Alice

For the most part it was a pretty non-descript week, just going through the motions. Some weeks are just like that, I mean we can't have fireworks every day. We really wanted to see the lantern lighting, but it's been pouring out. POURING. Did you know that it really does rain cats and dogs here? I mean the sheer amount of random dogs that one sees in any given day is staggering. Now, whether these pups actually have owners, I really can't say. -They just kind of walk around, minding traffic, literally looking both ways before crossing. It's kind of ridiculous. This all being said, let me tell you about Alice. In the spirit of adventure Friday, Alice (unbeknownst to her) WAS our adventure. To clarify, she is a stray dog whisperer and to Wyatt, he could ask for nothing more. We were playing in the park while also searching for CharlietheAndy puppy (refer to Wyatt-isms)whom we had discovered on a previous visit. We came upon an older woman, struck up a conversation and talked about our new furry friend. The woman (whom we later found out was named Alice) told us that CharlietheAndy puppy was just one in a litter of many. Alice works to find homes for the strays that she finds and ensures that her strays are well fed and watered. When she's around, they...well they follow her around like little puppy dogs. Huh. Well that saying makes complete sense now. She told us that she had "relocated"CharlietheAndy and to follow her. Ummmm SURE.  Where else would you follow a random woman down an alleyway well past the park and towards a hospital?! Taiwan. That's where. Wow. I hadn't even known that hospital was there. All I kept thinking was well, I guess being by a hospital is appropriate since this woman may very well chop me up into little pieces. I'm such a responsible mother. In the spirit of adventure..In the spirit of adventure. Clearly she didn't bring any weaponry, hence the titillating recap. We didn't have a CharlietheAndy sighting that afternoon either, but we're still on the hunt.....The rest of the weekend was filled with- MORE rain, an accident and super cool markets. You like how I just snuck that one in there?- We were on the way to the Jade/Flower market and were making a right hand turn, when the guy to our right who we presumed was parked starting moving and well, the rest is visibly documented by looking at the vehicle. Will couldn't have hit a nicer guy. He assured Will that the big show of policemen was just to find an English speaking one, not that they were going to haul him off to jail. Will felt a bit more at ease, though I've been wondering where the jails on this island were since we've gotten here......All went well and Will was again reassured that hitting people/cars here are basically formalities and frequent occurrences, no big deal, everyone's got insurance. Sweet.
We breezed through the markets, though they were incredibly cool and really deserved more time then what we gave them. Wyatt was hell bent on finding a flower for his bathroom, so you know, we had a mission- and we could not become sidetracked from Wyatt's plan. Mission Accomplished.

A Surreal Life

So I'm in Taiwan. My full time job is my son. My part time job is maintaining sanity. One of the sweetest things my husband has said to me-on a day when things were not going well at the part-time job was, Aly, you are not a woman of leisure. He knows. He appreciates me. He loves me. THAT is pretty awesome. Wyatt and I have been here just a little over a month now. Sometimes I'll stop in the middle of what we're doing and look around in complete disbelief. The Lord works in mysterious ways indeed.... I mean, we're in Taiwan. HOLY CRAP.
A month can teach you some pretty crazy things. Let me share some of the things I've learned thus far..... you know, to spare any of you reading any potential stress should you come here upon receiving your tax refunds. I want you to feel prepared.
I've learned that:
*I like watching MacGyver. ALOT. We don't have cable, so a great deal of what we watch is what we order through our apple TV off of iTunes. This being the case, we have started ordering the seasons of MacGyver...and I love him. I do. I confess.
P.S. My husband is privy to this information.
In addition, being that our son is not the most coordinated, my hope is he can pick up some sweet Mac skills. He too is a fan. Great clean family fun right there. (Note: we are NOT giving Wyatt a pocket knife)
*I am not ashamed to say that I go to the McDonald's play-land. It is what it is. If we go there multiple times a week- so be it. I don't have to necessarily buy food every time I'm there, but for months at a time it rains here and the play-land is cheap and guarantees an instantaneous playmate for my kid....and some reading time for me.
* Food here is NOT made to order. What you see is what you get. There is no arguing, no attempts at using persuasive hand gestures or wasting your breath. Wyatt: I want chocolate cream (instead of the vanilla and strawberry that it shows the clown face ice cream having in the picture). We order with two chocolate scoops instead. It comes. Wyatt is crestfallen. It is strawberry and vanilla. Me: We ordered this with chocolate- Waitress: But that doesn't look like the picture.  Chocolate will not be pretty.  SERIOUSLY??? They do NOT make a plain cheese pizza here. But I can't stop trying. I WILL NEVER STOP TRYING!!!!!
* Crosswalks- The little green guys with the seconds underneath that indicate you should go are actually ticking time bombs towards your up and coming demise. Yup. The green men on the signs actually start running faster when the seconds get closer to 0. They're trying to get away as well.
* I need to remain diligent in making/maintaing friendships. This is a lot harder for me than I thought. I'm wayyyyy more anti-social then I had been giving myself credit for.

Oh Sure. DIY.

* I need to embrace my surroundings, the people (not literally), the culture, the food,the language, the environment- otherwise my time here would be completely wasted. What is the point of running all over Taiwan trying to find what I would be using in the United States. (Not to say I won't have a big fat juicy burger at Chili's every now and then, or stop looking for a slice of cheese pizza). Otherwise, I need to give it up. It takes too much energy and is just way to frustrating. Case in point. I wanted to bake little Valentines Day cakes the other night. Now should I pay 3X the amount for a Duncan Hines mix when there is a perfectly good Taiwanese cake mix next to it that said cake powder? LET IT GO. I got the box I couldn't read, got some help from my Mandarin teacher... and guess what? It tasted like cake. This one is going to be a challenge, but I'm determined not to be some kind of ethnocentric egomaniac.
* I really need to lighten up. I believe that Will thinks this is one of the reasons we're here. I'm wound pretty tight- I'm not disillusioned by this aspect of myself either- I've got enough self-awareness to know I should have started taking Xanax a while ago. With the Lord's help, perhaps I can start to loosen up a bit. My schedule's not stressful- at this point I'm not over committed and "yessing" myself into a black hole.- This is a whole new beginning- it's me coming to the full realization that I'M NOT THE ONE IN CONTROL. It's also OK to enjoy myself while I'm here. Time goes fast. I'm not being disloyal to my parents, friends or animals if I actually like it here a little. I can just let go and play with Wyatt. I need to enjoy him while I have him with me...and while he still kinda likes me. WOW. sorry guys. I feel like there's a lot of self- talk here.
*After that big spiel on embracing my surroundings, I think that adjusting to the bathrooms here will never happen. End of story. You will have to visit to know what I'm talking about. Pure GA-Ross-ness. ughhghghgh.
* Ditching the car and walking/biking everywhere is AWESOME. It is amazing the things you miss by driving in a car. Riding on the bike helps you to take it all in, and perhaps another passenger if they don't move out of my way quick enough.
* The sun does come out here!!! Some days you just have to look a little harder for it.

Beaches, Zoos and a Bicycle Built for 2-PART 2

Our boy's 1st beach trip

Making his Christmas list...

The adventures failed to cease as we made our way to the Children's Recreation Center( basically an amusement park for kids). In case you forgot, it was the three of us and our fellow mass of 420,000. We rode the teacups and Wyatt ran around the kids park collecting friends like bottle caps. It was easy to spot him, as he had quite the eclectic entourage in tow. Ahhh the Wyatt and his inescapable charisma. Yeah- that and his hazel eyes, but who am I to quibble over details? He had a great time, running, sliding down the massive concrete slide and then protesting when it was time to go. Normal run of the mill stuff. The rest of the weekend brought forth my "bike for 2" and Wyatt's first trip to the beach. I'll tell you, he has no idea that for his first beach trip he just happened to visit one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. He loved every nano-second of it, which, with Wyatt you have to understand it's all or nothing. Thankfully he chose all and ran completely uninhibited into the waves. It was one of those misty parental moments for sure- the kind where you can see your kid completely "bliss out" and in the moment, it's, well it's just awesome. The day itself was beautiful- Low 70's, clear, warm, bright. The drive was spectacular as well- the mountains- all the views actually, were just breathtaking. The three overly white Americans on the beach were the crazy ones in the water as those native to Taiwan strolled the beaches, buttoned up in their parkas. It was a perfect day.
The drive along the coast was surprisingly very similar to the shore, or your standard run of the mill beach community. You know, the kind without fist pumping and tattoo piercing parlors. Even the lack of these fine establishments didn't dampen my spirits. The pictures really don't do it any justice. Once I get a handle on the bus routes Wyatt and I could conceivably spend a great deal of time at this beach. Awesome. I use this word a lot, I know, but it's completely warranted.
The bike. Yeah. The picture pretty much speaks for itself. Biking seemed like a pretty smart way to get around-and a bit more expedient way to travel (though I questioned this upon my first incline.) The bike is wickedly cool. It's got a seat, handlebars and pegs for Wyatt. As a woman from Wyatt's school told me today- your bike is very Taiwanese. Well CHYA.- Of course. When Wyatt and I both got on the bike he could not stop giggling- too cute. Really, when it comes down to it, is there any better bonding than a mother and son uh, biking together? Yeah, well, I'll keep you posted on all that. 

Beaches, Zoos and a Bicycle Built for 2-PART 1

picture worthy

We were lucky enough to have Will spend his days off tooling us around the island.- Well, not that he would be off of work and not spend his time with us, because that would just be plain weird (but at the same time slightly understandable).  The exact time sequence and days are a bit hazy, but I do know that we had a whole lot of fun, though I certainly would not consider myself a connoisseur of Taiwan as of yet. I believe it was Thursday that we tried the zoo once again, not that the day itself is of importance. Main point of interest? Blue skies for like 5 days in a row. I know right? Freaking unbelievable is what it was (hence the picture). Back to the zoo. Being that the 420,000 people in Northern Taiwan were supposedly (please note that big bad word) going to see family and friends in Southern Taiwan, we thought, huh, maybe this would be a FANTASTIC time to go to the zoo. ummmm or MAYBE THEY WERE ALL GOING TO THE ZOO. WITH US. And no. my caps lock was not accidentally pressed. I was just simply trying to denote my lack of patience and slight annoyance. I'm working on it. I'm working on it. kind of......Seriously though, not only did the mass of 420,000 follow the Coopers to the zoo, but apparently they also felt like going to the Children's Recreation Center and the beach as well. Apparently biking's a bit less appealing..which I get....but a woman's gotta get around. Let's be honest, you can't have it all, SO the fact that we were having an awesome  time had to be counteracted slightly by real close together time too, being that we were squeezed together in small tight spaces. But really, the way I'm describing it, I'm not making it sound as fun as it really was ( no sarcasm, seriously). Geez. Back to the zoo. Wyatt got to see his penguins and his "friend" (the monkeys). Will even got him into the nocturnal house sans physical force. I know, I was impressed too. When he came out he was actually bummed that there were no bats or armadillos. Ughh. I can't keep up. Much like his mother, he can never seem to make up his mind. What he was pretty set on was getting parents for pumpkin patch. Since we're not pushovers, we said he could only get one...that Pumpkin Patch was from a single parent household. No, I really didn't say that, but he was only able to pick one. He picked a mother for pumpkin patch (I'm writing rather smugly). Mommas name you ask? Wait for it.............Pumpkin Patch.

VICTORIOUS!!!

And it ended with a BANG...

Chinese New Year is upon us.- For those who are unaware- apparently this is the year of the rabbit, as was confirmed by my ever so knowledgeable husband who also took the time to point out that that may be the reason that Taiwan is currently being overun by rabbit paraphanelia. (So I'm a little slow on the uptake..but I had my suspicions.)- I look forward to seeing what the year of the pig will look like.- I'll keep those of you that are in suspense posted.

As you can imagine, Taiwan was a bit grey today with some scattered sprinkling- nothing unusual. I'm not complaining, 'cause I'm sure I'll be doing plenty of that when the weather starts to warm up to uncomfortably humid and sweat inducing temperatures. 

Here's the thing that I've observed and learned from Chinese New Year thus far. According to the radio station I was listening to, 420,000 people leave the city and travel South to spend time with family/friends. This frees up a great deal of the city, leaving it much less congested to travel around and to take in the sights. So having Will home for the New Year (Wed-Monday) bumps up our adventure Friday to Wednesday…with the potential for further exploration around the island the rest of the week. WHOA. I know- mind blowing... less congestion and having Will with us?!? So we started off this soon to be fun-filled week by heading out to Taipei 101. Not sure what I had in mind..but I'm pretty sure it was more than what we got to see. Due to the supremely overcast sky, it was inferred that we not go up to the top and essentially flush our cash because the visibility was apparently pretty suckarific. These were not the tour guide's exact words, but we heeded her unspoken wisdom and looked out the window from the 5th floor instead of the 101st. uh yeah…same difference.  We'll try this one again. We got time.

oops.

After an eventful trip to Costco, we headed home for some dinner  and went wandering the streets when we heard crazy/random fireworks going off outside. From what I understand, there really isn't planned fireworks, people just randomly go wherever they want (like our side street) and light massive fireworks out of a can in the middle of the road. Uh- totally rogue and awesome. It was raining debris all over us, that's how close and unprotected we were. Wyatt was in the midst of a love/hate war with the fireworks show approximately 6 feet from where we stood. On the one hand, he appeared pretty psyched…until he wasn't and he freaked. All in all he was more psyched then freaked so we were able to stay. One sweet girl came over and handed me this long tube, which based upon our pantomimes, I thought was a sparkler…until I realized it wasn't because it was shooting fireworks out of it…that could have ended very badly had Will not had the foresight to tell me to point it up. He is so my hero.