We got 2009 first!

Happy New Year! And we get to say it first! Nya nya nya.

This's kinda what the big New Year's event looks like. This link isn't this year, that's not posted yet, but close enough. We did not go see this mammoth display of pyrotechnics. The traffic, and I mean the people traffic, was just amazing. I left for Cat and Cyndy's at about nine at night, and I almost couldn't squeeze into the metro car. It's usually only that bad at rush hour, and I don't think I've ever seen it that bad way out where we live. Just nuts. And much worse closer to Taipei 101 (the building in the middle of the fireworks).


















But we had fun with Cat and Cyndy, Georgia and Fay. Pizza and munchies and a couple of drinks. It was a pleasant evening, at least a little due to not having to go to work tomorrow. And I'm a even happier 'cause I have an easy class on Friday so it's easier to go back to work.

And Christmas was a lot of fun, too.


















We decorated a little and cooked a lot. Marie made a really good chili, and we had a ton of sugar in various forms.


















This's a better shot for the lights. The lights and the little tree (the little fiber-optic thing behind Fay) came from a guy I'm tutoring. He just showed up with these decorations, which was great 'cause I wouldn't know the first place to buy stuff. I suppose I could've gotten something at Carrefour (said Jalla-foo in the local lingo, don't ask me why, no one knows), but I don't think we would've spent money for something we might not use again. So that was a pleasant touch.

It hasn't been all Christmas spirit here, tho'. Marie had an unsettling experience with the local view of Christmas. She was at Carrefour for last-minute ingredients on Christmas Eve (we had to work that day) and when she was at the store that evening she saw they were taking the Christmas decorations down. "On to the next sale," as she put it.

But in spite of any cultural confusions it's been a good holiday season for us. I got Marie a big, fluffy robe; new, semi-fluffy towels; and several bars of expensive soap. I found a Lush right next to the metro near my school, for all your skin needs. Really, all of them. Some in several forms.


















This's a game we played at the party. Three people would reach into a box, and by touch alone they had to find a specific object among 30 or so other things while the other two were trying to find it. It was a cute game. I think the box even mostly survived.

So happy holidays from this side of 2009. We hope to hear from people when you get up.