green bean casserole--again, I was grateful not just for finding the can of French's french-fried onions but for this reminder of "back home." At 3pm, we loaded the family into a taxi with our pies, veggie nibble tray, green bean casserole, bottle of wine, McLeod's laptop and projector for watching recorded football games, our outfits for changing into for the annual Christmas photo, and various things the kids might need to stay clean, dry, thirst-free and happy. We headed over to another expat family's apartment, where we spent the next few hours enjoying time with the two other families there, snapping photos, pulling together a fairly traditional meal including a real turkey that did NOT have its head or feet still attached, and getting ready for some football. Then, the obnoxious neighbors decided our group of seven kids (all but one of whom were under age 5) were too loud playing in the courtyard at 5:30pm.

What option did these disgruntled not-so-thankful neighbors choose in dealing with our unpleasant noise level? Did they call or go talk to the building supervisor? Did they yell down from their third-floor balcony? Did they send the local cops to issue a warning to those squealing two-year-olds? Nope. They turned on their garden hose and sprayed the little guys. Poor Caroline came running in with a puzzled look and said, "Mommy, why did it rain on my dress?" I just scooped her up and made a quick check to verify that it was indeed only water that had been sprayed on her (add that to the thankfulness list, though I can't say I was exactly happy at that moment). Next began an exchange of remarks in English (our side) and Chinese (their side) about noise, children, and water hoses--with my friend Mary throwing in a valiant, "Ting! Ting!" (which means both Stop! and Listen here! in Chinese). Kim, the friend hosting us at her apartment, came in wide-eyed after a few moments to say, "Maybe Steve (Mary's husband) needs to go out there with Dana (her husband) because he is getting really angry." Steve, the prototypical strong, silent type, went out as moral support for Dana, but when the balcony water-blasters began shouting even more loudly at Steve's wife, he had suddenly had enough. In a voice I never imagined our quiet friend possessed, he boomed, "You better stop right now or I'm coming up there." Which he, Dana and Dana's landlord did. Armed with a digital camera.

Things get a little fuzzy at this point. All I know is that two hours later, the men returned having gotten both the local police and the Foreign Affairs police involved. Our friends decided not to press charges but are hopeful that a report has been filed somewhere if something should happen again. They are also holding onto some lovely photographs of the two people trying to hide their faces, which will be circulated around the neighborhood if needed. Meanwhile, as the drama played out across the courtyard, McLeod had been diligently fighting a losing battle with wireless Internet to set up the football game he'd taped via Slingbox--Dana's last words before heading to the errant neighbors' were, "I'll give you the Wi-Fi code as soon as I get back." So for two hours, instead of watching football, we kept the kids entertained with a slide show of our last vacation including movies of Barret and his friends feeding fish from the pier. By the time all the real-life drama was over, we were ready to load up another taxi and head home--after all, who needs football when you can have it out with crazy neighbors? Truly memorable evening in good ol' Taipei. (Dana and Kim, we'll be sure to bring the Super Soakers and water balloon cannons next time we visit. Thanks for helping us celebrate Thanksgiving, even if it wasn't how we imagined it would be. But sometimes that makes for the best memories later.)

I had planned to update the blog with notes and pictures from a few recent trips, but this weekend's Thanksgiving excitement kind of sent me in a different direction. I'll try to get those up in the next week or so, though. In the meantime, love and blessings to all of you.

Cleaning Up after Super Typhoon Krosa

We are relieved to be bidding Super Typhoon Krosa goodbye. Equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, this big baddie began roaring in during the wee hours of Saturday morning, surprising everyone with intense, unrelenting wind and drenching downpours. More than one family reported that the shrieking gusts and rumbling sustained winds sent all the kids running into mom and dad's bed for reassurance. Looking down from our window during the daylight hours, we could see the wind-driven rain spiral and snake its way through alleys like a misty-white Chinese dragon. And we all kept saying, "This can't be it. It isn't supposed to be here yet! It's supposed to be here on Sunday!" That's about as lame as telling a woman in the final stages of labor that it's not her due date so she can't have her baby yet.

This was my third typhoon since I've been in Taipei, but the first one during which I could actually feel the building sway from the force of the wind. A little unnerving. We also had a minor ceiling leak, as did most of the apartment complex residents. The poor ladies at the front desk dispatched engineers with buckets all over the building and were logging the leak reports in a spreadsheet. I'm guessing maintenance is going to have a busy week ahead. One friend had water steadily flowing out of her light fixtures in both her bathrooms and was dumping full buckets about every three hours. In the lobby water was trickling out of the electrical outlets which is just a little scary. Our building had some minor damage - I heard an unconfirmed report of broken windows in the health club area - with the biggest loss seeming to be window screens. One friend called his wife over to the window of their 16th floor apartment and said, "Honey, do you see that rectangular thing way down there on the street? That's our screen door."

We were fortunate, though, that we only lost power for about half an hour, unlike friends in other parts of town who were without electricity throughout the day. When the power went down in our block, McLeod had taken Barret and a friend Aiden to the movies next door (remember, we all thought we were only experiencing the outer bands and not THE typhoon). They got through about two-thirds of the movie, when everything went dark. Another kid was having a birthday party at the theater and had given all his buddies glow sticks, so of course, what else would you do in a blackout but play tag up and down the aisles of Cinema 2? Barret and Aiden, who weren't blessed with glow sticks, had to sit out that rollicking good time while McLeod got them bundled up to come home. I heard some great stories from the boys about their adventure including 1) climbing down the stalled escalators, 2) seeing a chair fly across the road, 3) getting stuck in our apartment elevator as the power cycled on and off and of course, 4) NOT getting to play glow stick tag with the other typhoon-crazed six year olds. They did get rainchecks for the movie so guessing McLeod or I will be taking them back to finish the movie later this week. I wonder if they'll have a different perspective of the film, Evan Almighty, after actually seeing some flooding around town?

This morning I got out with the camera to check the damage around our area. As you would imagine, there were lots of trees down, some broken windows, and signs blown away. What amazed me, though, was the speed with which the clean up was happening. Not only were the city garbage crews out early picking up the stacks of debris, but everywhere, people were pitching in to clean up the common areas. I recognized several senior citizens brandishing brooms and rakes as the group who regularly meets for Tai Chi in the park behind our house. Elsewhere, families were out sweeping up broken glass, pottery shards and leaves from in front of their businesses and homes. And as soon as they could, everyone was getting back to business as normal, whether that was frying up eggs in rice wrappers at the breakfast shops or selling knock-off sportswear in the market.

Below is a clip of the storm as it rolled in and more shots of the aftermath. We are thankful to be safe and dry. Please pray for the folks who lost property, had injuries, and the few families that lost loved ones. Near us, one house on Yangming Mountain (the mountain behind our home) collapsed on the eight people inside. One person was killed, others injured. Landslides are still a big issue until things dry out. McLeod just walked in from touring the mountain area on his bike and said the roads are strewn with rocks and trees. That will take a little more time to set right.

Brag Blog

Ok, I'll admit it. This entry is really for the grandparents so bear with me while I brag on the kids! First up is Barret. He did chores forever to earn a set of building dominoes (the kind you set up and knock down). He cashed in his chore chart recently and has had fun setting up the dominoes with help from Mom and Dad. Last night, though, he painstakingly set them up on his own, using the box top as a guide, and after three tries finally got them to collapse as planned. (I did help a little setting them back up after the test runs.) Take a peek at the end product:

The second brag is on Caroline. She officially kicked the thumb habit four weeks ago, and after proving herself for a month, she got her own reward. Wednesday, I took her to George Pais Beauty Salon to have her nails painted and hair trimmed. The staff there absolutely treated her like a princess as she sat primly in the grown-up chair. She picked out a lovely, sparkly purple shade for her nails and afterward had a blast telling people, "My nails are painted....Wanna see 'em?" Then, we joined friends Nicky and Anne for coffee (and apple juice) at the corner cafe. Caroline, what a nice grown-up girls' day we had! I'm proud of you!

'Tis the Season for School, Baseball and Typhoons

School is underway at last, and both kids are doing great. Caroline, my confident pre-schooler, spends two days each week playing, singing, tumbling and learning a little Chinese. At first, she was confused when her teacher switched to Mandarin during the language lesson time. Caroline kept asking, "Why aren't you talking in English?!?" and when the teacher would say something like "Ping guo is the word for apple," Caroline would insist that "apple is the word for apple!" She has since caught on, though, and seems to be enjoying learning some new words and songs.

Caroline is the oldest in her group, and I think she really enjoys NOT being the baby sister for a change. In fact, within the first hours of Day One, she'd pretty much taken charge of the class. Her teachers were singing "Twinkle Twinkle" with the kids during circle time. When they finished, Caroline stood up and said, "Let me show you how it's done." Miss Ruby laughingly vacated her cushion for Caroline to sing for them. As you will see in the video, Caroline experienced a moment of uncertainty then plunged right into her version. Hope you can catch her comment at the end of her performance...

So what she said at the end was, "That's how you do it!" Her teachers cracked up and have loved her ever since!

Kindergartner Barret is in his second year at Taipei American School, so though his day is a bit longer than in junior kindergarten, he really feels like an old pro. One difference for him, though, is riding the bigger bus. Last year he rode on a little bus with just his classmates, but this year he rides home on a double-decker coach with the K-5 kids. No bumpy yellow school bus for this kid. He sits up top in a plush seat with a great view of the metropolis.

His first day home on the bus was so unlike what I imagine it would have been in northwest Houston. There, I would have walked across my yard and down to the stop sign, perhaps dodging the spray from a neighbor's errant sprinkler. One or two other moms might be there. A dog would bark from inside his fence while we waited. At last the yellow bus would bring me my child, and he and I would chat casually as we headed back to our house for a snack.

Here, I took a short cut through a department store (stopping only briefly to look at a jewelry display) and ended up in the midst of a Ghost Month celebration. The sidewalk where I was supposed to wait for Barret was blocked by an eight-foot table piled with offerings to departed ancestors said to roam during the seventh lunar month. Arrayed on the table were burning incense sticks, trays of fruit, pyramids of beer and canned food, and whole dried fish, duck and chicken with all fins, feet, beaks and coxcombs intact. At the curb where the bus was to drop off the kids, two fires were blazing in large wire trash cans while people pitched in paper ghost money for restless spirits in need of some currency in the afterlife. The fires were getting slightly out of hand and threatening the tree branches above, so of course, people on scooters and in cars were stopping to watch. Thus, when the bus arrived, there was no place to really pull up, so all the parents were dodging ashes, people, and scooters to get their kids and usher them back to the sidewalk. Barret's eyes were popping as he climbed down the steps from the top deck of the bus--look, fire! look, food! What more could a little boy ask for at a bus stop!

Baseball Season

Barret's other big first for the year is baseball with Coach Dad. McLeod and fellow dad, Coach Dana, work with a team of twelve boys and girls called, you guessed it, the Astros. They have a half-hour practice on Saturdays followed by their game, so it works well for both of the coaches, who are usually travelling around Asia during the week. They do a few drills and learn important things like how to jump up and down in unison while Coach Dana yells, "What time is it?" to which they reply, "It's Game Time!"

There are only a few official rules: there is no score and everyone gets to play, everyone keeps swinging until they get a hit either from the coach's pitch or off the T, and if the ball ends up in your hand, throw it to first base and first base throws to home. (The kids recite this last one constantly, but sometimes in mixed up order.) I have also noted a number of unofficial rules:

1. No matter where the ball goes, the whole team should run after it.


2. When the ball is finally stopped, the whole team should pile on top of the ball and each other.


3. If your nose starts bleeding, you have the option of leaving the blood on your face if you think it makes you look more menacing.
   
4. Gloves can be worn on either hand or on top of the head during a game.


5. When running to first base, you should take the bat with you and brandish it like a sword.


6. All base runners should meet up at third base and race each other home.

Going to watch these little sluggers is absolutely one of my favorite things about Saturdays. Goooooooo Astros!

Typhoon Season

We are currently bracing for Typhoon (hurricane) Wipha, slated to brush by us in the next 12 hours. This will be our second typhoon since we got back to Taipei--the first one, Sepat, ended up being milder than we thought, though we did get some good views from our window of the wind stripping leaves off the trees and sending signs flying. I know TX and LA have had some weather themselves recently, so you know what it's like waiting and watching as these spectacular systems inch their way toward the coast. The first bands began impacting us yesterday. I shot some video from our porch of the clouds coming over the mountains.

As I don't watch the local news here, the sky was my first indication that I might want to check Weather Underground to see whether a typhoon was out there. By 10pm last night the expat phone and email cascades had started as we passed each other word that schools and businesses would be closed today. As one of my Mandarin-speaking friends from Singapore said when she called, "I thought I should call some Americans because I know you don't watch the local TV." She was right! Anyway, we will stay safe and dry at home today, with flashlights, radio, and lots of snacks at the ready. Until next time, Zai Jian!

Reflecting on the Summer

Ni Hao to my sweet friends and family around the world. It's late August (ignore the weird July date stamp on this post) and we are back in Taipei, excited about the year ahead. What a gift to have some lazy (and not-so-lazy) summer days with family and friends in the States! And what a warm, happy feeling we had to see familiar faces in Taiwan upon our return.

If you didn't catch the update on my June trip with the kids to the States, check it out at this link. Our trip back to Taipei, this time with McLeod accompanying, went like this:

We board airplane. Kids sleep and eat.

We change airplanes. Kids sleep and eat and sleep some more. McLeod also sleeps.

I become nevous during jet stream turbulance and don't sleep.

Still-nervous and now-tired, I knock over glass of milk and sit on a nest of soggy magazines for last hour of the flight into Taipei. We land.

We pick the slowest immigrations line ever. Man in line behind us erupts into some kind of waiting-induced fit and begins loudly cursing in English. Caroline begins singing made-up songs at the top of her lungs.

We get through the line, head to baggage to add our 5 checked bags to our 5 carry-ons.

Long ride home but at least everything looks crazily familiar. We drop off our bags and head straight for Chili's to scarf down food.

We return to our lovely apartment, and I finally sleep. (I have no idea what the other family members did at that point.) Really extremely uneventful flight for which I am truly grateful.

Alabama Adventure
Now comes the part where I feel like a kid starting back to school with that evergreen assignment, "What I did on my summer vacation."

June started with the journey for me and the children to Sweet Home Alabama. Here we first checked in at my parents' home on five-acres of wooded bliss, complete with trails easy enough for little explorers, lots of feathered, scaly and furry creatures, a new tire-swing hung by Barret and Doc (my dad), and close proximity to Target. Did I mention there was a Target? I was there within 24 hours of arrival, just roaming the aisles and drinking a Frappacino. Heavenly.

My parents were the jet-lag calvary while we all re-adjusted to the time zone. I will never forget waking at 1a.m. to find Doc and Barret playing Go Fish in the kitchen. Once we'd gotten over the worst of the jet lag and taken care of our yearly check-ups, we headed to Lake Martin for a little boating, swimming and fishing. Due to draught, the lake was the lowest I'd ever seen it, and a tornado had blown through just before we got there, so things were a little torn up. I love the lake at every season, in every circumstance, though. With the low water level and churned up surroundings, we had a chance to explore wide beaches and hunt for "treasures of the deep," our term for the flotsam and jetsam that washes up, or in some cases, comes floating by. We have a tie this year for best finds: a He-Man style play sword that warbled out an other-worldly tune at the press of a button and a Lake-Martin-chilled can of Budweiser that Doc snagged as it floated by.

While we were lounging at the lake and tromping through the woods, McLeod finished up in Taipei and then headed State-side for business travel and a golf weekend with his dad. He also got to make some customer visits to New England this summer and met up with our recently re-patriated friends John and Rhonda Adams. [Adams Clan: We miss you so much. We keep expecting to see your smiling faces around TienMu, and it's just not the same. We will strive diligently to be as kind to the new crop of expats coming in as you were to us!]

In July, the kids and I reunited with McLeod at his parents' home for a great visit with his family. One of the highlights was a trip with Grandmommy and Aunt Rachel to Birmingham's McWane Center for hands-on science fun. With cousins Sydney and Zachary, the kids got to race minature boats, meet Bob the Builder, shake a robot's hand, see a fiery display about combustion, watch me ride a counter-balance bicycle suspended a few stories above the ground, and laugh at McLeod's transformation into the frozen Han Solo from Star Wars lore. I was so pleased that our home state now boasts such a classy, fun science center that still managed to capture a bit of what it meant to be in Alabama--afterall, where else would you have a massive model of our unofficial state mascot, the large-mouth bass, for the perfect photo op?

Relaxing in the Florida Keys

After tearful goodbyes to our Alabama friends and family, we made a brief stop in Houston to check on our house, visit our church, and let McLeod stop in at the office before we were once again traveling. This time we joined friends for a vacation in the Florida Keys. We stayed at the relaxing Hawk's Cay Resort on Duck Key. This was a great family-oriented place with fun water areas for the kids to play with their parents, a kids club with a parents' night out program, and nicely furnished condo's with washer and dryer (very important to us!). It wasn't a beach vacation per se, since the Keys don't really have the crashing waves and stretches of sand you would find on the Atlantic or Pacific coast, but it was nice mix of relaxation and activity with chances to golf, explore the reefs, boat, fish, and eat seafood at the local restaurants. On one of our days there, we drove to Key West to shop, visit the aquarium, tour the pirate museum, and stop off for food and drinks at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and the Hogsbreath biker bar. Another day the ladies indulged in some pampering at the resort's Indies Spa while the guys took all the kids to feed massive tarpon schooling at a near-by dock. Check out some video of these armor-plated monsters snacking on bait fish:

Since it was spiny lobster mini-season, McLeod also got to go on a lobstering dive in hopes of bringing home something for the cook pot. His catches were too small to keep but he had a blast luring them out from under the reef while continuing to enjoy his new-found passion for SCUBA diving. While McLeod was diving, I got to take Barret snorkling on a coral reef where the mast and a cannon from an old shipwreck were still visible. I was immensely proud of my brave five-year-old. He has come so far from the kid who only a year ago wouldn't go into water past his chest. To be out there in the ocean with him was amazing. The swell was a little intimidating--this was not like snorkeling in the pool or the lagoon--so we made two short swims and then rested on the boat with Captain Kelly. Barret even suffered a painful jelly-fish encounter but was brave enough to get back in the water and try again. Of course, having some fierce jelly-tentacle stripes to show off almost made the encounter worth it! McLeod rented a boat later in the week, and we were able to make a second, easier snorkle trip on our own to a sandbar where the kids could touch bottom and hunt for sand dollars. Caroline had a blast bobbing up and down in her swim vest, and Barret and his friends got to play with some large hermit crabs sporting crusty barnacles on their shells.

My personal highlight from the Keys was a chance to swim with several dolphins who live in their own lagoon at Hawk's Cay. This is something I've been wanting to do since I was about 16! The resort offers a special Dolphin Discovery program that lets visitors accompany the trainers into the water to feed and play with Nemo, Sebastian, April and their buddies. I was amazed at how big these guys are up close. Nemo, the largest and one of the oldest, is over 500 pounds and has three or four chubby "chins" on his neck that he likes to wiggle up and down to make the trainers laugh (or maybe it's just to make them give him more fish). Of course I have to share a picture from the amazing encounter! Special thanks to Kristy, Paul, Kayleigh and Colin for a fantastic trip. It was wonderful.

Home to Houston One Last Time

We ended the summer back in Houston to visit friends and even managed to squeeze in some short weekend trips to see additional family. I shared lots of hugs with my gorgeous Colorado neices, Sarah (2) and Rachel (1 month), and the equally gorgeous cousin Madelynn (3) in Austin, TX. While in Houston, we were able to catch an Astros game, which they won, and share some delicious meals (love the Tex Mex!!) with friends. Thanks to everyone for some great memories to hold us over for another year.

I'm already at work on the next update as school starts up and we get back into the rhythm of life in Taipei, so see you online again soon!

Quick update on our travels

The kids and I made it safely to the US! This was my first trans-Pacific solo flight with the kids and they did great. Not much sleeping--my little guys were too wired--but Barret happily gamed away at his PSP (Lego StarWars rocks!) and Caroline kept us both busy with a steady stream of requests:
"I need to go potty."
"I need my drink."
"I need food."
"I want to watch Cinderella."
(20 minutes later.) "I want to watch Dumbo."
(20 more minutes) "I want Sleeping Beauty."
(Once again, 20 minutes into the movie) "Where's Little Mermaid. No! Little Mermaid 2!"
United probably could have given my seat to someone else because I pretty much spent 10 hours crouched down in front of Caroline or walking around the plane with her.

Of course, then she konked out the last hour or so of the flight, and I had to wake her up so she could walk through the San Francisco airport. We must have looked pretty cute going through SFO: me pushing our bags and hunching under a bulging backpack, Caroline sporting OJ splattered pj's and total bedhead and holding tightly to Barret with one hand while sucking her thumb on the other hand, Barret shouldering his red backpack and dutifully shepherding his sleepy sis.

We made our connection no problem. Barret promptly went to sleep for four hours, but C got a second wind and transformed into monkey-girl. Just as we started taxi and take-off she decided to wriggle out of her seatbelt and start trying to stand on her head in the seat. I was across the aisle from her (we were in the front seats of the plane) and the flight attendent and I were sweetly yelling at her to get back in her seat belt. Which she did...except she scooted back under it upside down with her legs up the seat back and her head hanging off the edge of the seat. Imagine the impish grin on her face. As soon as the wheels lifted off the ground, the flight attendant convientiently turned his head the other way and I jumped up, re-positioned her and cinched the belt as tight as it would go for my little Houdini. Per her standard airplane MO, she kept up her antics until we began descending into Atlanta and then konked out again. So, once again, I had to wake her up and watch her zombie walk with Barret through the airport.

What a relief to see Mom and Dad and know I could finally get some rest after pulling an all-nighter! I dozed in the car, ate a little dinner and went straight to bed. The kids somehow managed to stay up giggling and watching movies with Doc and Gran until midnight. Since then we've been slowly getting back on schedule so I'm guessing by next week jet lag will be a distant memory. We did find a sure-fire way to keep kids awake during daylight hours, though: When they start to fall asleep, feed them ice cream! Then, when the sugar rush wears off and they start crashing again, feed them more ice cream!

That's it for now but thought you'd like to know we made it safe and sound.

Flying the Coop

It's leaving time around here for the expat community. Hordes of people--primarily moms with kids--will depart the Taipei airport over the next few weeks to visit extended family around the world. (Working spouses left behind in Taipei become the lifeblood for a hundred deli's, pubs, and food stands, I'm told.) The travelers are joined by all of the families who have finished assignments and are moving back to their home countries or on to new assignments. Even the animals are on the move. The kids and I have been watching with fascination over the last six weeks as dozens of swallows built elaborate mud nests under the overhangs of the concrete buildings, brooded over their eggs, fed the ravenous hatchlings and then booted them out of the nest. Barret became particularly adept at spotting the "splatter patterns" on the sidewalk that gave away the location of a nest above. These four fat baby birds cracked us up. Quite obviously ready to leave the nest, they were still insisting that their parents feed them while they hung out in the cramped quarters of home. By the next day, they had finally decided (or perhaps been convinced by ma and pa?) that it was time to strike out on their own, and all that was left was their empty nest.

Buffalo Ahead!
Barret's class recently celebrated the end of the school year with a trip to Buffalo Meadow in Yangmingshan National Park. It was a great chance to get up into Taipei's mountains, and we made a family day of it. The temperature was at least 10 degrees cooler, and the lush grasses, ferns and trees made it seem like we were somewhere completely different from the traffic and smog of our city. We even got to see first hand why this section of the park is named as it is. While walking down one of the stone paths, we were startled to come face to nose with a massive water buffalo. In the 1930's the occupying Japanese government introduced herds of the animals to the area with the intent to farm them. Most have been relocated, but a few thousand still roam the park with some basic care from the park service. Warnings are posted about not getting too close--our favorite said something to the effect of, "Violators will take care of own safety"--so we didn't hang out with our buddy Buff for too long.

Taking a Blog Break

With summer here we'll be resting from our blog "homework" until school starts up again. Hope everyone has a safe, fun summer. We've so enjoyed hearing from our friends and family around the world and look forward to catching up with you in the fall!

Tragedy at Virginia Tech

While I was sleeping Monday night, a disaster was unfolding on the other side of the world. By the time I clued in to what had happened at Virginia Tech, my Tuesday was half over. How strange that life could be going on as normal here, while in my heart-and-homeland, a young man's insane rage, his psychosis, was exploding, destroying. I keep looking at pictures of students grieving on campus, most wearing their hooded college sweatshirts, and can't help but imagine the faces of my own BSC classmates from over a decade ago had something like this happened to us. I remember our shock and sorrow when a fellow student died of cancer, our questions to God when another died in a car crash. We grieved. Found solace. Moved on. But this? This is a Columbine, a 9/11, a Katrina-type ripping into our reality. A time for screeching to a halt in horror.

But we don't stay there, do we? Inevitably, we wake up from the nightmarish moment when we learn of disaster. Then comes the processing, the analysis.

I am amazed at all of the talking, all of the words we have come up with in the wake of this disaster. How can we all have so much to say so soon? The same interviews babbling on websites and news shows, re-quoted in bits and pieces across the globe. Experts and non-experts weighing in on what must have driven Cho to methodically gun down his peers and teachers. Everyone nodding and sighing and talking and talking and talking about how the signs were clear, how no one heeded the warnings. Gun control debates. Security debates. All of us flailing around to find answers, coming up with explanations because we can't stand the unknown. If I, on the other side of the Pacific, can nearly exhaust myself scanning news stories, reading blogs, I can only imagine what it must be like in the States. And I cannot begin to imagine what it's like for those who are there in Blacksburg.

So for those who've been directly affected - faculty, students, family, police, you are wrapped in my prayers. I pray for peace and comfort to roll like a mighty wave into your hearts, healing the broken places, sustaining you, washing away the intense pain, anger, and fear. For the rest of us who feel the ripples of their pain, I pray for our hearts to open, really open, to the people around us, including the people in our own homes. I hope you'll join me in those prayers.

SCUBA Diving and Elephant Riding

McLeod is my hero! Here is a man who loathes swimming in lakes, oceans or rivers because it gives him the heebee-geebees to think about what's swimming in there with him. He attributes it to a few too many viewings of JAWS while spending childhood summers at Panama City Beach, FL. (Jon Bell, if you're reading this, you'll remember those marathon sessions of watching the Jaws video while eating a pot of Nanny's campfire stew.) But facing his own Fear-Factor issues, McLeod recently completed his dive cert and has since been diving off the coast of Green Island (near Taiwan) and then again on our vacation to Phuket, Thailand. YEA!!! MCLEOD!!!

The Green Island dive trip was a classic guys weekend. The menfolk roughed it on tatami mats in the rooms above the dive shop. There were no showers (really, really stinky laundry and hubby came home from this one). They sped around the island on motorscooters. They nearly boiled their skin off in a geothermal salt-water hotspring. And most importantly, they got an up-close-and-personal view of one of the oldest living coral reefs in the world. It amazes us that more of the local Taiwanese don't seem to know about the ecological wonder at their doorstep. Part of the issue may be that Green Island is like the Alcatraz of Taiwan. The now-defunct prison there was the home not only for hardened criminals but also for political prisoners at odds with the government prior to democracy. So a bit of an image problem. It also lacks much of an infrastructure for tourists, but according to diving enthusiasts, the lack of tourist traffic is part of what keeps the reef protected and a truly fantastic dive site. McLeod's friend John was able to capture some great shots that he graciously let us post for you to enjoy. By the way, that's a scooter tire in McLeod's hand, proving that motorscooters really have taken over Taiwan.

(Green Island photos © John Heinemann 2007)

Spring Break Escape to Thailand

About two weeks after McLeod's Green Island adventure, we headed to Phuket (pronounced puh-KET by those in the know, which we weren't for awhile and so were afraid to announce where we were going, lest we embarrass ourselves). I don't really remember the trip there. To be honest, we'd had a week of pouring rain, frenzied finishing of projects, and general grumpiness at our house. This seems to merge together in my mind with our 6am ride to the airport, scramble to get ourselves and our bags through check in, the change of planes in Bangkok and the general exhaustion of air travel with small children. I'm always amazed at our bag count. For this trip it amounted to 1 suitcase, 1 bag of swim/dive/snorkel gear, 1 set of golf clubs, and 3 carry-ons stuffed with toys, electronics, diapers and all the various medicines we might need (non-liquid, of course, due to airport rules). But Hallelujah, we didn't have to take the stroller!! This was our first non-stroller vacation in 5 years and somehow, that seems like a milestone.

My first technicolor memory of the trip is the ride from the Phuket airport to the Laguna Beach Resort. Bouncing along in a shuttle van, I suddenly realized the sun was shining and we were all smiling. Strangely, the ramshackle collections of buildings that interrupted the pastures and tropical forests looked exactly like the tiny rural towns we'd grown up passing on the way to the Florida panhandle all our lives. We were really going to the beach at last! This thought was interrupted by the sight of water buffaloes cooling in mud puddles and munching grass. OK, we were definitely NOT in Florida. (However, at one point on the trip, two-year-old Caroline pointed to those long-horned creatures and exclaimed, "Hey! We're in Texas!" This is the first time in the 6 months since we've moved here that I've heard her make any specific Texas remark so it was good to know she still has memories of living there.) Once we got to the hotel, we changed into bathing suits in record time and began alternating between the pool and the beach. I was still pretty keyed up from the harried week--I had squeezed 3 interviews in for some articles I'm writing on local artists which meant a whole lot of arranging babysitters, trying to get food cooked up ahead of time for everyone's dinner, plus packing for the trip. McLeod was convinced that I was having a miserable time the first two days because I was so jumpy and generally short-tempered. Honey, I promise you, I WAS having a good time--I'm just sometimes kind of like a Coke bottle that someone shook up, and it takes a bit of time to slowly release the pressure so I don't spew my contents all over everywhere. (By the way, if you read the "Random Funny Things" post, you'll see yet another reason why the pink shirt is so fitting.)

By the end of the second day, though, fortified by a 2 hour visit to the spa for some pampering, I was in vacation mode. I stopped caring what I looked like, became concerned only about things like whether I wanted my lounge chair in or out of the sun and when the 4-year old elephant who lived at the hotel was coming out for her next visit. Relaxing by the pool or walking down on the beach were the top priorities, but we also managed to squeeze in some sailing and kayaking on the lagoon, a Thai cooking class (me), diving and golf (McLeod), and several Kids' Club activities for the kids.

On the topic of elephants, we are completely enchanted by them! Anna, the hotel elephant, was a doll. She'd take bananas out of your hands to eat and then give you a big "kiss" by suctioning on your face with her trunk. Sounds kind of gross but really quite cute. Each morning she'd visit with the guests, and then her caretaker would lead her down to the beach so she could play in the waves. We also got to ride one of the adult elephants during our stay and watch them working, eating, and bathing in the lagoon. Definitely an unforgettable vacation.

General Updates
So now we are back to real life again and counting down the days until summer vacation. This week, I registered Barret for kindergarten (wow) and now we're trying to figure out some extra activities. His top choices are karate and in November, soccer. Might be fun to actually take martial arts from real Chinese instructors. We'll see. Caroline is going to continue with Saturday morning gymnastics in the fall (or "mastics" as she calls the class) and will start 2-day-a-week preschool. That's plenty for us. We like to keep lots of time open to play in the park or just do nothing. We still like having occasional "Totally Pajama Days" where we do things like watch Disney movies and eat toaster waffles at every meal. Those precious times with my babes won't always be here, so I want to savor them.

UPDATE: This video is finally working. Here's the latest of Caroline. She often walks around (or twirls around) the house singing "That's what I do. That's what I do," or her other favorite self-composed song, "I am a PRINCESS." I thought this particular version was funny because a) she mixes in "We Are the Dinosaurs" from the Laurie Berkner Band and b) her motions look like a happy version of her having a two-year-old tantrum meltdown. Even the roaring seems oddly familiar...

Random Funny Things

Fairly often we come across things that seem bizarre or just plain funny. Occasionally, I actually have the camera handy. Here are a few recent examples.

I purchased this shirt because I felt like it truly represented the real me - Authentic, Positive, Creative Gas. Fuel efficient? Yep. Full of hot air? Sometimes, but at least it's authentic, positive and creative hot air.

These next two were spotted while on a field trip with my son. Barret and I have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia so here was an excellent example of a Faun. Except, well, this one kind of needs a sports bra. And as for the sign? Just made me laugh.

More random funny things to come. Yep, still trying to learn how to post videos. Please let me know if you know why when I embed the link in the html, I just get a black box with the play button but no image.

UPDATE: OK, Video seems to be working again. Here is the very low-tech Mannequins dressed as Pigs to welcome the year of the pig. Again, not big-budget special effects here but the kids liked it.

Kuandu Temple, Language Class Update, and Thoughts of Home

March has roared in like the proverbial lion (in this case, the fierce Chinese lion/dog, imitated here by Barret) and finally, it's seeming like spring! Azaleas are blooming, and I've heard that there are fields of calla lilies in the countryside so I'm hoping to get out there soon. Now that the weather is starting to improve, the Kindergarten A class got to take their first real field trip. "Real" to Barret means he got to ride a big double-decker tour bus versus the "not real" field trip we took to the market by walking just around the corner. The class and available parents visited Kuandu Temple to see the elaborate lanterns, carvings, paintings and sculptures. I went as a "surprise guest" with my fellow-moms Nicky and Anna. I call us "surprise guests" because we didn't ride the official bus with the kids. That way we got to ride in Nicky's cushy new van, drive through a McDonald's on the way, and most importantly, bring along Anna's and Nicky's scrumptious babies. The school has a no-siblings-on-field-trips policy (bus liability issue) so, "Surprise! We just happened to be wandering around this temple. Fancy seeing our kids here!"

One of the things that makes Taiwan temples unique is the sheer volume of decoration. Kuandu Temple is built into the side of a hill and seems to have some kind of ornamentation on every square inch of it. One of my friends recently gave me a reference book called Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs, and it points out that traditionally, the Chinese have a "dislike for bland undecorated spaces in their works of art." This seems to match up with other comments I've heard regarding the local belief that empty spaces are places where evil spirits can lurk. I had plans to demonstrate this principle of horror vacuii (art term I still remember from Art History at BSC) by cramming in as many pictures as possible into this post. However, Blogger makes it very difficult for me to control exactly how these pictures get posted and sadly, there are always empty spaces lurking around. You get the idea, though. If you click on these images, you'll get a better idea of the intricate details. It really is a bit overwhelming.





Outside of the temple were some other attractions for the kids that were strangely entertaining. There was the mythological creatures gallery (hard to explain, just see the pictures below), a display of mannequins performing various traditional jobs (collecting rice, repairing shoes, making pots), and my favorite, mannequins dressed as pigs welcoming the Year of the Pig. I have the Pig-Men in a video clip but am still learning how to upload, so check back later. We also got to walk through some nice gardens where it just happened to be toad breeding season. All the moms got asked curious questions by our five-year-olds as to what the toads were doing. Ummmmm, playing leap frog? Nope, I'm not putting any Animal Planet footage of that on here.

Playing Hooky

With all the fun Spring stuff going on like field trips, swimming lessons, and generally being outside until dark, I've decided to take some time off from my Mandarin Chinese classes. I had two classes in a row where my teacher looked at me sympathetically and asked if we should stop early because my mind was quite obviously somewhere else. I'm not sure if I've lost momentum because things are busier or I have just hit some plateau where no matter how many times I go over vocabulary words, they just won't stick. Definitely time to take a break. However, I thought you might be interested to know that I have learned a few things and can say the following advanced phrases:
"Your dan bing (egg tortilla) is in the bag."
"My husband would like some ice water."
"I need a highchair." (OK, so technically I should say, "My daughter needs a highchair" but I get confused about the word for "daughter" versus "son." Maybe that's why the hostess gives me a funny look.)

Despite my obvious fluency, I still have trouble making the taxi drivers understand my address. I end up rummaging through my purse for the business card for our apartment building so they can read the address in Chinese. The driver then says, "Ohhhh, Zhong Cheng Lu," and I want to shout, "THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING." Instead, I just laugh and bob my head while the kids start chanting, "Zhong Cheng Looooo, Zhong Cheng Loooo," to the delight of the driver. Evidently, a lot of expats have these kinds of problems because the international Community Center sells a pack of laminated cards on a ring with the Chinese addresses of major stores, attractions, hospitals, and restaurants. We call them the Magic Taxi Cards because you just say "Hi" to a driver, shove the appropriate card into his hand, and within ten minutes you appear at that location. Still, though, after 20 lessons in conversational Chinese, you'd think I could at least get myself home.

(On a tangent, wouldn't it be nice to have other Magic Cards? Instead of having to say, "Get dressed. Yes, that means shoes, too," you could just hand a kid a card. Or how about for hubby a card that says, "If I don't hide away in a big bubble bath right now while you put the kids to bed, I will lose my mind." I could probably go days without talking if I just had the right set.)

A Taste of Home?

Since we are coming up on the 6 month mark of being in Taipei, I thought you might also like to know that though we are adjusting quite well, we still have moments when we long for the familiarity of home. I mentioned that en route to the field trip, my girlfriends and I went through a McDonald's drive thru. That was the first drive thru window I'd been at since about September 30th, and I was so excited that when Nicky asked me what I wanted, I couldn't even think what to order. I finally blurted out "Small Coke." Then, Anna got a Sausage McMuffin and I thought, "Why didn't I order something like that?" I think I was just so blown away by the fact that I haven't driven a car in 6 months, much less gotten food while still in a car, that I was speechless.

Along the same lines of "so excited I turn goofy," this week I made a purchase that in hindsight was just a little bit pathetic. I am not much of a salad dressing eater, but every once in awhile it is nice to have some Ranch for dipping fresh veggies. I have checked Costco, two importers, and three grocery stores repeatedly over the last six months and never once seen a bottle of Ranch. Then, this week I saw a single bottle back in the organic foods section of my favorite grocery, and without even checking the price or the expiration date, bought it. Later, I noticed that I'd spent roughly $10 US on this bottle and so, told my family that we needed to save it for a special occasion. ("Cassia, it's not wine," was McLeod's comment.) However, I then happened to check the expiration date and saw that it expires April 2007 (as in, a few weeks from now). We cracked it open. Sadly, it smelled just like latex paint and tasted, as I imagine, the same. So, when I make my huge Wal-mart trip while in the US this summer, I think I will stock up on the dry packets of Ranch dressing mix. It might not taste like Hidden Valley out of the bottle, but at least it won't taste like paint, and hey, sometimes it's just nice to have a few of the comforts of home.

Coming Attractions...

With help from Amy, my sister-in-law, I will finally figure out how to upload video clips so I can show you things like the Animatronic Pig-Men and Caroline's original song, "That's What I Do." I should also have some pictures of McLeod's very first scuba experience off the coast of Green Island, just east of Taiwan. Interest piqued? Good! Until next time, Zai Jian!