Aboriginal people of Taiwan
There are the beginnings of some sense of routine here; not everything is new and startling. we were driving home the other day, not thinking about where we were and turned on the radio. They were speaking Chinese on all the stations! Oh, we're not in Kansas anymore?
McKinley's school is in a village of about 800 on the outskirts of Taitung. One day each week a special teacher comes to the school to teach the local aboriginal language which is only spoken in this village and one other small village in the mountains. It's a beautiful language that sounds more Polynesian than Chinese. This aboriginal teacher took us for a walk through the village after school one day. There is a wonderful mix of some very nicely cared for houses and beautiful aboriginal crafts, and then mostly very poor shacks and trash in the street. Everyone is in the street and so friendly.
Well, it turns out we can't be married in Taiwan, since we are already married in the US. We'd have to get divorced first and we don't want to do that. But we've almost solved the problem. Thanks to Colleen Haag at the Shelburne Town Office, we're getting McKinley's birth certificate reissued with the correct name on it and the county records will reissue our marriage license with the correct name on it. Hopefully then, the Taiwanese government will be happy that all is in order.
It was "Teacher's Day" in Taiwan last Wednesday; not a school holiday, but there was a dinner party for teachers. It was a wonderful Chinese buffet and lots of alcohol. McKinley and Alison were invited, so we could excuse ourself before people got to drunk.