We've bought a car! Well, actually we've bought 1/2 a car as we've gone in with our friends from NZ, Ross and Ainsley, to purchase it and share the ongoing costs. We're really excited, as it is a '91 Toyota Corona in very good condition. The car was considered necessary for our 'new' surfing lifestyle on the weekends, as the school van was expensive to rent and very dodgy as well as inducing near car sickness on the winding road up the mountain and down the other side to the coast. We went out mid-week to a car parts warehouse to try to get some roof racks, but they said they couldn't fit them on this model car. We bought some ocky straps and just tied them to the roof, with the straps going around inside. This works very well for our hour long trip to the beach and we'll try to scout some racks out before we head off on any bigger adventures.
Our maiden trip yesterday resulted in dead flat surf, but Cass and Ains came along and were most impressed with the vehicle. We had an esky in the boot with sandwiches and drinks, our little Cancer Council beach igloo and of course the boards on top. We had a great day with all our new tricks! One amazing sight in the flat glassy conditions was 30 odd surfers in the water waiting for waves! Some kind of surf school has been set up and these novices were trying to catch the pathetic little 6 inches of slop available. As we said later: we don't think many will come back after that introduction, which will leave all the more waves for us. We were really lamenting our forgetfulness in not bringing a camera; partly to record our first trip, but mainly to save this most amazing sight, which really had to be seen to be believed.
Today, I drove Ross and Carl over for"boys" surf, leaving at 6 am, only to be greeted by the same lake-like conditions of yesterday. Still we had a loll around in the surprisingly clean water and, as always, a great laugh.
We got back late morning, and as I write this we're looking forward to watching the Knights vs. St George game, which will be on ABC Asiapacific in about 30 minutes. After the football we're planning to take the scooter down to the night market to get Cass some cheapy sunnies for the bike and just have a look around, as we haven't been there since we came back.
Our week at school was busy as usual, but mercifully, my ESL Parent Night seemed to very successful, everyone doing their bit very professionally. I was very nervous doing my first one, but my colleagues assured me later that I didn't appear so and did a "good job". At least they're diplomatic!
Cassy's teaching partner seems to be chilling out a bit and they're beginning to form a good relationship, so that's a load off her mind too.
Of course the really "interesting" part of this whole car ownership deal is the eternal search for a park. We won't be using except it on the weekend so after we take it out we have to drive around for up to a 1/2 hour looking for a park. We've put our name down for a park at work, but it will be about 18 months before we secure one. If you've seen the Seinfeld episodes where they won't go out because they have the perfect park, you'll begin to understand the feeling we have when we get a good one......

We were glad to survive the week with all the classes. It's not quite finally over as we have to complete a couple of assignments online by next Sunday but at least we don't have to sit through any more classes. On Friday night the professor let us out a bit early so as to adjourn the lesson to the "Green Bar" for some liquid refreshment. We both felt like "skipping class" but thought it would be poor form. We ended up quite enjoying ourselves, having a couple of cleansing ales chatting with our classmates. As we had our medical the next morning at 8 am (postponed from the end of last year) we remained fairly circumspect and made it home by about 9:30 pm.
The medical was as much fun as usual - height, weight, blood pressure, wee in a cup and pour it into the tiny test tubes yourself (good test of fine motor skills!!), eye test, chest x-ray, reflex tests (!!), organ check (is your liver in the right place?), and blood taken. A great way to start the day!!
Carl, Ross, Sean, Marcus and myself then went to the beach and though the waves were small, we had a good time (probably aided by the load of crap we were all talking!)
While we were out, poor old Cass did some drudgework like the shopping, cleaning the house and doing the ironing for the week (while watching the Storm v Dragons game on TV.)
We had a quiet night at home last night - satay prawns and "Idiot Box"(new DVD bought at home).
Today we went to the movies to see "Gangs of NY". Usually we get movies here at the same time as Oz, if not earlier, but this one was delayed for some reason. It was long and violent, but we both thoroughly enjoyed it.
We've had some wonderful emails from Cassy's parents, Mum and Sue, including news from Sue about the birth of Matt Gidley's baby just after she arrived home from the delivery! We also received a video from Sue with some "Block" episodes, which we got addicted to back home, Footy show and of course, football. Thanks Bud!
I have to present the ESL Parent Information night on Tuesday and after the inevitable follow up interviews with parents who need clarification I'm hoping my super hectic pace will lessen a little: at least enough to allow me to get to the gym more often. As I write this, I'm listening to the radio (2GB) from home warning of storms, while thunder bursts here and rain buckets down in tropical fashion. Some things are the same everywhere!

This week was up there with the busiest we've ever experienced. My new job has presented many challenges, not the least of which has been my inability to teach one lesson after 5 days of non-stop meetings, both attended and run. Apart from that, letters had to be written, decisions made and books, furniture and even food was ordered. I seem to have quite a sizable budget, which is comforting, but the paperwork to go with it is also rather daunting. The crowning glory was to discover that the class I was supposed to lose to do the job could not be done by anyone else, so I'm doing that as well.
Cass has had her fair share of problems this week as well, as 2 of the 4 people on her team are new, and she has been guiding her most direct partner around the super size of the T.A.S. machine. Cass thinks she will be pretty good to work with, but at the moment is displaying some typical, nervous behaviours of a new teacher. She also seems to be pretty anal, but we're both sure she'll relax a little as the year goes on.
Anyway, to say that we've hit the ground running is an understatement; more like coming from a dead stop to a full sprint in a few days!
Because of our hectic week we took the opportunity not to attend the belated recognition ceremony and the following BBQ and drinks on Friday night.
On Saturday, I had booked the school van and we drove the hour or so over the mountains to Jinshan beach to test out our new boards. Ross, Carl and Shaun (Aussie school psychologist) joined me and we got a nice clean 2-3 foot swell, which gave us plenty of good fun. We had to leave at 12 so we could get home in time for the rugby league (yes!) game featuring the Knights vs. Warriors. When we arrived back in Taiwan we were absolutely delighted to find that ABC Asiapacific had decided to show 2 NRL games each weekend: the Friday night game on Saturday afternoon and the channel 9 Sunday game on Sunday afternoon at 1.30!
Anyway, Ross joined us to watch the Knights beat the Warriors (go Kurt) and then stayed to watch the Australia vs. All Blacks on Chinese cable live. Carl, Hiroko and their boys came round for that as well as Shaun and Marcus (Grade 1 Aussie teacher). We had a great time and Ross felt better as the Kiwis won.
We've had a super lazy Sunday, except for an hour or 2 we spent at school (shock/horror...may have to do this for a while just to get everything done). We watched the NRL game this afternoon and Cass is doing a little more schoolwork before we'll head out in the heat for a little walk down to the local shops.
Cass and I are both getting ready for our Master's course (our last..yeh!) which starts tomorrow........this week looks like being even busier.

Taipei's "wall of heat" was the worst thing about arriving back on Friday evening but Mr. Lee (our downstairs neighbour and landlord) greeting us like long lost children made up for it. The house was in good condition and our earthquake-proofing seemed to have worked, except for one overflowing closet camel, which spilt in Cassy's wardrobe. We've spent the past couple of days shopping, cleaning and preparing for work tomorrow.
What a fantastic holiday we had. 12 weeks of Aussie "winter" was rather spoiling and we're wondering if we can still teach after all that time! We enjoyed walking the "Bather's Way" nearly every day, I surfed and we both watched whales making their way up the coast as we sat and ate breakfast or lunch. Apart from catching up with friends and family, the highlights of our trip came near the end in our bike trip up the coast and down the freezing hinterland and seeing the famous mother and baby whales cavorting close to shore just off Sailor's rock at Merewether beach.
Our bike trip was something of an experience when we got to Tenterfield after crossing the Great Dividing Range from Casino. We were so cold we had to pit stop in a coffee shop for an hour or so. However nothing could prepare us for the town of Glen Innes which that morning had registered their coldest temp of the year at -14 degrees! Anyway, many adventures were had, not the least of which was scraping ice off the bike before we could get going in the mornings.
We've just come back from dinner at our favourite curry restaurant after dropping in at Chad and Cathie's new place (very big, new and impressive) to see their new baby, Levi. He's a very cute boy and settling in well for an 11 week old who has already traveled from Taipei to Colorado then to Minnesota and back to Taipei!
Chad and Cathie presented us with a beautiful rug featuring some of the rock formations in Colorado, which we will eventually hang on a wall here.
Well a great weekend, the Knights flogged the Cowboys and our digital set top box is showing 2 NRL games on ABC Asia pacific each weekend now. In fact we watched the Storm vs. Bulldogs game here at 1.30 (3.30 back in Australia) 1/2 an hour before it screened back home. Things just get better and better!
The only slight spanner in the works is the prospect of attending and running numerous meetings in the next few days and starting my next Master's subject on Friday.....we won't have much time to relax I suspect this week.