Sometimes I have found myself living very much in the moment but there are other times when my focus is on what's next, what's next. I don't particularly like that feeling. Right now there are so many things to think about that are coming up that I forget to think about and experience what's happening in the here and now. We're going to China in less than a week but I'm ironing some details out for our second trip there in June as we book flights home. My thoughts have been on that second trip quite a bit. I need to step back and remind myself, hey, you're going to CHINA in five days. How cool is that?!

I spent some time sitting on a park bench yesterday, getting back into the here and now. It was a beautiful day but I was feeling a little melancholy having just said goodbye to Gavin. It felt like a good time to spend some time biking around the art park and then finding myself a spot of sunshine to sit for awhile. Unfortunately, just as I settled into the first spot I chose, the sprinklers came on and surprised everyone nearby, but I did find an even better bench to settle on. It was such a beautiful day and really smelled and felt like spring. Last year it seemed like spring weather for most of November through April - dry and cool - and then suddenly it was hot and humid summer weather. I like when there's a pause between seasons when the air feels and smells a little different. Yesterday had that smell of new growth, that feel of warmth in the sun and cool in the shade, that you get on those uniquely spring days. It was a good re-charging moment.

This morning dawned beautifully clear and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky and hardly any pollution either. There is a cold surge warning for most of the island but it warmed up into the 70's by midday, which is about as lovely as it can be. We took advantage of the weather and headed to Monkey Mountain.

There's always the worry when you take newbies up there that they won't see any monkeys. The hike is a bit tough - lots of stairs so you gain elevation very quickly - so you want some reward, right? And this is Monkey Mountain, after all, so you want monkeys, right? The Chinese name for the mountain, by the way, is Shoushan, which does not translate to monkeys.

We did, once again, find monkeys to show off to Gavin.

There were not as many as we've seen on some hikes but there were a lot more than usual walking on the boardwalks with us. It's kind of cool, and kind of unnerving, to have a large monkey sauntering along next to as you hike in the jungle. They're barely interested in you, unless of course you open your backpack. I did not bring out any snacks for them to grab away from me, but we did see a woman lose her bag of nuts to a very speedy fellow.

Because the air had cleaned up so nicely the views were quite spectacular. This is looking north, with the ocean peeking out along the left.

This is looking west at a bunch of ships anchored off the coast waiting to come in to the harbor, or whatever it is they're waiting for.

Since we were out and about already we decided to stay out and about and headed down to the harbor. We locked our bikes at the base of the hill and walked up to the former British Consulate and enjoyed the view and a cup of coffee.

Lee was feeling a bit under the weather Friday afternoon - the road to recovery after pneumonia is very long indeed - so Gavin and I ventured out on our own after school. The weather has been cold and rainy and yesterday evening was no better. But he's only here for a week so you just put with it and go.

First, we headed downtown to the 85 Tower. I've been wanting to go visit there since we arrived last year but hadn't taken the opportunity before. It's 85 stories tall, as you can imagine, and was briefly the tallest building in Taiwan until the Taipei 101 was built a few years ago. There's an observation area on the 74th floor, which is where we headed.

My fear of heights has decreased substantially over the last few years and I did pretty well up there. The elevator is incredibly fast - I think it takes about 45 seconds to reach the 75th floor. That was the most unnerving part. With the smog and low clouds I expected the view to be ho-hum but it was actually pretty spectacular. There were no mountains to see and our neighborhood was lost in the gloom but the building is so much taller than anything else and right next to the harbor so you can see the layout of downtown incredibly well. Gavin had come downtown a couple days ago to see the AIT building and the newly built library, which are both architecturally remarkable buildings. It was pretty cool to look down on them from so high up.

Given that the weather was so crappy, it wasn't surprising that we had the observation deck pretty much to ourselves. (It's called a deck but it's all enclosed, which was fine by me.) We wandered around, paid our 10NT to look through the binoculars, watched the lights of the city start flickering on, then got hungry and headed down to the mall for dinner. That was a forgettable meal, not surprisingly, so we walked through the rain to the Liuhe night market.

Lee and I had been there once before and it's nice to see the contrast between that one and Rueifong, the one close to our apartment. I like Rueifong better because it's more congested, people bumping into each other, alleyways lined with tightly packed stalls that crisscross every which way. Liuhe is a city street closed to traffic for the evening, the stalls lined up along the sidewalk. It's a straight shot down one side and back the other. Last night it was busy with what I can only guess was a couple of busloads of Chinese tourists, all huddled under their umbrellas, sampling the deep fried fish balls and squid on a stick.

We bought some nougat, mochi and chopsticks. Oh, and the fabulous candied sweet potatoes I love at the other night market. Yum. Then back onto the subway and home for me, Rueifong for Gavin. He wanted some more of the tofu we'd gotten before and couldn't find at Liuhe plus he really needed to find our favorite scallion pancake guy. I think Gavin may have fallen in love with him, same as us.

Gavin has chosen an unusually wet week to spend in Taiwan. It rained hard on our walk to dinner Tuesday and he and Lee got caught out in a downpour yesterday coming back from the market. Today's forecast is for showers and Friday it may rain all day. I don't remember it raining at all in March last year. Actually, last March is a bit of a blur to me, but still, this seems like an awfully early start to the wet season.

While I was busy with my elementary school weaving club (which consists of five very enthusiastic fourth and fifth grade girls) Lee and Gavin biked up to the afternoon market. We affectionately call it Linda's market because our friend Linda is the one who introduced us to this very "authentic" locale. This is no tourist stop. It's just where one goes to pick up makings for dinner, either the raw ingredients or pre-made food. There are dumplings and scallion pancakes, fruit smoothies and noodle soup, plus fruit, vegetables, fresh made pasta.

And, of course, the butcher's section. Recently dead chickens with their heads and feet still attached, every part of the pig except the squeal, and fish and seafood so fresh the fish are still flopping on the bed of ice. This is a good way to face one's decision to be a meat eater. There is no hiding the fact that this meat comes from a once-living creature. There are no styrofoam trays and saran wrap to sanitize one's carnivorous nature.

Lee and Gavin skipped the meat and bought fruit and veggies instead. Once they dried off and changed we met up with some friends, including Linda, for whom we've named the market and had a wonderful dinner at an Israeli restaurant. Lee and I both ordered meat, Gavin, being a vegetarian, did not.

Gavin has arrived for a week of fun in Taiwan. His plane landed at a very reasonable 9:30 am Saturday. We should have suggested to all our guests to choose a flight that landed during the daylight hours. Those 11:30 pm flights are tough, especially when you have to go to work the next day.

Shortly after touchdown we whisked him off with Pearl to Meinong to have lunch at the Hakka restaurant and wander around the Hakka cultural village. When Gavin had talked to Zach about his recommendations of what to do while he was here, Zach said lunch with Pearl was not to be missed, and Gavin was not disappointed.

We'd never walked around the village before. It's a sort of shopping mall more than anything else. My favorite stall had a woman selling an odd collection of plastic toys, small metal sculptures and wooden instruments. Sitting behind her was an old gentleman playing Chinese music using a hand saw and a metal broom handle. We stopped at a tea shop and tried the traditional tea. We skipped the opportunity to make our own - it involved a half hour of grinding the tea into a powder - but enjoyed drinking the tea. Okay, not so much enjoyed as experienced. It was gritty with the flavor of hay. It reminded me of when I was a child and I'd drink the last of the milk leftover from a bowl of puffed rice cereal. Sweet, milky and gritty.

The air pollution on Sunday was as bad as ever but we ventured out anyway and tried not to breath too deeply. We spent the day on bikes, going to Cijin Island, walking around the lighthouse, stopping for mango ice by the ferry terminal. The views were completely obscured by the smog but it was a nice day nonetheless. It's a different kind of tour when you can bike everywhere. We were a bit stymied about where to go with Zach and Cierra because we spend all of our time on our bikes. It was harder to come up with ideas for them to do because we just didn't know what to do on foot. It worked out just fine, of course, and we learned about some places to visit that we didn't know before. We learned the bike rental system when the Pragers were here so that's made it easier to get a bike for Gavin.

Today he's coming to school to see the presentations my students have prepared on Taiwanese cooking. Josh got to learn about places to visit in Taiwan, for Zach and Cierra it was favorite spaces at KAS, and Gavin gets food.

I overheard a conversation at school the other day. Two seventh grade girls were looking at a tree in the courtyard and arguing about what kind of tree it was. The conversation was actually in English. Even though they're supposed to always be speaking in English at school, the students rarely do if they can get away with speaking in Chinese instead. Of this pair of girls, however, one is from Russia and the other from Taiwan so their common language is English.

So back to the tree. There was something growing on it and one girl said it was a peach but the other one said, "It can't be a peach. They don't grow on trees." Hmm. I suggested that maybe it was a chestnut tree. And yes, peaches do indeed grow on trees. It's always good to grab those teachable moments.

I was biking around the park the other day. It's been rainy and chilly for the past few days and there were fallen leaves scattered around on the ground. There's a unique smell to damp leaves on a cold, wet day. There are certain smells like that one that instantly transports you to some specific time and place. One whiff of those leaves and I was back in the woods of New England on a rainy fall day.

I have often been reminded of certain places and times during my months here. The feel of the hot sun and the smell of flowers brings me instantly to hot summer days in the backyard in Weatogue. The sound of the waves at Cijin Island always reminds me of the Rhode Island shore. The backdrop of palm trees calls to mind our trips to Mexico and Tobago.

I wonder, when I'm back living in the States, when I'll have those visceral moments and I'll suddenly be back in Taiwan.

I overheard an interesting exchange the other day. I happened to be following a couple of girls down the hall and heard them chatting. When they saw me they switched from Chinese to English, as the expectation is that the students speak only English when they are at school. Ha! There is no real consequence for speaking Chinese in the hallway so the vast majority of conversations are in Chinese. These girls, however, attempted to follow the rules and continued on in English.

They were gossiping about their friends and, what was funny to me, every time they had negative things to say, they switched back to Chinese.

Girl 1: "Did you see what Meredith was wearing today? "
Girl 2: "I thought it was cute."
Girl 1: "Maybe, but [insert Chinese]."
Girl 2: "Justin probably thought so too."
Both girls giggle.
etc, etc.

I am very jealous of these kids' ability to switch between the two most commonly spoken languages so easily. I try tell my students that, even though it may be hard for them, what a gift to be able to speak both Mandarin Chinese and English. Many of these students also know Taiwanese and a smattering of Korean, Japanese, Spanish. My high school French, on the other hand, only helped me briefly in Vietnam to know when a restaurant may be serving French cuisine. Not what the foods are, of course, since that would all be in Vietnamese, but I recognized Chez Joseph on the sign outside.

I had hoped that I would be able to continue with Chinese lessons this year but I allowed too many obstacles to get in my way. Maybe I'll find a written Chinese class when I'm back in Connecticut and learn more about writing characters. Anyone want to join me?

I should be saying what a gorgeous spring its been. The sun has been shining, the temperatures have been in that wonderful 70 degree range that feels perfect, the flowers are blooming (okay, there are always flowers blooming here). What sucks all the joy out of this seemingly lovely weather? The pollution.

Pretty much every day since Chinese New Year break has been over, the pollution levels have been in the red zone - unhealthy for everyone. The reason the air was good during CNY is that the schools and most of the factories were closed down for the vacation week so there was less crap getting spewed into the air. I tried to get my students to care about this - get your government to care about your health! Get them to enact some change! You have a say in how your environment is taken care of! You'd think I was talking to a bunch of 13 year olds who only care about themselves. Oh right, I teach middle school. Sigh.

I am pretty proud of myself. I managed to throw Lee a surprise party and he didn't catch on until the guests started to arrive. I can still surprise him, even after 30+ years. Yeah me!

Lee has been saying that he would like to do a 7-11 pub crawl - go from one 7-11 to the next having a drink at each one, which can be pretty impressive considering there's a 7-11 every two blocks and they sell a wide array of alcohol. But in the next breath he'll say he really would prefer to do his drinking at home. So I figured I should throw him a party that combined 7-11, home and drinking.

The problem with throwing him a birthday party is that his birthday is in June, after everyone has disappeared for the summer. So instead I chose the day that was 7 months and 11 days after his real birthday (7-11, get it?) but that didn't work out. The next idea was to combine it with our tentative plans to celebrate the anniversary of my not getting killed in a bike accident. It made a great distraction from the surprise of it actually being his birthday party.

My friend Jen made decorations for the hall.

Guests were instructed to bring a food to share, purchased at 7-11 and, if they chose to bring a gift, they had to have bought it from 7-11 and spent less than 200NT (about $7). The food table was mostly covered with chips and microwavable chicken pieces. Mmmm.

 I gave one friend special permission to break the food rule so she could bake birthday brownies.

You'd be surprised by what can you get at the 7-11 for 200NT. First off, "Benign Girl," from the Sweet Delivery Girls Series by Jie Star.

But also this...

many varieties of beer including mango flavored, choco pies, ginseng, essence of chicken, essence of clam with ginseng, many varieties of coffee, squid flavored fish floss, briefs, t-shirts, a raincoat, face masks and a plastic canister you can get for free if you save up enough 7-11 stickers in a month. These are true friends who can present you with such a bounty.

Lee took himself to the ER Saturday morning to plead for better cough medicine than we had at home. It turns out he has pneumonia. After an IV dose of antibiotics, a handful of other medications and an appointment for a follow-up visit in a few days, he came home and started the long road to recovery.

He didn't really want me hanging around watching him rest (or at least that's what I heard him say), so I ditched him for the rest of the day and headed to Taoyuan with some friends to see the official Taiwan Lantern Festival. One city on the island is designated as the official site and this year it was a couple of train stops south of Taipei, about one and a half hours north of here on the high speed rail.

There was something like 60 acres of open space (a huge parking lot when it's not being used for the lantern festival) that was filled with fanciful paper and nylon lanterns. Think Christmas decorations that people have in their yards that you fill with air, like a bounce house. These are that shape and size but made of wire structures covered with colorful fabric - paper, or cloth - and lit from inside with lightbulbs. The shapes were everything from traditional Buddhas and Chinese zodiacs to Minions and superheroes. Not to mention the ubiquitous paper lanterns.

One of my favorites - the unexpected Picasso

There were Minions everywhere!

Jen and Linda, traveling companions extraordinaire.

We had an earthquake drill at school yesterday. Imagine, the school secretary comes on the pa system and calmly tells us that there is an earthquake. The students all crawl under their tables for the allotted 30 seconds, then file out of the front door and down the street to a big open field where they get yelled at by the superintendent because the high schoolers didn't take the whole drill thing seriously. Then all 800 or so of us file back up the street and into school where the teachers dutifully admonish the students for the need to take drills seriously.

We'll do the same thing again today, except it will be a fire drill, so no hiding under the tables. I guess practicing is a good thing but it's hard to get much teaching done, what with all this walking down the street and hanging around in the sunshine. Hopefully those pesky high schoolers will be more serious today.