No, I won't. I have work until the end of January, and after that I start my winter vacation. I'm still not entirely sure what day I'll start winter vacation, but the semester officially ends during the third week of January. After that I might have a winter camp, but I doubt it.
I'll likely spend most of my winter vacation in Taitung. We were talking about going to Taipei during that time but our visit won't be long. Our cats don't travel well, and I doubt our neighbor in Taitung will be around long enough to take care of them.
But yeah, Japan would be awesome. We went to Osaka and Kyoto just before COVID hit, and that was one of the best vacations we ever had. Standing in open air bars while snow begins to fall... it's a good memory.
I doubt, however, that we'll be making it back to Japan anytime soon. My daughters are both working now, and getting the four of us together to do anything is increasingly difficult. Our family trip back to Seattle this summer might be the last international excursion the four of us take together for some time, given that my daughters are now working and not living with us. My younger daughter won't even be making it down for Christmas Eve. Her hotel is very busy then, and she couldn't get the day off.
2. Will Lucy go skiing with us this afternoon?
I've never been skiing. To me it always sounded like a rich person's hobby, but maybe that's just because I grew up in Seattle alongside people who didn't ski much. I'd hear about people going up to various locations in the Cascades for ski trips, but for me it always sounded like an activity for other people.
But to answer your question, I don't know. I don't know anyone named Lucy. When I think about it I don't think I've ever known anyone named Lucy, aside from the famous Australopithecus afarensis who died millions of years before I was born.
I doubt this "Lucy" would have been able to ski. She probably wasn't built for it. She certainly won't go skiing this afternoon since she's been dead for 3.2 million years.
3. Will you visit your grandparents this winter vacation?
Parents? Yes. Grandparents? Not possible without the aid of a spirit medium.
I could visit a grandma-in-law, however. One of my wife's grandmothers is still alive and kicking in Yunlin County. I haven't seen her in ages. She lives in Lunbei, a small township between Mailiao and Erlun. Lunbei is across the river from Changhua County. There's little there except fields and mazelike roads, with the nearest city, Douliou, being about 40 minutes away by car.
4. What are you going to do tomorrow?
Tomorrow morning I have three classes at the elementary school, and one class in the afternoon at the junior high. I like all of these classes, even if the 6-2 class at the elementary is a little slow on the uptake. It should be a chill day.
I usually go running on Tuesday, but because I have class during eighth period tomorrow I went running yesterday instead. The days are getting shorter and shorter here, with sunset occurring before six in the evening. I'm running a lot farther now, and I like to be home before it gets dark.
5. What are you going to do tonight?
After today's seminar I should be going home early. I'll watch movies or read for a while, and once my wife gets home we'll have dumplings for dinner. I haven't yet decided if I want Nanfang or the "outdoor" dumplings on the main road through town. I think the outdoor dumplings are slightly better, but Nanfang is a more comfortable place to sit. I guess it depends on how strong the wind is.
After dinner I'll be relaxing at home. I might watch another forgotten 80s movie on YouTube, or continue reading Chip War, a book about computer chips, geopolitics and technology. It's a surprisingly good book.
6. How long did it take you to read the book?
I haven't finished it yet. I'm about halfway through. I bought three other books in Kaohsiung last month, though I can't remember the titles. There was a novel by a person with a Chinese name, a book about climate change by Kim Stanley Robinson, and a thriller/suspense novel by Jo Nesbo, and author I'm not familiar with. Of these books the nonfiction paperback by Kim Stanley Robinson will probably take me the longest to finish.
The last book I finished was The Third Reich by Roberto Bolano. It was just OK. A fellow expat who returned to Canada last semester gave it to me before he left. I wonder how that guy (the expat) is doing.
7. How long did you spend walking to school?
I ride a bike to school; it's too far to walk. I believe it's about three kilometers between the house I'm renting and Hengchun Junior High School, the school where I usually start my day. This is a much more manageable distance than what I dealt with in Fangliao, where I commuted 10-12 kilometers in one direction daily.
Walking to school would take me a while. Half an hour? Something like that.
8. Will you go bird watching in the mountains?
I find bird watching very boring. I'm always somewhat interested in animals, but birds are for me the least interesting animals out there. Last summer I was driving through Sequim, in Washington State, when a bald eagle swooped down and captured a squirrel from the roadside. That was definitely a cool thing to see, but by and large I tend not to notice whatever birds are around me.
I have a couple friends in Taitung who are obsessed with birds and bird watching. One of them takes great pictures of birds she observes in that area, many of which can only be observed in or around the places she hikes into. Taiwan is an excellent place for bird watching, and many of the local (endemic) birds have special, local significance beyond the peculiarities that differentiate them from other species.
And what about you? Will you visit Japan next week? Will you go skiing this afternoon? What are you going to do tomorrow? What are you going to do tonight? How long did it take you to read the book? How long did you spend walking to school? Will you go bird watching in the mountains?
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