Well, our penultimate week at school was busy and the last is upon us. We've decided to reward ourselves for 35 years of teaching by showing the To Kill a Mockingbird multiple academy award winning movie to our classes this week. Despite this, we still can't bring ourselves to total frivolity: a serious worksheet accompanies the viewing with areas for the kids to compare and contrast the ideas and themes with incidents in our recent insipid tome, Farewell to Manzanar. Even in our last teaching flourish, we're making sure the kiddies think and learn (with a little help from Gregory Peck)!

Our flight was cancelled and our tiny luxurious window of a week after school finishes, to pack and clean, has completely disappeared. This has meant re-planning our timetable of attack. Our landlords have agreed to clean up big items that we're not shipping: pretty much all the furniture and definitely all the appliances, but we can't possibly leave them all the "small stuff" we're not bringing. Anyone who has lived somewhere for nearly two decades will appreciate the accumulated material: when you start digging into wardrobes, shelves and cupboards it becomes very apparent that some gentle culling along the way might have been more suitable than leaving it all till now!

Luckily, Cass did some major editing of our files a while back so this was a job not on our list (thankfully). Taiwan being the recycling capital of the world has helped us as well, as there is a depot not too far from our apartment. I've transported electrical chords, old phones, fluorescent globes, glass jars and tonnes of books there in the last couple of days. I've also got rid of old vacuum cleaners and all the cat paraphernalia, including litter boxes and baskets, both soft and hard. That's not to mention the linen, pillows, sheets and assorted non-recyclables that we've packed and carted. I must have looked quite the sight: precariously balancing various bags of detritus in the well of the trusty motor-scooter, Blackie, as I weaved up the main highway en route to the garbage/recycling depot on multiple trips over a number of hours!

Cass slaved over sorting and packing at home while I trundled huge packs of stuff up to the depot. Our third floor walk-up didn't help either! The books were the killer: so many and oh, so heavy. We both use Kindles almost exclusively these days...how still, so many books?! We've ear-marked tasks to do over the afternoons this week, but we need to make a master list to tick off the essentials as we go along. We've realized this is like a regular house move on speed: a country move and whole life shut-down in a foreign language...there are easier tasks we've undertaken over the years!

Our delightful and diligent kids continue to impress us right till the very end. We finally let them know our intentions on Friday and they were very sweet: mostly shock and questions of "why?" greeted us: they variously thought we were too young or too dedicated to be stopping: I even had someone who asked me if it was their bad behavior that had forced our decision! It was a "laugh out loud" moment: if they only knew what we used to deal with...

This week should be busy and a little frantic: we'll endeavour to circumvent both of these feelings by methodically attacking our many remainning tasks with purpose and method: wish us luck!
Photos: our 10 classes this year.

Against my express wishes, Wal organized a farewell drink for me on Friday night! I was mildly horrified, but he did it very discreetly and just a tiny boutique smattering of old friends were invited so the terror of being the centre of attention was modified to a large degree. Cassy was "in on it" as well and they'd be very skillful in not letting me even get the slightest hint that something was going on.

I was slightly miffed when Wal suggested a very early start at the Patio, but suggested we go as Will was opening up early for some reason or other. When I arrived Wal and Cass were there and every TV screen had images of me as well as farewell messages! He'd organized videos from Josh, Shaun, Lewy and Ross as well and each of them spoke eloquently: I didn't realize I was such a good bloke! Wal had a few words as well and spoke beautifully: it was really quite touching! As he said when I castigated him: you can't leave after 19 years without at least some form of farewell! The night went on and on and I became even a bigger legend than I had started the night (!)

Cass had to drag herself to the campus the next day for the videoing of the MS production. After the success of the dress rehearsal the week before, hopes were high for this unique show. Cassy's gang of makeup artists did all that was required of them and by all reports, the show was a shining triumph. Now, to see it, the parents just have to wait for the release of the DVD! It's anathema for us to darken the doors of the school on the weekend, so she wasn't overly impressed, but it's over now and that's another item taken off our list!

She walked there and back in the blistering heat and passed by the furious preparations that were going on for the local annual "tongue lashing" festival at our neighbourhood temple, or so we thought. There was discordant music and muscular bursts of fireworks at regular intervals on Saturday and Sunday, and little blue lorries festooned with fake flowers carrying drum-beating temple boys, slick with sweat and delirious with betel nut, blood-red saliva mouths chewing and leering. It was like a mini Taiwanese version of Fury Road! Somehow though, despite the noise and commotion, the festival never reached the dizzy delirium of years past, and the whole event sputtered out quite pathetically by Sunday afternoon.

We wandered to the shops and got some groceries on Sunday afternoon, slightly discombobulating ourselves as this task normally occurs on Saturday. Cass has started in earnest to ration our supplies much to my annoyance. My approach is to buy ample amounts and if we have any spare, just throw it away. Cassy's method is much more prudent and more waste averse: she's buying smaller packs of things and figuring out volumes...we've agreed to disagree, but it's noticeable that her selections dominate the shopping trolley!

Things are getting all too real as the penultimate week of work begins. I'll be laden with 97 major projects by the end of the day and tasked with grading them by about the end of the week and Cass will have a similar burden: looks like a busy time this week! Not only that, but we have a farewell assembly on Tuesday where we'll be lauded and feted (we hope!).

Little Mary decided not to come out of her room or leave her basket for three days during the week, she was hot and listless, eating next to nothing and with an insatiable thirst. Her kidneys were shot and she was fading fast: we decided to be unselfish and end her life before she suffered any further, so our trip to the vet was her last. We'll miss her a lot.

Thermometer peaking at 37 degrees and a heavy atmosphere, laden with moisture. Sun beating down directly overhead and bereft of even a feather of a breeze, Sunday noon was probably not the ideal time to challenge the 1400 steps of the Tienmu Gu Dao after a relatively long layoff!


Buckets of sweat were dripping from me after the first extended flight of stone steps and by the time I'd reached the top, my clothes were sodden and I was leaving a little "breadcrumb" trail of beads of sweat as I set out and back along the gravel ridge-line path. I strode out with such vigour that my iliotibial band even started tightening up again before I reached the bottom: my old nemesis!

The "steps" seemed more open and the canopy less dense in parts, and it took me a while to realize that enterprising homeowners with farmhouses clinging to the hillside had slashed and burned the foliage overhead and also obstructing their views of the twinkling city lights! I'd often wondered what benefit the houses had because there are real drawbacks living there. Firstly, they're terribly exposed to the elements and secondly, they have to cart everything in via the steps themselves: only for the very fit! Now, at least, they can gaze out on a spectacular panoramic view as well!

A dearth of live sport has meant a menu of repeats or worse, no sport at all. The UFC remedied this to a certain extent on Sunday morning by broadcasting their first event for some time, albeit without any audience. We watched Insiders on the Ipad while the UFC played muted on the TV....best of both worlds! I'm eagerly awaiting the resumption of the NRL and the AFL...only a few weeks to go on those fronts.

Cass had the dress rehearsal for the middle school production (The Little Mermaid Jr") this Saturday morning and was on duty in the morning and the early afternoon. She'd spent some time making tubs of supplies for all the main members of the cast as there can be no shared "product". It's difficult and time-consuming. Her makeup crew couldn't even apply the makeup but rather needed to tutor and direct the cast members on how to apply the stuff. The younger, less experienced cast members needed a lot of guidance as they'd never done it before, so some of the results might have been  a bit off. It didn't really matter though: the whole play is to be performed with surgical masks and filmed without a live audience! The eye makeup has to be spot on and the rest doesn't even need to be applied!

Little Mary is looking gaunt, and wailing at regular intervals, so regular in fact that she must be in some discomfort. She's always been a "loud speaker", but she has even outdone her own most verbose offerings lately! We'll continue to monitor her health as she also seems not to eat and drink regularly, and vomits a lot...

We discovered this morning that we have just three weeks left at work! I'm sure it will be a whirlwind and fly by, so we just have to make sure we're meeting all our deadlines and crossing off critical jobs from the list. So far, we're slowly whittling down the massive list but there just seems so much yet to go! Photos: Uli's sausage and beer on a Friday night, feeble Mary, dueling screens, the steps, and a masked cast of the musical

An ear splitting machine gun stutter of explosions stunned us out of our peaceful repose on Saturday morning. A wedding was visiting the apartment opposite, ready to present the bride in full regalia to her parents-in-law and one of the attendants had set the traditional row of crackers to ward away any evil at the entrance to the block. The be-ribboned car paused for the fireworks to sputter and die before driving up to deposit the precious cargo.

Summer has flicked a switch and is now on in earnest. We'd been seeking some relief from the cold and rain while lamenting its late onset, but now find ourselves already wishing it away! The air-conditioners are on and pumping both day and night as the mercury soars and the humidity saps: we'd forgotten how brutal it can be. With the temperatures maintaining their peaks through the night and the air becoming still and heavy, the air-con is a necessity to sleep through the night. Masks on for school is becoming more than tedious: they're wet with sweat before we even arrive.

On that note, we're now into our 5th week wearing masks at all times during the school day and while it is not seamless, we've become more used to it. We've learned not to get too aeriated or passionate in our monologues as there is tendency to suck the mask into the mouth in the throes of impassioned teaching! The truth is that we're absolutely delighted to be here in any capacity: the alternative is awful and enervating, as any teacher who has taught remotely for more than a month can testify to.

Ostensibly due to Covid-19, but possibly also because he is a complete goose, the new MS boss has decided in his wisdom that departing faculty will get a short speech (2-4 min), no extras like photos or slide shows and all done in a very perfunctory manner at a sterile, brief, after-school staff meeting. We're not ones for any great fanfare, but for time immemorial the MS has had a relaxed luncheon and speeches and accolades could spread out to fill the time. There appears to be no whole school formal assembly on the horizon either, so this two minutes will be our moment in the sun: lucky we know we're legends, and don't need anyone to wax lyrically about it!!

Mr. Lee and Linda did indeed arrive mid-week to hear our news about leaving. They were great, a little shocked to hear we were leaving (too young!) and a little sad to see us go (we'd been the perfect tenants and friendly). We explained that there would be a lot of stuff left when the shippers and we departed. I'm not sure they quite comprehend the enormity of it, but agreed to clean up so that's great. I just hope they know what they're letting themselves in for! They'll pay us back 2/3 of the security deposit and take the other 1/3 for June's rent and clean-up costs. We thought that was a pretty good deal! It will be sad for both parties to end our association....I'm sure they're spewing to lose the perfect tenants!

The car was sold late in the week as well, so I hope it goes well for the new owner. She texted me on Sunday night and said the hazard lights kept going on for no reason: it's never done that before, so I told her I didn't know...I hope she gets that sorted out. I did supply her with a good mechanic's address and number so she should be OK. Silver Bullet...farewell!

Photos: the phone hardly left my pocket this week, but the wedding entrance, some daisies and the last flush of spring made it here.