Half Term Holiday Day 4 - Ice Skating

Today was nothing particularly exciting to write about. I mean, don’t get me wrong…each day can have its own challenges; however, today I simply took the kids ice skating. Brianna went once for a friend’s birthday party in California before we left and is now hooked. So, when we found out that Taipei has an ice rink, I knew this would be a fun activity (and also cheap…cost about $20 for us all including equipment for the entire day, of which we lasted about 3 hours!).

One of Brianna’s new friends, Heather, agreed to come with us. Apparently, Heather does NOT like getting her picture taken, as this was the only photo she’d allow! It was also lucky for us, as Heather is fluent in Mandarin and was able to help out once or twice in asking for information here and there (and who’s the adult here???). Brianna and Heather had a GREAT time skating round and round and trying to twirl around like some of the kids at the rink (I tell you, there were QUITE a few good skaters there!).

Elaine was content to stay with me and try her hand at skating. She did quite well and within a few tries was brave enough to go on her own. By the end of the day, she was able to skate the entire loop on her own (close to the wall for comfort of course!). Just by chance, a few friends of hers were there too, receiving their 3rd of 4 lessons. They joined us after their lesson and took turns seeing who could skate the fastest…quite fun!

This evening is Terry’s mom’s last night in Taipei. She goes home to California tomorrow. I’ve got mixed feelings over her leaving. I mean, it’s always challenging having my spirited mom-in-law staying so close for so long; however, I honestly do get along with her, most of the time. I will miss her quite a bit. Let’s face it…I will also miss having my laundry magically folded and all of my dirty dishes magically disappear! Mostly, though, I’ll miss watching her and the girls. It’s been so heart-warming to watch them all interact. There’s such an innocence to the way they show their affection…all of them. I will miss watching that. I can tell that she’s torn as well. She does enjoy Taipei and its conveniences and its exciting, happening culture. However, she doesn’t seem to want to rent an apartment (I think she feels it would be a waste of money as it’s not an investment towards anything), and purchasing an apartment seems too scary given that she’s not certain how ‘long term’ our stay will be. Ultimately, I’m trying to stay neutral and let her make her own conclusions. This way I save myself from having ANY blame in her decision!
So, it’s with mixed feelings that I sign off tonight. I suppose that now that we’ve just about hit the one-month mark, our honeymoon phase should begin to wear off and this culture shock I’m supposed to be experience should be setting in any day. I promise to keep you all posted!