Day 30, 14 April 2020

P.S. (Pre-scriptum). A couple of people have reached out in response to my request for a translation of the Fengshen yanyi; thank you so much, you saved the day, my student is extremely grateful! Unknown unknowns We were supposed to Continue Reading …

Briefing April 14 (Tue)

Good morning, historians of East Asia! Good news! No, not the Easter Bunny (sorry!) But over the Easter weekend I was able to work through the backlog of feedback I owed you on your projects or assignments, that was in Continue Reading …

Day 29, 13 April 2020

Pockets of hope Hope seems to some people so ridiculous in the current circumstances. I think their idea of hope is different from mine. For me, hope is not sitting back and waiting for good things to happen. It is Continue Reading …

Day 28, 12 April 2020

And I’m done with this quarantine, too! I said yesterday that I’m more or less done with the semester, even if it is not yet done with me. We’re now 28 days into this (necessary!) rigmarole of “social distancing” (more Continue Reading …

Day 27, 11 April 2020

Shhhhhht! It’s “Silent Saturday” as we call it in Dutch, or Holy Saturday before Easter. Traditionally the bells in churches don’t ring, so in Flanders they fly to Rome to pick up the chocolate Easter eggs, which they drop in Continue Reading …

Day 25, 9 April 2020

Pre-Scriptum: For blog-only readers: fortunately it turns out that yesterday’s sore throat was most likely caused by allergies, which is something novel to me. Thanks for your positive vibes! Easter Groundhog Day Christmas Who knows? Does anybody else feel like Continue Reading …

Briefing April 9 (Thu)

Good morning, historians of East Asia! There won’t be a daily briefing tomorrow, because there are no classes. But there is one for today! I think I found the reason why many of you have your camera turned off during Continue Reading …

Briefing April 8 (Wed.)

Good morning, historians of East Asia! Many of you are embarking on writing projects towards the end of the semester, so here’s some fun writing advice: If you are tempted to use “expensive words”, think again: are you trying to Continue Reading …