It's been a month since we moved to Toufen, Miaoli, and I'm starting to really like it here. It's much more convenient compared to our previous place. We have an RT-Mart nearby, a food material shop, plenty of other shops, a shopping mall, and even a big sports park called Zhunan/Toufen Park. The only drawback is the weather. It's less sunny, more cloudy, and a bit cooler. The strong cold winds sometimes make me want to wear long pants and a jacket in the evening. Other than that, it's still warm, with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.
Our son, Adrian, started kindergarten at the beginning of the month. I was worried that he would have a hard time adjusting since he was always with me before. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had no problems staying there, even though everyone speaks Chinese and he mostly speaks English and Polish. But after about four days, he started crying and saying that he had been there enough and missed mommy, wanting to stay home with me. This went on for about a week, and he wasn't happy to go out at all. When we arrived at the kindergarten, he would start crying and cling to me tightly. I had to wait a few minutes until he calmed down. The teachers in his class, all three of them, tried their best to help him let go. One of the teachers even brought him to play on the slide and told me to run away. As I walked a few meters away, all I could hear was his loud cry and him calling for mommy. This lasted for a while but gradually got better with time. Later on, he just needed a little more time with me but could let me go without crying. In the past few days, he has been doing well and waves goodbye to me. He has made friends and has no problem playing with anyone, so the language barrier is not an issue.
With more free time on my hands, I have been studying Chinese for the past few weeks. I can now write and read some simple sentences. Reading is easier for me than writing because I don't always remember the correct words. But even Taiwanese people can't remember how to write every word if they don't use it often. I already understand a lot of what people say to me, even though I don't always know how to write the words. However, speaking is still my biggest challenge.
Recently, I started taking driving lessons. Since there is no instructor who speaks English, I can only go on weekends when my husband is available to translate some things for me. I've already had two four-hour lessons on Saturdays, and it can be quite tiring. By the end, my brain feels exhausted, and it's harder to concentrate. Nonetheless, things are going well. The instructor said I drive better than many people (probably referring to women). From what I've observed, that seems to be true. I've seen many people who struggle with parking or making S-turns, which I can do without much difficulty. The instructor tells me when to turn, and now it feels like I'm a machine following a set of instructions. However, driving in a different place with a different car could be a challenge. Last time, we even drove on the road for a bit. Unfortunately, this weekend, my instructor had some urgent matters to attend to, so I couldn't practice driving. It looks like I'll have to go on a weekday at night, which worries me because I'm not sure if I'll be able to see everything clearly, such as when to turn. I have my driving test scheduled for early November, so I'll update you on how it goes, especially since I can barely speak Chinese and there's no one who speaks English during the test. I know that the written test can be done in English, but the driving test cannot. The book to learn all the rules is also only available in Chinese. I can only watch old exam questions in English to get an idea of what to expect.
Lately, we wanted to update our cake shop address to Toufen, but our account got suspended on Google. I have no idea how to fix it, so I might lose all the reviews if I can't retrieve it soon. Google asked for a profile re-verification, but it's not possible to do so because it doesn't work.
