TAIWAN - Week Four

Okay, I left off on Saturday morning, right? Well, the three students from the cooking class the week before arrived at noon and we had a rousing game of Scrabble. It was so much fun. Forrest, who speaks very little English was paired up with Bern who is a natural teacher! Jill and Brent were a team. Jill speaks a little more English than Forrest and I was Pink's team mate. Of the three, Pink speaks the best English. We got down to our final letter tiles and were making 2-letter words and abbreviations. Bern and Forrest won with "ID", we also allowed Brent and Jill to use "IV".....Pink and I had a U left and, just when we thought the game was over, we found a place for it, spelling "UV". That put us over the top to win the game - contested by Bern and Forrest, of course!!!

Nikki dressed up to win with Dad!

Clockwise: Jill, Bern, my seat, Pink, Brent & Nikki, and Forrest

The final board - Pink and I pulled it out of the fire with "UV"

Bern just realizing he and Forrest didn't actually win

Tammy had several tutoring jobs lined up for Saturday afternoon and then came home around 5:00 to feed Nikki and get ready to go out for supper with some close girlfriends from Taipei. Before she got home, Paul came over for the evening - he is from Toronto, but his parents are from Jamaica. His girlfriend, Ring (from Tainan), joined us later. Really liked her a lot - bubbly, bright and spoke very acceptable English. She brought us some amazing macadamia nut tarts as a gift. When I say amazing, I'm not exaggerating! We were joined by Diego (from Chile) and Rema (from Mongolia), and their friend, Derek (from the U.S.)

We played Cranium until the wee small hours! Bern sneaked off to bed around 11:30, but I hung in until almost 1:30! We had a great time. So much fun that I even forgot to take pictures! Nikki, of course, had a hard time sleeping with all the noise - plus the fact that she LOVES to be in on the action. At one point, I saw Bern sitting beside her crib. When he came out, he told me he'd been praying for her. He was quite emotional all day realizing we're leaving in another week.

On Sunday, we had planned to take Nikki for her first swimming lesson, but nobody really felt up to the task. First we were going to go in the morning, then it got bumped to 2:00 and finally we just said how about Monday. Everybody agreed.

The wind was crazy all day on Sunday. Apparently, another typhoon passed to the north of Taiwan and we got the tail of it - the wind part, not the rain. We went out around 5:00 to look for a little float-y device for Nikki as well as some swimming diapers and a cap. We went to three stores and finally found what they were looking for.

After that, we went to the Green Olive for supper. It was wonderful, as usual. Tammy and I both had the mushroom soup (lovely!). Then, Bern and I both had a fresh green salad with pork strips and oranges. Brent had chicken and rice curry and Tammy had baby clams and spaghetti in pesto sauce. I said to Tammy she will be happy to have her house back to herself after we go home. They both started saying they didn't understand why we couldn't stay longer. Why did we have to leave so soon? That we should be able to change our tickets without too much trouble. That we should just stay until James and Stephanie get here! It's nice to be wanted!! Of course, we can't stay longer - we have obligations at home, too. What they are right now, I can't remember!

Trying to grab everything in sight!

Anyway, we came home and watched "The Lone Ranger" - well, they watched it while I dozed off and on throughout. I'd seen it before, so it was okay. Tammy went to bed early, too, since she had to go work in the morning.

Brent took Monday off work and I found him sleeping on the couch when I got up around 8:30. Tammy is usually gone by then, so I didn't think anything of it. When Brent finally woke up around 10:00, he went into their bedroom to find Tammy still sleeping. The baby had been up most of the night and Brent, feeling a cold coming on, had taken a couple of Nyquils, so Tammy was left with baby. Anyway, she needed the "mental health" day!

Bern and Brent went out to spend some time together and came home with a new computer - an early Christmas present for Brent and Tammy. Theirs was literally falling apart and since we will NEED/WANT to Skype on a regular basis, it was in our own best interest!!! Anyway, Bern and Brent had a nice morning together and even went for a light lunch before coming home.

Meanwhile, Tammy got Nikki into her bathing suit to see if it would fit - it's sized for a 9-month old, but she's growing so fast. When the guys got home, we all got ready for our big swimming adventure and I was very excited to be part of Nikki's first swimming lesson.....until they told me I had to wear a swimming cap!!!! What???? Oh well, Bern said he wouldn't take any pictures of me while I had the cap on - whew!

  

Wow! Look at my new swimsuit!!!

 

....and the back!

 

Sporting my new sailor hat!

Ready to swim!

Crawling up Grandpa's hairy legs!

Well, we arrived at our destination - a beautiful hotel near the school where Brent teaches at. When we went to the front desk, we were told that they were doing cleanup and maintenance on both the indoor and outdoor pools and wouldn't be available for swimming until Wednesday!

We were a little disappointed because we'd driven quite a distance, but we decided to make the best of it, so we went for a late lunch/early supper at a restaurant called "Green House". We all had the surf and turf, which consisted of soup, salad, sirloin steak and a piece of tilapia. For dessert, we had the most delicious banana/chocolate smoothies! Yummy!

After our meal, we decided to go shopping. Tammy had been wanting to take me to her favorite shopping area and we were close by. I'd been looking for a new purse and so was she. We both found just the ones we wanted!!

Nikki "hung" around with Grandpa while Mom and Grandma shopped

Needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted by the time we got home!

Tuesday was a quiet day for the most part. Brent started setting up the computer while Tammy was at work. When she came home, we finished it and Bern very rightly decided they needed to get a HDMI cable to run from the PC to the TV to get the best sound and picture. Tammy had her Tuesday night teaching job so she left around 7:00 and Brent was working until 9:30 so Grandpa and Grandma were on baby duty. We played until almost 10:00....and still no parents! Nikki finally fell asleep in my arms.

When Brent and Tammy finally phoned at 10:10, they said they'd decided to meet up after work and go pick up the HDMI cable they needed as well as some supper. Tammy and I stayed up watching the end of a movie called "Beautiful Creature" - different, but it had a happy ending.

Wednesday was swimming day, so around 2:30 we were on the road again back to the hotel. This time, we got in! The pool and facility was lovely and Nikki took to the water like a little duck. She loved it and I was so pleased that Brent and Tammy wanted me to be the first to introduce her to swimming. Thank goodness she liked it and didn't hate it....maybe that's why they wanted someone else to put her in the water. No. We had lots of fun and Bern took lots of pictures. I was able to get quite a lot of movie footage, too, but the files are too big to post on here - dang!

Swimming is exhausting work, Mom!

Thursday, we were invited to the home of Brent's boss, Viviane. She lives in a townhouse condo complex outside of Tainan. It was built with the idea that businesses would populate the area if enough people bought the units. Apparently that hasn't happened so the value of the houses has dropped significantly. Her house is 4 levels and is really beautiful. The lunch was potluck and in our honor.....well, okay it could have been in celebration of Taiwan's 102nd birthday, too. There were several other teachers from Joy School there, too, including Grace and her family. Grace is the lovely little lady who interpreted Bern's speech at Brent and Tammy's wedding three years ago. It was good to see her - she's so sweet. Everyone was so kind and lots of fun.

Grace with her youngest son, husband at the end of the table

Viviane's sister, Betty and her family. Betty owns a tea shop in Tainan.

Viviane and her son at the kitchen doorway

On the way home, we all realized it would be the last evening we would be together - by ourselves, that is. Tammy's family were due to arrive the next day. So, we decided to get in some snacks and spend the evening playing games. Before Nikki's bedtime, though, Tammy decided to try some shoes on her. The first pair of little pink ballet slippers were already too small for her, so she tried on a bigger pair and they fit perfectly. We all thought they were lovely - Nikki? Not too sure!


Are you sure these go with my outfit, Mom?

Now what?

I suppose you expect me to walk in these!

 Well, Tammy's Mom, sister, brother-in-law and nephew arrived Friday afternoon around 4:00 p.m. Nobody speaks English so there was lots of smiling and nodding going on. I wish I could talk to Tammy's mother - she seems like someone I would really like as a friend. She is awesome with the babies, too, which makes leaving a little easier - not much, but a little.

The reluctant Granny hand-off

Tammy's sister, Winnie and her son, Evan with Nikki

He likes his Auntie Tammy!

Our little Nikki holding her own!

They can't get enough of standing upright!

 We all helped Tammy chop and dice the vegetables she needed to prepare pineapple chicken and shrimp wraps. It was YUMMY!

Sitting behind Winnie is her husband, Eason

Nikki LOVES rice crackers (for babies)!

I'm going to post this now because today, Saturday, is going to be a very busy day. We have English class with Pink and Jill at noon, I promised to make a bumble berry pie for Diego's birthday party tonight (there's already a peach pie in the freezer), and we have to get packed up for our trip home tomorrow morning. Whew! Anyway, I'll report on all of that from my own house in Welland!

I do miss home, but I'm going to miss my son, daughter-in-law and precious baby granddaughter more! Lord, help me get through the good-byes.