Teaching 30 hours a week

I shaved off my beard yesterday. I look remarkably young again.
I’m doing close to 30 hours a week at the moment, saving for my planned exit from teaching at the end of May. I wasn’t this busy a few months ago; back in December I was puttering along at about 20. Twenty to thirty – does [...]

Uphill, Christina Rossetti

A few people have come to this site looking for an analysis of Christina Rossetti’s “Uphill”, so I thought I’d better provide one.
–
Uphill
Does the road wind up-hill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.
But is there for the night a resting-place?
A roof [...]

My elegant Taiwan hypothesis

First of all, I have a small beard.

I plan to eradicate it in a day or two, but it’s been nice to tug at it during pensive moments.
Secondly, Qing and I travelled to the small, pretty town of Nei Wan last Friday. Nei Wan is about 45 minutes north of Hsinchu, and is a [...]

North American Odyssey

Suddenly, I had an idea – when I leave Taiwan, I could spend two-three months in North America, visiting, before I head south to Argentina. I could travel around the US and maybe Canada, staying with people (no hotels), making friends with other bloggers and readers and meeting up with old acquaintances. Telling stories, sitting [...]

Tomorrow!

Sorry for the delay everyone – too busy to post today! I’ve got an exciting plan to talk about tomorrow: a trip to the US in the summer, to visit old friends and new. Talk more soon.