We're back in Fēngyuán 豐原 after two weeks spent enjoying the Lunar New Year 春節break with my family in the beautiful state of Washington. All three of us had a wonderful time, but no one more so than my daughter, who was spoiled rotten by her grandparents and aunt. For myself, the annual visit back is a much-needed chance to reconnect with both kin and culture.
Having arrived in the morning of Sunday the 30th, our first day in the U.S. was spent trying to adjust to the new time zone, which both Amber and I were able to do relatively quickly (the same couldn't be said for my wife, who found herself waking up before dawn the first few days in Bremerton). The next day was also a quiet one, with our one trip out of the house being a visit to the Silverdale Mall, and in particular the Barnes & Noble bookstore there. Having several titles on pre-order with Amazon, I contented myself with just browsing this time around, but Amber, as usual, made off with a treasure haul of books and DVD's - the latter including Dora the Explorer, the Backyardigans, Clifford the Big Red Dog, the Wiggles and Curious George. These additions to her collection should be enough to keep my daughter content for the next year or so, while exposing her every morning to real spoken English before she heads off to her Mandarin kindergarten. During our stay with my mom and dad, Amber spent a lot of time in front of the TV, watching PBS Kids in the morning and Sprout in the evening, but I didn't mind - the shows were entertaining, but also instructive. Most importantly, these programs did not insult Amber's intelligence, unlike many of the offerings to be had on T'áiwān's 台灣 Momo and Yoyo TV channels.
As for my wife, she would on several occasions partake of the simple pleasures to be found on the shelves of the local Kohl's and J.C. Penny.
To be continued...
Amber at Táiwān T'áoyuán International Airport 臺灣桃園國際機場, with our Delta plane in the background. We flew from Táiwān to Narita International Airport 成田国際空港 outside of Tōkyō 東京, then connected to a flight going to Sea-Tac Airport
After arriving in Seattle and clearing immigration and customs, we rented this Chevrolet Aveo subcompact from National, and used it to get around during our stay. It goes without saying that it felt great to be back among courteous drivers who understood the rules of the road, but I said it anyway
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