The News

<----- Baby Danny?

I am teaching a lot and still find at least one occasion a day to mess with the young minds I am forming. Last week, one of my grade two students named Allen was standing at my desk. Allen is a cute, little guy with ears that would probably allow him to take flight if given chance. He always comes and stands next to my desk and watches me mark homework. His English is minimal, so we usually communicate in “Chinglish.” Next to me, one of my advanced students named Mari was chatting me up. I had some cookies on my desk and saw Allen eyeing them. I passed him the bag and asked if he wanted one. He nodded excitedly, said, “Yes! Thank you!” and began to nibble slowly on the cookie like only a child or rodent can.

I asked him in Chinese if it was delicious. He said it was. I then told Mari to tell him in Chinese that I had found the cookies in the park. She did and Allen paused in his nibbling. His eyes shifted from Mari to the cookie to me and back again. There was an awkward silence and both of us thought this would stop him from eating it. However, after giving it some thought- he got back down to business. So I asked him if he thought I was lucky for having found the snacks in the park. He nodded that I was very lucky. Interested to see what would actually stop a child from eating a cookie, I upped the anti. I got Mari to tell him that technically I did not find them in the park. In actual fact, I had seen a stray dog carrying the cookies in its mouth. I chased the dog until it finally (Mari, has been my student for over four years and can now bullshit extremely well with a straight face.) So she translated my story to Allen with nary a smirk. Allen turned white, spit the cookie into his hand and started scraping his tongue with his finger nails. So take note: apparently, the thought of orally transmitted diseases from street dogs will indeed stop children from eating delicious cookies. Aren’t children great!?

Which brings me to this email…

As most of you know, I have been planning on moving home in late June. I quit my job, found a replacement for myself and have been packing for the move next month. My boss has been really upset that I am going and was trying everything to get me to stay. She has been really good to me over the years, so I went out of my way to find a good replacement for myself. I did but two weeks ago, he called and said, he had decided not to come to Tainan City. So my school was entering panic mode and my boss looked like she was well on her way to a nervous break down.

Last Thursday, I came back from swimming and Jenny was lying in our bedroom with a look of fear, shock and awe on her face. I asked what was wrong and she said, “Danny. I am pregnant.” She was very scared that I would be upset because she knows how excited I was to move home but I was completely ecstatic and told her so. So long story short, I am going to be a daddy and ridiculously excited about it. I have been baby crazy pretty much my whole life. I love babies and have wanted one for quite some time. So my loved ones, friends, Gunner… Soon you will have a baby Danny running around. (Which I know is a dream come true for all of you!) Due to immigration, medical etc. I need to stay in Taiwan longer than expected. We do plan to move back to Canada but there will now be three of us attending instead of two. I know some of you will probably be disappointed that I am not coming back as soon. Aidan is probably going to cry himself to sleep on his huge pillow tonight. But I am truly very happy with the change in plans. I am going to try and get back for a visit to meet Jamie’s new baby Sullivan, sometime this summer. So I will see you all then.

As for Jenny, she is only 6 weeks pregnant. Which is a little scary as apparently 1 in 4 don’t make it through the first three months. I would have waited for the first trimester to be finished but due to having quit my job and everyone expecting me back in a month, I had to tell my school and family. Then, we got “outted” to some other friends. So I wanted the rest of you to hear it from me.

So…it is not what we were planning for - but life is what happens when you are planning it.