Cass is flying off to France this Friday (or actually, early Saturday morning), so with a full week of school ahead, we needed to make the most of the weekend to do some last minute shopping, sorting, organizing and even start some packing. The cat's carer needed to be sorted as did the transportation to and from the airport as well as sourcing and sorting various drugs, supplements and other essentials. We also needed to do a targeted food shop so we had the essentials, but didn't hav food left in the fridge over the two week break.

Cass is doing her semi-regular trip to France with her mum, Valerie, again this year. They always plan on visiting three different cities or regions to supplement their book-ended stays in Paris. The TGV is again working its grand rapid magic, whisking them from Paris to Rennes to Tours to Limoge to Paris and all sorts of interesting points in and around these regions, as yet unplanned! We've got all the trains worked out and tickets delivered to Taiwan as well as all the hotels in every place. Cass and Val will sort through the various tours and sights when they arrive in the different spots: it's worked out well for them this way before. We booked a few special items that were likely to sell out in Paris, but I'll report on them after the fact in a few weeks!

I procrastinated quite uncharacteristically and vacillated between an inaugural trip to an icy cold, snowy Korea or instead taking in some sun in Thailand, the Philippines or even Sri Lanka again. In the end, after all my annoying decision-making of the past few weeks, I felt settled enough to make some very belated plans. I decided to head to Japan, but not to my usual stomping grounds of southern Honshu and Kyushu. Rather, I'm going to make the pilgrimage back to Nagano prefecture, where I first lived 30 years ago! I managed to make contact with my friend, and second boss, Hiromi, through some stealthy inquires on social media and other platforms....it's really quite amazing to find people after such a time with very little effort! I've bought a seven day rail pass, so plan to fly into Tokyo before getting the bullet train to Nagano (which, of course didn't exist last time I was there). After that, I've no idea. All I know is that I must thread my way down to the other end of the country to fly out of Fukuoka a week later. I have a tiny backpack of essentials only, so it should be quite the adventure!

Our weekend was filled with crowded shopping malls, or at least felt like it. The local Sogo department store was chock-a-block with humanity in a pre-Christmas sale frenzy. If we'd known we never would have tried to brave it! After fueling up at Din Tai Feng in the early afternoon, we cast ourselves upon the escalators, squeezed into lifts and variously dodged and nudged our way through unrelenting crowds of all types of shoppers. We eventually made the top floor where Japanese retailer Hands Tailung had some super-duper soft, large pillows. Cass had spotted them some time ago and she'd decided that these were just what our poor little arthritic cats needed to get comfortable. (As it turns out, as cat lovers everywhere will attest to, the little buggers seemed more interested in the packing the pillows came in.....perhaps they'll come around!). With this gigantic impediment in a large bag, we then decided to negotiate around Uniqlo, but the press of humanity was crazy inside. The line for the registers stretched right around the whole store, so we decided to score some bread and cakes in the basement then exit stage left!

Cass is still recovering from the after-effects of her lurgy so we didn't do too much else. We both took a recuperative stance in preparation for the big burst of energy we'll need next weekend and beyond. Photos: some quirky sign at Hands Tailung, Cass in the queue at Flavor Field patisserie, and with our shopping haul among the giant Christmas Hello Kitties! Video up top is of a purring Virgil, struggling to get comfortable with her arthritic joints. Cass is reading White Sands a most satisfyingly different travel book and I've found a Lee Child, Reacher book I hadn't read, Echo Burning.

There are two reasons why this blog is never(rarely!) missed during an academic year. I've been made aware by certain select readers when the blog is missing or late that it has indeed been missed. This gives me a little motivation to keep plugging away, knowing there is a small but dedicated readership out there! Secondly, I feel if I interrupt momentum I may never re-gain it: timetabling activities adds to my Pavlovian teacher instincts.

There were a couple of valid reasons for missing a week and the first of those is that I'd succumbed to various minor illnesses like headaches associated with cold sores and a nasty head cold to boot. I'm normally fairly immune to these ailments but do fall prey to them if I experience any high levels of stress. It was this very condition to which I fell prey during the last fortnight as we both wrestled with some fairly large decision making.

To cut a long story short, despite the fact that during our long tenure here I have been a specialist language teacher, next year I'm going to take on the role of classroom teacher for Grade 5. The "powers that be" presented me with their proposal a few weeks back and we've had time to ponder and decide ever since. They lauded my involvement and collegiality, they praised my demeanour and knowledge and lavished me with praise for my curriculum knowledge and good standing among teachers and students alike. Their mantra of "change is good" has been ringing softly through the hallways for some time, so I suppose it was impossible to stay immune from it forever.

We thought long and hard about our needs and wants at this time of our careers. Cass is ensconced and very happy in her current professional role so she had no issues to struggle with. In the end, we decided that neither of us was ready to "pull up stumps" just yet and it didn't fit in with our plans to move on. The irony is that the position offered is only offered to the most outstanding candidates they can find, so I suppose I'll take all that as a pat on the back. I would have preferred to continue in my current role just because it was comfortable and known, but now we've made the choice to sign up again, there is a lot of upside too. I'll be able to really establish some relationships with kids come next year and again, after a long period away, re-establish my expectations for the class I'll be responsible for. So, with all sorts of thoughts swirling in a madding tornado, it wasn't the best time to be commenting on the minutia of our lives via Blogger!

We did manage to have a very relaxing weekend for American Thanksgiving and sampled some fine wine while watching some cricket, ate out, went for some walks and also saw some movies. It was super relaxing, but made the following week (with all its decision making) seem long and arduous.
This weekend we watched an absolutely stunning movie directed by Tom Ford called "Nocturnal Animals". It was lavishly set and the attention to detail was quite mesmerizing. It had a laconic style that variously lulled and wooed then savagely shocked as the story flicked to its parallel thread.

Our walks around the immediate neighborhood and suburb (including over to the cinema described) have been pleasant in what is a very slowly transforming autumn. In fact we wandered over just in shirt sleeves on a sunny, breezy afternoon on the very first day of winter. The days are getting noticeably shorter and a tiny chill can send a shiver in the early evening, but Taipei's damp, bone-chilling cold is still a couple of months away we guess. Our forays into light woolen coverings have been terminated quite quickly, at least at this stage!

Photos: Chris and Val gifted us some superb Henschke's when they visited in April and we were able to crack, sip and enjoy with some cricket....how Aussie! A couple of Friday nights back, I headed down to near the CKS Memorial Hall area to see some ex-pats playing in a rock band. The venue is just round the corner from the MRT station at the Hall so I was able to snap a few night pictures. Cass cosied up to a strange creature at the movies and we spied an ever increasing Christmas decoration presence at the local malls. I hit the steps on Sunday: they never get any easier! Sorry about the absent blog entry last week....