Funny Things

We are much more settled. The (new) washing machine and dryer work great. The internet is on; we have the web AND our beloved Vonage phone up and running. So, we now have had more time to experience normal life in Taipei. Here are some snipits from the past few days.

* While ordering baozi from a neighborhood stall, we turned around to see a motor scooter with two women and a medium-sized pig standing in the floorboard. This was two blocks from the Taipei 101 building.

* Bought a chicken from the grocery store and took it home to roast, only to find that it still had its head and feet. I made Chris chop off the head, but then I overcame my squeamishness, picked it up and helped it to sing a ballad. Chris was not amused.

* Chris was walking home on Friday and saw a line of little kindergarten kids crossing the street in neat little rows (like Madeline). They were diligently following their teacher. The very last one in the line caught sight of him, however, and immediately burst out laughing. Bwa ha ha! You silly looking man. How funny are you? So many little kids here are fascinated by us. Pointing and commenting while their parents turn away in embarrassment.

* Tried to take a taxi to IKEA. The first cabbie did not understand. At all. For the second cab, we stood at the window to make sure we had someone who could get us there. While we were talking, a lady came out of Starbucks, came us to us and said - can I help? She talked to the cab driver for us, made sure he knew the streets, and then went back inside to her latte with a wave. If you haven't lived in China, perhaps you don't know how astounding this is. But it was BIG. Bottom line is that Taiwan people are unbelievably nice and helpful.

That's all for now folks. Have a lovely weekend.