Kaohsiung 2/17/09

Today, the professor began his first class: Leadership and Decision-Making. About 20 students appeared, though we have been told more may arrive by the end of the week. However, Ted thinks he may have scared some off with the group work assignments!!! About half the students are international ,primarily from France , Finland, and the Netherlands. he feels good that his voice made it through the entire three hours (with one ten minute break: he is tough!) It was fascinating to see how quickly such a diverse group with varied first languages could form into prospective teams! He also was able to get through the first class using all the new-fanged technology provided by the University! What made the class somewhat more challenging was the refusal of the Taiwanese Book Store to order Ted's text selections; the reason given was that the books are not published in Taiwan. The students have to order them individually from amazon.com, and the University is fine with that.

Meanwhile, I worked in the office, doing research on the practice of inclusion in American classrooms, for a chapter in a book that Ted has been asked to write; so I have become his assistant!
Some interesting observations today en route to work: the monkeys have appeared in full force!! Yes, random wild monkeys cavort at will around the campus and the person who might be holding food in his/her hands, beware! The presence of these creatures, which scared the daylights out of me at first, reminds me of the dogs that roamed the streets of Athens when Carrie and Nils were posted there. However, they do seem relatively harmless; none came TOO near us (though I felt they were close enough, thank-you!).

A number of you have asked for some photos of the steps we climb and descend each day, so I am posting some of them here! Remember, one cannot get a shot of all the steps we climb, because there are several sets of them!!


One wonderful turn in the weather; today was in the 60's, with little humidity and a light breeze!! It was absolutely delightful and a nice respite from the heat and humidity of the past four days!

Many of you have also commented on our 50's or futuristic refrigerator with its green and chrome colorations and digital read-outs! Well, here is the washing machine , also a bit weird! It seems to turn out rather ratty clothes. I think we will not be returning with as many clothes as we came with!

Lastly, I must comment on tonight's dinner. When I went to rinse out the chicken I had bought and frozen the other day, I noticed something one does not usually see (ever see!) in American stores!! Yuk!!