My life and other things that have happened

  Today is the halfway point of quarantine and we’re doing alright. Unlike many of my friends returning to Taiwan, we have a whole house to ourselves, so plenty of space when we need to get away from each other. I don’t envy those who’ve had to quarantine in tiny hotel rooms, either on their own or with kids. I know you get through it, but it’s not exactly fun. Thursday we will be taken to Bradley’s camp for another Covid test, and then Saturday at 1 minute past midnight we will be able to leave quarantine. Not sure what we have planned for that day but I know we’ll be seeing people. Can’t wait! We’ve only seen friends from a distance (in our driveway) so it will be wonderful to actually be able to hug them, and sit and have a chat.   The war against the ants continues unabated (LOL). Another day of cleaning and laying traps and powder. This evening, they seem to have retreated, but I expect it’s only a short reprieve. I’ll be so glad when we get our shipment and have our...

  Not a huge amount to report from the last two days. We’ve been pottering about the house getting things sorted. Lots of old crockery in the kitchen to be removed and boxed up. Lots of cleaning to be done as well. My old nemesis, the ants, have found us, so a good clean of the kitchen and living room floors is due today, then we can lay down some traps and hopefully that will deal with most of them.  The house is really lovely and big, but the last tenants didn’t treat the paint work very well. We’re going to speak to the landlady today to find out if we can get some paint and touch up the areas that need it. A good quarantine activity, and might provide us with some exercise as well. There are some areas we won’t be able to do like the staircase as the walls are too high without a ladder, we will do the places we can and get someone in to finish when quarantine is done.  Our shipment will arrive on the 16th August, so as soon as quarantine is done we can organize to hav...

After a long much needed night’s sleep, I woke up around 7am and went in search of a cup of tea. I sat down to write a bit and after a while James woke up and joined me. James’s friend Phil called to check in on us and has promised to bring us a TV (we don’t have one at the moment). Furniture wise, we currently have a dining table and chairs, and beds. No sofa, arm chairs, or anything comfy to sit on really. So 10 days of quarantine is going to be spent figuring out how to get comfy with what we’ve got. Probably a mattress on the living room floor for the time being. While we’re currently lacking a few things, when the ship arrives on August 16th we will be inundated with furniture. We sent a sofa and an arm chair in our shipment, and the landlady also ordered us two sofas and an armchair. I’m not sure where we will put it all.   A little explore of the house and assessment of the kitchen revealed we are missing a few bits, so lists have been made. Kerry has gone in search of ...

24hrs after our original departure time, we found ourselves at the airport looking at the board for our flight. Flight time was pushed again but thankfully only by an hour. There were only two flights leaving at this time of night. Ours and one to Istanbul. As time went on it became easier to spot who was on our flight as we all gathered round the departures board waiting to find out which desk to check in at. James found a spot on the floor to sit and as I knew I had a lot of sitting in front of me, I chose to stand and walk around a bit. As I was checking the board for the umpeenth time, a little boy walked over to me and immediately began to talk to me. He can’t have been more than 5 or 6 years old. He told me he was going to St. Helena, and I said that’s where I was going too. He became very excited and we continued to chat about Jurassic Park, and Tom and Jerry. His mum, dad, nanny, and pop weren’t far away and couldn’t help but laugh as he chewed my ear off. I honestly loved it. ...

We were meant to be flying in the early hours of this morning (Monday 9th), but due to bad weather at destination the flight was delayed 24hrs. It's weird to think if everything had gone to plan we'd be in our house right now starting our quarantine count down. We've had emails and messages from our friends on the island who have been helping to prepare the house and things for us. Big thank you to Penny for everything she's done with the groceries and getting the internet and cable set up. And to Kerry and Phil for have done so much over the last year to help us get here. Can't wait to see you all.  In the lead up to this trip there have been lots of emails going back and forth from StH Government about us getting on the flight. James is considered essential staff for the education department, so we were sent a letter from them for us to show to anyone who might try to bump us off the flight. It is a full flight and seats are like gold dust (or so it feels). So, we...

Life got pretty hectic for a while in the last few years in Taiwan. I stopped blogging as work became a bit overwhelming, and finding time to document the fun stuff just didn't happen. We got married in 2017! James became Head of Department for Computing and Media, and my team grew from 2 to 4 people. I started learning German as well as Mandarin, and my friendship circle grew.  But things change and life moves on. In August 2020, 8 months into the world wide pandemic, James was offered a job at his old school in St. Helena. We had been waiting for several years for the chance to come up, and as if by a miracle, it came at exactly the right time for us and them. With the offer made (and accepted!), We began to plan our new adventure. I quit my job in October 2020 (for a few reasons I won't go into here), and began to sort shipping, packing, health checks etc. Taiwan had remained a relatively safe place to be but by May 2021, just one day after the movers came to take all our be...

It's been a very long time since I posted on this blog. After my dad died, I found it hard to talk, write, work, just about everything really. All but the most important things fell by the wayside. But as I start my fifth year in Taiwan, I feel the need to write about where I am today.  It's 8.45am and I have three days left before I go back to work. I am not excited. Last school year was pretty brutal and I finished in June feeling physically and mentally exhausted. Work is full on, all the time. No rest, no break, and holidays used to recover. Hence the reason I'm not excited to go back. My anxiety levels are already at an all time high. I keep trying to reassure myself that this year will be different (I've finally got another assistant), but so far my brain remains unconvinced. Lets hope I can prove it wrong! The best part of this past school year was getting married. A beautiful highlight. It was an amazing day, filled with love and joy. I couldn't have ask...

I've been thinking about my dad a lot lately. Since he died that's been a very hard thing to do. Even now I find it almost impossible to do so without crying.  While dad was in hospital, he was visited regularly by various members of the clergy. In his last days, I think that he must have been visted by a member of the Catholic ministry because among his things that we took home was a rosary. I don't know why I kept it. I'm not Catholic. I just can't seem to part with it. It's always in my bag and goes with me wherever I go. It's crazy really. It seems to have become some sort of talisman to me. I panic at the thought of losing it. Maybe there's something symbolic in that, I don't know.  All I know is that my dad is gone, and I've lost the most important man in my life. I've lost his words, his music, his memories, his ridicuous jokes. I try desperately to hold on to the things that I remember about him so that I can share them with other...

According to the China Post, this is my destiny for the year: You are clever, and your energetic personality will propel you to accomplish tasks with impressive results. However, remember to focus  you energy on the task at hand. Sometimes events and encounters that fluster you may provoke your innate habit of reacting instantly. It will be helpful to control your impulses.  Well, can't say any fairer than that really. Though it does feel like  the newspaper is getting on at me about my dissertation ( "focus your energy on the task at hand" )! Or maybe that's just my own guilt about not having done any work on it in a while.  I can see myself in the rest of the horoscope too. I do tend to get flustered easily and react instantly.   When I was undergoing cognitive behaviour therapy a couple of years ago, I found that I was much calmer and less likely to react instantly to situations. I ended up being very laid back, to the point of not being bothered by ...

This is the story of my sister collecting my dad's ashes from the funeral home. It is told by her. I went over on the bus to collect dad, with Jesse in his pushchair. It had occurred to me that I would need something to bring him home in, something with a flat bottom.... All I could think of was a gift bag. I rummaged through our stash in the under stairs cupboard but the only one I could find that was the right sort of size was a sparkly Santa bag. I looked at it briefly before deciding that it would be fine. It wasn't the nicest of days; rainy and cold and we were both bundled up. Before heading to the Funeral Director, whose office is by the bus stop, I went to do some shopping in tesco. Perhaps more shopping than I had intended and by the time I got out of there I had three bags and a pack of nappies hanging off the handles. It was raining even more and Jesse and I dashed down to the funeral directors and bustled into the quiet, dimly lit offices with a little less decor...

In the months following our return to Taipei, Dad's health went up and down. There was always hope he might recover but it soon started to dwindle after he had emergency surgery to correct a fault with the PEG that was put into his stomach. In the end all the hopes and prayers were spent and he passed away a few weeks ago. I thank God that James and I made it back to the UK in time. Being with him at the end and being able to say goodbye was terribly hard but I'd have been inconsolable if I hadn't been there.  In the weeks that come and gone since my return to Taipei I've found it very hard. Some days are better than others but there is always an underlying pain in my chest. Having friends (and James) around has made it easier. Work has provided me with time to think of other things. A mind spent solely on grief is one that tires easily.  I've been struggling to listen to music since Dad died. It's always provided me with comfort but now I just can't lis...

James and I went home on the 20th June for our summer break. The hopes of a nice relaxing holiday we're put on hold when my father was taken into hospital the day we got back. The last month has been emotionally and physically exhausting. I don't like saying it but I wasn't sure whether he was going to survive this time. He looked so frail and weak and the doctors were very concerned. Thankfully after five weeks in hospital, he's going to be discharged soon. It was hard leaving my family to come home, but I'm glad I left knowing he was going to be ok and now I can take some time to rest and get myself ready for the new school year.  Taipei continues to be as hot as ever. The pool is open so I've been taking advantage of it when I can. James and I have both been hit hard by jet lag and recently we've been sleeping in shifts. He's going to sleep early and waking up in the early hours of the morning and I'm going to sleep late and getting up late. It...

I love my new library. It's so pretty and full of life. It has puppets and murals and bean bags galore! I could not be a happier librarian if I tried :) It's spread across two floors (juniors downstairs and infants upstairs). My favourite place is the reading area with the bean bags and the boat. It's like a little haven for reading. Here are a few photos for you to enjoy!

It's been a very long time since I updated my blog, mostly because not a lot has been happening lately apart from work and sleep. The Easter holidays came and went and now it's only a week until the end of term. This first year has really flown by. It's had its ups and downs but over all I'd give it a solid B+/A-.  So what's been happening: Well, first of all, I've been offered a new job! I know, exciting times in the Crofts/Greenwood household. I'm going to be moving to primary in August as their new Librarian. I'm very excited, though not so much about the amount of snot I'll be subjected to (hehe!). I'm over the moon to be back in the Library game again and looking forward to being the kooky Primary Librarian :) I hope I get to do story time. That would be epic! Today, I am turning the ripe old age of 31, which isn't exciting or terrifying at all. It's been a rather quite day so far which has been nice. James and I have plans to ...

Since we arrived in Taiwan, James has been plagued by the mosquitos. Being allergic to life as he is, this can mean that bites turn into welts and last for days. The electric blue light zappers that are so prevelant in places with lots of bugs don't seem to do diddly squat. After much searching we found some plugin defuser things that seem to help, but the best thing to deal with the little blighters is this remarkable device we found at a local store.  It's a tennis racket bug zapper! It's fricking amazing and James bombs about the house giggling with glee whilst dispatching the little buggers. He has expressed a wish on more than one occassion that they came with counters so that we could each have one and keep score. So, if you're reading people who make these amazing things. Please add counters. Your sales could double and make a highly allergic (and rather tasty) man very happy. 

Today was the last day of school before the Chinese New Year holiday. We had a plethora of activities for the kids and teachers to participate in. Here are a few images and videos from the day.  The videos can be found here: Chinese Drumming Dragon Dance Assembly SLT dressed in traditional Chinese clothes Red lanterns  Chinese Dragon Dance Chinese Brides (male teachers) waiting to be chosen by the Groom (Our CEO Dr. Weston) The brides are revealed! Chinese drumming  2014 is the year of the Horse and there are decorations for sale everywhere. James and I bought ourselves a pair of stuffed animal horses from the local store. They are terribly cute! We have very few plans for the holidays as we are in desperate need of a rest. We're going to do a little sightseeing but mostly spend some time in our pjs playing video games. A nice way to spend the holiday I think.  Happy New Year! 新年快乐!  ( Xīn nián kuài lè) ...

2013 was quite a year of change for me. The year started out in quite the worst way I could ever imagine and at times I wasn't sure it was ever going to get better.  Life has a strange way of working out though and the second half of the year has seen my life change in incredible ways. Looking back I can't quite believe all the things that have happened. I wouldn't be where I am now without my boyfriend James. He has made me happier than I ever thought possible and understands my weird and wonderful moods.  So roll on 2014! We have some exciting times ahead of us and I can't wait!

Micky's Favorite Taiwanese Recipes: Green Onion Pancake 蔥油餅 : These are the reason I've put on so much weight here. Sooooooooooo tasty! You have to try them. 

A year ago, if you'd tried to speak to me, my reply would have been brief. Single words or phrases at most. If you'd looked into my eyes, you would have seen exhaustion and grief. I was someone who looked like they'd given up. I was broken and battered, barely making it from day to day. I wandered through my life, hardly there at all. Inside, there was nothing. My brain had stopped turning and was set on auto pilot. I've never before experienced such silence. It was like everything had shut down. My internal voice took a vacation.  Depression has a way of eating away at you until it feels like there is nothing left. There were times when I couldn't speak at all, either because I just wasn't physically able to, or because it seemed pointless to even try. There was nothing to say. A room in hell with only your name on the door. That's a pretty good way of describing it. It is most definitely a solitary illness, one that people can't se...

Some weeks are good, some are bad and some are both. This week has been both.  At the start of the week I found out that three of my Gambian students would be leaving in a matter of weeks because relations between Gambia and Taiwan have broken down. Gambia no longer recognises Taiwan as an independent country. I've grown very attached to my kids in the time I've been here and I will miss them dreadfully. I don't mean to cast aspersions on Gambia, but I don't know what they will be going back or whether their education will continue when they leave. I hope for their sake it does. A sad time indeed for all of us.  On a happier and funnier note, I helped teach the year 7 girls about puberty today. Now that was a lesson and a half! I thought they would be more shy about these matters but we had some great questions and answers. I discovered that in Chinese/Taiwanese, girls also refer to their periods in euphemisms and that one of them is their 'Auntie'. It...