A Visit to the Library

Today we set off for the library. A playgroup of expats was meeting there at 10:00 am. We took a taxi to the main library, which is close to DaAn park. The library is HUGE, with I think about 5 floors, maybe more. There is also a Western book section, so once we have residency here, we can check out books from there. They have two floors of children’s areas, with little desks, chairs, tables, computers and books. Lots of English books. There is one room with these HUGE English books and little tables and chairs for reading. I sat down with Ashley and started reading some books to her. Then this large group of school children came in and surrounded us and before you know it I was reading to everyone surrounding the table. The teacher even took a picture of us – without asking my permission, which is a little annoying. I enjoyed reading to the kids, it was interesting. I would point to items and they would say what it was in Chinese and Ashley would say what it was in English. I read two books, then moved to a different area since I saw some of the expats show up. They thought I was the teacher and a part of the school group. I was then introduced to several of the women and their children. They are from all over the world, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, England. The schoolgroup had moved into the other room where we were. I had let Liz out of the stroller to crawl around and she had a large group of followers. She had a blast, crawling as fast as she could and having a group of Chinese kids after her. They touched her and played with her and made her giggle. Their teacher asked if it was ok or if they were bothering her and I said she was having fun so it was ok and that I would get her if it seemed to be too much. Ashley had gone off and found some books to look at since she seemed to be overwhelmed by all the kids and just wanted to be alone. Some of the expats didn’t seem to understand me letting the kids play with Liz, they said I was a laid back mom and that I was more willing to let the Chinese kids play than they would be. It was interesting. One lady had even said that she would have stopped reading to the kids in the other room if it had of been her. I think it’s interesting to find that sort of attitude from the expats. I understand that maybe after awhile it can get old or overwhelming with all the attention. But even in the States, if I was reading to Ashley and a group of kids wanted to join, I’d keep reading, no matter whether they are Chinese or English. I had fun doing it. One lady joked that since I was a newcomer I didn’t know the going rate for reading a story in English is NT1500 an hour. Maybe that will be my new job J We did manage to spend a little time talking to the expats about areas they live in, how long they’ve been here, how old their children are, etc. There were quite a few moms there and I can’t remember everyone, but hopefully as we get together more, it will become easier. I have a playdate next week with just two of the moms that weren’t able to make it to the library. They are from California, so it will be nice to talk to some Americans and see what their view of living here is like.
We ate at Chili’s last night, Anthony met us there from work since he didn’t leave work until 6:15pm. He had his first day of what seemed like real work yesterday.