Olivia's 10th Birthday Party

Last Thursday, I was approached by Sherry to see if I could go on a home visit on Saturday for Olivia, one of my 2B students. This is the first home visit request that I have had since Megan has been gone. I honestly wasn't sure if I would ever get another home visit, especially one by myself, so this was a real surprise to me in the best of ways.

When the time came for me to be picked up it wasn't just Olivia and her Dad, like I was told, but Jill was there too! Jill is Olivia's cousin and is also one of the other students in the same class that I teach, so I was excited to have two of my girls for the day.

The weather turned sour on Friday and it has been raining for days, and yesterday was no exception. It was raining all afternoon and so it was decided that we would go and see a movie for the afternoon. The two choices we had before us were: The Greatest Showman or Jumanji. I briefly explained to everyone in the car that The Greatest Showman is a musical so it would have lots of songs and dancing and that Jumanji is about people getting put into a real life board game. Upon hearing the short descriptions that I gave, Olivia's Dad decided that we would go see The Greatest Showman.

It really was a spectacle to behold on the big screen

The movie was great fun and Olivia's Dad and I discussed how much we enjoyed it afterward. In the car rides for the rest of the evening he played the soundtrack to the movie for everyone to listen to and hum along.

Jill is in the middle and Olivia is on the right.

Now for the goofy times.

My attempt at getting everyone in the picture before the movie begins.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant that they have dined at many times before in Taichung. Two of Olivia's Dad's friends and their families joined us for the meal. Apparently the three men have been best friends since high school and they have maintained their friendship for over 20 years. Their families are all immersed in each other's lives and they all make sure to get lunch or dinner at least two or three times each month. I found the situation so special. Very few people have friends that they are close with like that, let alone 3 friends and all of the children are around the same age and they are growing up together too. The parents are all godmothers and godfathers to each other's kids and they even get together on some holidays as well. Having me be there as they all conversed felt like I was part of this intimate little family.

Dual hotpot flavors. The left was milky flavor and the right was a little spicy. They were concerned that it might be too spicy for me but I enjoyed it. It was just spicy enough to have flavor but not enough to burn.

The strips of white are what the dinner guests called "mambo fish". I looked it up after I got home and the official English name for it is the Sharptail Mola. Apparently it's banned in the EU but it's considered a delicacy here.

The cherry flavored birthday cake for both Olivia and her Dad.

The two celebrating their birthdays.

More shinanigans

The only photograph that I captured of the three best friends together as well as Claudia, Olivia's godmother.

Monday is going to be Olivia's 10th birthday. Not only that, but it will be Olivia's Dad's birthday as well! I had no idea that they shared the same birthday. After we sang the birthday songs and ate the cake we made our way home. It was nearly 9:00 p.m. by the time I arrived back home and during the drive Jill fell asleep on me (the precious little thing).

Jill sleeping on me

For a rainy winter day the movie and hotpot dinner combination was perfect. Olivia's dad is a wonderfully kind man and I feel privileged to have been welcomed into his friend family even if just for an evening.