Much has happened since last we met, Dear Reader.

My Chinese adventure is taking shape: The Chinese visa-getting machinery is moving, and I expect to be making a quick trip to Chicago for that early in the new year. Within the next week, I'll probably nail down where I'm staying. (I think I already know; I expect to be staying in the same dorm I always stay in, but maybe I'll get an upgrade.) Early plans indicate that I may be busier than I expected, because if I teach a class at HIT, I will get my lodging for free. Those plans, too, should firm up very soon.

And they better. At least, the housing plans better because I'm leaving on January 25.

In other news, Emil's last day of work is today. He's decided to have an adventure of his own this winter; while I'm gone he's going to be rehabbing a few houses in Youngstown, Ohio, with the intention of renting them out. Sounds like a terrific plan to me, but it also makes me unaccountably nervous, so I'm kinda glad it'll happen while I'm away.

Oh, and my department at work will be undergoing structural changes while I'm gone - we've been merged with two other programs. This on top of a major curriculum review which has the potential to re-shape the courses I teach. (And my prediction is that there will be another series of changes announced in early May.)

So I rather feel as though the world as I know it will cease to exist some time after I step on the plane . . .

In the meantime, Christmas is coming and I am really looking forward to the next month. I think Emil and I are going to have a good time hanging out, which will make it easier to leave. I feel as though I've just remembered how to live in America again - remembered that in the winter I love to knit and play in the snow and watch hockey games. Now I feel happily settled again, and I'm going to enjoy this North American winter while I have it.

Now I'm going to go put the studded snow tires on my mountain bike so I can ride on those (many) days when there isn't enough snow to ski on . . . I'll be back, sooner rather than later this time.