Although not a totally foreign experience to us here in Taipei, we have enjoyed some delightful meals in the last week or so. Taking the MRT to Peitou, away from the city and to the foothills of an ever-looming Yangminshan, the community here seems prosperous and clean and modern. The Royal Host, a Japanese dining chain, has an establishment there, which we went to for my 40th birthday two years ago. We both enjoyed 5 course “set” meals, culminating in sizzling thick, tasty steaks on a hot plate served at our table.
On Saturday night we checked out a new pizza place in the Deh Shing road a few kms away from our place, only to discover a curious system of ordering at street front counter and hoping that a table was ready when your meal was. Not trusting this system, not to mention the Chinese menu, which was making things a tad more difficult, we hopped back on the scooter and weaved through a few alleys and lanes to another new spot I’d spied on a trip to Takashimaya (think Sydney DJs on speed!). Tucked behind the live food market on the Shi Dong Rd is a tiny shop, just seating 20 people. It was busy and oozed an inviting ambience, so the “Big Nose Pasta” was the restaurant for the night. We opted for the set of soup, salad and snapper, followed by coffee, all for the princely sum of about AU$28 for two (the exchange rate is helping us a bit at the moment, but only spending money here!). To say that the meal was scrumptious understates it just a little. The snapper melted in the mouth and was served on those big, fancy white plates usually reserved for fine restaurants serving a bite sized gourmet mouthful for a main meal. Accompanied by roasted capsicum and slabs of garlic, built into a tiny mountain of layered deliciousness it was preceded by a generous and super fresh salad and a minestrone soup that Newcastle’s Northern Star café would have been proud of.
Suffice to say that I think we’ve found a new favourite restaurant!

I went out with Bob and Aaron this Saturday to the Pillbox beach where we enjoyed some neat little waves. Carl joined us out there a little later. Bob is a laid back Californian with a wicked sense of humor and Aaron is our Aquatics director from NZ. Together they are the “pool guys”. On the way back, Bob took an unexpected turn back towards the north instead of turning onto the road to Tienmu, our suburb. He was keen on checking out the Beetle nut girl in a stand up the road! The beetle nut girl is a peculiar Taipei county phenomenon who has been banned in the city environs as an antiquated sexist part of the culture of a city that seems to be moving like a juggernaut into a more modern image (either that or she was causing too many traffic accidents!) Hundreds of glass booths line the main arteries of the county, each one housing one or two scantily clad young women, ostensibly selling beetle nut to passing drivers. They perform these duties in various ways, but owing to the competition, sometimes resort to disco dancing, removing even more clothing than seems possible to still avoid being totally risqué, or dressing in the most outrageous of costumes. Anyway, Bob decided that he needed to see this girl get off her stool and get him a beer from the fridge, which she did. The beer of course, was not needed, but he decided to drink it on the way back anyway!

Sunday was another surf day, this time at Jinshan, where a very shallow bank provided all sorts of hilarity for those watching, as waves caught and ridden were outnumbered by not quite made late takeoffs, resulting in the most vicious of wipeouts in about two inches of water! A little battered, we headed back to watch our second NRL game of the weekend courtesy of our ABC Asiapacific. We were disappointed not to see the Knights on Saturday, as they usually replay the Friday game then, but we enjoyed the Tiger’s win and nearly cheered the Warriors home on Sunday.

We had another tough week at school, deadlines looming for a raft of things I have to do and Cass teaching away on the 8th grade. All things are relative, however, and we often wonder now how we never had a heart attack at our last school: such is the difference in attitude. I’m sure we work just as hard here and we certainly work longer hours, but due to sensibly timed critical periods such as reports etc and an idea of ongoing assessment rather than ridiculous, full on, pencil and paper testing twice a year, nothing becomes too much of a drama. The main concern we have is not being able to cope in an Australian school ever again! One concern we don’t have, however, is adjusting to a Newcastle lifestyle eventually. Our friend Thurza wrote recently wondering just that, suggesting that Newcastle would be positively bucolic compared to Taipei. The times we enjoy the most here are very “Newcastlesque”: surfing, movies, dining out, making little adventures for ourselves and finding interesting sights and sounds among the seemingly mundane…..we just work hard at having an enjoyable time, I suppose!

After befriending a few of the local guys at Jinshan, Ross and I discovered a surfer’s Aladdin’s cave last weekend. Johnny and Jack and a mysterious fellow who we did not recognize, but who decided all he had to do to reveal his mystery identity was to lift his mirrored sunglasses so we could catch a glimpse of his bloodshot peepers, directed us to Johnny Rose’s surf club clubhouse. We followed them up a winding tar track and ducked under hanging washing and dodged sleeping dogs to enter their laundry. This led into a lounge room fitted out with boards, leg ropes, wax, deck grip and all other surfing essentials. We had no money, but promised we’d be back, especially as somehow, we had become “club members” through our obvious dedication over the winter months and qualified for special rates!

On our way back down, we spotted Clayton from Margaret River, a surfer of some quality who I’d met on the point a few months before and not seen since. We relayed our good news only for him to pop the boot of his car to reveal boxes full of Aussie leg ropes and grip. I selected some grip for my new board and a leg rope (for the new board which has not yet arrived from China) for him to hold, only for him to let me take them… “pay me when you see me next time”, which was lovely. Mirrored sunnies man then proceeded to tell us in his broken English of how he nearly didn’t come out this morning, but spied some swell on the surf cam. Surf cam??!! We did a double take and pressed him for more info. After an exchange of emails and a promise to follow up, we received access codes in an email the next day and can now check the surf, streaming at a photo a second from the point before we leave for the hour’s drive. Surfer speak of “sick” and “stoked” come to mind!

Cass wowed her middle school students by performing a lip sync to “Respect” as the culmination of their “Spirit Week”. Not alone, mind you, but still terrifying enough that long back wig and sunnies and boa were hardly enough disguise for her. Exhaustive rehearsals apparently saw it go off very well indeed….I’m currently trying to hunt down a copy of the video…stay tuned! The long black wig was donned later for my edification and Cass looked just like she did when we met (24 years ago last week if you can believe it), so I got a photo of that at least. Virg’n Mary have been at their playful best, and constantly amaze and terrify, delight and surprise us with their dexterity and capriciousness in all manner of games with us and each other and their ability to jump onto a lap and fall dead asleep only seconds after trying to scale the curtains to ceiling
height.

Work has been a constant of course and the middle of a long hard 3rd quarter is telling on a number of people; even I have succumbed to more than a few episodes of stress in the past couple of weeks! Our department has been charged with making an educational booklet and video/DVD for our parents before the end of the school year, something that was unceremoniously dumped in my lap just a few weeks ago. Sounds simple enough, but when DVDs are made at this school they have to be Slick, with a capital S. Oh well, should keep me busy!

Surfing again, sorry, but this story is just so exciting for us. After a succession of wild and stormy sessions at a variety of spots on the northern tip of the island, we decided to investigate a few alternatives a month or so back. On our way back on the river road near Damshuie, we took any little lane or track that looked like it led to the coast a few kms away. After following dusty tracks down to the sea, we found time and again, nothing but rocky coastline with little surf. One thing that did get us a little optimistic was the absence of a howling off shore wind; rather, it was replaced by a gentle cross-shore. After nearly giving up, one last minor road was traveled and a couple of lanes were followed till we spied a tiny sandy beach between two rocky outcrops. The surf was tiny, but the wind was off shore, blowing gentle wisps of spray back off the face of the waves. We decided to investigate again when conditions were big and blustery and unrideable at our usual haunts. This weekend, the web cam greeted us with sights of wild stormy surf, ferocious wind and lines of vicious whitewater. We headed to our “secret spot” and surfed today and yesterday on a quality 3-4 foot peak break, offshore light winds and the whole break to ourselves! Although we were exhausted from our efforts, we were also very excited: a wonderful alternative to our previous efforts of corks in a wild bathtub, a spot we suspect that no one may ever have surfed before. There is a pig farm and a recycling depot at the end of the road, and the locals looked at our boards as if they were spaceships and we were aliens descended from another planet. Great fun!
That’s all for now…..apologies for not writing last week…..now you know how we feel (!)

I had a bit of a reality check on Saturday when I found myself driving down the main road of our suburb Tienmu, straddling the line that divides both traffic lanes, scooters whizzing down the inside, cars towards the centre of the road swerving over the centre line, while avoiding others “parked” in the outside lane, hazard lights indicating their temporary status in this spot. It’s a riot becoming a Taiwanese driver. Not only do many of the “streets” we navigate up the mountain more closely resemble tarred Billy goat tracks than a real road, you also become used to an amazing spatial perception: knowing just how close you can go to oncoming cars on one side without snapping off your side mirrors, while avoiding the drainage ditch on the other, the latter always open, deep, wide and dangerous. I have knocked mirrors a few times at speed, but they’ve managed to stay on the car and although I haven’t done so myself, I have witnessed drivers smacking blissfully unaware scooter drivers straight off the road into aforementioned ditches.

The rule seems to be: whoever gets there first, goes - disregarding traffic lights, signs and other traffic. If it’s behind you, it doesn’t exist. Pedestrians too, take their life in their hands if they cross on a green walking man signal. The newcomer foreigner is one who is often seen dodging traffic when they have right of way, unaware of the rule that the car is king, regardless of signals. Cars will swerve across three lanes of traffic to make a turn, causing near accidents for hundreds of metres behind them, cars will park in the middle of the road and compound their stupidity by opening their door into the narrow space left for following traffic. Taxi drivers, some of whom are off their heads on Beetle nut, are the worst offenders and will often mow a path through a phalanx of scooter riders if they sniff a fare. The ubiquitous blue truck is the next worst offender, drivers again suspiciously crazy, flashing the odd maniacal grin revealing bright red teeth and gums, the tell tale signs of the “nut” addict. Taiwanese work trucks are all in the same shade of ugly blue for some reason, we suspect that they test the level of nut in the blood before you can buy one…the more the “bluer”!

Still, in all this mayhem, no one ever gets aerated, harsh words are barely muttered and drivers are serene under the most awful traffic pressures. Ten-kilometer traffic snarls are caused by one car stopped in a lane to get something at a shop, drivers eventually passing the offending vehicle without even a sideways glance. I sometimes still imagine the road rage that would accompany any such behaviour back home: strings of expletives to outright physical violence and realize that here, in this situation, they’ve got it right. It is frustrating at times, but if everyone does it, you too can stop where you want, pull out into lines of cars when you need to and abuse every road rule you have ever learned if the need arises. In all this mayhem, it is not an uncomfortable experience driving here in Taipei: just know the “rules” and learn to adapt.

We have driven for half an hour behind a very cautious driver doing 30 km per hour up the winding, narrow streets of Yangminshan, champing at the bit to get to the beach, but realizing that if we pass, there will be another nutty squirrel to take this one’s place!
I can also park now in places that I wouldn’t even attempt at home, sometimes with just a few inches front and back. The reverse park takes on a whole different feel here, with no room to maneuver, driving on the left of the car, on the right side of the road and managing gears etc in the right hand as well. Thank god the pedals aren’t switched around; that would be just too much! Another thing that aids the park in the tight spot is the acceptance of the bump and grind technique; that is, if you need to, feel free to bump your way into the park by smashing into the car in front and behind! Who would buy a good car here??!! Plenty actually, Taipei having the highest per capita ownership of top line Mercedes in the world. These cars are not spared the treatment and owners seem to accept this as the price to be paid in a teeming, car owner’s city with very limited parking.

We have been absolutely stoked to get emails from Sue, my Mum (twice), Thurza and Cassy’s Mum and Dad (twice) over the latter part of the week and the weekend. It gave us a real buzz, so thank you all for your entertaining, newsy emails. That doesn’t excuse you other slack bastards! (You know who you are!)
We were also excited to get news that we’ve sold one of our units at Horizons, finally getting out of half of an ever increasing burden, especially with us over here and trying to communicate our wishes, needs etc. We just need to move the other one and we’ll have a real celebration!

Just quickly, surf on Friday after school (pretty good), surf on Saturday (a little better), party at Chad’s Saturday night (good, but we were a bit tired) and saw Cold Mountain (great) and had a flash lunch on Sunday (5 courses, very yummy, no tea!). Happy Birthday to my little sister on Sunday, she’s just turning 10! Have a couple of sherbets on Sunday night for me Bud!!

Taipei’s jade market nestles under the intersection of two massive overhead expressways in the south east of the city. Hundreds of tiny stalls and shops are jammed into a labyrinth of crisscrossing alleys and lanes, with extra items sold from cardboard boxes outside by smaller operators. People typically haggle over every price, a process I’ve never been comfortable with or very good at, much preferring to say "That seems pretty good", then studiously avoiding similar looking items further on, just in case I got diddled on my own purchase! Of course this is very un-Chinese and the retailers seem to gain as much pleasure from the exchange of horrified looks and raised eyebrows and other over the top histrionics at the customer’s proffered offers as the sale itself. We thoroughly enjoyed a few hours here on Saturday after jamming the scooter into the most minute of spaces on a footpath a couple of blocks away, after going to the pictures earlier in the day.
Love Actually was a delightful experience for us both and we savoured that peculiarly British way of bringing cinematic tears and laughs almost simultaneously, as well as the understated way of telling a simple story, linking a few vignettes together through the course of the film. We had a tasty lunch down at Cinemark and succumbed to the call of “Maccas” for tea when we got home, which I got on the scooter and brought home. You know, it really is quite miraculous how their stuff manages to taste the same wherever you are in the world. I must confess that, apart from the deliciously French salad dressing in Paris, the teriyaki burger in Japan and Taiwan’s peculiar obsession with promoting a murky grey copy of the ubiquitous mess served in various slop kitchens around town, you could be anywhere when you eat this fast food. It’s kind of comforting in a way; I suppose too, that’s how they’ve been so successful.
As you can no doubt guess, we didn’t go the beach on Saturday, partly because we dashed to the coast after our PD day at school on Friday afternoon, and partly because the alarming lack of swell we experienced then could not have improved in the 12 hours before we were due to head off again. Plus, it was Valentine’s Day (!) Today saw the conditions improve somewhat, and we got some nice little left-handers at Baishawan beach, about 14 km around from our usual haunt, Jinshan. Ross and I arranged to meet up with Carl and his family out there and we were surprised to arrive before them. When Carl pulled up a few minutes later, he related the story of the “flying board”. Apparently, in the strong winds and high speeds of the drive out, his ocky straps had actually snapped in two. None of us had ever seen or heard of this before, but the evidence was there for us to see. Carl’s board, in cover, had flown off his racks at high speed and landed back down the road, barely missing decapitating several scooter riders in the process! We inspected the damage and while not unscathed, the board had survived this terror flight remarkably well, all things considered. He will have to repair a big ding to the tail, which unfortunately broke through to the blank, but the board was OK apart from this. The boys are improving with every session they go out; they’re so quick to learn and seem very excited with the whole deal.
After the last month or two, you’re probably wondering why I’m not moaning about the weather again. Much to our surprise and delight the skies have cleared, the air has thawed and somehow, everything looks a little brighter, figuratively and literally. I even got a little sunburned today, but just in case my Dad has some kind of cosmic line to this communication, “No, not my nose, it had cream on it!”
Anyway, that will do for now: write us an email anyone reading this! Short or long, we’d be interested if you just tell us what you had for tea last night!

It’s been a bleak and miserable week here in Taipei, in large part due to shocking weather and the general malaise that often seems to accompany such dreary days. To say it has been unseasonably cold is a massive understatement: some 20 year veterans prepared to say it is the coldest winter they have experienced. We have had our little fan heater working overtime, the kittens running from their room in the mornings and afternoons when released from captivity to bathe in the little ceramic glow of heat it valiantly tries to blow around the room. Taiwan’s high humidity adds just that extra bit of zip to the single figure temperatures, gusts of wind whipping through the hardiest of jackets and piercing leg coverings like a thousand little needles, chilling to the bone.

These most frigid conditions did not preclude us from making our usual weekend pilgrimage to the beach, however! Leaving Cass tucked up inside nursing her two little balls of heat, I picked Ross up from his last class at school for his current Master’s course, met Carl in his car and headed off to our new-found secret spot at the southern end of the Green Bay beach. Anathema to we Antipodeans, the beach is actually privately owned by the Howard Plaza resort which flanks its outer edges, but undeterred by such strange happenings we flagrantly disregard the private beach signs (we can’t read them, we’re foreign), park in their overflow car park and trot along their pathways to the water. We may find some more resistance from the guards in summer but, at the moment, I’m pretty certain we are just providing the greatest amusement for anyone who sees us!
The waves were very poor quality even by our latest standards and we found it quite difficult to latch onto anything approaching a decent rideable wave. Wetsuits must be removed at some point and it is this moment that starts the real teeth chattering, tongue-tying chill that doesn’t stop till a long, very hot shower back home.

Cass and I were keen to see a movie today, but scanning the paper’s movie listings did not inspire us. We decided instead to treat ourselves to a delicious German lunch of sausage, bread, mash and sauerkraut bookended with a warming bowl of soup and a lovely piece of home made cake and coffee. We then braved the conditions to get a few supplies at the Carrefour, including a whole stack of downlights, as ours had all decided to extinguish roughly at the same time in the last week.

During the week, I was mesmerised by a very strange sight. As I stood on our verandah in the early evening, I watched some strange orange glowing lights drifting across the park opposite, light flickering as they rose higher and higher. They stayed alight as I strained to see them as they turned to fiery pinpricks far away. A succession of these lights passed by before I realized they were lanterns for the Chinese New Year, set aloft, the embers inside providing the lift to keep the paper in the air. This was just a precursor to even stranger sights and sounds. A caravan of small open trucks each with a cargo of fervent drum bashing youths onboard wended their way down our tiny lane, accompanied by the constant strident bleating of an unknown instrument sending shivers of displeasure down our spines. A woman’s voice from the temple across the river, amplified at what seemed a ludicrously high level, seemed to call the faithful to the various proceedings about to start. Later, with a hypnotic jungle beat of drums as background, constant volleys of fireworks were sent skyward, cymbals clashed, people sang and shouted, as children’s screams of delight drifted across to us, the start of some great celebration. Taking stock for a moment, it once again amazed us that we live and work in this great melting pot of strange and wondrous events, trying to appreciate and understand it just a bit: we don’t want to become blasé, or I wouldn’t have anything else to write about!

The big freeze has continued in Taipei this week, a slight lull coming just in time for the weekend. Dramas aplenty yesterday as Ross was ensconced in a cell like classroom at school doing his Framingham course, no doubt doodling pictures of stick men surfers riding impossibly perfect waves while listening to his lecturer drone on and on. This was not the drama though. Carl was due to pick me up in the new car to make the trip to the beach for the boy’s inaugural surf. He rang as I waited to tell me his battery was flat. I entertained thoughts of getting some jumper leads down at the Carrefour only to realize it was far too early. Carl went to school to hunt some down, I zoomed up on the scooter, met him with the borrowed leads then came back to get our car to do the charging. I couldn’t believe the key turning in the ignition to NO response whatsoever. Ours was flat as a pancake as well! Carl got a colleague to charge his car and came round to charge ours, whereupon we set out for the coast very late. We took both cars in the end to make sure they got a good run. The arctic conditions of the past week or two must have had something to do with it, or else it was just the freakiest of coincidences.

Suffice to say, we got to the beach and enjoyed some nice 3-4 foot right handers, breaking on a shallow bank, Sean and Steven getting plenty of quality time on a few foamies and nearly making it up a few times on their first day: an impressive debut.
Cass and I made an ill fated attempt to find the Chocolate War on DVD down at Asiaworld (yes, it actually is called that!) after a hectic scooter ride downtown in the mid weekend traffic. We had some curry out for tea and a quiet night at home with kitties, but not before buying an oven, ostensibly for all manner of cooking, but really to heat my new found pies. It’s an interesting contraption, quite large enough to bake things and grill others, the Chinese substitute for a wall oven. Anyway, we’re yet to christen it, but it looks quite impressive on our kitchen bench!

Surf again on Sunday, but alas, for Ross in particular, the surf was not offering much in the way of size. It was however, a glorious day: one of those rare ones in Taipei where the air is crisp, a zephyr of wind saw the sun just sneaking out to have a peep every now and then and a perfect temperature. We’re expecting another cold snap this week and ironically, even though we’ve had plenty of rain in the last few weeks, the northern parts of the island will go into water restrictions soon. Apparently the problem is the terrible inefficiency of the dams and the pipes, with 80% of water leaking from pipes on the way to the taps!

Virg’n Mary continue to delight us with their antics, but we’re hoping their affections for us continue after we take them back to the vet for some shots this afternoon. Carl and I are seriously considering buying some short boards to get a bit more zip in the water: a great idea in theory, but perhaps not when our shoulders begin screaming from the extra paddling effort. With this in mind, I’ve started lifting weights again regularly (well, just started again today!) after a long lay-off. That combined with a bit of karate should help shouldn’t it? (!)

Cass got her throat infection on the weekend, but was able to immediately identify and hit it straight away with some antibiotics we’d brought from home for just such an eventuality and she’s feeling pretty good, all things considered. School continues to throw up its fair share of challenges, but somehow, we’re never as stressed as we were back home. The worst day here probably equates to an average one there and we wonder if it perhaps is our new attitude and renewed enthusiasm for our teaching that is the difference. I think we’re just enjoying life!

Traffic snaked up the curves and rises of Yangminshan, occasionally coming to a standstill, scooters wending their way through impossibly tiny gaps to beat the cars to the top of the mountain. Officious police, frustrated in their job of traffic control as they limited the number of vehicles accessing the top mountain road, blocked the upper reaches of the mountain. The unthinkable had happened: snow had fallen on the tops of the slopes, creating a frenzy among Taipei’s citizens to get to the top and view this rare phenomenon. Those who made it to the top early proudly displayed little snowmen trophies on their bonnets as they drove back down the hill, probably only exciting further a group who were prepared to endure hours of traffic chaos to get a glimpse of the ice and snow. Incongruously and to the open jawed amazement of many, Ross and I guided the “Auburgino” the opposite direction with our two bagged surfboards on the roof. We had just “enjoyed” one of the most unforgettable surfs I have ever experienced. Temperatures had plummeted to previously unthinkable lows in the past week and although officially 7 degrees, the biting, ferocious onshore breeze found us shivering with cold before we even entered the water. Our thin spring suits afforded us just the barest of protection and we sat hunched on our boards, dangling our bare arms in the water to avoid exposing them to the icy winds. We had searched the north east coast for the best part of two hours for something rideable, until we weaved our way past a tiny temple and ducked in and out of residential parking areas, emerging at a sheltered end of the Green Bay beach. The waves were a fun 3 to 4 feet and peaking up on the outside before providing a deliciously tempting full ride on our backhand before speeding along an inner shallow bank. Finding it difficult to leave our new found sheltered haven, Ross and I stayed out for two hours, ensuring that my feet were numb when I eventually did get out, two slabs of surprisingly heavy meat dragging at the ends of my nearly equally frozen legs. We shook uncontrollably while we got changed in lightening fast time before enjoying the car heater on full as we guided the car up to the aforementioned strange scenario.
Apart from the arctic conditions, Cass and I have enjoyed a really relaxing, fun break, ending all too soon tomorrow. I have read the latest Sue Grafton book “Q is for Quarry” which was a wonderful way to while away a few hours in our cosy apartment. Her characters are so real and familiar to us now; it’s like pulling on an old pair of slippers as you slide into the invented world of PI Kinsey. Cass has been voraciously reading all manner of tomes in between being entertained by our new rampaging, fizzling friends Virg n Mary. These little kittens are such a delight. They’ve amazed us with all sorts of antics this week, they’re dexterous little beggars and have entertained us with back flips and leaps, playful fighting with each other which sometimes gets a little out of hand, one or other of the little fuzz balls letting out a long, deep growl of discomfort. They’ve taken to their gym and “new room” quite quickly as well and we have been very heartened to cup their ever growing fat little bellies in our hands. The two of them are real lap cats, belying their initial spitting, hissing frightened withdrawal from us in the first few days, they now contentedly curl up together on one or other lap, or sometimes separate so we have one hot little bundle each. They are also beginning to groom themselves well, at times, damp kitten pelts providing another new smell to the ever-increasing bank of different aromas!
Carl has bought a new car! We investigated an area of used car lots out on Weh Lin Rd before Chinese New Year together and made ourselves understood by scratching various numbers and years into the dust on car boots and bonnets, often with the addition of some numbers we know, in my case garnered through watching girly ads with phone numbers on the TV advertising all sorts of exotic goods (they feature on the fight/martial arts channel which I watch quite regularly, at least that’s my excuse!)
It’s a real beauty, quite similar in size and age to ours, so the Lochrins will no doubt be having lots of car adventures from here on in as well. Carl did a great job making himself understood by the Taiwanese salesman, with help of mobile phones and friends assisting with translations and question asking and answering.
We were invited to a special Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner with the Lee family downstairs and although filled with trepidation, our stomachs and noses escaped relatively unscathed. Linda, Mr. Lee’s daughter had invited us down with the promise of “special foods” especially prepared for the New Year. After experiencing some rather nauseating items at George’s house two years ago, to say we weren’t looking forward to the celebration is an understatement of epic proportion. Although I covered a reflexive gag when trying to consume a dumpling filled with marinated, raw, fish roe, the rest of the meal consisted mainly of cooked seafood, only some of which smelled as if it had been filtrated through used toilet paper. We had a great laugh with the family and gathered all sorts of local information, from the daughter’s jobs to the loud, obnoxious and very un-Chinese neighbour who seems to have commandeered Mr. Lee’s private park on the opposite side of the street!
Of course, we’re back to school tomorrow, buoyed by the possibility of Mum visiting us here for Spring break in April and the thought that we’re now in another downhill stretch before we once again arrive home in June for our long break. Taipei Life continues to throw up all manner of adventure and sights and sounds for us to savour: we can’t envisage why it won’t continue to do just that for some time to come.

Clandestine activities, secretive meetings and information gathering were all part of the past two week’s activities. This all culminated in the arrival to our home of two very cute kittens, Mary and Virgil (Virg ’n Mary) last Friday evening. They are about 6 weeks old sisters, basically tabbies, slightly fluffy and with a splash of white on their faces and bellies. They look very much alike, Virg being identified by a slightly whiter face and a reddish tinge on the shoulders. It was our 16th wedding anniversary and I snuck out to collect the kittens that had been kept at the local vet’s for the past week and a half. Cass nearly died of shock and has asked me not to give her such a fright in future, even though she thoroughly enjoyed the end result when she had calmed down a little. At first, the kittens seemed impossibly tiny and frail, shivering with fright and hissing and spitting at us every time we came near. After just 3 days with us however, they are becoming more used to our place and us and have entertained us with their speeding, skidding runs around the marble floors, tumbling over each other and fighting and leaping on one another. It’s actually quite mesmerizing watching them play, we were worried at first at how violent they were with each other but, after a half hour or so of the most frenetic fizzling, they trot back into their little bed and fall asleep on top of each other, cuddling up inside the old wool cardigan that Cassy has donated to them. Virg is purring contentedly when we have her on our laps and is the definite leader when it comes to adventure and naughtiness. I have had to kitten proof the place a little, even to the extent of taping plastic over the front of the video/DVD cabinet and stuffing books and pieces of wood in the cracks at the back to stop an ever inquisitive Virg from getting lost in the labyrinth of wires at the rear, which she did 4 times in succession on the first day! Mary is much more timid and when not acting as Virg’s punching bag, she prefers to sit and doze and make the occasional foray to the food and drink tray and also the litter tray, which both kittens, much to our horror, seem to have decided is another giant play pit that they can jump in and out of with gay abandon!
We lock the kitties in our second bathroom overnight and they seem perfectly content, not crying or whimpering at all. When we let them out in the morning, it is usually time for some celebratory high jinks, which have to be seen to be believed. As Cass said this morning, it’s like watching a cartoon on fast forward. In just a few days they seem to have put on a little weight which is great, their little round bellies belying the tiny faces with big ears and the little string bean tails.
I had asked around all the “cat people” at school in the previous weeks and they gave me some good advice, the last being to check out the local vets as people sometimes bring in abandoned kittens. When I enquired at one such vet’s close to our place, they informed me that two kittens had been brought in that morning. They were minute, but still full of fight and they were so wild that the assistant had to bring them out one by one cocooned in a towel. They hissed and scratched at me, but, wisely or not, I decided they were just what we wanted.
We have bought all the associated paraphernalia, including a quite impressive cat gym, with 3 levels of playing and house areas complete with scratching posts and a mouse on a string for boxing practice!
Apart from this, which has been pretty much all consuming this week, we have made a few trips out and about. Ross and I have been surfing in the increasingly frigid conditions at Jinshan point, and took advantage of our freedom on a weekday to surf yesterday, just the two of us. Unfortunately, the surf has not been kind to us and we were flung around like rag dolls in a very stormy and unfriendly swell, trying to catch reforms on the inner bank only to be crunched on a very shallow bank, or cleaned up by unrelenting sets when we made it out the back.
Cass and I set off down to the Taipei 101 (previously mentioned tallest building in the world), where the mall at the foot of the building is in full swing. The building itself is not open to the public yet, but the adjoining mall is lavishly fitted out, marble walls and floors and every brand name store in the world setting up their Taipei branches.
The most exciting find for us however, was Jason’s market in the basement area. Apart from fantastic cooked and uncooked foods from all types of world cuisine, there were a few other little gems. Just to mention a few, how about, Crunchies, Violet Crumbles, Mint Slices, whole ranges of Masterfoods and Fountain sauces and condiments, cook-in sauces, incredible range of Australian wines, Sanitarium products, Aussie breakfast cereals and wait for it….MEAT PIES! The latter come from Victoria and I have two secreted away in the fridge at this moment alongside a vegetable pasty for Cass for a “special occasion”. This kind of excitement may seem extremely bizarre, but we were like kids in a candy shop down there. Of course all these items come at a shocking premium in terms of price, sometimes quadruple what we’d pay back home, but a few special treats like this are very exciting.
We are having Carl and Hiroko, Ross and Ains, the amazing Gurecki and Himiko round here this afternoon for a few drinks and nibblies. Chad and Cathy were due to come as well, but Cathy has caught the flu and can’t make it. I’m sure the kitties will be a big hit with some of our visitors, and we need to go and clean up a bit before they arrive.

Prague’s airport was kind of cute after the monolithic, futuristic Hong Kong and the faded glory of Heathrow, but things went smoothly and the Air France city hopper delivered us to a strangely empty Charles de Gaulle in the early evening. After taxiing to the hotel at our well-known Cite Bergere in the 9th arrondissement, our room was a bit of a shock after our luxurious Prague digs. Typically Paris, especially on, perhaps not a beer budget, but cheaper red wine (!) our room had a bed and a TV on a bracket, a small cupboard and that’s about it! The bathroom had just been enlarged and remodeled and it was perfectly functional. To sum up, all that you need when you plan to soak up some sights and sounds by day and by night.
As expected, Cassy began babbling away in beautiful French straight away and I assumed my previous position of mute sidekick. One funny incident occurred however, when a lightbulb in our room blew and we sought a replacement from the desk. Cass had forgotten the word and launched in to a long-winded explanation of the object for the bemused man at the desk. After a while I just said “light bulb” in English and the man said “Ah, the bulb, the bulb!” I still had some limited use!
We wandered the immediate area on the first evening and started the inevitable comparisons. I think we both decided that the cities were very different. Paris has its own buzz and feel, decidedly busy and even a little haughty, while Prague exudes its own brand of laid-back charm relying on its architectural wonder to dazzle the visitor. Paris, of course, is not devoid of its own external beauties, and it couples this with an amazing surfeit of some of the most stupendous art to be seen anywhere in the world, be it built or painted or sculpted.
Bruno’s pizza and the first of many pichets of vin rouge were had for dinner till we went back to prepare for a week of adventure. The Pompidou centre had been closed for renovations on Cassy’s previous visits and we were both keen to go. A snaking slow line of disgruntled and cold looking visitors waiting to enter was a bit off-putting so we instead just wandered through the shops and made a few small purchases before watching the ice skaters in front of Town Hall and lunching on some takeaway baguettes overlooking the Seine. We went to Les Halles and bought our first of many carnets of 10 tickets to the metro and went to the Champs Elysees where we pre-booked some movie tickets to “Lord of the Rings” at the same enormous cinema where we saw “Titanic” some 6 years before.
The next morning I nearly died of shock when my sister Jen came walking into the breakfast room of the hotel. Somehow, she had acquired a new Italian husband and daughter, had lost her ability to speak English and learned fluent Italian and French, but it was Jen all the same. She walked and talked like Jen, she wore similar clothes, she was the same height and build and LOOKED just like her, but of course, it wasn’t. After summoning up our courage, we approached the at first bewildered family to explain why we had been staring open jawed at them. They were most fascinated with Cassy’s story (I was again superfluous, standing, grinning inanely!) and we took photos and swapped email addresses with a promise to send a photo of the “real” Jen on our return.
After that great excitement, we tried the Musee D’Orsay (long queue, raining) and experienced the same at the Louvre. Oh well, another day. We took a long walk in the icy conditions to the Eiffel tower and soaked up some excitement there, spoke to the first Aussies we’d heard on our trip to date and then went off to our movie which was an amazing spectacular, a fitting end to a beautifully worked trilogy. I pretended I was going to buy the new Mercedes sports car, which was one of the mercs on display in the showroom on the Champs Elysees, and we were given a French brochure, mainly for our capricious inquiries I suspect!
The next few days were spent visiting all types of galleries and museums, large and small, but all in their own way housing precious treasures that we viewed and wondered at, storing memories of their beauty till we return. The Pompidou Centre, a vast open design housing works of art from many eras was mind blowing. Rooms of Matisse led to rooms of Picasso and Liechtenstein, Mondrian and Renoir. After taking our fill of these paintings, we moved to spaces of a more esoteric nature, modern art installations that were thought provoking to just plain bizarre. To Cassy’s horror I surreptiously added a tiny key from my pocket to one such installation which just looked like a big room that people had thrown rubbish into. Perhaps it was just a French joke perpetrated by the gallery’s management!
The Musee Marmottan is one of Paris’ better-kept secrets. In a relatively tiny house in the suburbs, 65 of the most significant works of Claude Monet are displayed on plain curved walls with an unobtrusive lime-washed wooden floor. We wandered in a dream through this space, taking time to sit and watch these paintings in beautiful, serene surrounds. The impact of this space had lost none of its punch since our previous visits, in fact, it was enhanced if anything. It was truly a highlight for me, as I had this as my number one must-see on pre-trip itineraries.
The Musee D’Orsay was similarly stunning and we took the liberty to go straight to the areas that most interested us, no doubt bypassing a wealth of magnificent sculpture and art in so-doing, but allowing us not to get too museum weary. Once more impressionists were high on our list and more Monets and Pisarros and Sisleys were enjoyed with some delicate side dishes served by the not in consequential Renoir and a room of Van Gogh.
A press of humanity from French school holiday art lovers saw these spaces fairly crowded which decreased our viewing pleasure a little and we did endure an hour queuing to get in, mainly due to increased security checks, which were evident everywhere we went. That Osama has a lot to answer for!
We did a similar visit to The Louvre, selecting areas we wanted to see, and going to areas we had bypassed on other visits. Along with the impressionists, we also saw amazing Roman and Greek antiquities as well as corridors and rooms, seemingly without end, of ancient Egyptian artifacts.
Of course these visits were interspersed with lots of eating and wine and coffee drinking! We enjoyed a wide variety of Parisian cuisine, deciding, however that the best meals were had at the tiny, smoky bar/tabac in Rue Montmartre with its resident cat, Taqera, visiting each table to say hello. The Euro has certainly taken its toll on prices in the city. We didn’t worry too much about it, but it was very noticeable since our last visit. Paying $20 Australian for 2 cups of coffee at a small café probably sums it up!!
Cassy has insisted that I mention the cakes: I must admit that they were delicate and extremely delicious, the coffee éclairs that we ate in our room one night were divine.
We braved the super crush on the Metro on New Year’s Eve to get to the Eiffel Tower for midnight’s celebrations. We drank some beers and loved the atmosphere, crowds in front of the Palais de Chaillot pulsing with excitement as the time drew nearer. The tower was the focal point of course, but ornate old-fashioned merry-go-rounds and regular volleys of fireworks certainly added to the party atmosphere. The tower itself went off like a cracker at midnight, thousands of electric blue lights flashing all over the massive steel framework, an incredible sight. Getting home was another adventure, Cass getting her first taste of a really crowded train, the kind where no one needs to hang on, crushed unceremoniously into the carriages, breathing in the alcoholic fumes of hours of partying only to be disgorged into crumbling underground stations that never seem to lose an uncomfortable scent of stale urine.
Paris has not lost any of its sizeable appeal. The streets are always abuzz with action, the food fantastic and the spaces, monuments and museums unique. After this wonderful trip we wondered how we’d adjust back to life in Taipei, but after a long trip back, our driver waiting patiently at the airport for us, ushering us into his big, black car for the trip home we both had a sense of relief. This city is a second home to us now and we were happy to be back.

My late grandfather Dave came to mind more than once on our trip, the miniature
fairytale town of Old Prague as seen from afar, with its various spires and turrets frosted with a fresh night's snowfall, brought back memories of his Christmas dinner plate completely covered with a thin layer of salt, the turkey, ham and high sharp angles of pumpkin and his beloved sweet potato. The Christmas analogy didn't end there for me either as we passed by 100s of decorated spruces, cut from a forest and chocked up quite unceremoniously in various squares, streets and surprising little nooks and crannies. They were festooned with lights and decorations adding immensely to the Christmas atmosphere there and the myriad of historic gorgeous buildings were themselves like something from a fairytale. Cass and I were just filled with wonder day and night as the city was just achingly beautiful: it's difficult to believe that it survived so intact through wars and communism's decline and fall.
We'd just come in to the internet cafe after wandering the Charles Bridge again in the early evening. We were stirred from a little rest by the sound of screams and laughter coming from the street below, only to see a
wonderful fall of snow drifting down onto the street and people illuminated in the spotlights from the lesser town tower not 15 metres from our door. We walked the town each day and travelled on the metro as far as the end of
the line, giving us a jolt back from this storybook view to the stalag-like housing on the far reaches of town. The sterile and somehow frightening concrete blocks are placed so precisely, their car parks and recreation areas so bare, it must have been soul destroying to live and work in and from them. The great solace for the people must have been the thought that whatever deprivations they suffered could have been assuaged slightly by
visiting their beautiful inner city.
Puppets and crystals and garnets and hats and gloves seemed to make up the vast majority of touristy shops and how they all make a go of it was beyond us. Cass bought some garnet earrings in one shop and the man told her there were "no tourists" here at this time of year. You could have fooled us!
However, we were pleasantly surprised at the paucity of loud tourists and those we did see and hear were invariably Czech, German or French.
The food was incredibly good, from potato pancakes and soups to pizzas and cakes and lots and lots of strong flavoursome coffees!
The cold was intense; we could feel it seep through the layers of clothing penetrating to the bone...slow and unstoppable, till we entererd a super heated shop or restaurant to feel our faces and hands tingle with shock and sit and wait till the heat crept up through the rest of our bodies.
We booked some tickets in the middle of the first row of the balcony for a Christmas Day gala concert at the Rudolfinum....Mozart, Smetana, Dvorak and Christmas carols with various famous Czech soloists etc. It was an amazing concert. The Czech Philharmonic came out for encores and vigorous applause to our delight and to top the evening off, we walked home afterwards through a gently swirling snowfall.
We had planned to eat our Christmas lunch among the excitement of Old Town Square at one of the flash outdoor eateries. We wouldn’t freeze, as they had huge gas heaters at every second table and we planned to eat, drink, be merry and soak up yet more of what must indeed be one of the world’s most beautiful cities.
Minus six degrees gets pretty cold when you’re exposed for a few hours and we regularly ducked into little cafes to have an espresso during our outings. Stripping off the layers of coats, jumpers, scarves and gloves got just a touch wearisome after a while, but we got very skilled at it. While waiting for the coffee to be delivered we always felt our faces tingling as they adjusted to the heat and a slow thawing of our chilled bones was complete just before we decided to venture out again for a few hours. Darkness began to shroud the outlines of Prague by 4pm each day and it was night by 5, but a magical quality of the dusk was the lights coming on over Charles Bridge, just vaguely illuminating faces of passers-by, buskers and sellers, but always in a soft, golden light. We enjoyed our walk home each day at this time, with great plumes of condensed breath billowing out in front of us as the temperature seemed to drop even lower. We always came home over Charles Bridge, carefully sliding our feet over slick cobblestones to avoid a fall, and slipping into our little haven to the obvious surprise of many, so close to the end of the bridge. We usually did our thawing routine and popped under an incredibly light and warm silk quilt for a read or a quick viewing of some quirky and completely incomprehensible Czech TV before heading out again for tea.
The restaurants were plentiful and varied in menu, to the extent that we were never sure what to eat. Cass took a real liking to the traditional Czech fare of potato pancakes and goulash, while I was very keen on the “new” Czech fad of pizza! So many little restaurants had pizza on the menu, but with a twist. They were always wood fired and had that distinctive smoky taste and texture, but had the freshest of ingredients you could possibly imagine. In fact, one ‘Hawaiian’ variety I tried didn’t really work, because the pineapple was too sweet and delicious for the tomato base and the ham too flavoursome. Ah well, not too much to complain about! Our breakfasts were part of our accommodation package and we ate at a very flash, slick restaurant just up the road from our apartment each day. Mouth watering omelets with smoked salmon one day and full English breakfast with roasted tomato, bacon, eggs, sausages, toast and baked beans the next, always washed down with fresh squeezed grapefruit juices and the ubiquitous power packed double espresso. If this wasn’t grand enough, our apartment service contact Helena had organized an alternative venue for breakfast on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as our usual would be shut. She arranged for an open voucher at Prague’s newest and flashest hotel, “The Aria” for those days. My Dad would have been proud of both of us in this “pre-paid” heaven, as we partook of all the freshly cooked delights and pastries etc with great gusto and enjoyed our luxurious surrounds. After our liveried doorman eventually farewelled us, we were well fortified for another day’s adventure in the cold.
An interesting experience was a cruise on the river, which, while a terrific experience, was not the real highlight. The cheeky guide and commentator was cracking extremely funny jokes which no-one else on the boat seemed to get. He was a scream as he described what he saw as the government’s failure to build a super highway from Wenceslas Square, through the heart of the old town, across the river and through the mountain on the far side. We were rolling around laughing and he gave us a little wink, but most of the others on the boat seemed to be horrified as his deadpan delivery didn’t give much away. The great thing was that he didn’t dissuade them from their views and after a number of quips about knocking down old buildings and building skyscrapers he had stunned his audience to complete silence!
We had many other highlights, too many to mention. Suffice to say that Prague is a fairytale city, old buildings with ornate facades stretch from one end of the city to the other, down every back street and nook and cranny, the grand and famous buildings around the town square just the appetizer to a smorgasbord of architectural allure. When snow dusts the roofs and the streets its magical qualities are even further enhanced and buildings illuminated in the evenings just take your breath away.
As the taxi drove us over the hill of old Prague and out along the flat stretch before the airport, we were jolted back into some sense of reality as the intricate stonemasonry and quaint designs of houses gave way to communist era concrete blocks again, sterile and confronting, yet I had a tiny stab of pleasure as I noticed the graffiti on the sides of some: a little piece of creative expression that certainly would not have been tolerated before 1989.
We wondered how we would react to Paris after Prague. Had we been so well seduced by this city that Paris would pale in comparison? In just a couple of hours, we’d find out.

Taipei 101 is the official name for the world’s tallest building, piercing the sky in the Hsin Yi district in the southeast of the city, often with clouds just dusting the upper sections with a light, awe inspiring touch. This amazing monolith just seems to go up forever when you’re beneath it, each 10 floors flaring out from the ground only to angle in and start again on a relentless quest for vertical limits. To build it in the first place seems ludicrous in such an earthquake prone region, but it is constructed on giant rollers which will actually move with the shake, which sounds fine as long as I’m not up there at the time it happens!
Cass and I have watched the tower’s steady upward movement over the past 2 and a half years, wondering if it would ever stop reaching further skyward, until a 30-metre spike was fastened on top just a few weeks ago. It is taller than the Petronas towers and the Sears tower, but a building in Shanghai is being built now, which will eventually overtake it. It is certainly an engineering marvel, yet if you see it from afar, it occasionally doesn’t seem possible that it is this tall, owing to a lack of perspective around it. The Hsin Yi district is littered with modern glass and steel blocks of architectural curiosity, like an old tablecloth suddenly and incongruously set with the finest china and silverware, placed with meticulous care, not an item out of place. This part of town contrasts markedly with the back streets just a few blocks away, where traders hawk their wares on street corners, setting up impermanent shops for a few hours before moving on to escape the attentions of the police. From one such furtive man, I bought a perfectly serviceable backpack on Sunday, proffering $NT100 ($4 Aust) to complete the transaction, while brand name packs in shops opposite were fetching more than 10 times that.
It is this contrast, which continues to fascinate us about Taipei. We have eaten in one of the world’s finest restaurants just metres from a sleazy red light district, been filled with wonder at the world’s tallest building as a man almost comically attired in rags, pushing a pram of his worldly possessions, rifles through a rubbish bin outside, while beautifully dressed women dressed in the latest haut couture window shop for Tiffany’s diamonds and Chanel suits in nearby malls.
We are readying ourselves to fly to Hong Kong and London before arriving in Prague mid morning on Friday. Our accommodation is a totally refurbished boutique apartment capsuled within a 13th century façade, just 15 metres from Charles Bridge. It is a pedestrian only area, so we’ll have to wait and see how we can get our bags in! An ex-colleague in Prague reports snow and sub zero temperatures, although I saw no evidence of this on a web cam in Old Town square last night. We will play it by ear as to Christmas dinner, but I’m sure we’ll find something. After a week we will fly to Paris for the New Year staying at a small hotel in the cite Bergere in the 9th arrondissement. I can’t wait to visit my favorite gallery, The Marmottan, the home of more than 30 Monets, just perched as stunningly as you like on the walls of a non descript house in the suburbs, which has been converted to a gallery. Cass has lined up just a few things she “must see” after missing them in her last two visits, like the Pompidou Centre and a more in depth penetration of the Left Bank. No doubt we’ll also partake of some wine and food somewhere along the way as well!
Basically, though, we’ll be guided by our noses as usual, a method that hasn’t failed us in the past, the secret I think being to have enough time in each place so as not to be rushed and having a chance to re-visit things which are particularly promising on first viewing.
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year and we hope to hear from you on our return.

As Newcastle Grammar had their speech day indicating the end of the school year and we received a couple of emails from colleagues there wishing us a happy Christmas, we had a few pangs of envy. Cass was winding up some units of work for the half year here and I was getting ready to present a workshop on vocabulary for over 200 parents the next day. This time of year is always hard on us here, especially knowing we won't be back home till June, although it's easy to get a "grass is greener" mentality without doing all the work that no doubt has been done over there in the last few weeks.
The workshop was a success from all reports and then I just had to wrap my head around doing some ordering of books and materials for the ESL department for next year as well as write an extensive report on some long-term ESL kids for the school board. Mid year testing went along with this and grading them plus reports are next, all due on Wednesday. They're all paperless now and the whole school has gone electronic. Our on-line classroom software has been trialled and is now ready for the next emergency.
Cass got all dolled up to attend a candlelight dinner at school for the middle school while I went to the lower school principal's house for Christmas drinks on Friday night. It was a fun night and plenty of beer, wine and food ensured a convivial atmosphere even though the trials of the last few weeks certainly ensured some overindulgence. Plenty of reputations were confirmed or sullied, depending on how much alcohol was drunk.
The action continued down at the Green Bar and then to Club 75 where live salsa music provided the catalyst for some ill advised dancing by many attendees, myself included, which proved to be quite hilarious. I think we did better than the majority of the locals however, where the term "dancing on the inside" takes on a whole new meaning. Girls dressed in the current Taipei uniform of checked mini skirts with long boots swayed to the music without actually moving their feet at all, which has to be seen to be believed, seemingly defying all laws of physics. At least they attempt a dance, with guys obviously deciding it is totally uncool even to try, although I might have misread this completely: they might just be shy, and come to think of it, the strange gyrations of a group of inebriated foreigners probably didn't inspire them to jump up and join us!
We scootered down to the Living Mall on Saturday and saw the bleak and brilliant Eastwood directed film, "Mystic River". If Sean Penn doesn't win an Oscar for his performance I'll be very surprised. His heart wrenching grief at the death of his daughter was palpable and the supporting cast was nearly as good. The ending disappointed us a touch, but I'll leave that for now, in case you want to go and see it.
The traffic scene on the way back was one of the most chaotic we've experienced, possibly because of the slightly later hour, or my poor choice of roads. Vehicles stopped without warning in front of us, turned without indicating, swerved into us, beeped, snorted fumes, opened doors, pulled out with no warning, bunny hopped, slowed and generally provided every conceivable possibility for a serious accident. But Taipei being Taipei, no one got upset, everyone let the rude in or patiently waited while they double-parked in a traffic lane until they could get past. Anyone who has been in a car with me driving would not recognize me now. I take all this mayhem in my stride, just zooming around, waiting and joining every other scooter in illegally weaving in and out of buses, cars, trucks, taxis as they play their bizarre game of traffic brinkmanship.
Today, we had a late breakfast and read some Newcastle Herald clippings that Mum regularly sends us (thanks as always Mum!). I have to admit that I went into school for a few hours to do some marking, an action that is anathema to my personal philosophy, but I won't be making a habit of it!
Cass did the shopping.....a story in itself, perhaps for another time, but it does involve walking, lugging recyclable bags of groceries through parks full of twirling ballroom dancers!
We fly out on the 18th of December for Hong Kong, London and Prague to spend a week before catching the city hopper to Paris for another 8 days. Even though we pine for home sometimes, at least we're halfway across the world already, making the rest of it just that little more accessible.

Thanksgiving feasts are something we hadn't experienced before moving to Taipei, but in what is suspiciously approaching a tradition we celebrated our 3RD with Chad and Cathy last Thursday! It doesn't seem like it could be possible sometimes, yet at others the days and weeks seem endless. How incredibly lucky we have been to have such great friends, who really enjoy having us to share this special family holiday with them. Of course, this one was just that little bit different, with Chad, Cathy and new addition Levi in their new apartment and a few extra people to join the festivities this year. We had North Americans of course, some Aussies, New Zealanders, a Pom and a Scotty as well as an Indian and Taiwanese and Chinese.
Our generous hosts went all out to provide a great atmosphere, from the table decorations to the food. The turkey itself had been baked and smoked and was of gargantuan proportions. It was mouth wateringly succulent accompanied by all the trimmings of stuffing, gravy and veges with hot buttered rolls. A guiltily rich pudding with sauce was for sweets baked by our Scotty colleague with the simple adage of "too much butter and sugar are never enough". Great fun was had by all especially when the aptly named "cranium" game was produced for a bit of team play. Have you ever seen a room full of teachers trying to outsmart, out wit and out dramatise their opponents? It wasn't pretty but everyone ended up still being civil to one another so it wasn't too bad!
Raj produced some of his Mum's Middle Eastern delicacies later on; aromatic breads, which seemed impossibly thin with a rich spicy sauce for dipping. Raj is an enigmatic young man, a little mysterious but delightful in manner. He runs a family company, which imports and exports all manner of goods, but it's hard to say exactly what. Recently he has been having all sorts of trouble in airports, due he thinks to his Indian/Middle Eastern appearance; being 'randomly' selected for searches with annoying regularity.
Fired up with more than a few "sherbets" we made our thankyous and farewells about 10.30 (from 2 in the afternoon!) and I enticed Cass up to the karaoke bar where we sang our hearts out for hours! It's the first time we'd been there for ages, so we enjoyed it immensely. Of course I cranked out a few Kiss classics, limiting my choice to my vocal range, which is horrendously restrictive. I did, however, attempt the Sex Pistols "God Save The Queen", an interesting choice with such a melodic and insipid music track as offered on karaoke! I discovered that shouting at full volume drowned out the music and I did just that, only to have the owner of the bar jump up and start dancing to the song as if I was singing "Yesterday"! Ah well, another Taiwan quirk. Cass outshone me of course, singing some beautiful songs and ensuring we would be welcome next time!
Cass and I were keen to see either "Mystic River" (starting next week) or "Master and Commander" (session times didn't match ours) on Friday, but we opted for the 3rd installment of "The Matrix". Just a touch esoteric for our mood at the time although the 2nd half did liven up a lot. We caught the bus back to Sogo and then decided to walk for a few more blocks before we linked up with the MRT. We both commented how well we know this city now, at least on the main drags, and so much better than say Sydney, or even, dare I say it, some areas of Newcastle and surrounds. It's so reassuring to know that this or that shop, restaurant or park is just a few MRT stops or a ride on the scooter away and being able to hop from one spot to another with ease.
Ross and Ains had caught a flight to Kenting for the 2 days so on Saturday, Ross was all fired up to get to the beach. We gave Carl a ring and he was keen to go so we headed off to the newly christened "Rockets" (see previous Blog about the rocket ride point) To say the surf conditions were horrendous is a very large understatement of conditions. Carl watched the huge storm swell and competing rips and undertows and wisely decided to leave it to us. After a fair battering we gave up and headed home. Of course, all due to the stimulating and irreverent commentary we provided on the way back the day worked out just great. Some of our least favoured colleague's ears would have burnt right off as Ross nearly lost control of the car, he was laughing so hard!
Never content to cut our losses Ross and I weaved our way back over the mountain at midday on Sunday where we experienced similar conditions. The wonderful comic relief was provide by Clarky and Aaron turning up to try to paddle a double surf ski out the back of the swirling mess we were trying to surf. Clarky is now an Olympic coach for kayaks, his charge having won the world championships and heading to Athens next year. Aaron is the TAS Aquatics director and swim coach. Anyway, we thought they were insane, but they nearly made it out the back in these mountainous waves before being ignominiously smashed back to shore on both attempts. We tried hard not to laugh, but it was a sight to see as they floundered in the big swells, all arms, legs, paddles and boat.
We have less than 3 weeks left before we jet off to Prague and Paris, an exotic carrot to keep us salivating through tests, reports and other end-of-year "delights".

A big concrete slash through high-rise apartment blocks and myriads of little open spaces and parks is the curiously named "Sulphur Creek". Starting as a natural watercourse at the top of Yangminshan National Park, it splashes its way past mountain trails full of weekend hikers, fitted out with all the best gear for such a pursuit, and gurgles its way down past shanties at the foot of the mountain before being tamed into a deep, man-made channel, beside which all manner of people and animals exercise and relax before the day begins in earnest.
Sounds of hands slapping against flesh is not so shocking for us now: men power walk wearing what look like women's tracksuits, sometimes with Walkmans strapped to their waists and bud headphones to drown out the only natural sounds around, striking their bodies in various exotic routines to get the circulation going. Some seem content to clap their hands together at regular intervals while others perform a bizarre dance of fitness studiously avoiding getting in each others way and seemingly oblivious to others gaze. Sometimes at the very last second, when a collision seems unavoidable and the uninitiated brace for contact, they manage to glide past without the slightest touch.
Younger men jog at a leisurely pace, no doubt constricted by their full tracksuits in the 30-degree early morning heat, contorting their faces with the effort, sweating profusely, yet refusing to peel off the layers, the badge of their hobby.
A mixed age group of women, from young office girls to retired grandmothers performs a beautiful, measured and almost hypnotic ballet of Tai Chi to the barely heard strains of Chinese music struggling out of a battered and tinny speakered tape recorder. They don't notice the intrusion of the two foreigners walking by, or pretend not to, although I usually catch one or two stealing a peek at Cassy's clothes or shoes!
Further on, a group of 8 old ladies sit and talk, their assigned positions on two benches never varying, a couple of equally wise dogs relaxing at their feet, as their owners sit and chat, dressed so perfectly, coifed and powdered as if on their way out to dinner.
The "3 wise monkeys", our next landmark, sit on a sculpted wall, sometimes having a beer (!) admiring the sweeping job they have just performed, not just the paths of the park, but the grass as well, which always struggles to grow under the effort of resisting so many feet walking across it each day. Occasionally one of the men will risk a beaming "Good Morning!" to which we always respond in kind, producing a nodding smiling acknowledgement, he so proud to show off his English skills to his mates.
A garishly mosaiced bridge is a pastiche amongst the greenery just further on, with a small amphitheatre facing its multi-coloured arch. A hub of activities for meetings and displays on most weekends, it hosts another band of exercisers in the morning, directed in their minor exertions by a man with thick black rimmed glasses, invariably attired in a form fitting bright yellow tracksuit, almost a parody of Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon. Their exercise routine is very hard to follow: it seems to involve hitting various parts of the body for a number of repetitions, before moving to another part to begin the process again.
Turning away from the river now, we amble along the footpath of the main artery of Tienmu, dodging scooters lining the footpaths and people who practice the afore mentioned "late sidestep" to avoid collision. Past the framing and mirror shop which now cooks breakfast takeaways as well from a suspiciously dirty looking set of pots, the shopkeepers distracting their customers by keeping up a steady stream of banter at a socially unacceptable volume. Nearly there, the Indian and German dads seem at a loss as to how to control their kids waiting for the European school bus, an unusually spindly-legged boy seemingly oblivious to the traffic as he runs and plays on the verge. We dodge around them and start meeting more people going our way. Cass digs in her bag for her gate pass as I display mine from it's hiding spot in my pocket, the neon yellow shock of lanyard announcing we are from TAS. Cass smiles and says hello to the security guard at the car gate, a daily action that seems to thrill the man; perhaps others just ignore him.
With just a few variations on a theme, this all happens at 7 each morning as we walk to school, before the "real" events of the day have even thought of beginning!

Being completely hoarse in front of a class of 3rd or 5th graders is not an ideal situation to be in. “George’s Marvelous Medicine” just doesn’t have the same pizzazz when read by a horse whisperer and insightful comments at faculty meetings lose a little bit of impact if people can’t hear them.
Of course, this is the result of some raucous cheering and lusty singing during and after the shock win by the Wallabies on the weekend. Just to set the scene...I had been ensconced in the American Club all day Friday discussing matters most serious and so terribly important to the future of the school! My input was somewhat less than spectacular, preferring to sit and listen and learn before committing myself to comment. After just an hour back at school, the 3rd graders started tumbling in to the lobby for the beginning of their sleepover. These kids were a ball bearing in a pinball machine; they were careering off walls and each other, going crazy in their excitement. After an especially chaotic sign in we were back on the buses to take this loud, bouncing mass to the local bowling alley. I digress, but this needs mentioning: you know those big yellow American school buses you see in movies trundling around peaceful smooth streets in suburban USA? Well, of course the school has a fleet of these beasts trying to negotiate the unforgiving roads of Taipei city, their long wheel base sending spine jarring bolts into bodies with every bump on the road. Not the ideal transportation to my recovering bad back!
Bowling hardly needs mentioning except for e few pertinent facts.....have you ever tried to find 140 size 5 shoes or 140 size 8 bowling balls in an alley? Do you think that anyone could speak English or that the kids realized you have to wait for the metal gate to come down on the pins after each bowl? Suffice to say that chaos reigned, toes were crushed under balls too heavy and gates bent from balls delivered too early.
Back to school for movie and bed. An amazingly persistent mozzie kept me awake most of the night, either by buzzing in my ear or as a result of me slapping myself in the head in an unsuccessful attempt to get rid of it. Leaving at 7.30 to meet with Ross, Ains and Cass to head to the beach, we got some fun little waves at the Point. Back to Tienmu, we were booked for lunch at an Italian restaurant before moving to the Green bar for the big game. I had to sleep for a few hours and Cass went off to fly the flag for us before I joined her later.
Of course the Green Bar led to Club 75 (jazz) before our friend Raj enticed us downtown to a cigar and champagne bar which has just opened. We could have paid one month's rent with the bill and this put a bit of a downer on the incredibly lavish décor and relaxed ambiance of the place.
Sunday saw me impersonating Benny the plant on the lounge before we cheered home the Kangaroos that afternoon. They really miss Joey, those kangaroos! Suffice to say, an exhausting time, interspersed with lots of fun.........we just need to recover in time to lend full voice to overcome the all singing, all knowing Pommy contingent next Saturday down at the Green!

Well, I feel pretty slack not writing earlier this week, but we’ve been horrendously busy. Just in case the dreaded SARS virus forces another school closure, the school has bought some online software at great expense, so the little soldiers in the TAS army are now required to add some training to their schedule. This already includes an extra ½ an hour a day to make up for the lost time before we left for our last holiday. So, even though we were luxuriating in our 12 week break back in Merewether, we’re paying for it in kind right now!
Cass had a pretty rough week last week, laid low by the ubiquitous Taipei throat infection and had to have 4 days off work, feeling pretty sick and sorry for herself. She’s back at work now, but finding the day to day grind (as mentioned above) very enervating. We’re planning on taking it easy this week, and of course, this restricted our continuing adventures last weekend!
On Saturday, Ross was sequestered in a classroom doing his Master’s course (I’ve finished. hurrah!), so Carl and I headed to the beach for a surf. The word “flat” is a gross understatement of conditions; although the sun was shining and the wind was light, Carl decided that bigger waves would be lapping the shores of Salamander bay at the time. Still, I was able to play tourist guide a little for Carl regarding the appeals of the north east coast and show him a few secret surfing spots. We had a swim and talked some rubbish, mainly reminiscing about past adventures in Japan and Australia.
On Sunday, Ross and Ains were champing at the bit to get away, so Cass dragged herself along and we headed to Jinshan point. It absolutely teemed with rain over the mountain and water was seeping in along our tension straps which lock the boards onto the roof. Surging storm surf with fat, menacing waves, rips and gullies and a generally very unfriendly aquatic environment greeted us when we arrived. Coupled with a force 10 onshore gale with driving rain, it was almost impossible to believe that less than 24 hours earlier, our fiercest enemy had been a piercing sun necessitating a liberal and regular application of sun cream.
Anyway, of course, Ross and I went out for a bit of “contact” surfing, and proceeded to be thrown around like rag dolls for the next couple of hours. The conditions were so bad that the girls didn’t even get out of the car! Back home to watch the Aussies beat the Poms in the rugby league replay, before the Kiwis displayed some ominous form to book a berth in a semi to play the Aussies next Saturday. The Kiwi contingent is planning a big day at the Green Bar on Saturday....I’m certain they are trying to lure us there just to witness the massacre and have great fun at our expense when the game is over!
A bit humdrum at the moment.....we’re just keeping our heads above water work wise and we’re a bit too tired to do much on the weekends. Still, as always, I’m sure we’ll have some more interesting adventures to report on soon......maybe we’re just easily amused!

A clear “Australian like” sky of deep blue and not even a zephyr of wind greeted us as we woke early on Saturday to make our way to the beach. The lack of wind in Tienmu certainly augured well for a surf of distinction, if we could make it over the hill before the wind got started. Ross and Ains joined us at 7 am and we headed to Jinshan point which had a disappointing slushy swell on a very low tide. We headed through Jinshan town to our secret spot, but it was hardly breaking. After zooming through the tunnel to Green Bay, we decided that this was the spot. The water was crystal clear and glassy and Ross and I had the beach to ourselves. Taking off on some beautifully formed right handers, the only sound was the crash of the wave and the board scything through the water and the occasional sharp slap as the board readjusted to the wave. We had a window of near perfect surf for about an hour, really incredible. Gradually the tide filled a little, the wind changed a notch in intensity and direction and things changed, but we really had an awesome experience. Cass and Ains both went for a swim as well, which is pretty amazing as it is the last month of autumn here now. Cass also waxed lyrically about the quality of the weather, the spot, the conditions....we really had a great time.
Fairly blissed out from our day, the Australian’s performance against the Irish certainly woke us up on Sat evening! After that little heart starter we watched Pirates of the Caribbean” on DVD, which I had bought in Thailand. I know a lot of people liked this movie, but I must admit I wasn’t one of them. It reminded me of Tony Curtis as the “Scarlet Pimpernel”, just with a few more special effects. Cass and I agreed that if the BBC ever made “Hornblower” into a movie, it should clean up, if this film was such a success!
We planned an adventure for Sunday and decided to explore two parts of Taipei city we’d never been to before. The idea was to go from the ridiculous to the sublime, or vice versa, depending on your point of view. We traveled to the far south west corner of the city, at the end of one of the branches of the MRT lines, which seemed very appropriate as we would be visiting a part of town where the workers brought to Taipei to build these lines now live and work. Leaving Nanshi Chiaou station and walking for about 10 minutes, we were surprised to see mountains wrapping around the backs of the buildings, much like our suburb Tienmu. We realized that we’d finally reached the other end of the great Taipei “bowl”, where the itinerant workers from Myanmar and Thailand and India had set up home. We turned down a street to be greeted by Thai and Burmese writing everywhere...you know that curious succession of half circles and squiggles?
A variety of sights and smells and sounds were vying for our attention at the same time. We seemed to be attracting a fair few looks as well, and we did not see another foreigner the whole time we were there; not on the tourist beat! Skinny sweating men with shirts off were hawking their wares at amazing volume, strange sea creatures were laid bare on tables with a makeshift fan doing all the “purifying” needed to keep them fresh! Slabs of unidentified meat hung on wires whilst across the road, the dim sum and dumpling makers moved their goods from bamboo tray to plate, seemingly unaware that a whole different culture was operating just opposite. It was almost as if the road itself was “no man’s land” .....I think we were the only ones to cross it! Spices and curries from all over Thailand and Myanmar were for sale and we bought some red and green curry pastes to try. Cass bought a denim jacket with a picture of a sequined girl applied to its back for just $12; it doesn’t seem to be different from mine that I bought at DJs back home. As we wandered, the market salespeople were offering but not insistent, fresh veges were being sold everywhere in clumps and packs, that mountain dirt still coating them with authenticity. I have waffled on quite terribly here, so I’ll try to be a bit briefer....we’re only half way through the day!!
We spied a little outdoor eatery and after the owner took us out the back to select our dishes we had a prawn curry and rice with chili and cucumber and fish spice on the side all washed down with a lemon tea. Delicious. Back on the train and after changing twice, we arrived in the quite sterile, or so it seemed, banking sector. We scouted around in the back alleys of the Sherwood hotel to spot up market Thai, Japanese, Chinese and western restaurants along with Indian furnishing stores and quaint little bookshops and home made western style cake shops.....worth another visit!
We boldly walked into the Sherwood as if we owned the place and visited Henry’s Bar with its Chesterfield couches and wood paneling before checking the menu at Toscanna, the Italian restaurant. An interesting item was Dom Perignan “free flow” at quite a cost. Does this mean a bottomless glass? If so, we might put our drinking shoes on to give it a try, but no doubt we’ll come out with a wobbly boot!! After soaking up the rarified atmosphere here for a while we walked to Ikea for Cass to buy some place mats and ended up getting a taxi home to give our weary legs a break. Back home, went to the bank, did the shopping and got home just in time to see NZ get a great scare from the Welsh in the rugby, Gordon Bray serenading us in his inimitable style.
A great weekend all round, although we’re a little flat today back at work.....I think we need another weekend to recover.

Just past the nuclear power plant outlet and in the shadows of the Patriot missile battery, all pointed to China, the two intrepid surfers got a rocket ride out into a good 8-10 foot set. Water was rushing into this little inlet and flowing out up past a man made rock wall, the only trouble was that when the rock wall ended, we were out the back in amongst these monsters.
This was how our long weekend began on Thursday morning and after a fair battering, Ross and I joined Cass and Ains in the car for a journey into unexplored territory on the spectacular north east coast of Taiwan. The road followed impossibly sheer cliffs which just seemed to rise as vertically on one side of the road as it dropped away precipitously to rocky shores far below on the other. We drove through Green Bay and onto Keelung, the coastal town and harbour that has cruise ships leaving for Japan and the rest of the South China Sea, an escape route if ever the unthinkable Chinese attack comes! Tracking the coastal road through town and beyond we spied all sorts of interesting coves and points, ripe for further investigation when the surf conditions are right. We turned around at Fulong, a wide, wind swept beach of huge (by Taiwan standards) proportions.
We drove back to Green Bay where we were booked at the Howard Plaza resort, a curious and megalithic hotel, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Modern, clean and spacious, the rooms were a delightful surprise, a Disneyland style castle holding all the amenities, like gym, indoor pool, restaurants etc and an outdoor area with lagoon size pools and private beach no less!
We were originally told the hotel was booked out, but after some persistence, they agreed to let us book two double rooms. We were scoffing at their claims until 16 coach loads of school kids descended on the place about 7pm! The kids were pretty well behaved and they left again at 6.30 in the morning, only a lot of open empty rooms indicating that they weren't just a figment of our imagination.
Ross and I surfed our private beach for a couple of hours before a magnificent buffet breakfast (pre-paid!) and we had a great time except for a back injury I sustained by free falling about 2 metres onto the rail of my board. We packed up late (check out at midday) and headed to the point at Jinshan. Another Aussie, Clarky, had just arrived and even though I wasn't relishing the prospect of a paddle out in a stormy, rising swell, I felt compelled to show that no Byron clubby was better than a Newcastle boy! Gritting teeth and protecting back muscles as best I could I managed to get out the back and get a few big boomers before my leg rope broke, leading to an interesting body surf over rocks to retrieve my board from the shallows where it survived with just a few scratches.
Suffice to say that this ridiculous act of bravado saw me lying on the lounge most of the remainder of the weekend, alternating deep heat cream with ice packs.
We did venture out on Saturday to see "Kill Bill", the new Tarantino spatter fest, which we both thought was excellent. The generous lashings of Japanese dialogue were only subtitled in Chinese of course, so I did my best to keep Cass informed of the jist of things, even though the visual almost comic book style was fairly self-explanatory!
Sunday saw the lounge-lying kick in and we were treated to 3 games of world cup rugby and Cass took the opportunity to read a bit of her new book, Sue Grafton's "Q is for Quarry" (ordered from Amazon at some unspeakable price!)
I walked around at work today like Quasimodo due to the back and took a little early mark to get the ice pack on to it. We're not too far away from finishing our latest roll of film and we're hoping to get quite a few good photos to post on our other site (stay tuned!)
It's a funny place Taiwan....we reach the point sometimes where we can appreciate all that it has to offer whilst yearning for home, friends and family, yet at other times we're just totally exasperated with some strange thing or other. This weekend was the former; seeing the north east coast and all its rugged beauty, it was hard to imagine a better place to be, especially in the company of your soul mate.

Thailand certainly proved to be a land of incredible contrasts for me. Just back from a week in Ban Chang, which is in the south of the country not that far from Cambodia. The course I attended was a tutor-training course and I now have a qualification to teach this course for the next 5 years. It's called ESL in the Mainstream and as the name suggests, allows us to run a course to teach classroom teachers how to differentiate their programs to be more inclusive of ESL learners. I was very impressed with the Aussie lecturers, as it is sourced from South Australia.
I had two colleagues from my school in my group of 12 and it was a bit of a double-edged sword. As they waffled on and asked questions about minutia, I cringed and hoped the Aussies wouldn't tar me with the same brush. On the contrary, they were very sympathetic to my plight as the ESL head having to deal with those two nutters! I did a fair bit of networking and met the ESL coordinators from Bangkok Patana, Int School Manila, Beijing Int School and Int School Hong Kong and did a bit of comparing notes etc. I was a bit jealous as they all get heaps of time off for their roles...as much as 60% admin, %40 face-to-face!
To alleviate the pain of the day, I certainly took advantage of the lagoon size pool and the beach of the Gulf of Thailand, which lapped just 50 metres from our rooms. No surf of course, but beautiful sunsets and crystal clear waters were very soothing. I met up with some guys on the course and we went into Pattaya city on 3 occasions after class, ostensibly to do some shopping but really to have a few cleansing ales and see the amazing sights and sounds of this beach town about 3 hours south of Bangkok. We met up with some Dutch guys and watched the South Africans annihilate someone at the Copenhagen Bar, a sprinkling of Pommies and Aussies and lots of Thais added to the great atmosphere. I bought some DVDs at amazing prices ($4 Aus), and various rip off soccer shirts and t-shirts.
The streets of Pattaya were quite overwhelming; a cacophony of sound and colour and people. I read that this town has the highest ratio of bars per metre of road anywhere in the world and that it all started as an R&R spot for the American soldiers in Vietnam. However it started, it doesn't seem to have missed a beat yet!
Jet skis whiz along the beach just a few feet from shore with cruise boats touting for business to go to Ko Samet and Ko Samui, both gorgeous islands sitting out in the gulf with fine silicone sand and views of other idyllic islets.
As you can imagine the food was just out of this world......green curries, red curries, sweet and sour fish, along with heaps more exotic fare. On at least 3 nights, we sat at a little local restaurant just up from the hotel, with cane chairs and tables right out on the sand, watched sunsets, drank Singa beer and ate a succession of wonderful dishes till we could barely move. Our Thai friends from the course and some of the longer term expat "Thailanders" selected magnificent feasts for us...we ate whole fish steamed in chilies and garlic, incredible fried rices and Tom Yum soups (which nearly blew my head off..I literally couldn't speak for 10 minutes after eating one of the versions!!) And fresh prawns cooked behind our table on the wok with fish sauces curry, chili and veges.
Of course, I missed my darling terribly, especially as we had only seen each other for a couple of days after Cassy's camp. I've tried not to wax too lyrically about the food up to now as it is definitely Cassy's favorite........unless I can convince her not to read this, I've had it now!!

After all the excitement of the grand final last week, this weekend is a little of an anti-climax... unless you're into the rugby! We had a great time watching the "Pennies" win last Sunday and had quite a crowd of boys round to share in the footy fever. The "big screen" worked well and we even managed English commentary with the aid of the sound from ABC Asia's telecast that we had coming simultaneously through the TV.

David left for Thailand on Tuesday afternoon and I've had a couple of emails from him. He's not too impressed with the work required for the course but he's managed to find a buddy or two, so the "shopping" trips to Pattaya are a bit of an escape for him. They watched some of the rugby (the South Africa game as well as the All-Blacks) with some new Dutch mates at the "Copenhagen Bar" so I guess it's not too tedious for him!

I had a very busy week until Friday evening. I collected 48 memoirs from my classes to be edited in a very detailed fashion. This consumed my every waking (and not-so-awake) moment from Wednesday till 11:20am Friday. Then I had to teach, so the timing of Cathy Funk's (MS principal) "TGIF" (Thank God it's Friday) bash was great for me. I had a pretty good time and the food was delicious - tasty Indian triangles with yogurt dip, artichoke dip, leg ham and mustard bread rolls, little tuna sandwiches, a selection of great cheese, Belgian chocolate clusters... and plenty of beer and wine.

I slept for over 12 hours - must still have been tired from camp - and just lazed around and read most of the day on Saturday. My slothfulness ensured that I missed going to the beach with Ross and Ainsley but... there's always next weekend!

Today I've done the shopping, washing, ironing and typed up the minutes from our team meetings last week (my turn). I plan to write some first quarter reports now (due Monday, October 20) so that next weekend I can relax with David.

Hope we eventually get some cricket on ABC Asia; presumably it's the rugby that's pushing it off the schedule at the moment.

Grand final fever has gripped Taipei as the Chinese locals and ex-pats alike eagerly await the big game which will be broadcast live here at 5pm. Parties are being planned the length and breadth of the island as an unprecedented interest has blossomed in the great game of rugby league almost overnight.
Well, in reality, I'm sure there will be a small crowd of people at the Brass Monkey bar downtown, at Tienmu's own Green Bar and at our place for the big game. We've borrowed a data projector from school as well as a local video player to decode the signal and have tested it out. It throws a picture up on our loungeroom wall, which rivals the size of the biggest screen anywhere! There were many problems along the way.....
Firstly, I discovered that our digital set top box, which decodes the ABC, would not transfer its signal to video (about 4 hours). Then I realized that the Chinese video has no audio outlets meaning we would only get sound from the projector. The local cable channels will load on to the video so I looked up the TV times for the Star Sports channel and found that they too were broadcasting the game live. The only problem possible will be if they don't take the Australian audio and decide to commentate over the top. We can overcome that by streaming the 2GB commentary over the internet in the study in the adjoining room. So we can watch the pre-game stuff at 4.30 on the ABC and then hook the data projector to the Video for the game at 5 on the Star sports channel. Fingers crossed it will all work out!
Another slight problem was what to feed the visitors. We thought of good footy fare: pies (no), sausage rolls (no), frankfurts (no), cabanossi etc (no). We've decided to go and get some cheese, biscuits, chips etc and a couple of buckets of KFC! Beer is, thankfully, no problem.
Cass got back from camp on Friday quite exhausted and glad to be back to our clean house and comfortable bed. She declined the invitation to go to the beach yesterday and I wish I had too. Ainsley stayed in the car marking the whole time and Ross and I attempted to get out the back in a howling gale, supremely messy 5-6 foot swell. It was a real storm surf and we couldn't get out and I came back in after about 1/2 an hour without catching one wave. Ross persevered for a while longer before we packed up and came home. We also went on Friday after school and similarly disappointing surf, but not before we retrieved the car from it's parking spot around the corner only to find the driver's side window smashed! We cleaned out the mess and Mr. Lee, our landlord, took me around to a windscreen/window repair place and negotiated a time (8.30 Sat morning) and a price (just $45 Aust.!) for the replacement. I went round in the morning and we were on our way to the beach in about 20 minutes. The incredible level of service here is something we really miss when we get back home. They would have done it on the spot if we'd wanted that as well.
Work has continued to be very busy and I will need to leave work for my substitute when I leave on Tuesday night for a week in Thailand. I'm attending an ESL Tutor training course, which will give me some sort of certification and a license to train classroom teachers to help them work with an ESL teacher and ESL kids in a team teaching environment. It costs a bomb just for the course (an amazing $2,500 U.S. !!) let alone the airfares and accommodation. My predecessor as ESL head had already received full funding for this trip and this transferred to me when I got my new position. I'm not that keen on going especially as Cass has only just got back, but it's part of the job.
Anyway, we're looking forward to a great game today......many people will know that I was an Easts supporter before Newcastle joined the comp but.....they just keep knocking the Knights out of the semi finals! I'll have mixed feelings today so I'll just enjoy watching the game. Cass will get all her black gear on to support the "Penny" panthers, they're black cats so there's really no choice for her!