新年快乐！(Happy New Year!)

As effort number three-hundred and seventy-six to procrastinate grading more papers—but also because I love you all, of course—I thought I would take some time to wish everyone a happy new year. It’s been a rough start for some over on this side of the globe, and I hope that we can keep that fact in the back of our minds as we march blindly into the future. I know it may seem far away, and isn’t that always the problem, but death on such a mass scale cannot, should not, be ignored. May the unfortunate losses here help us all reflect more clearly upon our lives and help guide us throughout this new year.

As many (some?) of you know, I’ll be spending this winter break (I get like almost two months off!) travelling around South-East Asia. Right now the plan is to spend about one week in Vietnam (mainly in the north), one week in Laos (in Vientiane, the capital, and Luang Prabang further north), a little over a week in Thailand (ChiangMai in the north, Bangkok, and perhaps further south if we can help out in some of the effected areas), a few days in Cambodia (mainly to see Angkor Wat, the big temple seen in the movie Tomb Raider if that helps), and several weeks in the Philippines. I’m excited beyond belief. Although I enjoy travelling, I never actually expected to visit many of these countries. But I think it’s more fun that way—less expectations.

As I will be travelling soon to Thailand, it has been on my radar for a while, which is perhaps why the tsunami really seems to have struck me. I hope that we can help when we get there. Right now the main calls for help seem to be with donating blood, answering phones at international call centers, and KEEPING travel plans. Looking at Thailand’s entry in the CIA’s World Factbook, one notes that it is a highly service oriented economy. A full 46% of its GDP is based on services. Tourism is listed as its primary industry. They don’t tend to mention the other main service, but I digress. My point is that most of the tourism websites that I’ve been reading from Thailand say that the biggest way you can help Thailand is to keep travel plans. They need the money or their economy will tank. Seems like a good enough argument to me, but I don’t know that I can bring myself to sun myself on the beaches of Phuket island while relief efforts happen around me. We’ll see.

I was going to have an entry of things I learned in 2004 to really close it out (and maybe I still will if I have enough time before I leave, but I think that a better idea might be to share with you an answer that one of my students wrote on his final exam to the question: What is the best present you ever received? Sometimes my students surprise me with their insight. I hope it gives you warm fuzzies like it did me. Though Christmas is not a traditionally Chinese holiday, they seem to understand the spirit well (even if their idea of a good way to celebrate Christmas means donning pointy, shiny birthday/clown hats, spraying people with silly string, and going out to bars and drinking the night away…). The names have been changed to protect the innocent. I’ve also left the mistakes because that just makes it even cuter.

I have got my best present on last Christmas Day. Had it not been the very night, I would not have got it. Though it was Christmas Day, I could hardly felt happy becaust my girlfriend said goodbye to me just that very night. I was in a desperate state that I wished to die soon. It was Oliver, my best fellow, that stayed with me all that night, and tried his best to comfort me. His words came to me as the spring wind, and made me better. As you know, it was reasonable for anyone to enjoy himself on such a night. Yet he chose to stay with me and shared my sadness without any gift. Though I havn’t get any gift that night, I have just jot the best present in my life—friendship.

PS: Sorry I haven’t been good about updating my photoblog. I’ve been having problems with the program I use to upload my pics. I’ll try to get it resolved soon. Or, well, maybe after I get back from my grand adventure. :o)