Taipei Life

To say we had a magnificent holiday would be the understatement of the century! Stellar weather in the main, all the essential ingredients of a fantatstic break were evident: family, friends, places, weather, food etc. We were served a surfeit of each element and tasted just a little too much of each, so much so that our appetite for more was whetted. By the time we left, we were salivating to keep the good times rolling, just one last tasty morsel to savour before we had to return. As we commented later, this holiday's only drawback was that it was just a little too long: we were hungry for more of our Australian life.

A week away on the Harley, a week to visit Ross and Ainsley in NZ were the exclamation marks to break up the visit while a daily "grind of the Bathers' Way 6 km walk and frequent visits to and by our parents were the constants. We managed to squeeze in plenty besides, but it was just so comforting to re-connect with our real home and not work for a stretch! This week, after a week of meetings and the first day back with the kiddies we definitely know we're back on the treadmill!

Not long after we returned we had the unusual opportunity of attending our second Taiwanese wedding. At the Grand Hyatt's lavish ballroom, the ceremony glistened with all the kitsch pomp and ceremony the Taiwanese can muster. Julie is a delightful bride for Craig, who worked for many years at school before becoming Taiwan's triathlon director and coach. They have now moved to Phuket...hard life?! It was a great day to catch up with lots of colleagues before we hit the campus proper and we did a little bit of celebrity spotting having our photo taken with Janet, and wined and dined our way through the afternoon.

I had three days of intensive WIDA training after the first two days of meetings last week, so feel as if my brain has been sucked out by a giant with a straw inserted in my head! Cass had a relatively relaxing introduction and was much better prepared for the influx of our new intake of students today. I felt like I was only just keeping my head above water today and really believe that this holiday has turned by brain to mush: I can't even seem to be able to write successfully anymore: let's hope that improves for our long-suffering readers...I promise I'll work on it!

Photos are a tiny selection from the best break ever and a few of the wedding. See you next week with a touch better articulation and fluency (I hope).

This is the link to the Australia June July photo album. Cassy is reading The Marriage Plot and I am reading Deadfolk.