Due to coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Taiwan postponed opening schools for 2 weeks and will take 2 weeks away from summer vacation. The start of the second term originally scheduled for Feb. 11 was rescheduled to Tuesday, Feb. 25. The staff used this time to prepare as much as they could. All the teachers went back to school on Feb. 24 to prepare lessons and take steps to prepare for pandemic. We made badge pins for our school's 100th anniversary celebration in the afternoon.
Schools play hand washing song before each class starts to remind students to wash hands to reduce the risk of the virus spreading. I used to get sick often within one month after schools started. But this year I didn't! I believe it's because I wash hands more often and wear masks.
During this time my husband didn't want visitors to our house or us traveling by transportation. I cancelled Regis's violin lessons for March, Yamaha course for March and April and piano lessons till September. Originally, Regis's first piano lesson with a new teacher was scheduled for March 27.
I’d suffered from an allergic reaction for one month since the end of March. I itched all over. I guess I had mite bites. Felix and Regis had some bites too.
My children have fallen in love with basketball and dodgeball since this term started! They play during recess and on weekends.
They didn't do well on midterms in late April, not as well as I'd hoped. Felix's class isn't as good as others. He ranked 3rd in the class of 26 students again. Regis's ranking was worse, but his class isn't bad. Well, this is a perfect opportunity to learn from mistakes, see why Felix didn’t do as well as he'd expected, and find strategies to improve scores in the future.
I bought a pair of Bonbons grey knee-high boots (size 39) online for $1570 with coupons on March 4. It arrived the next day! My husband drove me to the shoe store in downtown Taipei to change sizes on March 7. My right foot is bigger than left one. I wear a size 38 in boots but 1 size bigger in heels. My first pair of boots (size 37) was bought in my birthday month four years ago.
Felix said "Mom, I want to have pen pals like you did." I found some through Facebook and then both of my boys start penpalling! They sent out their first letters in the middle of March. One month later, Regis received the first letter, which's from Vanessa! Felix received on April 28. It's from Corrigan. During this time it's taken longer for mails to travel. They sometimes email.
