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!

Ringing in the Chinese Lunar New Year: Feet, Fireworks, KTV and the Tundra Zone

Goodbye, Year of the Dog and Hello, Year of the Pig! There's nothing quite like celebrating the new year with friends and a foot massage! With schools and offices closed for a week, we've had a chance to try some new things. Yesterday, McLeod (happily) endured his first traditional Chinese reflexology foot massage, and while there were some moments when he nearly yelped with pain, his feet felt fantastic afterwards.

February 18 marked Day One of the Chinese lunar year and the first day of Spring, and though it is now nearly the end of the month, the celebrations continue, with fireworks and loud, crackling strings of Chinese firecrackers sounding off all day and most of the night. Chinese tradition holds that the fireworks scare away monsters, but I'm pretty sure most folks also think it's a whole lot of fun. We even launched a few fireworks ourselves on New Year's Eve, with a certain group of expat hubbies deciding to sneak down and set off the leftover stockpile at 2am a few nights later. They thought they were blending in with the other Taiwanese revellers. However, American voices shouting "WoooHooo!" and "Fire in the Hole!" pretty much gave away who they were. They were only in the doghouse (pighouse?) a little while, though, because it was awfully funny. Though offices and schools are only shut down this week, the festivities continue for 15 days total, ending with the Latern Festival on March 4th. I'm guessing that March 5th will be the first night I sleep really well! The kids have had a ball, especially since friends have given them red envelopes of money and that people everywhere have candy sitting out. They even agreed to dress up a bit for some CNY pictures. Getting a picture of them both standing still and smiling at the same time is always a bit of a challenge, especially since they make me laugh and so, jiggle the camera.

Singing our hearts out at KTV
Leading up to Chinese New Year, I was busy on assignment for Centered on Taipei magazine, writing about KTV, the much-beloved Taiwanese past time of singing with friends in a karaoke studio. I really wasn't sure what to expect as I arranged a Girls' Night Out at PartyWorld KTV. I had been assured by sources (i.e. the COT editor) that we would find PartyWorld to be a fun, safe, classy environment. I still imagined a rather smoke-filled lounge with American Idol Wannabe's stumbling onto stage, propelled by liquid courage. Instead, fellow moms and I were pleasantly surprised to be ushered into our own private party room where we could dine, chat, laugh and of course, sing our way through roughly 60 songs over four hours. Since most of the music (at least the songs we knew) was from the 80s and early 90s, we also had a great time talking about albums we'd wanted to buy as kids, laughing about prom themes, and remembering all those late nights at college. It was a nice break from the daily routine of fixing dinner and helping with homework, and it turned out to be a great bit of bonding for a group of strangers in a strange land.

Salt and Bread (and only a little frost bite)
Last night brought another new experience for us: Russian cuisine plus drinks at sub-zero temperatures. As our final hurrah before returning to work, several couples decided to try out Salt and Bread. This Russian cafe featured good food (lots of saurkraut-and-potato-garnished beef and sausages, caviar appetizers, and tummy-warming soups) and a first-rate bakery and ice cream bar. The highlight was a freezer-turned-vodka-bar where patrons could bundle up in giant parkas and get a feel for those Siberian nights. My Deep South constitution allowed me to last about 5 minutes in the ice bar, even with the parka, before I headed back out to my warm sausage dumpling soup and beef stroganoff, but some of my New England counterparts were braving the cold in their shirt sleeves by night's end. (I'm pretty sure I heard them say something like, "We're from New England. We laugh at the cold.") As an added bonus, one member of our party won the lucky draw for roughly a case of Russian Baltika beer for our group to take home. Perhaps we'll break it out and reminisce about those long, cruel months in the salt mines?

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!

Happy New Year!!

Can you believe it's 2007! We rang in the New Year here in Taipei watching fireworks from our balcony, and we even got to call a few loved ones just after midnight here to let them know 2007 had actually arrived and looked great so far. Now we are slowly getting back into the routine of school and work after a wonderful three weeks off. We are also still reliving memories of our fantastic Christmas trip.

On December 20th over Barret's birthday pancakes, we finally got to spill the beans to the kids about our plans to take them to Hong Kong for a week. We were there from Dec. 24 to Dec. 30th, and it still amazes me that we just saw The Actual Hong Kong! Incidentally, we missed the Taiwan earthquake on Dec 26th, though it virtually destroyed Hong Kong's Internet service for the rest of the week. For us, having a forced break from email wasn't a bad thing, and we were relieved and thankful that the quake wasn't devastating to Taiwan.

While in Hong Kong, we pretty much did EVERYTHING. We rode ferry boats, sky trams, cable cars, subway trains, and scary-fast taxi cabs. We saw the view from Victoria Peak, the giant pandas at Ocean Park, the laser light show on the harbor, and all those crazy vendor stalls at Stanley Market. One lovely afternoon we stopped in at a British pub called the Boathouse for a quick thristquencher then headed for the beach at Repulse Bay just before sunset to capture some pictures (and quite a bit of sand in our clothes).

Did I mention that I also got to go to Hong Kong Disney, ride on stuff with my kids, and see the fireworks show that included real fire shooting off the top of Sleeping Beauty's castle? I'm a bit of a fireworks (and Disney) junkie, so at one point I must have let loose a particularly loud, "WOW!" because the Asian families around me all turned around and started laughing. It was a pretty great Christmas present. We'll be thanking "Santa McLeod" for quite awhile.

As for Christmas in Asia, we were surprised at how much Christmas spirit there was here in Taiwan. Most of the stores and our apartment complex put up trees and strung lights and banners with things like "Hearty Christmas!" and "We are open Christmas and Happy New Year!" For our friends in the computer industry: we found out why there was that global shortage in blue LEDs this year. They used them here in all the decorations. No, not blue Christmas light bulbs but actual computer LEDs that blinked in complex patterns all over town.

Santa is very big here, too. One of our favorite department stores decorated around the roof and sides of the building with several long, skinny Santa's made of parachute material. They kind of looked like they were either escaping over a prison wall or perhaps preparing a ninja assualt on someone inside, but we were happy to see the guys in the red suits nonetheless. McLeod, as honored Meiguoren (Chinese for American) and the only one uh...statuesque enough to pull it off, was drafted to play office Santa at the Christmas party complete with snug red suit and white beard. Poor guy had just gotten off a plane from the States after roughly 24 hours of travelling and had lovely red eyes to match the suit. (By the way, he wants me to mention that seeing his belly in a Santa suit has motivated him to start running again and that he has Nike+iPod shoes that are tracking his progress on nike.com for anyone that wants to compete against his running totals.)

As for the real reason for the season, the references to Christ and his birth were small, but we were very blessed by them - a live nativity scene at the park, free Chinese Bibles placed in a lobby, Christmas carols (the real ones like "O Holy Night") playing at Disney, gatherings of people at the few churches. One of the most moving memories for me was at a small ladies bible study I visited in mid-December. Ten or twelve of us were gathered at a table, women from all over the world. We decided to sing some Christmas carols together and when we got to the German carol "Silent Night," I glanced over at one of the ladies from Germany. Tears began streaming down her face. That combination of being far from home in body yet close in spirit got to me, too, and by the time we were singing one of my favorites, "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing," I was fighting back tears. There is also nothing quite like singing the phrase, "Joyful, all the nations rise; Join the triumph of the skies," with friends from across the globe!

Thoughts on Green Oranges, Black Chickens and a Talking Two-Year-Old

Green oranges are here! Autumn marks the green orange season on the island. When I first saw bins of mottled green fruit, I assumed they were unripe. But after a produce vendor tore one open to give me a slice, I realized that these large, tangerine-like oranges never lose their green color. A post on ramblingspoon.com remarks: “In tropical regions with no winter, citrus fruits remain green until maturity, hence the tropical ‘green orange.’”

Caroline especially loves this sweet fruit with a slight sour aftertaste. She usually bites into a section, sucks all the juice out, and leaves a hill of pulpy remains behind. She also gets bits of pulp all over herself, and then, later, as she discovers it in her hair, on her feet, or between her fingers, she freaks out and runs to me saying, “There’s a boogey on meeeeee. Get it off!”

Barret likes eating green oranges as well, but he is more fascinated by the fact that there are trees growing near his school playground with fruit hanging from the branches. I guess when you are used to seeing fruit only in its natural surroundings of the Kroger produce aisle, spotting it hanging above the jungle gym is pretty amazing. His favorite citrus product here, though, is the fresh squeezed orange juice sold by the street vendors. The juice is made from a different kind of local orange that is small, tart and extremely juicy. The juice is paler than the Minute Maid or Tropicana variety in the States—closer to the color of lemonade—and has a pleasant tart taste that is very refreshing.

Citrus trees, in general, are pretty common around the area. In fact, McLeod recently discovered them at the Kuo Hua golf club, thanks to his caddy. I have to take a moment to explain that golfing in Asia is a much more formal event. It generally takes all day and ends with a trip to the steam room and showers before changing into fresh clothes for dinner at the club. Female caddies are provided, but lest visions of buxom, short-shorts-wearing drink cart girls float into your head, the women at Kuo Hua are shrouded head-to-toe in purple garments, gloves, and face masks that leave only their eyes peaking out from beneath huge Chinese straw hats. Imagine McLeod’s surprise, then, when his demure, purple assistant suddenly grabbed an iron and began viciously attacking the limbs of a tree. Was it a snake? Was she frustrated at his Chinese? (In trying to ask his yardage, he kept mistakenly asking her “What am I?” to which she replied helpfully, “American?”) But no, at last she brought him the fruits of her labor, a fat green orange. Better than a candy bar from the clubhouse any day!

Family Time for the Glasses
At the time of the last post, we were preparing for our first overseas Thanksgiving. It was a quiet affair featuring chicken and stuffing in the crockpot, cranberry sauce “shaped-like-the-can” as our family calls it, green bean casserole, fruit salad and pumpkin pie with Cool Whip. The ingredients were purchased for exorbitant amounts at my favorite import shop and worth every New Taiwan dollar! But don't think that just because we had an American-style Thanksgiving that Taiwan is not rubbing off on us. I had a weird “where do I live?” moment on Thanksgiving Day when I opened up my US-based MSN.com home page. The lead photo for an article on cooking disasters featured a platter with a charred turkey. My first thought before reading the caption was, “Hmmm, black chicken recipes.” No, not “blackened” like spice-encrusted red-fish, nor burnt like the turkey in the article, but “black chicken,” a Taiwanese delicacy. They have a hybrid chicken over here that literally has blue-black skin beneath its feathers, so in the meat section of the grocery store, you will see a black-skinned whole fryer right there next to the pig knuckles and stir-fry beef. No, that’s not the kind of chicken we had for our Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe next year.

On Thanksgiving Day, we also had our family celebration of Caroline’s second birthday with a few gifts and some long-distance Happy Birthday songs from the grandparents. Since she’d already had a big cake at her party, we had blueberry muffin bread for her birthday breakfast. (Long story, but I ruined my muffin pan so I’ve been pouring the muffin batter into a bread pan. Works pretty well.) One of her gifts was a two-foot tall Strawberry Shortcake fabric doll that she thinks is a real person. She talks to her and has tea parties with her, but Strawberry is not allowed to share her pillow or stuffed animals at night and has to sleep by herself at the bottom of the bed. Caroline is just a wee bit protective of her turf around potential competitive threats.

Carolinese
In addition to blossoming into a feisty but still completely lovable two-year-old, our resident princess has had a language explosion over the last few months that leaves us shaking our heads in wonder. And it’s not just the quantity of words and phrases, though she must be learning a dozen words a day. The drama with which she delivers her lines, especially with her slightly husky voice, would make Bette Davis proud. For instance, this week McLeod is traveling, so if you ask her where Daddy is, she responds matter-of-factly, “My Daddy on a BIG airplane.” (Evidently, in her mind, he never actually gets off the airplane, just circles the globe for days on end.) Then, with a knowing nod of her head, she’ll lean forward and say, “My Daddy CALL me.”

During these phone calls from Dad, she holds various items up to the phone for him to “look at” while she provides a running commentary. Recently, it was pieces from the Little People Nativity Scene play set: “Look Daddy! It’s the BABY! Her name is called ‘BA-BY JE-SUS.’ (Yes, in her world all babies are female). “Her in her BED! This her MAMA. Her is called, ‘MA-RY.’ Look at this one. He named….he named… ‘Hat-on-his-head.’” (Poor Joseph gets no respect. In the play set he has a kind of generic shepherd look, so he ends up in the “fields by night” with the plastic sheep sometimes. No wonder she can’t remember who he is.)

We also have a family game called, “Get Caroline to say words beginning with sp.”
“Caroline, what’s that you’re eating with?”
“That my foon.”
“Caroline, what do you do with toothpaste?”
“I fit it! I fit bubbles in the water!”
Sometimes we don’t even have to try. She will simply walk into a room and say something like, “Where my farkle bow?” while she hunts for her sparkly hair ribbons. This week she added a new phrase that she picked up from Barret. He had made a tent with a blanket and announced that it was spooky inside. Caroline thought that was great, so now everything is “FOOOOKY, Mama! FOOOOKY!”

It’s not just the entertainment factor, though. I love that she talks to us about everything, and that I can finally know what’s going on in her head. When she says things like, “Mama, GO LOUDER!” meaning she wants me to go faster, I get to see her light up with glee as I swing, spin, or run faster with her. When I find her on the laundry porch sitting dreamily on Barret’s bicycle, I find out that she would really love a “Caroline Bi-th-ycle” of her own. That's definitely on her Santa list.

But my all time favorite moment is when a sleepy Caroline comes to me and says in her funny toddler way, “Mama, are you hold me?” Then, I wrap that bundle of energetic, two-year-old loveliness in my arms and all is right with the world.


Next post: Shèng dàn kuàilè! Reflections on Christmas in Asia and Barret becoming a bona fide five-year-old.