2006.03.17 - Who wants ribs?

Greetings one and all,

We are now well into March realizing that an update was long past due.

Since our last mail we have gone to and returned from our trip to Boracay, Philippines. The trip was great despite the fact we were poor going into it since returning from Canada just a month prior. It’s a good thing the Taiwan dollar stretches out nicely compared to the Pilipino peso. Our trip included snorkelling, mountain biking, caving and relaxing. Since it’s winter in Taiwan, the temperature there was so nice. So nice, in fact, that Mike’s sickness he had been carrying since coming home from Canada magically disappeared (only to return when landing in Taiwan again). Kathy had a chance to spread her water-wings again. If that girl could grow gills and live in the sea, you bet she would in a heart beat. The flight to the island requires mention since it was the tiniest plane we had ever seen. It was a nine seater prop that was pushed around by the slightest wind. We could see our pilots and directly into the cockpit. Before take-off, the ground crew stood outside while the engines began. They stood there watching with a fire extinguisher in their hands. Very reassuring! We made it to and from the island though, despite Kathy’s doubts.

A quick synopsis of life after holiday.
We have both signed another one year contract at work. Same place, same kids, new year. That’s right! ANOTHER YEAR OF TEACHING! Well it’s all the same to Kathy since she is a teacher. It’s a good thing Mike like’s kids...and English...HA! “We’s likes English talk friend school they know we is talk thing.”
We got to make a slide show for Kathy’s dad’s 50th birthday. We are missing ALL the events this year!
We have both battled and are still battling ear, nose, throat infections, coughed out ribs and the like. We are getting better amazingly enough!
We spent the weekend on a church retreat at Sun Moon Lake in the mountains in the middle of Taiwan.
A new Subway opened just down our street (number 3 in Kaohsiung of a city of 2.2 million). Exciting news in our world of rice and noodles.
And, Carlene (Kathy’s sister) might be visiting in June. Very cool.
Other than that, what can we say? Same, same, just different time zone.

We hope you are all doing well. We are now on SKYPE which is a free service that you can use your computer to converse for free vocally to one another. It’s like your computer’s a phone and Bill Gates is paying the bill. In case you ever want to use it for your own personal use or maybe you want to hear our lovely voices, download it here: www.skype.com. Our contact name is taiwanchu.

Sorry this mail took so long. We hope to hear from you . We have posted pictures on our homepage for all to enjoy...so enjoy!

Until next time, so long for now