Combatting the January Blahs

Hello, dear friends.

It's that lovely time of the year I've always known as the January Blahs, which usually last into February but abate with the promise of spring. Do you know the feeling? Christmas has been packed away for another year and the credit card bills are rolling in. The weather has been generally gross. The cough and cold season is in full swing with everyone pulling out their bottles of hand-sanitizer and their face masks. (From what I've been told, Taiwan even made the international news recently from a stomach virus that turned epidemic. Thankfully, we've only had some minor sniffling around here.) Everyone is looking for something to shake things up, to break up the monotony of work, school, and dreary weather. Right about the time Houston was having its history-making ice storm, I actually got to feel a mild earthquake, so that provided some excitement for a day or so. Then, wouldn't you know it, the Blahs came back and we're all kind of moping around waiting for the sun to come out!

But lest you think we've lapsed into complete depression around here, we have had some fun things to celebrate. We've now passed our first 100 days in Taiwan! This was a mental milestone for me, partly because I have clung to the belief since we moved that if I could make it through the first 100 days, the next 100 would be easier. This seems to be true, in that I do feel much more at home in my surroundings and a lot of the shock has worn off. Secondly, passing the 100 day mark was a perfect excuse for creating our own holiday. We decided to mark day 101 of our new life here with our own Taipei 101 Day celebration, complete with a skyscraper cake meant to be the Taipei 101 building downtown. Yes, it does look more like an Aztec pyramid, but it was the best Barret and I could do! You'll also note that the kids are still in their pajamas at 4pm in the afternoon. Occassional all day pajama fests (Mom and Dad included) seem to be part of our prescription for the Blahs.

Another important family date this month: McLeod and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. In Taiwan, the year is 96 rather than 2007 because the Taiwanese use their founding year, 1911, as year one for their calendar. So that means that our anniversary fell on 13 January 96, which apart from the 19- before the year, is our actual wedding day. We celebrated with an American meal at Dan Ryan's Steakhouse, and I wore some sparkly-new, terribly uncomfortable but very cute shoes. Those of you who know that I live in running shoes will appreciate the effort. I looked very tall and svelte as long as I stood still and didn't try to hobble around too much.

McLeod and I also attended a Taiwanese-style wedding banquet recently. The wedding ceremony was a family-only affair followed by a large feast at one of the hotels downtown. Per custom, we brought along a red envelope containing an even-numbered amount of money (hong bao) for the couple. We had some help from the front desk staff here at the apartment in preparing the right amount (certain numbers are taboo, other numbers are extra lucky) and making sure that our bills looked new. When we arrived at the banquet, we gave this to a wedding attendant who sat at the front door and dutifully recorded the names and amounts of each gift-giver. Once inside we were seated with some of McLeod's colleagues and had a great time learning the meanings behind the different foods that were served. Each of the twelve courses was meant to help ensure good luck, prosperity, etc. for the couple. I was very brave and tried almost everything except for the bamboo fungus. (I have a hard time eating things that look like two-week-old leftovers from the bottom shelf of my refrigerator.) There were a few speeches and the majority of the toasts were made by the bridal party, who walked around to each table to raise glasses with the guests. We were very honored to be included, and I had fun comparing cultural notes with one of my Taiwanese friends.

February is already looking interesting with a visit to a KTV (Taiwanese karoake) coming up, an all-day cross-cultural training class for McLeod and me, and preparations for Chinese New Year. I've started writing some for a magazine that caters to the expat community here, so we're hoping that will spur us to explore the island more in the upcoming months. Hope all of you are making it through the winter doldrums with visions of spring dancing in your heads. It will be here before we know it!