Goa Wedding

Our very good friends got married yesterday in Colva Church. It was a fun ceremony, full of fabulous friends. Gioia was a fantastic flower girl. She only had to be carried back to Mommy sobbing once. To be fair, she cried at a part that we had not practiced, where she got swept up into the bridal party and seated at the front of the church away from me and Chris. But for the part that she knew well, the walking up and down the aisle part, she rocked it.

Congratulations Jack and Sangeeth! We love you guys. Thanks for including us in your celebration.

All of our India pictures are here. Scroll down to the end for the wedding pictures.

Old Goa

We took a drive yesterday to Old Goa, to see some very old churches, do a little sightseeing and eat some yummy food. One of the main churches in Old Goa houses the body of St Francis Xavier, who founded the Jesuits. So interesting, seeing the glass coffin of this very old saint, sitting to the side of the massive sanctuary. I am not Catholic, so I don't really understand the reverence for Saints which extends to dead bodies and body parts, but it is a sight to see.

Goa Creche

We made it to Goa yesterday. The island has a strong Portuguese heritage, and Christmas celebrations are still underway. Many houses have little nativity scenes set up by the door or in the yard. Some are small, and some are very large. This one was at our friend Jack's house. The three kings are each on a path leading to the baby Jesus. As we get closer to the Epiphany, the three kings will be moved closer on the path to the baby Jesus.

Photos from our India triip so far are here.

Merry Christmas!

So it turns out that Santa Claus is Chinese.

Who knew?


Hope your holiday is Merry and Bright!

Christmas Eve

Since the movers have packed up all of our stuff in a container, we are staying at the Hyatt. Luckily, Gioia made a little Christmas tree at school, so our room is fun and festive. This year, our Christmas Eve celebrations consisted of eating a hearty afternoon tea, opening presents small enough to carry with us on the flight, doing some Christmas dancing in the room (simply having a wonderful Christmas time...) and taking a picture on Santa's lap in the lobby. Ha!

On Christmas Day, we will be flying to India for the wedding - first to Mumbai and then on to Goa on Saturday. Do you think Cathay Pacific will serve Christmas cookies and gluhwein?

In the Nick of Time

Two flower girl dresses - finished nine hours before the movers showed up. Phew.

The green fabric is a raw silk that the bride is also using in the bridesmaids outfits. I smocked both bodices a little differently so that they coordinate but are not identical. The bodices are beaded with tiny glass beads and rice pearls. The bodice of the dresses used the Ottobre "China Grass" pattern from issue 03/08.

The bottom skirt is an ivory silk dupioni from my stash. I had another silk that the bride gave me to use, but it turned out not to be enough. With that fabric, the skirt on Gioia's dress was way too short (determined by general consensus), so I ripped it out and used the ivory dupioni instead. If I were really good, I would have made little tulle underskirts, but I could not find the netting fabric in Taiwan.

I made matching ivory silk bloomers for modesty. The bloomers pattern was from Oliver + S' tea party sundress. At first I was irritated that the pattern called for bias leg casings, but it actually was a very easy way to construct the elastic leg openings.

Last Taiwan Party

We had a little White Elephant party last night (Dirty Santa, Yankee Swap, whatever you call it...). Before everyone came, we tried to get Gioia to pose for a picture in front of the tree. The problem was that she wouldn't hold still for the shot. She was too busy dancing to the Christmas music.


In true Taiwan fashion, we had to stop halfway through the party to wait for the earthquake to finish shaking the house. It was a long one. Someone said they saw the chandelier swing so violently that it hit the ceiling. Now that's a rockin' party.

It would totally suck if we got buried in rubble less than a week before we left this little island. Yikes.

Insanity

The movers come to pack up our house in exactly one week. So what am I doing in the meantime, as I wrap up my last week of work and get ready to move my family halfway across the world? Why, making two flower girl dresses, of course.

Yeah.

I volunteered to make the dresses way before we decided to move home. If I had been smarter, I would have finished them long ago. But life got in the way. So many tasks, like finding a new house in our new city. Things like that.

I made a test dress of the pattern this weekend. Thanks goodness it turned out OK, because I had no plan B. I like the square bodice and the really full skirt. The bodice pattern is from the China Grass dress from Ottobre issue #03/08. I made the test dress in a heavy twill from Chez Ami's fabric section. It has a really nice drape, making this a good winter dress for Baby G to wear in our new town.

Apparently We Need to Put Her to Work

We had our second parent-teacher conference at the Montessori school last week. We learned that our daughter is great at cutting bananas, slicing eggs, making powdered milk and cooking the bread. It seems we need to make Tuesday night dinners her responsibility from now on.


Since we are moving, we have to think about where Gioia will go to school next. Public school, private school. So many choices. Such a big responsibility. I found a Chinese language immersion Montessori program in the city where we are headed. We think that may be the one, but we want to sign her up for the local public pre-school as a backup. Just in case.

The weird thing is that no school will take her in the States until she turns three. I am not sure if it is a licensing thing or what, but this means she cannot be in school from January to June. Poor Gioia. I think she is going to be super bored.

More Montessori pictures are here.

Zaia

On Saturday night in Macao, we decided to see how Gioia fared at a Cirque du Soleil performance. It was only a 90 minute show, so we were hoping she would not get too tired and chatty. We guessed right.

As the lights went down and the music came up, she started dancing in her seat. It was almost more fun to watch her reaction than to watch the show itself. For 50 minutes, she sat at the edge of her seat, eyes fixed to the performers. For the last 40 minutes, she sat back and ate some chicken nuggets, still watching the show.

On the flight back from Taiwan, she kept talking about the "crazy man with the egg" (one of the two main clowns) and the polar bear (also a random part of the show).

So the experiment was a big success. Zaia itself was standard Cirque fare - trapeze artists, jugglers, tumblers and super strong contortionist peeps - but Gioia's reaction made this show really spectacular.

Taiwan News Re-enactment of the Elin-Tiger Smackdown

This is the funniest Taiwanese news story EVER.

Number 15

Gioia hit country number 15 this weekend: Macao* (or Aomen in Chinese). Despite her sober demeanor in this photo, Gioia had a great time. She and I rode on a gondola in the Venetian, where she proceeded to sing three full songs after the gondolier sang. One of Gioia's songs was a very long and complex song about a butterfly. I am not quite sure what it was all about (as it was all in Chinese), but it certainly had a lot of stanzas.

We had great Portuguese food, did some shopping, saw a show, swam in the heated pool, ate some more.... it was a great time. Now back to reality. T minus two weeks before the movers come. Yikes.

*Is Macao a separate country from China, you ask? Well, good question. For this tally, we are following the country list published by the Traveler's Century Club. So yes, it counts.

Announcement

There have been a lot of things going on behind the scenes here the last month or so. I have been so busy that I even forgot to take a picture of the mini sweater that I made for a swap last month. All I can show you is the adorable version I received in the mail which now graces our little apartment tree.

Our big news is this: after over four years in Greater China, we are now moving back to the United States. We found a place to live two weeks ago and the dog shipped out Monday. Which means there is no turning back now.

We have a busy month ahead - getting ready for the move, wrapping things up at work, saying goodbye to beloved friends. But there are fun things in store too, like a last hurrah weekend in Macao, Christmas at the Grand Hyatt and a long trip home, which includes a stop-off at our friends' wedding in Goa.

I have decided to stop blogging after this month, though. For some reason, I feel more anonymous blogging in Taiwan and China than in the United States. I just don't have the energy to face the creepy creeps who may come out of the woodwork once we land stateside. People who figure out where you live by the photos you post or the words you write about playgrounds and restaurants. I will continue to write here in December as we transition out of Taiwan, but the beginning of January will mark the official end of this endeavor.

It has been a long, fun ride. Four years as expats and three of blogging. Thanks for joining me.