Everyday achievements

My Aunt Jane told me to do something scary each day. Taipei is such a safe, crime free city that I don't feel at all threatened in my daily "doings." I'm probably more of a hazard to myself than anyone else. Things are starting to become "normal." I've worked Caitlin into a bit of a morning routine of Cheerios, multy (that's milk in Caitlin's special English), and "talk to Mima." Yes, we do this all at the same time...it's the only way to keep her still on the video cam. Anyone who has talked to me not during mealtime knows of the chaos. Then we're off to playtime in either the park or the ACC depending on the weather. Oh, and speaking of weather - let me say that the month of October is an absolute blessing! There is a bit of relief from the fury of this closer to the equator relentless sun and even some clouds. Oh, I am so thankful for clouds. Clouds mean less overall sweat and perhaps a sweet rain to cool things down a teensy-tiny bit more. And the heavenly breeze...it only hits you when you're in certain directions. Between all the tall buildings and the mountains it can really pick up and cool you down - if you're in the right direction. Either way, it's more of a breeze than Raleigh, NC has to offer! So, I've achieved normal. Now what?

Well, I am pretty sure I conquered "Public Enemy Number 1."Public Enemy No. 1

Looks harmless and rather modern, doesn't it? Yeah, that's what we thought too. Matter of fact, this very stove and oven are two of the items high on the "what we need in an apartment list" (There's one of those lists again!) and since this apartment had both and a nice office, the deal was sealed. See, one would think that a stove and oven are common components to any kitchen, regardless of culture, but apparently that's just plain old wrong. VERY WRONG. Kitchens in foreign countries are peculiar places...I won't go into all the details of the 15 other apartments we toured. Just take my word for it. 4 burners on a stove and an oven are not common in Taiwan. When we arrived here in late August we found an added bonus - this oven was never used! It's brand new. Somehow I found that wildly exciting. And I hugged my Kitchen Aid mixer when I saw it for the 1st time in 6 weeks. What does that say about me? I suppose that's neither here nor there, but imagine just for a moment my visions of savory pizzas, decadent chocolate birthday cakes, juicy Thanksgiving turkey, chocolate chip cookies and roasted chickens so I can have both dinner and my own low sodium chicken broth (and not have to bother with this $5.00 per can business)...all this in a brand new oven! No one else's "funk" to burn away at 500 degrees. Now, very quickly wipe those images from your mind because I can't get the damn thing to light. Ugh. Gas. I don't know how to work a gas oven. I don't know how to work a gas stove. I am so afraid I'm going to blow up the entire building. Oh, how the balloon deflates. But, there's an upside...see if I lose the battle with the stove, I get to go out to eat. So, I win again and all is right in the world.

Truly, you can only go out to eat so many times. Eating out of the house with Caitlin is an exercise in every way you can imagine. For the most part, it's just not worth it. Somehow the joys of eating out have withered away since our parenting journey began. I'd rather the civilized world not see that my daughter is on a fork strike, that she winds up wearing most of her food and that milk in a cup with a straw is just a disaster waiting to happen. Just for the record, I bring her sippy cup, but once she sees the straw its all over. And I bring a bib, Wet Ones, utensils - you name it, I've got it. None of these tools actually get me anything more than a cold dinner. I need to figure out how to work my kitchen.

The best piece of advice I've received to date is from my grandfather...take the pot/pan off the burner you're trying to light. Once it's lit, then put the pot/pan back on the stove. I tried it and it worked! Thanks, Pop. So, I've been pan frying everything we eat. No more dinner making tears and fits of rage. No more spare of the moment, "Honey, we're going out to eat tonight." No more defeat! I have mastered the stove. Soon, very soon I will master my kitchen once again.

The day came. Last Friday I lit the oven. Turns out the lighter thing that I'm supposed to stick into the oven to get it to light does not actually produce a flame. It just shoots out tiny sparks. I think it may officially be called an igniter not a lighter (like the one I use to light the grille in Raleigh). I thought that the "lighter" was broken and that's why I couldn't light the oven. Turns out I was doing everything wrong until Matt showed me what to do. Now, if I just knew what temperature I was setting it to we'd be in great shape. I guess I'll figure that out eventually.

My last and most greatest success to date happened today. I spoke Chinese to a cab driver and got myself home all on the 1st try! This may not seem like a big deal to anyone, but it's an immeasurably huge accomplishment for anyone who is living here and does not speak Chinese. Chinese is a tonal language. Every sound can be made at least 4 different ways through the pitch of your voice and each tone means something totally different. Usually I hop in a cab, say hello and hand the driver a piece of paper or a business card with my destination written in Chinese. This works like magic. Today I actually spoke my village name, street name, lane number and building number in Chinese and made it home! All my sounds were correct. Caitlin and I did a happy dance in our courtyard!

So that was my something scary today. Truly, I could have wound up anywhere, but I made it home safe and sound. Now I don't need my beat up piece of paper with my address anymore. Go me!!