Happy Holidays!

Although the malls, some restaurants, and shopping areas in Taipei have Christmas decorations, Christmas is not really considered a big deal here. I think, and this is similar to the U.S., they try to use Christmas to sell stuff! However, public schools are open on Christmas day—yes, Lauren will go to school on Christmas—and it’s pretty much just another day! Although New Year’s Eve is celebrated in the Taipei 101 area with fireworks, Jan. 1 also is not such a big deal. John and I are going to be teaching straight until Jan. 6, the day before we leave for the U.S.—we will not be out of school at all. The BIG event here is Chinese New Year, which happens around Jan. 25—THAT is when everyone is out of school, and I believe it’s a 3-week break. I’m VERY bummed—I’m missing the holiday season in the U.S., AND I will miss Chinese New Year in Taiwan! I REALLY, REALLY wanted to experience Chinese New Year here! We’re SO disappointed!!

John got another big chunk off his plate—his band concert is over! John was VERY busy for this particular concert—we joked that Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA) was getting its money’s worth out of him! For the concert, the regular band music director, Chan, conducted the first half. John played a saxophone concerto with band, Chan conducted. John conducted the second half! Seriously, I could have never done what he did—I would have COMPLETELY focused all my energies into the concerto and would have NOTHING left for anything else! But everything went very well, and the students were very appreciative. And things are absolutely NOT winding down for us right now—John still has to teach at TNUA and NCCU, I’m still at Chinese Culture University, we have to prepare to leave AND get ready to teach in our universities in the U.S.! PLUS, we want to squeeze in as many activities as we can!

On the day of John’s band concert, John had to leave quite early in the morning. I left later with the children. So….for the first time, I took Lauren AND Luke ALONE on the bus and the subway. Whenever we’ve taken public transportation with the children, up until now, it’s been the four of us. It is MUCH MUCH MORE difficult taking public transportation ALONE with two CRAZY kids!! It’s totally like herding CATS! On top of all this, our subway line, the Muzha line, is currently closed for repairs on the week-ends. In order to get to John’s school, which is less than a 90-minute commute, we normally take the Muzha line, switch trains, take the Bannan line to Taipei Main Station, switch trains there, and take the Danshui line to John’s school. Since the Muzha line was closed, we were advised to take a bus straight to Taipei Main Station and catch the Danshui line from there. Since I knew the bus is slower than the subway, I left an extra hour—so basically I allowed 2 and a half hours to get to John’s concert. We STILL BARELY MADE IT ON TIME!! I couldn’t BELIEVE what a pain it was! The bus to Taipei Main Station was SUPER crowded—we were so lucky that people gave up seats for us! AND THEN the bus stop outside of Taipei Main Station seemed like a MILE away!! It was AWFUL dragging lollygagging kids—I held hands with both of them the whole time--through all the massively crowded sidewalks and streets to get to Taipei Main Station! If I had KNOWN the subway was THAT far from the bus stop, I would have sought other options—we really LOST a LOT of time because of the distance. Usually the bus stops are right outside the subway stations! AND THEN Taipei Main Station was extremely crowded! While we were fighting our way through the crowds, a woman’s purse HIT LAUREN in the EYE!! TOTALLY freaked me out, and of course Lauren started crying, so I knew it was bad because she rarely cries! I covered the other eye asked her immediately if she could see out of that eye, and she could, but she complained that it still hurt. BUT THEN a person who worked at the subway station came over to us IMMEDIATELY and asked if she could help! She was SO NICE and insisted that we come with her to the office and get some help for Lauren. I was pretty blown away by that—this would NEVER happen in the U.S.—people in the U.S. totally ignore you when something bad happens to you! (Didn’t a person just get trampled to death at a Wal-Mart in the U.S., and people STILL SHOPPED and just stepped over the body??) SO anyway, someone looked at Lauren’s eye and flushed it out with some water. Lauren immediately felt better and said her eye didn’t hurt anymore. I was VERY relieved and appreciative!!

During the concert, Lauren and Luke were well-behaved, but it was still a little nerve-racking for me because Luke was OBVIOUSLY restless! I had promised the children I would give them chocolate if they were “good” during the concert, and throughout the concert, Luke kept asking if it was over and if he could have his chocolate! So I could not relax. By the end of this entire adventure, my stomach was in a billion knots! I knew John had his stress to deal with, so I didn’t complain to him at all—but man, was I happy to have a glass of wine that evening!

After the concert, John’s band students made the HUGEST fuss over Lauren and Luke! They played with them, kept saying over and over how cute they were, how pretty Lauren is, and what large eyes they have! Even the male students played enthusiastically with Lauren and Luke. This truly demonstrates a large cultural difference between Chinese/Taiwanese people and Americans. When Taiwanese/Chinese people think your children are attractive, they REALLY lavish SO MUCH attention on them and COMPLETELY go OVERBOARD. The DOWNSIDE of this, however, is that Taiwanese/Chinese people don’t say ANYTHING if they think your child is “normal-looking.” We’re REALLY fortunate in that people think BOTH Lauren and Luke are cute. In the case of 2 siblings and only ONE of the siblings is considered “attractive,” I’ve seen MANY instances in which Chinese/Taiwanese people will LAVISH attention on the “attractive” sibling and COMPLETELY IGNORE the other. I think this can be very heart-breaking and emotionally damaging for the left-out child! How would you explain these incidents to the left-out child? So I greatly appreciate the attention, but on the other hand, I’m relieved that BOTH get the same consideration.

The video is one of John’s rehearsals. Unfortunately, the video of John’s concert is unusable. I apologize for my camera work—I was trying to be artsy, but instead it’s ANNOYING!

This past week-end we took the children to a Hello Kitty restaurant, a place known for its sweets. Hello Kitty is IMMENSELY popular here, and Lauren LOVES Hello Kitty! The restaurant is EXTREMELY girlie—it’s all pink with Hello Kitties everywhere, and Lauren said she felt like a princess in a castle! It’s also WAY overpriced—although the desserts are tasty, you’re pretty much paying for the experience and the atmosphere. I’m glad that Luke was too young to realize just how girlie the place is—I’m sure if he were older, he would have felt like a fruitcake there or would have REFUSED to go! Even John mentioned that the men’s room was pretty fru-fru—it’s totally in pastels and the Hello Kitty emblem is on the paper towel holder! But there were several young couples at the restaurant—I think many guys take their girlfriends there as a sweet gesture (ha, ha)!

Teacher Linda, her son, K.C., and her family took our family and Greg to Xindian, an area just outside Taipei, but only about 30 minutes from where we live. We ate at a WONDERFUL Japanese restaurant and afterwards, we took a walk on the riverwalk by the Xindian subway station. This area is very beautiful—it reminded me of the riverwalk in Savannah. There was also a suspended walking bridge, and this reminded me of the bridge in Greenville, SC. The children were pleased with all the Christmas decorations, so it was quite a picturesque night scene!

We want to wish everyone a HAPPY, HAPPY HOLIDAY!!

Next up…reviewing Fulbright applications, Luke’s Christmas program, trying to celebrate Christmas in Taiwan.....