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It's a mixed bag. I'm on sabbatical from Penn State, serving at a small teachers college in Pingtung (southern Taiwan). They've been very nice to me here, I have to say. The students are eager and can be a lot of fun (I teach graduate students), but they often seem to lack the imagination needed to have good class discussions.

Of course, part of it is their limited English ability, and I have to say that I felt misled by the college here about this. Before I came here I was told "oh, sure, everyone speaks English pretty well!" That exaggeration came crashing down on me within the first week of classes!

I'll be happy to get back home, not so much because I want to get back into the nonsense at Penn State, but just because I miss my family and my country. A couple of good things--the weather here is very nice right now, and my 8 year old daughter has learned a ton of Mandarin (reading, writing, and speaking) in her Chinese school.

Oops, just realized this is a post, not an e-mail! Too long! But thanks for asking!