A Couple of Firsts

New experiences... yep, been there, done that.

 A lot, lately.

Here is a couple of new things to add to my list.....

Last week was the city wide track meet. Three years ago Taichung City swallowed all of Taichung  County, so when I say city,  I am talking about a huge chunk of area. About thirty-five schools participated and it lasted over a  four day span. Four members of the Dingi clan were involved- Nick, Ben, Abbi, and Carl.

Carl, along with Morrison's athletic director, shuttled track members back and forth during the meet. Nick and Ben threw in several events- shot-put, javelin, and hammer. Abbi ran 100 meter hurdles. Since these were held during school hours, I missed Ben in his first ever track meet and Abbi take fourth place against a talented field.

Fortunately for me, the hammer throw was scheduled for Saturday morning, a bright sunny day! I rode along to watch Nick in a event that typically, at least in Ohio, isn't done at high school track and field meets.  And in case you don't know, neither did I, the hammer throw really isn't a hammer- it's a heavy ball on the end of a chain! 

Please ignore the date/time stamp- it's obviously wrong!

Nick preparing to throw.

Nick was in fifth place after the preliminary round. In the finals, he finished in 7th place!

Now, while I admit this was a first for me, its not the first I was referring to at the beginning of this blog. 

I have been to many stadiums in my life. My dad took me to watch the Cleveland Indians. I marched at a Cincinnati Bengal's football game. I cheered through four years of OSU football. Carl and I took the kids to see the Columbus Clippers. And in all these incidences I have never been the only female Caucasian in attendance.

Abbi had the same experience several days before. She, however, was on display for all to see. She felt "obvious" as she prepared for her qualifying heat. Carl noticed several hurdlers looking in Abbi's direction, obviously discussing their untypical looking opponent. Ben, too, shared a similar feeling as he prepared to throw the javelin. Definitely a new strange feeling.

 While I missed Ben's and Abbi's events last week, I did catch them pole vaulting during an inter squad meet Thursday afternoon. Who would have ever guessed that little old me could have brought two pole vaulters into this world? 

 Abbi started pole vaulting last year during eighth grade. Ben decided just this year to give it a try. He spent many hours learning and practicing during our recent Chinese New Year break. I look forward to watching these two, as well as Nick during the next couple months of track season.

Today was Jacob's soccer tournament, which meant back to Taipei for me. Again. With only living in Taiwan eight months, I think six trips to Taipei is a little excessive. So far I have made this trip via  bus, high speed rail, and van. One bus was public, one was private. I had hoped to travel with the team on the team bus but I signed up too late. So that left the next logical choice.... public bus.

So.... we planned on riding our scooter to the bus station, and a bus to the main station in Taipei. From there we would take the MRT (subway), and finally a taxi. We planned that, but it didn't happen exact;ly like we thought.

Now at this point, you are probably expecting an amusing story of taking the wrong bus, ending up in Kenting (the southern tip of Taiwan), or another lesson learning mishap. But just so you don't worry before I get to the point......

We did arrive safely...... 

and 

in 

style!







Instead of doing it like we planned, another parent offered us a ride. This is where my "first" comes into play. While I have ridden in vans many times before, I have never ridden in a van where there was a hired driver. This parent's employer hires a driver for him. Wow! I didn't know that happened, well besides tv sitcoms and the such.

In any case, I am so thankful. He saved us money and time.

As for the soccer game... it was cold and rainy. Jacob's team won their first two games, tied the third, and lost the fourth. They played several great games but seemed to lose steam as the day proceeded.

Tomorrow is a brand new day.

Will it be like every other Sunday, or will I have another first?

Only time will tell!