Lin Kou 林口

Yesterday, Tina's brothers drove me and 2 of their coworkers to their summer house in Lin Kou (林口). It was an amazingly beautiful house - a huge estate just a 45 minute drive from Taipei. We entered through the gate, passed by the horses, a tennis court and got dropped off between the main lodge and the outdoor BBQ deck. It seemed surreal to find such a peaceful, countryside place so close to crowded, city-like Taipei. There was a huge pool (with pleasantly warm water), an exercise room, and a coffee house. Inside the main room, there was even a mahjongg room, where I sat next to Nicole (one of my carmates) to watch her strategy against 3 others. I picked up some of the rules - exchanging pieces, calling "Pong", some winning hands (requiring a pair) and a draw (when there are 16 pieces left to draw from). However, it was so fast paced that I couldn't keep up completely or always determine their strategy. (It seemed to be an elegant game and I'd love to learn how to play.)

I spent most of my time with a group of Frenchmen - Guillaume, Justine, Julian, Elody (?), and Matthew. Listening to them made me realize I only have room for one foreign language in my head. As my Chinese progresses, my French is slowly going to the wayside. When they realized I could speak a little, they asked me to say a few words - every time I thought of something I would want to respond in Chinese! I can no longer conjure French verbs, never mind conjugate them correctly.

Good food, good wine, good company - made for a pleasant Saturday evening. I owe a big thanks to Tina's brothers, John and Fudy, for letting me come along...and to Tina for convincing me to go!