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Day 5 - half way there (living on a prayer?)

  Today is the halfway point of quarantine and we’re doing alright. Unlike many of my friends returning to Taiwan, we have a whole house to ourselves, so plenty of space when we need to get away from each other. I don’t envy those who’ve had to quarantine in tiny hotel rooms, either on their own or with kids. I know you get through it, but it’s not exactly fun. Thursday we will be taken to Bradley’s camp for another Covid test, and then Saturday at 1 minute past midnight we will be able to leave quarantine. Not sure what we have planned for that day but I know we’ll be seeing people. Can’t wait! We’ve only seen friends from a distance (in our driveway) so it will be wonderful to actually be able to hug them, and sit and have a chat.   The war against the ants continues unabated (LOL). Another day of cleaning and laying traps and powder. This evening, they seem to have retreated, but I expect it’s only a short reprieve. I’ll be so glad when we get our shipment and have our Dyson so that
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Day 3

  Not a huge amount to report from the last two days. We’ve been pottering about the house getting things sorted. Lots of old crockery in the kitchen to be removed and boxed up. Lots of cleaning to be done as well. My old nemesis, the ants, have found us, so a good clean of the kitchen and living room floors is due today, then we can lay down some traps and hopefully that will deal with most of them.  The house is really lovely and big, but the last tenants didn’t treat the paint work very well. We’re going to speak to the landlady today to find out if we can get some paint and touch up the areas that need it. A good quarantine activity, and might provide us with some exercise as well. There are some areas we won’t be able to do like the staircase as the walls are too high without a ladder, we will do the places we can and get someone in to finish when quarantine is done.  Our shipment will arrive on the 16th August, so as soon as quarantine is done we can organize to have it brought u
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Quarantine Day 1

After a long much needed night’s sleep, I woke up around 7am and went in search of a cup of tea. I sat down to write a bit and after a while James woke up and joined me. James’s friend Phil called to check in on us and has promised to bring us a TV (we don’t have one at the moment). Furniture wise, we currently have a dining table and chairs, and beds. No sofa, arm chairs, or anything comfy to sit on really. So 10 days of quarantine is going to be spent figuring out how to get comfy with what we’ve got. Probably a mattress on the living room floor for the time being. While we’re currently lacking a few things, when the ship arrives on August 16th we will be inundated with furniture. We sent a sofa and an arm chair in our shipment, and the landlady also ordered us two sofas and an armchair. I’m not sure where we will put it all.   A little explore of the house and assessment of the kitchen revealed we are missing a few bits, so lists have been made. Kerry has gone in search of some towe
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Travel and Arrival

24hrs after our original departure time, we found ourselves at the airport looking at the board for our flight. Flight time was pushed again but thankfully only by an hour. There were only two flights leaving at this time of night. Ours and one to Istanbul. As time went on it became easier to spot who was on our flight as we all gathered round the departures board waiting to find out which desk to check in at. James found a spot on the floor to sit and as I knew I had a lot of sitting in front of me, I chose to stand and walk around a bit. As I was checking the board for the umpeenth time, a little boy walked over to me and immediately began to talk to me. He can’t have been more than 5 or 6 years old. He told me he was going to St. Helena, and I said that’s where I was going too. He became very excited and we continued to chat about Jurassic Park, and Tom and Jerry. His mum, dad, nanny, and pop weren’t far away and couldn’t help but laugh as he chewed my ear off. I honestly loved it.
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Delays and other things

We were meant to be flying in the early hours of this morning (Monday 9th), but due to bad weather at destination the flight was delayed 24hrs. It's weird to think if everything had gone to plan we'd be in our house right now starting our quarantine count down. We've had emails and messages from our friends on the island who have been helping to prepare the house and things for us. Big thank you to Penny for everything she's done with the groceries and getting the internet and cable set up. And to Kerry and Phil for have done so much over the last year to help us get here. Can't wait to see you all.  In the lead up to this trip there have been lots of emails going back and forth from StH Government about us getting on the flight. James is considered essential staff for the education department, so we were sent a letter from them for us to show to anyone who might try to bump us off the flight. It is a full flight and seats are like gold dust (or so it feels). So, we
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An overdue update

Life got pretty hectic for a while in the last few years in Taiwan. I stopped blogging as work became a bit overwhelming, and finding time to document the fun stuff just didn't happen. We got married in 2017! James became Head of Department for Computing and Media, and my team grew from 2 to 4 people. I started learning German as well as Mandarin, and my friendship circle grew.  But things change and life moves on. In August 2020, 8 months into the world wide pandemic, James was offered a job at his old school in St. Helena. We had been waiting for several years for the chance to come up, and as if by a miracle, it came at exactly the right time for us and them. With the offer made (and accepted!), We began to plan our new adventure. I quit my job in October 2020 (for a few reasons I won't go into here), and began to sort shipping, packing, health checks etc. Taiwan had remained a relatively safe place to be but by May 2021, just one day after the movers came to take all our be
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And so year 5 begins

It's been a very long time since I posted on this blog. After my dad died, I found it hard to talk, write, work, just about everything really. All but the most important things fell by the wayside. But as I start my fifth year in Taiwan, I feel the need to write about where I am today.  It's 8.45am and I have three days left before I go back to work. I am not excited. Last school year was pretty brutal and I finished in June feeling physically and mentally exhausted. Work is full on, all the time. No rest, no break, and holidays used to recover. Hence the reason I'm not excited to go back. My anxiety levels are already at an all time high. I keep trying to reassure myself that this year will be different (I've finally got another assistant), but so far my brain remains unconvinced. Lets hope I can prove it wrong! The best part of this past school year was getting married. A beautiful highlight. It was an amazing day, filled with love and joy. I couldn't have ask
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