While Ann and the kids were celebrating Kate's birthday last night [see below], I had dinner with some colleagues from another department. They are sitting in on my course so we had a chance to chat about things over dinner. A very interesting conversation about publishing and the world of academia in China. The most pointed aspect of the conversation was about the lack of religious and academic freedom. I explained the purpose of tenure and its relation to academic freedom and they were clearly envious. They related various stories about how academics deal with the different ways their work is controlled, or living with the consequences of going your own way. A very interesting discussion.
By the way, for my sake they ordered a "local delicacy", which turned out to be seaworms stuck together in some kind of gelatinous mass. You pick it up with a toothpick and pop it in. The worms were grayish and the gelatin a kind of green-gray translucence. Luckily it came with a saucer of soy sauce with a plop of wasabi in it. I soaked mine for quite a while and then popped them in. Must admit it wasn't too bad, but I focused on the conservation in order to avoid any visuals that may arise while chewing.
Cheers,
Michael
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