A Quick Update

Hi, here it is the middle of October and it's still warm as snot out. Frank and I have been having adventures. The Internet connection at home has been out for a couple weeks, and it will be a couple more before the cable guys can sync up with my schedule to come to the house and figure out what the problem is.

Where to begin? I took Frank to an Obama fundraiser in Taipei a few weeks ago at a El Gallo, a new Mexican restaurant in Tienmu, the trendy neighborhood where all the foreigns go. It was definitely the most white people Frank had ever seen gathered in one place in his life. He had a great time, ate his fill of burrito and then three or four different kinds of home baked desserts, including a beautiful cupcake with the Obama logo on it. We met a coworker from my school there, as well as Michael Turton, another American Expat and the mind behind the fantastic View From Taiwan blog. When Frank and I got back from the buffet line, we discovered that two beautiful reporters had joined us at the table. Frank's got good taste in women....just like Daddy.

After we loaded up on gear and enthusiasm, we set off into the night towards our hotel where Maggie and Gretchen were waiting. There was a heavy wind-driven mist falling, a precursor to the typhoon which was striking the south of the island at that very moment. By midnight, the wind was turning violent. We decided to cut our trip short and head back to Taichung the very next morning before the HSR was shut down for safety's sake.

We took another trip to Taipei this past weekend to celebrate 10/10 with a trip to the zoo. Unforunately, at least 50,000 others had the same idea and the zoo was a madhouse, but to go after the end of this month will be even worse when the pandas arrive from the mainland. A rain shower may have chased about 10,000 people home, but we waited it out with ice cream, coffee, and hot chocolate and moved on to see the elephants after inserting the kids into their rain gear. Gretchen alternated between being carried by Mom, then by Dad, then walking, then back to being carried by mom. The last time at the zoo, Gretchen was in a stroller, and it was quite cold and the rain never ceased, so all in all, this time was a success.

This picture of the two of them holding hands is a favorite of Maggie's. She thinks the kids will look back at this in the future and remember that they are really good friends and look out for each other.

Frank had a good time, and we bought him an inflatable zebra to take home with him. Gretchen got a tiger. On this trip, Frank fed the train tickets into the right slot and did a good job holding on to subway tokens, holding them tightly in his hand and putting them in the box at trip's end. He set a good example for his sister, who by Sunday was doing the same thing.

A trip to Page One at Taipei 101 netted Franklin 3 Clifford books, including Clifford's Manners, which has become a smash hit. In the week that we've been reading it at bedtime, Frank has been very aware of his own manners and no longer needs to be reminded to say please and thank you. This makes his dad extremely happy. We're still working on the sharing part, but we're getting there.

Oh geez, I almost forgot. Halloween is right around the corner and I had been hoping to send Frank to his kindergarten Halloween day as a Chicago Cub with his hat, and a batting jersey. His favorite team, after all, is the Chicago Cubs, and will be as long as I have anything to say about the matter.

However, we received word last week that students attending the Halloween party next Saturday at school would all wear THE SAME COSTUMES! WTF? Well, at least the students don't have to wear uniforms to school every day in kindergarten, but it is a little stifling to the originality of the parent to make them all wear the same masks. We'll see how it goes. I'm taking the day off.

Frank's Long Weekend

We had a three day weekend due to the typhoon, so that meant lots of quality time with the kids. Franklin starts kindergarten on August 1st, and is excited beyond words.

Frank at Frank's

We stopped by Oldie's Franks last night for Frankie's new favorite meal: hot dogs, french fries, and ice cold water.

Cranky Franky

Someone is about to learn the phrase "Eat it or Wear It."
As you can see by the 3 beagle eyes in the picture below, mealtime is something of a chore at the BattApt. In Frank's bowl is some delicious xifan or rice porridge with beef and mysterious green stuff. The mysterious green stuff in my xifan last week was a green egg a la Dr Seuss. It was interesting, and something I ate twice, but nothing to write home about...hang on...maybe it was. Hmph.

The price of food is going up here as well. Gas is now around a dollar a liter and meals around town seem to have gone up almost a dollar in the first few months of the year. Or I could be making things up. I've quit eating out almost entirely, which is a big deal in Taiwan because the convenience of good food by the side of the road (like this xifan) is enticing. But as the price goes up, the portions get smaller, and the quality deteriorates.

Maggie went to the traditional market today and bought a HUGE bag of vegetables for NT$110, which recently is about $3.60US. That's the way to go.

In the meantime, I'm not force feeding Frank, or giving people food to the obese beagle (Maggie's habit, not mine). I say, if he's hungry, he'll eat. He had a big lunch today, and I like xifan so after an hour and a half I got to have a bowl of lukewarm porridge. Yum!

Happy 1200 Days Frankie!

Photos from Teacher Sandy

Franklin's Preschool Plans

We'd been thinking for awhile about sending Frank to Montessori kindergarten after next summer when he's three and a half. The school was nice, and close to our office on the south side of town. There were a lot of kids with bright, shining eyes busy with their Montessori jobs, hard at work in their Montessori classroom under the occasional gaze of their Montessori teachers. There were about 30 students in each class, divided into three grades: Big, Middle, and Small class. There were three teachers per classroom, but I think at least one of them wasn't licensed, and one of them was definitely a student. The facility was beautiful and clean, but we heard a horror story from a parent in the neighborhood about the place, and Maggie didn't like that there was an indoor playground in the basement--that's an earthquake hazard and against the law.

A couple days ago, we decided to keep looking. Everyone in town, it seems, has an opinion on the kindergartens in town. Today we went to one of them Christian kindies. I wasn't sold on the idea, but someone's children have gone there and they sang praises (not hymns, mind you) about the place. I am unabashedly wary of such places--see the quote above. I'm sure that Christian education has churned out some fine minds in the last 1800 years, but my experiences in the American Bible Belt have led me to believe that they are the exception rather than the rule. I kept my mind and my third eye wide open as we walked into the place to look around.

There's a butterfly garden and lots of plants. There aren't millions of kids, and there is an unobstructed view of the sky which, today, was a brilliant blue. The sound of children's laughter bounced around the courtyard playground, painted green to resemble turf. There were perhaps a hundred red spots painted on the ground to show kids where to stand to do morning exercises or participate in weekly school assemblies. Standing there, watching Franklin negotiate the playground traffic in a toy car he found abandoned near a group of kids a year older than he, the teacher/tour guide/sales rep hit me with the question that I remember from that first summer at band camp: "Are you a Christian?"

It was an intimidating query that all those years ago was followed up by the justification "we just want to find out how many people in the band are saved." My answer today was delivered with more conviction than years ago, but now as then boiled down to "No."

There was something different this time, though. I was not made to feel as a pariah. The teacher told me, "Me neither, and neither are 90% of the students here." Holy Cow! This was unexpected. Vicky--the teacher had a name, after all--went on to tell me that the principal of the school was a Christian--Episopalian, I gather...drunk Republican, maybe--but he believed that God was something natural that kids should discover on their own. We agreed that kindergarten was not the place to 洗腦 kids.

It was as if the clouds had parted and my personal idea of what Gawd is was acknowledged and confirmed. All the plants, caterpillars, cocoons, and eventual butterflies on display give hope that life will go on forever. No indoctrination, no dogma. No doubt that the students there discover many beautiful things about the earth and the creatures on it. It's my hope to instill a healthy amount of curiosity in Frank and Gretchen and once it's there to keep it alive.

Question Authority. Frank will start after Chinese New Year.

Photo Dump From Teacher Sandy

Sandy 's been keeping track of how the kids have been progressing at school. So, here we go...

Frank's Sunday at the Park

Frank and I went for coffee & juice at the Early Bird yesterday where Uncle Will told us of a great kids' park at the corner of Yingtsai Rd and MinChuan Rd. Miles of slides, acres of sandb0xes, and nearly a cubic kilometer of jungle-gym. We had to check this place out.



Then we went back to our place for some cool downs on the neighborhood equipment.

Frank at The Museum

Frank slowed down for a second during his whilrwind tour of the science museum on Sunday. We learned about farms and

Happy Solstice

Frank enjoys his orange juice on the shortest day of the year. Frank was a great help passing me ornaments to hang, and gently laying others on a space on the lower branches. His favorite word last night was WOW!

Totally Two!

Franklin had his birthday cake last night at the PNCC (Post Natal Care Center) with his mom & dad. Little sister Gretchen was sound asleep on the 6th floor. This morning when I took Frank to the baby sitter, I asked her if she was ready to carry a heavy two year old boy. He thought this was the funniest thing ever. He's been laughing for two days. He still hasn't been in the same room as his sister, but we're working on it. When we got home last night, the door to Frank's room had been decorated with ten smiley face balloons, and our new safety cage which has been installed over all the windows has been festooned with Birthday Lights which will stay up until around Chinese New Year. As soon as we walked in the door, Frank looked back and forth and editorialized, "WOWWWWWW!"

The weather has gotten some kind of cold here today. The forecast calls for snow up on Hehuanshan tonight. Bundling up.

From Teacher Swim

Here's Franklin, Liang-liang, and Yuli, getting ready for an afternoon nap on the third floor at the nursery. My what big eyes he has. (like the line from South Park: Chinese broadcaster: They won't have any trouble seeing the ball, with their BIG American eyes.) This costume was..err..inflicted upon Frank by Teacher Swim for Halloween. I swear I've seen this somewhere before. Oh yes, now I remember.
One of these kids is American, the other is Japanese. Yuli-chan was born the day after Franklin and they are best buds at school. Frank has been teaching her how to count to ten in English. I think he may have been studying a little Japanese, because I can't always understand what the boy is talking about.

The Scanner is Uncovered

I've moved a pile of stuff to an empty bookshelf and unearthed the scanner's power supply. Got the drivers installed. Frank can do his numbers up to twenty now, so it's no challenge for him to count one to five. The challenge, which he very nearly met, was sitting still long enough for his hand to be traced.


Y'know, I wish I could say that Franklin hand-lettered this refrigerator artifact, but that's my chicken scratch. It's gotten much worse since I started typing everything several years ago. Oh So it goes!

Thanks Aunts Sarah and Cathy!

Franklin has never been one to wear hats. Whenever I've tried to take pictures of him with a cute hat on, he's not been interested and he's always whipped them off before I could get the camera up. This one came in the mail yesterday from Indiana, and as soon as he saw it on Snoopy, he wanted to try it on. He's happy as a puppy with two peters to have a hat commemorating his all-time favorite vitamin (Franklin gets a C every day when he comes home and takes his shoes off) and his daddy's all-time favorite team. We all love the hat and will do everything we can to keep it away from the dog.

Anyone want a beagle?