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.