Despite my misgivings about teaching primary age students some 16 years ago, I'm really going to miss these little kids next year! My old friends occasionally throw back my famous quote to me, "If I ever teach primary kids, take a gun and shoot me"! I really did feel like that after so long teaching high school. Now, of course, I can't imagine a time or a place where I'll ever teach 18 year olds  again.

As the reality of my move to the middle school's Grade Eight really settles in for me, my thoughts are turning to just how cute these current kiddies are. They're just so full of the fervour for learning, that it carries you along with it. Every day, without exception, their enthusiasm is quite inspiring for me to go that little bit harder or to really make sure I'm doing them a good service. Apart from that, they often just crack me up!

This feeling won't disappear next year, but that love of learning might be just hidden a little further under a few layers of teenage angst or self-consciousness. Cass assures me that her kids are unlike our Year 8 charges in Newcastle, which is rather heartening, because some of them left a little to be desired!

As for the weekend, too much sport was never enough! The Quiksilver Pro was on from Snapper Rocks, streaming seamlessly in high definition on Apple TV from the early morning both days. We interrupted this viewing pleasure to follow the courageous Knights, also in high definition on a different app on Saturday, as they fell to a narrow defeat after a highly entertaining game. Then it was time for the 3rd cricket test in India, this time in low definition, which stood as a pertinent metaphor for the dreary progress of the Aussies and the stoic defence of the Indians. While this was streaming on the TV via the main computer, I had the rest of the Super Saturday rugby league games beaming out from the iPad. It was, in fact, too much of a good thing....I got a headache from too much screen time and a backache from too much sitting!

We were out and about, thank goodness, on the rest of the weekend. Our shopping trip always amuses, as we walk by the tennis courts, through the small park and across the river before another small temple park, past the mahjong players and through to Mingde Road and the supermarket in the basement of a large building across the street. Lugging supplies back over the same route, we noticed that the blossoms are just bursting forth a little more: Spring has sprung!

Din Tai Feng in the SOGO complex beckoned for xiao long bao, rice and tea. Some "specialty" shopping in the basement, then across to Wendel's for the week's bread loaves plus some delicious treats in the form of strawberry and rasberry rolls....rolled up sponge cakes with lashings of fresh cream! We watched yet another Oscar winning movie, the hauntingly beautiful and touching "Moonlight". It was magnificent; so perfectly paced and nuanced.

Photos: some of the kids I'll miss, along with my various monkey hosts, Chee Chee, Boris and CoCo, and friends. Wendel's sits quite decadently in a low rise complex with garden surrounds as developers must be salivating for a chance to throw up a skyscraper in such a sought after location. Our favourite toothpaste over here is only just scraping by in the politically correct stakes. Originally "Darkie", they've been forced to change their name (changing just one letter), but somehow have managed to persist with the outrageous photo of the black and white minstrel promoting shiny, dazzling white teeth. Finally a screen shot of the Quiky Pro from the Gold Coast.

Cassy's monthly book club dinner was held at the impressive and perennially fully booked "Osteria by Angie" over in the Dahzi region near the Neihu mega-complex. The rain pelted down as she made her way up to the school meeting point to be driven over by Darby with the group, and continued to beat a steady rhythm as they dined and then eventually left. It was a fitting sad and dreary metaphor for their feelings, as Stacey, their newest recruit a few years back, was attending her last meeting with them. She is embarking on a brand new adventure with husband and newish baby, as they move to Switzerland next month for a new posting. She is their only non-school member and they loved having her different perspective and fresh ideas to give them an alternative view on literature and life!

We took the advantage of getting a photo as I was slightly dolled up for parent conferences on Friday (Cass always looks this good!). We're given two full school days to schedule conferences with parents to discuss students' progress, a far cry from the days at Grammar when we used to drag ourselves in for a full evening or two after a hard day's work. The parents are, almost without exception, so delightful, caring and respectful. They appreciate our efforts and tell us so. If there are concerns, they listen; then we plan a framework for remediation together, with only the best interests of the student/child at heart. It's a tiring couple of days, but it can be quite satisfying as well!

We whizzed around patisseries and supermarkets on Saturday to get the weekly supplies and got some takeaway for dinner. We danced and leaped around the lounge-room in the early afternoon as the Newcastle Knights registered their first win in nearly a year, and in just the second round of the new competition! What an exciting time! I'd donned my 10 year anniversary Knight's jumper to watch the first game, so after changing jerseys to the special edition jumper of 2009, I'm actually laying claim to this win. I'll wear it again next week and you can see whether it actually works, or not.

We watched two movies on the weekend: "Jackie" was a poignant character study of an often misunderstood woman, and Natalie Portman did a superb job in the title role. It was fairly slow moving and elegantly wrought; also, I suppose, not dissimilar to Jackie herself! The Australian/U.S. co-production of "Lion" was just so beautifully imagined. At times, joyous and funny and at others so heart-wrenching and sad. What an amazing story....the truth can be stranger than fiction. Teeming crowds, dirt, crime and chaos in the cities along with simple lives of poverty in village slums were starkly juxtaposed with the "lucky country's" big suburban blocks, clear waters and abundance of just about everything.

We hummed and haaed, then eventually made the decision to challenge ourselves once again on the 1,500 steps of the Tienmu Gudao. Scootering up through the bus circle at section seven, then upwards to the little carpark at "base camp" of the steps was a delight in the shining spring light. We powered up the first section and starting working up quite a sweat, passing all and sundry, many of whom, in a slightly annoying fashion(!), were standing and resting in most awkward positions blocking the path upward!

We nearly staggered over a blissfully sleeping cat on the steep corkscrew section 3/4 of the way up, it seemingly oblivious to the possibility of being torn limb from limb by some wandering Macaque. The monkeys cross the steps in this very spot, so the cat was either brave or stupid! When we reached the summit of the climb we wandered the whole length of the ridge-line trail, eventually resting on a bench where we watched a couple of beautifully camouflaged lizards kiss and freeze!

The three evenings and two days of the weekend were a blissful release from a rather hectic week: the sun shone, the breeze whispered, various screens flickered and entertained, and our food was ample and delicious. We're lucky to have our lives. Photos: in Dave's classroom, shots from the steps, book club.

"...of droughts and flooding rains" can equally apply to Taiwan as Australia these days! Hard baked grounds and looming water restrictions have been alleviated by some biblical dumps of rain overnight, to add to the regular showers we've been having for the past week or so. Despite it being awkward to negotiate, especially on our daily walking commute to school, it's good to know that the spectre of water shortages has disappeared, for now at least.

The first flush of spring is also in evidence in the parks and gardens around the city. Tiny blossoms are bursting from buds on the apricot and cherry blossom trees lining the riverside walks and dotting the local parks. Photographers snap these minuscule puffs of powdery beauty with gigantic DSLR lenses, prowling and circling the trees to find just the right angle for their shot. As we wandered through the park to do the food shopping, the older, park-loitering gentlemen seem to be slightly more subdued as the regular mahjong games take place beneath the burgeoning blossoms: the regular rowdy exclaims are muted, and the constant clack of tiles is the only sound to disturb the pretty petals.

We don't often make the trek down to Shilin on foot, but decided to do just that on a delightful Sunday afternoon. Eschewing the practicalities of the MRT and the scooter, we decided to take advantage of the glorious sunshine and mild temperatures to enjoy a slice of the neighborhood's ambiance. We weren't the only ones! There were gaggles of schoolgirls giggling their way to noodle houses, and throngs of people buzzing in and out of the Jishan MRT station when we passed. Kiddies were riding their mini-scooters along the tiled promenades of the station, screaming with delight. There were groups of oldies sharing a meal at the tables in the 7/11 and couples and families You-biking all over the place: along pathways, footpaths and bridges, while people danced and played on the river banks as traffic whizzed above them.

There was a large bank of electric battery pods for scooters to make use of in the spacious scooter park under the MRT. These scooters are reasonably popular in Taiwan, but haven't really taken off for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there is no subsidy, so subsequently they are dearer than petrol-powered ones and secondly, they are so deathly quiet that people step in front of them causing accidents on a regular basis! Even so, this battery exchange system is a forward thinking service.

We were shocked to see even more development across the river towards the Shilin district: how much more growth can this city sustain?! One slick looking building was clad in bright orange tiles, however: Cass commented that those things would really date! We took a few backstreets closer to our destination and spied all sorts of interesting tea houses and dessert bars in the shadows of the overhead railway tracks in the approach to Shilin station...maybe another time!

Burger Ray's has an interesting ordering system. There is a window facing the footpath where you order your food, and after ordering and payment, you're given a drink cup and ushered inside. Once in, you can find a space among the shared long tables or by the long bar on one wall, help yourself to a drink, then wait till your order is called. The custom hamburgers arrive in a metal basket with the top bun displaced and then you can load up your burger with various salad options and sauces from the shared salad bar. The outside ordering obviously attracts a crowd, and the inside loading of toppings allows you to personalize your meal: both very clever ideas!

We enjoyed the usual excellent food and the decor and vibe: there are a lot of young people who go there and the music, the pulse and the energy all feel quite uplifting. Afterwards, we re-traced our steps, pausing on the bridge to spy a group of "Moops", who were alternatively quite happily extracting long, juicy worms from the soil to gobble or posing in a familiar statuesque stillness by the water's edge! We passed a funny little dumpling museum which we'd never seen before with examples of ubiquitous cute creatures representing the product. As we wandered, we also passed a joinery shop shut for the weekend, but with a lethal looking bench-saw exposed for any passer-by to rip themselves to shreds on if they so desired: imagine the "OH and S" issues back in Australia!!


Photos: Blossoms budding and shopping bags being transported back through the park. The remainder are sights from our Shilin stroll.