The Old Reason

I began lectures this week. No longer feel like I'm treading water or muddling through, although I'm not sure if that's optimism or not. I had my first lecture on International Politics of the Asia-Pacific Region (another one of those course titles that are even worse to say than to type). It seems pretty interesting, much like Pacific Rivalry back at Kansai Gaidai. The lecturer doesn't seem as witty and insightful as Scott, though. The moment of levity in the lecture came while telling us to buy the course textbook, which he had co-written, when he mentioned that the proceeds from the whole class purchasing a copy would amount to the price of a pint of lager.

When anybody asks me why I got into East Asian Studies, I always tell them: for the money and the women.