September 26, 2018 Autumn Update! The end of September has arrived and boy, there have been plenty of recent developments worth mentioning to you all. First and foremost, another long month of teaching has ended. I started a new semester and my little kindergartners, bless their hearts, are so cute. It was Moon Festival here in Taiwan and we had a nice work barbecue, as well as a little three day weekend to relax and take time off from classes.
September 19, 2018 Where (And How) to Learn Languages Abroad About a year ago, I began seeing a tutor to learn a fair bit of Mandarin. The whole situation lasted about five months, before things were cut off and we both went separate ways. In that time, I made it through two and a half textbooks. So I like to tell people I learned what I like to call “survival Chinese”. I can order food, drinks, read numbers and basic signs, and ask for help for specific things. I recognize about 40% of what is said, and from what I do know how to say, I say it correctly. Only 50% of the time. Like I said, survival Chinese. I’m proud of it, even if I didn’t get as far as I originally intended to at the beginning of it all.
September 16, 2018 Crazy Girls Racing In the Rain A few weekends ago, the city of Taichung was informed that we would be having no work or classes. That meant for the first time in my entire time here, I had a three day weekend that wasn’t a scheduled holiday. Businesses and malls would be open, but I would not have anywhere or anyone to see. No classes to teach. Nothing. And ironically, it also happened to be the same week I finished my latest manuscript and had given myself a proper break from writing my books. I decided there was only one thing to do: reevaluate.
August 28, 2018 The KonMari Method: A Short Review About two years ago when I was doing one of my usual Amazon searches through their self help book department, I came across The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: The Japanese Art by Marie Kondo. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you what twenty-two year old me thought when I put that book on my wish list.
