After enduring years of anxiety caused by exams, it’s now my turn to hand out these loathesome beasts. Of course outside of academia, midterms and evaluations are much less stressful so really, I don’t feel that guilty. My student Cissy didn’t even study for her midterm last week.

I welcomed getting back to classes this week. Whenever I have too much time off (during Golden Week), I become unhealthily obsessed with class prep, so it was nice to break the cycle. Admittedly, I really get into my writing course: I get all excited looking into the differences between someday and some day or may and might. Yeah, like I said, unhealthy… but still fun.

In other news, John got a new bike. Yeah, as excited as we were initially for his first bike, it just wasn’t holding up. $20 USD was just too cheap. His brakes were failing, his seat was coming off… so John made a big splurge and got himself a really nice bike–comparable to Giant. Good, hearty brakes and a frame fit for a king. John’s gaining all kinds of independence now with his new, reliable mode of transport and his improved Mandarin. He purchased his bike on his own, went to the post office, bargained for a new digital camera (Panasonic D-SNAP), etc. Knowledge is truly empowering.