Language Barrier .........

Not for AG who had the presence of mind to avoid sign language by buying an electronic

dictionary. Not such a bad idea!

So Jason finished off his trip on the 22nd Feb ( a month ago already) and has been spending his time planning his next visit. Before he went back, he did have time for a beer or two in 'Stonehenge (Stone Age)' bar. They play great music there which after a Heineken or two we sometimes find it necessary to sing along with the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Elton John or Oasis to name a few. The boss is an interesting character - he spent time in the US and really looks like he had a hard paper round. The second character there is a barmaid called Sherry who seems to be permenantly drunk. Her favourite saying (and only English) is a raucous 'come on !' which again sometimes we have to imitate ! I think I may have cost JJ a lot of money by suggesting that long-haul flights really shouldn't be spent in Economy class - he apparantly swears by Premium Economy (as do I) now ! Anyway JJ (or anyone else) you are welcome anytime.

A few days after JJ returned, so did I. I had one night shift in 29 days but it was March 1st and had to be done. I frantically managed to change and book new flights so that I could catch the 09:20 flight (straight after night shift) Eva Air to London. This gave me an extra 10 hours at home. On reflection it was very demanding and it meant I was out of bed for 43 hours ! It is a long way to London from here and the extra tiredness only served to highlight this. I was lucky enough to have a window seat on this leg and all the way up through Europe, the skies were crystal clear and the street lamps shone brightly below ..... that is until about 5 mins flying off the dutch coast. Then a heavy bank of cloud, with rain, prevailed and I knew we were not far off blighty ! I didn't need the flash map they show you on the plane, all I needed to do was look out of the window ! We landed late (again) and I wandered through (only hand luggage) to immigration. How can it take longer to get through UK immigration than it does to get through Taiwan Immigration where they have to stamp and check heaps of documents ? Well it does. I finally got through only to be greeted by millions of people at arrivals. Looking for my Dad, suddenly a little child got stuck in the way. I was just thinking 'what stupid parents let there child run around here' when I realised it was my own daughter Hannah. Boy was she a sight for sore eyes. She was buzzing and didn't stop talking all the way back to Ashford from Heathrow. Louise (my wife) had surprised me - thank you.

Whilst back in England I spent much time reacquainting myself with things that non-Taiwan residents take for granted: a) Driving (my beautiful Lexus) b) stopping at red lights c) crossing the road safely d) decent wine e) cooking proper food etc....... and most importantly my family whom I miss very much. I am so proud of the way they cope without me. In fact they cope a bit too well for my liking !

Sadly the time came to return to Taiwan. Needless to say the Eva air flight was late landing (will they ever get it right !). I cannot fault the service though and I did get 5 or 6 hours sleep during the Bangkok leg. Having got back I thought I would go straight to the Amazon to watch the second half of the mighty reds only to find it closed. I had to have a double take but it was closed. Apparantly some people had been in the night before and taken to it with a baseball bat. I don't know why. So I went home to my empty apartment, got unpacked and talked to Louise before crashing out. Louise, myself and little Hannah all want to be together again, so I am now actively looking for work in an English native language country (probably end up in UK). Somebody please give me a job !

My amusing tale concerns an Aussie (CW) this time. He had been out drinking the other night and supposedly ended up with this woman. Whilst back at her place, her son and his boyfriend turned up and didn't like what they saw. Whilst the arguments went on CW wisely decided to pick up his strides and fled the scene. Running for cover, he leapt into the first bar he could. Sadly for CW, he ended up in the Jhongli gay bar. So you can envisage, CW in a gay bar.......... with no trousers on. Apparantly he was far more popular there than his previous location !

Tonight sees me head up to Taipei to go and see the Proteas and the Aussies slug out their final group game in the overshadowed World Cup. We all like our sport - most of us are competitive, but please, it is only a game at the end of the day. Bob Woolmer R.I.P