Taipei Life

Where previously, world weary shacks and higgledy piggledy housing was the norm along the canal bank near our place, these days there are more and more wafer thin sky-scraping apartment blocks lining the rare piece of open space. There is a glimpse of some mountains and city, but more importantly, the immediate outlook, unlike most other accommodation which looks out onto yet another apartment block, is one of green space with the background gurgle of gently running water. Many of the buildings, due to site constraints are just one apartment wide, and some of them rather thin rooms at that! I walked round the river again on Saturday and the spring blooms are weighing heavy on branches of trees dotting the banks, people enjoying the sights at all times of the day and evening. Some stroll, others jog or shuffle and the odd person performs that peculiar Taiwanese habit of hitting themselves as they walk, shouting out in guttural tones at odd intervals, deciding to walk backwards for a short spell, or sometimes try to combine all three! They're not mentally impaired but rather following some strange advice that has them convinced this is a cathartic ritual that helps to keep them fit and healthy.

Cassy flew off to Kuala Lumpur accompanying a serious young coterie of mini United Nations delegates on Thursday lunchtime. She has been in regular email contact and reports that the whole process is actually quite fascinating. One downside of the trip has been the need to dress up for all public appearances, necessitating a rather large formal wardrobe be squeezed into our modestly size "mid-range" suitcase. She is the official passport holder and photographer as well as being the point person should anything go wrong, including being on standby to accompany anyone home early if need be. She nearly had to go to the police station to report a minor fraud involving one of the kids, but thankfully sanity prevailed and she was spared a repeat of her recent Parisian experience! Her hotel is quite lavish, the food is great and she is hoping to just sneak a little glimpse at the rest of the city for a few hours this afternoon with her friend and colleague Kristin, leaving their other colleague Peter to hold the fort. Apparently the kids have been stellar ambassadors in terms of behaviour and official performance, not a bad feat from Grade 8 kids. They are having a pretty good time too in between their official engagements as Cass reported, "After they finished the formal stuff yesterday, there were games for an hour or so, then a dinner and the kids sang lots of karaoke till about 7:45 then we hopped on the bus and some poor "slaves" had to clean up the mess made by well over 300 (350?) people!"

As I knew I wouldn't be disturbing the Friday afternoon resting routine of my darling (!), I invited some guys around for a few beers on the balcony and then we watched some AFL on TV. Some stayed till rather late and we managed to drink all the beers that were brought, including a stack I already had in the fridge. Dave M, Gurecki, Wol and Shaun were all on board at some point or other and it was a great way to celebrate my birthday from the day before. I was stoked to hear from all three of my diligent siblings (onya girls!) and they had various messages, cards and facebook howdys sent my way. Mum is also overseas, enjoying the delights of Germany in different cities, all based around the amazing Wagner's Ring Cycle. She is coping well with her various walking tours and her concerts and adventures/sightseeing sound fantastic. Even with her pretty hectic schedule, she also sent me a text of best wishes. Chris and Val rang me on the morning and wished me all the best as well as posting off a lovely card and gift. My aunt Virginia also wrote to me and Cass for our birthdays, with an interesting family update as well. My cousin's youngest son is entering Grade 3, my teaching grade, and I haven't ever seen him! We definitely need to catch up more often!! Friends from Taiwan and Australia facebooked me or texted and my colleagues at school put on a little show as well. Cass and I are both hoping we don't get quite as much attention next year: a milestone we're not overly keen to have acknowledged widely!

I've spent a lot of time today watching football on TV as the day is unseasonably cold and rainy. The Knights just scraped home with a win which was encouraging. I did a little domestic duty with a load of washing, but might hold off on the sheets and towels till tomorrow afternoon, as the weather isn't aiding the drying process. Cass is back late tomorrow night so I (and the cats!) will be very glad to welcome her back. Both Cass and I will be dealing with proctoring a battery (appropriate vocabulary!) of tests this week, so it should be relatively cruisy but probably as exciting as a Grade 8 mini United Nations speech marathon.
Photos today are of some interest, especially the car suspended in the air on a forklift: if the boys want to do a bit of re-tarring, lookout....you'll just get lifted out of the way! Cops on scooters don't really cut an intimidating jib do they? Cass is by a viscous metal sculpture downtown, the blooms are burstin', another Taipei sign, this time near the train station, scooter individualization and an email sent shot of the mini United Nationers.