What a bland blog post title. I really wanted to title it, "What rising tensions in Asia mean for foreigners, specifically, me" but so far, the rising tensions haven't affected me at all. But for the first time, yesterday, I was standing at a bus stop with Ross and thinking, IF relations between Donald Trump and China's president Xi Jinping get any worse, than Ross and I might want to sew a some big, fat, Canadian flag decals on all of our clothing. Was it my imagination, but were some of the people at the bus stop looking at us in an unfriendly way?

In case you haven't heard, President Trump recently threw out the, uh... observation, shall we call it, that if China didn't do something about North Korea, then the US would act alone in solving the problem of that aggressive hermit nightmare regime.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn [eyeroll] that President Trump knows nothing about the history of North and South Korea, or the "six party" talks. All of the nations living within nuclear-bomb striking distance of Pyongyang have a stake in the outcome of diplomatic talks with North Korea and that they should be a party to the talks. South Korea's capital city, Seoul, is the city that would be incinerated if the North Korean regime ever made good on its threats. So this "go it alone" talk is not helpful or respectful.
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​Not that I have any ideas or solutions, nor can I predict what will happen. Perhaps the Kim regime can only be toppled by force. Perhaps Kim Jong-Un's own generals, alarmed by his Caligula-like behavior, will deal with him themselves. But I'm old enough to remember when his father, Kim Jong-Il, came to power, and back then, the experts were asking if the regime could possibly survive. The misery continues, year after year. Some more random thoughts:

"You are like a piece of chocolate -- you will always be at the bottom of my heart."  -- farewell note from a student.

So for now, the adventure is over. I will miss my new 'home town' Zibo, so much, especially just looking at the bustling world go by through the windows of a rickety bus, or exploring a new street on our bicycles, and (sigh) the food. Ah, the food. And the friendly people. And my students. And my new friends. It  wasn't fun telling everybody 'good-bye.'

I'll be living on Vancouver Island for the time being. The blog will remain in place, and..... we'll see what the future brings.

One morning during our month-long vacation last month, I was tidying up around our beach bungalow in a quiet Thai village while listening to my husband talking to a friend back in Canada over Skype. He was giving a blow-by-blow of our vacation to that point. First, he (my husband) put his back out and pinched a nerve just before we were to go on vacation. He had to bring a cane along so he could hobble through the airport. Over the following days, he gradually got better as we enjoyed the beauties of the city of Guilin and took a cruise on the Li River to see the famous karst mountains. Then, on our last day in Guilin, I came down with a mild fever.

 I've taught four semesters in China at a vocational institute, two in the fall and two in the spring. The usual pattern for me was to chug along, getting busier and more tired, and then catch a 'flu bug and have to drag myself through the final exams. This time, the 'flu obligingly held off until after final exams, and then passed itself on to my husband with a vengeance, so that although we are enjoying a care-free vacation, we are hacking and wheezing.  

I have to think the pollution has something to do with the way our lungs are feeling. Frankly, the pollution in Zibo (and across all of northeast China) this past winter was as bad as we have ever seen it. Smog settled down on the city for day after day; some days you couldn't even see across the street. The filthy air kept us from wanting to get out on our bicycles, too, so we didn't get the exercise we should...