Michael and I got sent home from school today for bad behaviour. Just kidding. Well, I think I'm kidding. It may have been because Michael's screaming fits are annoying everyone in the school, but the owner just told us to go home at lunch time because we had already had two long days in a row. Fine with me.
We went home and both slept for three hours. It HAD been a long two days. Of course, then neither of us could fall asleep later. Michael finally went to sleep around 10:30pm, but at 1am, I was still awake, so I just got up. I finally fell asleep around 4:30am. Well, at least we could sleep in!
Friday, 11 April 2008
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Long Days
Michael's teacher was still away sick, so he had a sub in his class who doesn't really know how to handle his age group. So, Michael had another very bad day. It's amazing how loud little kids can cry. And Michael is the champion of them all. They had asked me to stay full day so that I could sub with the Grade 3s again. However, I didn't have to go in the Kindergarten class in the afternoon like I usually do on full days, so I took Michael out of his class at lunch time and let him stay with me. He liked that (and I'm sure the substitute teacher did, too!).
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Champion Crier
Michael's teacher wasn't feeling well today. I can always tell what mood his teacher is in by how often I hear him cry in the mornings. The whole school can hear him cry. He just wails at the top of his lungs over everything, and if you don't catch him before it starts, it gets out of control. Usually, you just have to tell him to stop crying and use his words, listen to him, then distract him and then everythings alright. And usually, that's what happens. But a bad teacher day is like a bad mom day. Nobody's happy.
His teacher came into my class at lunch time and told me that she had a migraine and was leaving, so I would be alone with the Grade 3s. That was fine as they were just working on travel brochures and just needed more research time.
I was hoping to get through a week without a potty story, but it will have to wait until next week. After I finally convinced Michael to go home after school, we walked to the bus stop and then he announced he needed to go. So, we raced back to the school, he went, and then started playing with one of the administrators and refused to leave again. So we stayed another fifteen minutes until Annie's class was over and then we went out to eat with Annie and May.
As we were walking to the restaurant, we passed a street vendor selling strawberries, and Michael started begging for some. May picked out some for him and some for Annie, but I actually managed to pay for them before she did (only because I had the exact amount of money, and she would have required change, so he took mine). Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough at supper and she paid the bill before we ate so that I wouldn't be able to pay. You win some, you lose some. Although, it's funny that I consider it losing when I don't get to pay!
His teacher came into my class at lunch time and told me that she had a migraine and was leaving, so I would be alone with the Grade 3s. That was fine as they were just working on travel brochures and just needed more research time.
I was hoping to get through a week without a potty story, but it will have to wait until next week. After I finally convinced Michael to go home after school, we walked to the bus stop and then he announced he needed to go. So, we raced back to the school, he went, and then started playing with one of the administrators and refused to leave again. So we stayed another fifteen minutes until Annie's class was over and then we went out to eat with Annie and May.
As we were walking to the restaurant, we passed a street vendor selling strawberries, and Michael started begging for some. May picked out some for him and some for Annie, but I actually managed to pay for them before she did (only because I had the exact amount of money, and she would have required change, so he took mine). Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough at supper and she paid the bill before we ate so that I wouldn't be able to pay. You win some, you lose some. Although, it's funny that I consider it losing when I don't get to pay!
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Misc. Day
I took Michael to a dumpling restaurant close to school for lunch. As we arrived, Linda was just walking out, so she helped us order and paid the bill before she left. We got a cold soy milk drink, which Michael actually liked. When I had gotten it warm before (the way I like it on cold days), he took one sip and refused to drink anymore, so I was a little surprised. I like dumpling restaurants because they have little saucers (that you're supposed to mix your hot sauce and vinegar in) that make perfect little bowls for Michael.
Then we went to our afternoon tea coffee shop to see if they had an iced chocolate drink. The menu said they did, but it turned out just to be cold chocolate milk with a few ice cubes thrown in. Next time, we'll just go to the 7-11 across the street for the same thing at half the price.
I needed to develop some pictures, so we kept on walking. The owner grabbed another customer (obviously a regular) to translate for me. Then we went into the public housing community and played on their playgrounds. It's right by the first apartment Robert and I had in Taiwan. Nothing has changed much there.
As soon as Annie came over for her lesson, I asked her to translate my air conditioner remote control. I had pressed a whole bunch of buttons on it earlier, and it was blowing cool air, but not cold air. I guess I had used up whatever battery was left, because she couldn't make it do anything using the remote. Oh well.
Then we went to our afternoon tea coffee shop to see if they had an iced chocolate drink. The menu said they did, but it turned out just to be cold chocolate milk with a few ice cubes thrown in. Next time, we'll just go to the 7-11 across the street for the same thing at half the price.
I needed to develop some pictures, so we kept on walking. The owner grabbed another customer (obviously a regular) to translate for me. Then we went into the public housing community and played on their playgrounds. It's right by the first apartment Robert and I had in Taiwan. Nothing has changed much there.
As soon as Annie came over for her lesson, I asked her to translate my air conditioner remote control. I had pressed a whole bunch of buttons on it earlier, and it was blowing cool air, but not cold air. I guess I had used up whatever battery was left, because she couldn't make it do anything using the remote. Oh well.
Monday, 7 April 2008
Legal Again
Well, the sun came out, I got off at the right bus stop, I remembered my map, the supervisor wasn't in a meeting and the girl I was talking to last time had just come back from lunch when I walked in, so I didn't wait for my number to be called (there were A LOT more people than last time), but went straight to her before she could start with anyone else and she took care of me right away. With such a string of good luck, how could things not work out? Well, I did have to call Robert at 1:30am Calgary time to get him to e-mail me a bank statement, but we got our visa extentions and will not have to pay any fines when we leave. Yeah!
Then we went to the park to play. Michael got knocked over by a girl on a swing. I had only warned him not to run in front of her about a dozen times already. Oh well. Then we went to IKEA for ice cream, to play in the ballpit and to eat dinner. Michael really likes their "pork chop." It's actually a cordon bleu pork chop (stuffed with ham and cheese with a crispy coating) which is actually quite tasty. Probably because it's deep fried... When I get back to Canada, I'm going to need to go on a serious diet.
Then we went to the park to play. Michael got knocked over by a girl on a swing. I had only warned him not to run in front of her about a dozen times already. Oh well. Then we went to IKEA for ice cream, to play in the ballpit and to eat dinner. Michael really likes their "pork chop." It's actually a cordon bleu pork chop (stuffed with ham and cheese with a crispy coating) which is actually quite tasty. Probably because it's deep fried... When I get back to Canada, I'm going to need to go on a serious diet.
Sunday, 6 April 2008
YouTube and Geckos Part II
Yes, Michael has become a YouTube addict. I typed in "Thomas" in the search box and tonnes of "Thomas the Tank Engine" videos came up. Michael is a huge fan. Most of the videos were home videos of kids playing with their train sets, or toy battery operated engines going around fancy track setups that the kids had made. I think Michael spent two hours on YouTube while I read a book. I kept on going over to check on him thinking that he would fall asleep in front of such boring material, but he was fascinated.
As I was eating dinner, a gecko ran up the wall in front of me. This time I remembered to take a picture before running next door and asking May's husband to get it out for me. The last time freaked me out enough. I wasn't about to do it again myself when help is so close by. As you can see, it was in the process of growing back a tail. I wondered if it was the same one as before...
Joseph and his son James came over with a mosquito racket and some paper. I didn't want them to zap it unintentionally, so I got them a container which they used to take it outside. I kept on telling them to take it far away, but they let it out right outside my door again. So, maybe there will be a Geckos Park III post sometime before I leave.
As I was eating dinner, a gecko ran up the wall in front of me. This time I remembered to take a picture before running next door and asking May's husband to get it out for me. The last time freaked me out enough. I wasn't about to do it again myself when help is so close by. As you can see, it was in the process of growing back a tail. I wondered if it was the same one as before...
Joseph and his son James came over with a mosquito racket and some paper. I didn't want them to zap it unintentionally, so I got them a container which they used to take it outside. I kept on telling them to take it far away, but they let it out right outside my door again. So, maybe there will be a Geckos Park III post sometime before I leave.
Saturday, 5 April 2008
Among Taipei's Elite
Yesterday, Linda invited Michael and I to accompany her and her kids to an "Easter Egg Hunt" at the Yuanshan Club of which she's a member (here's a quote from their website - "Members are generally high profile, well known in either the local business or international communities" - ie. they're all super rich). So, we met her at her house and taxied over there.
I knew that it was supposed to get up to 32 degrees Celcius, but it was still fairly cool in the morning, so I dressed Michael in jeans and brought along a pair of shorts and both our hats. I was ready to change Michael as soon as we arrived. The sun came out and it was HOT.
Lunch was first. Linda had ordered Michael the "kid's meal" pictured below. Now, has anyone else ever seen a kid's meal comprised of french fries, half a smokie, a quarter of a ham sandwich, two chicken nuggets, a cherry tomato cut in half, a slice of watermelon and honeydew melon, plus a slice of honey cake all nicely arranged around a scoop of potato salad with a chocolate cookie roll stuck on top? Not me. I had to take a picture. Needless to say, Michael loved it and only got through about a third of it. I wanted to ask if I could have the kid's meal, too! I had to content myself with the beef noodle (note to self: never wear a white shirt and order beef noodle) and Michael's leftovers.
Lunch was in the cafe which led out onto the terrace with a small playground. There was also another games building (it had a two lane bowling alley, and a couple of pool and ping pong tables). Down the steps was the Olympic size swimming pool, some green space and then further along were the eight tennis courts. Michael loved running in and out of the cafe to go explore, and Linda made Harris follow him around until I finished lunch. Here's a picture of the club taken from near the tennis courts.
Michael is pushing a tennis ball cart. One of the games they had for the kids to play was catching balls shot from a tennis ball cannon (what's the name of those machines that you can use to play tennis by yourself?) into a net attached to the frame of a tennis racket. Luckily, Michael had more fun running around with the ball cart than in catching the balls. However, he eventually got bored and started throwing balls in the swimming pool. After the other kids had left, the club worker just threw the balls gently into the net that Michael was holding so that Michael could feel like he was catching them. The club certainly provided a full service. And the parents wonder why their kids want everything done for them...
They also had a few other games (throwing darts at balloons, knocking down bottles with a beanbag) including sliding a beer mug down a long table covered in soap suds. Michael loved playing, although he was hopeless at all of them. I regret to say, he throws like a girl, and well, you can see how far he pushed the beer mug... But, there are more important things in life, like learning how to push your way through a crowd in order to make an Easter picture frame. (We never did have an egg hunt.) Alas, he's not so good at that either, and we had to wait quite a while before a crack opened up.
Well, after spending a few hours wandering between the few activities, I was getting very bored and hot. Sara and Harris had decided long ago that it was not for them and spent the whole time in the air-conditioned games building playing pool. I was jealous. I finally convinved Michael to go back inside the cafe where Linda had stayed to chat with all her friends. When he told her he wanted to go home, she distracted him by ordering him a banana split. Of course, they only use Haagen Daaz ice cream, and the three flavours were Reeses peanut butter, chocolate and mango or peach (I wasn't quite sure). Michael finished about one scoop, so I had to sacrifice again and finish it off. Sometimes being a mother is really rough.
Michael went back outside when they brought out the pinatas. I'm told he actually hit one, unlike most of the other kids, but I was too busy eating his ice cream to watch. We watched a little later and found out they were filled with things like rice crackers instead of candy. Only in Taiwan...
Here's a sign that I found by the side of the pool.
It says "Lite guards when entorcing club yeguia-tions must be obeyed" in case you can't read it from the picture. Now, there are always mispelled signs around Taiwan, but I didn't expect to see such a badly translated sign here, where everyone can speak English. It made me smile.
Linda's husband arrived soon afterwards to drive us back. All in all, it was a fun day for Michael. He loves being outside and around kids bigger than he is, so he had a blast. He never seems to notice the heat. Lucky boy.
I knew that it was supposed to get up to 32 degrees Celcius, but it was still fairly cool in the morning, so I dressed Michael in jeans and brought along a pair of shorts and both our hats. I was ready to change Michael as soon as we arrived. The sun came out and it was HOT.
Lunch was first. Linda had ordered Michael the "kid's meal" pictured below. Now, has anyone else ever seen a kid's meal comprised of french fries, half a smokie, a quarter of a ham sandwich, two chicken nuggets, a cherry tomato cut in half, a slice of watermelon and honeydew melon, plus a slice of honey cake all nicely arranged around a scoop of potato salad with a chocolate cookie roll stuck on top? Not me. I had to take a picture. Needless to say, Michael loved it and only got through about a third of it. I wanted to ask if I could have the kid's meal, too! I had to content myself with the beef noodle (note to self: never wear a white shirt and order beef noodle) and Michael's leftovers.
Lunch was in the cafe which led out onto the terrace with a small playground. There was also another games building (it had a two lane bowling alley, and a couple of pool and ping pong tables). Down the steps was the Olympic size swimming pool, some green space and then further along were the eight tennis courts. Michael loved running in and out of the cafe to go explore, and Linda made Harris follow him around until I finished lunch. Here's a picture of the club taken from near the tennis courts.
Michael is pushing a tennis ball cart. One of the games they had for the kids to play was catching balls shot from a tennis ball cannon (what's the name of those machines that you can use to play tennis by yourself?) into a net attached to the frame of a tennis racket. Luckily, Michael had more fun running around with the ball cart than in catching the balls. However, he eventually got bored and started throwing balls in the swimming pool. After the other kids had left, the club worker just threw the balls gently into the net that Michael was holding so that Michael could feel like he was catching them. The club certainly provided a full service. And the parents wonder why their kids want everything done for them...
They also had a few other games (throwing darts at balloons, knocking down bottles with a beanbag) including sliding a beer mug down a long table covered in soap suds. Michael loved playing, although he was hopeless at all of them. I regret to say, he throws like a girl, and well, you can see how far he pushed the beer mug... But, there are more important things in life, like learning how to push your way through a crowd in order to make an Easter picture frame. (We never did have an egg hunt.) Alas, he's not so good at that either, and we had to wait quite a while before a crack opened up.
Well, after spending a few hours wandering between the few activities, I was getting very bored and hot. Sara and Harris had decided long ago that it was not for them and spent the whole time in the air-conditioned games building playing pool. I was jealous. I finally convinved Michael to go back inside the cafe where Linda had stayed to chat with all her friends. When he told her he wanted to go home, she distracted him by ordering him a banana split. Of course, they only use Haagen Daaz ice cream, and the three flavours were Reeses peanut butter, chocolate and mango or peach (I wasn't quite sure). Michael finished about one scoop, so I had to sacrifice again and finish it off. Sometimes being a mother is really rough.
Michael went back outside when they brought out the pinatas. I'm told he actually hit one, unlike most of the other kids, but I was too busy eating his ice cream to watch. We watched a little later and found out they were filled with things like rice crackers instead of candy. Only in Taiwan...
Here's a sign that I found by the side of the pool.
It says "Lite guards when entorcing club yeguia-tions must be obeyed" in case you can't read it from the picture. Now, there are always mispelled signs around Taiwan, but I didn't expect to see such a badly translated sign here, where everyone can speak English. It made me smile.Linda's husband arrived soon afterwards to drive us back. All in all, it was a fun day for Michael. He loves being outside and around kids bigger than he is, so he had a blast. He never seems to notice the heat. Lucky boy.
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