This is my first X'mas in 38 years outside of Canada, and I did not know what to expect.
We have been too busy to feel homesick due to the fact that we had visitors from North America. We had friends here from Boston last week, and more friends from Vancouver this week.
Taiwan does not celebrate X'mas and Frankie had a full day in school today.
We did manage to arrange a potluck dinner with our neighbors and we had a great time.
Our landlord ordered a roast turkey from one of the better hotels in town, and then there was noodles, wild boar skin (very delicious), pumpkin pie, and Rebecca made sushi and sashimi. There was plenty of red wine (yellow tail), and fresh fruit. I played Santa (other guys are just too skinny) and handed out candies to the kids.
Frankie is no longer shy and plays with local kids at ease these days. Her speaking ability is about 90%, only periodically stumbled by words she does not understand. Her writing skill is improving by leaps and bounds as she can read most of the menus when we are at restaurants. Its only been four months since school started, so, we are very happy and very much encouraged by her progress. We must give her credit: she has never complained. She is also making many new friends which further boosts her confidence. For a while, kids were intimidated by her and mostly stays away because she speaks with an accent.....
I do have one wish. I wish that she would be more interested in tennis. We have the perfect weather here year round, and the tennis facility here in Hualien is first class. There are tennis classes everyday after school, with more on the weekends. There are also frequent tournaments for young people and there are some very good young players. There are currently a handful of young players at the professional level and some are playing in the majors, getting past to the round of 16s, quarter finals and so forth....Today's weather is overcast, about 23 C, ideal for an inter school tournament all weekend long. Typically Asian, parents all chipped in and provided food and beverages for all the players and spectators. What a great way to spend X'mas!
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