Was chatting with a couple of Nordic ladies yesterday and they were loving it while whining about how cold it gets here. What? You're from Sweden and Holland and it's cold here? Think they said something about it being a dry cold and the humidity getting into their bones, but my head was buzzing from incredulity. I long for a night when I can wrap myself up in a big comforter and feel cozy. I am sick of smelling myself.
Good news is the forecast has it breaking on Saturday, which is good cause that is Gay Pride Parade/Festival day and there is nothing worse than smelling a bunch of dudes in leather on a hot day. Am looking forward to attending this time as I have missed it in years past and it is said to be the largest such event in Asia. Lots of talk about the new government, which you may recall is helmed by the very single cat loving Tsai Ing-Wen, mulling over making same sex marriage legal. Will take some photos for next time.
Mentioned that we had a lizard living in our place but have not seen him/her recently. In the same conversation as above, we moved from the weather to our opinion of the creatures crawling/flying around our collective apartments. Some of us repelled mosquito bites while others were magnets (tam in the middle group as they only love my ankles). A few have snakes roaming around their places, but the South African in the group scoffed at the tame Taiwanese variety by describing how they have ones that can swallow you whole, and Black Mamba's that can kill you in a minute (I of course knew that and said I had seen Kill Bill, which was met with blank stares). And we all agreed we have no time for the cock roaches. I mentioned my lizard pet and it seems that everyone has those and we were all good with them. Asked what they ate and apparently, their favorite snack are the mosquitos. Viva los lizards.
Lastly, shared a story a few weeks back about hemp tampons and saw a follow-up article, I think in HuffPo but either am misremembering or they took it down as it must have been controversial, but it was about two women who tested the items so "you don't have to". They performed as any other tampon would and said that while they didn't get 'high', they did feel more relaxed and tired. I know that I should not speak for women, especially in these nasty pussy grabbing days, but isn't that the point? Was sitting at my desk the other morning and got a call from the school nurse. Babydoll came in with severe cramps and they needed permission to give her ibuprofen and asked how much she usually takes. I rattled off 200mg without really knowing, but it sounded good, and the other folks in the office who overheard the conversation were impressed with my plumbing knowledge. I just added it to my resume for Dad Who Is In Touch With His Feminine Side of the year candidacy.
This week is Parent/Teacher conference week and there was no major concerns with the kiddies. The dance teacher was worried about Babydoll as she missed class the previous day and we had a funny/awkward retelling of the above cramps story. Her teachers all love her spirit and attitude in class and that if she puts in more effort, she could be a superstar. The Boy is doing well in his final year of high school. His class schedule is ridiculously hard, even his teachers raise their eyebrows when they see it and while his grades are good, they rave about his demeanor in class as being a mentor to his peers. Add the task of having to do these college applications and I really don't know how he is doing it. He doesn't read this Diary but one of the reasons I do this is for them to enjoy when they are older. To future Boy, am massively impressed with the Man you are becoming.
I must add that Paul is conducting a survey for his Government class and I sent it to a lot of people, but if I missed you and you have a minute, please click on this link and take it for him.
Having forwarded it to a lot of my friends I asked the teacher at our conference how the results were coming in so far...a lot of white atheists from the Pacific North West apparently. If you do read this, please forward it to anyone you know cause the more data the better. And if you could send to people other than white atheists, that would be even better.
One thing about the school/Taiwan that has aggravated me as of late is the new policy on volunteering. Have probably related that I help out with coaching the High School boys baseball team during their off season workouts. A new policy was recently enacted that requires me to be checked out criminally and to get a volunteer work permit. The criminal background check is obvious when one works with kids and am a little disappointed that they haven't been requiring that all along. Have been coaching the kids in some capacity for at least 12 years and making sure you don't have any pedophiles is obviously sound management. The other part of this is that TW has strict regulations regarding foreign employment, even if that is in volunteer form. I know it is a frustration of many expats that they can't do a lot of meaningful volunteer work here because of the hoops one must jump through to get the permit. For instance, one of the documents I have to get to be approved is my college diploma and transcript. I haven't seen those things for 30 years and really don't remember ever seeing my transcript. I can get it but it takes a month to get here via the mail. I ran for School Board twice and they didn't ask if I was an extortionist high school drop-out so I guess critical thinking isn't a requirement for that role, but one must have a college degree to hit fungos.
Finally for today, I have a confession. Under The Tuscan Sun has been making a run on our local crappy movie channel this week and...well uh...it makes me tear up every time. Am an avowed RomCom avoider in the he-man vain, but if I'm being truthful with myself, think it's cause being emotional makes me uncomfortable. That said, I love all things Diane Lane and she is so sexy in this role. Add that the setting is idyllic and that I am currently plotting out our Winter trip to Italy and have watched it in parts three times. Sniff.
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