November 25

• Tony went back to school today.  Read about it here and here.
• I saw a lot of military in Wuxi Wednesday morning.  Why they were there I had no idea.  I in fact saw two convoys.  One I saw near my apartment; the other I saw near the Wuxi train station.  I had never before seen the military in Hui Shan city.  The convoy of military in fact ended up at the train station.  That second convoy consisted of a lot of troop carrying trucks, one of which had a troop of drummers who were pounding away as they proceeded through traffic.  Many of the troops were wearing what looked to be dress uniforms, with white gloves.
• Whether this has anything to do with the recent incident in Korea, I can't say.  The troops gathering in front of the train stations is not unusual -- I have seen it before.
• I asked some students about the Korean shelling incident. "Does it mean war?"  I asked.  The most articulate of the group said it didn't.  Other students then said the same thing.
• I asked this same group of students to tell me things they hated.  They told me the Japanese, the South Korean leader, a Taiwanese leader, a Japanese leader, and some pop or more stars.
• I found another interesting podcast.  In this episode of Surprisingly Free,, popular economist Tyler Cowen gives some provocative interesting, and intelligent answers to some listeners' questions.  Especially interesting was his answer to the question "Where would you stay in Asia if you had to be there for five years?".