20, 21, and maybe 22?

I blame both my sister and cousin for inspiring me to join in the neverending quest to travel, aiming to have a visited more countries than years I am old. It was a concern when I was doing my travel planning for my Chinese New Year vacation (the one week break that is my only time off all year). So what did I decide?

Well, I found a great discount airline, and got a relatively cheap flight to...Singapore! Exciting, eh? Singapore is a city, an island, and a country! And it's only a bus ride away from Malaysia. So Singapore, Malaysia, and perhaps Brunei ( a tiny, oil-rich Muslim nation ruled by a Sultan, fun, eh?). So I'm back in full, all-consuming travel planning mode. In an odd coincidence, I will be leaving for Singapore on February 6th - exactly a year after Venice. Crazy, eh? I'm embracing it as something completely different but perhaps just as great!

Another note - my tutee and I were working on his application essay to go to high school in the US, and we worked at how many hours he is at school each week. 80! Can you imagine. I explained to him how I was homeschooled and spent about 20 hours a week 'in school'. I think he had trouble comprehending that.

One last thing - I had to teach my students a new word to describe the Christmas decorations at Fu Hsing. That word was 'overkill.' Which I define as "too much of a good thing." You really can't imagine the extent of the decorations. I'll have to take some pictures. I'll be more than ready for Christmas to be over - the whole massive Christmas performance sucks the joy. I've had to go early or have lunch meetings almost everyday - and I must have sang "Angels from the Realms of GLory" and "It's almost Christmastime" 50 times! Pictures to follow.