The last week has been pretty quiet, minus the occasional setting off of fireworks. Most small businesses were closed and lots of people were traveling or visiting families last week in celebration of the new year holiday. The election is over and the little speaker trucks also took a break so it was as close to peaceful as it can get here, I think. This year is the year of the dragon - Maxime was born in the year of the dragon so perhaps it will be an exceptional one for him... On new year's day (last Monday) Henri and I went to the hotel to meet Maxime and have lunch at one of the Chinese restaurants there and to see a lion dance which did performances throughout the hotel. I really enjoyed watching it and Henri didn't cry, despite the loud drums, so... success! A tradition for the new year is the giving of red envelopes with money inside. Bosses give them to employees, and families exchange them. You have to be sure not to give an unlucky amount or combination of bills - so if you want to give $1,000NT you had to give two $500's, not a $1,000 because that would be bad... Henri got a red envelope with a chocolate coin inside from his Papa.
This past weekend Maxime, Henri and I finally took a little trip out of the city up to Danshui, a little fishing village that sits where the Tamsui River meets the sea. It has a nice area to view the water and you could see a market type atmosphere but it was too crowded for us to push our stroller through.
Now I'm must preparing for my trip to the U.S. next week! I can't believe it's almost here!
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