🎶On the seventh day of shutdown the POTUS said to me:

🎶On the seventh day of shutdown the POTUS said to me:
I'll shut the border down!
Look here, our Navy SEALS!
This is a witch hunt!
Stop the caravan!
I never liked Mattis!
I need a Chief of Staff!
I want my wall, so give me money!🎶
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/28/trump-mexico-border-wall-democrats-fund-shutdown

Ave Maria, the atheist version

Ave Maria, the atheist version

Originally shared by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd5hT7Zv0rk&feature=autoshare

Just enjoy the holidays!

Just enjoy the holidays!

Via Hartmut Noack

Originally shared by Laura Natale

Two birds with one stove - just like the proverb said...

Two birds with one stove - just like the proverb said...

Hmm, is that enough marzipan...?

Hmm, is that enough marzipan...?

I wonder what will become of this.

I wonder what will become of this. If you mention "Christmas" at a Taiwanese university, students will usually respond with "Oh yes, the Christmas dance party!"

This appeared on the campus now, but it doesn't look like dance party. Most songs they played during sound checks can be found in my Christmas playlist, which makes me wonder: Does our university really arrange a reasonable celebration? I need to find out when this will take place...

#nkust #高科大

Packaging some more gingerbread for sale - our student council really got into the Christmas business now.

Packaging some more gingerbread for sale - our student council really got into the Christmas business now.

#nkust #ifad #高科大 #應德系

Our student council is often complaining that they don't have any money, so I suggested they should do something...

Our student council is often complaining that they don't have any money, so I suggested they should do something about it. Humanities students do unfortunately usually not have many choices in that regard. None of our students is (to my knowledge) flipping burgers, but the general alternatives are not too exciting either.

But why not apply what you have learned? When students learn a language, they usually also learn something about the country, including the local food. Christmas is approaching and Germany has some goodies to offer for this occasion, so why not...?

Most student activities need to be applied for at the office for student affairs - and they just love extensive applications. After I saw the one for Octoberfest, I could understand our students' hesitation. Luckily, the university supports and encourages start-ups, for which another office is responsible - and those people apparently hate paperwork, which was great for us.

So we set out to spread the joy of Stollen and gingerbread. My weekly baking activity was hijacked by the student council, I became their "consultant". This is the first time they do this and of course a lot of problems need to be solved. But students have become enthusiastic and I'm looking forward to the results after Christmas. So far we must have made more than 60 (small) Stollen and 12 or more kilograms of gingerbread. I hope this week will be a little quieter, but probably not...

#nkust #ifad #高科大 #應德系

Octopus spaghetti, or rather, as my students put it, jellyfish spaghetti.

Octopus spaghetti, or rather, as my students put it, jellyfish spaghetti. I need to come up with something new for the next meeting with my students...

Last preparations for the final performance

Last preparations for the final performance

Low light, sorry.

#nkust #ifad #高科大 #應德系

Almost no leaves, but blossoming as if there is no tomorrow...

Almost no leaves, but blossoming as if there is no tomorrow...

The rest of the semester will finally be a little more relaxed: The graduation theatre is over, so I won't go to...

The rest of the semester will finally be a little more relaxed: The graduation theatre is over, so I won't go to evening practices anymore. Unfortunately, it seems some timing wasn't ideal, none of the invited German/Austrian/Swiss VIPs could come to see the performance, so students even tricked me into saying a few words on the stage.

I was quite impressed by the stage decorations and accessories. I had seen our students working on those since summer, but the final result was stunning. Everything you see was made at very low cost, but to very high standards and with great attention to detail. There was for example even a photo of the family in the living room. They all invested a lot of effort in this. In a behind-the-scenes video they all answered the same when asked what they will do after the performance: Go sleeping, possibly for 24 hours.

The play was based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's Nutcracker, with some modifications, written by the students themselves. I was mainly helping with language issues and showed students that their phones and tablets are much better replacements for paper when it comes to dealing with the script. Welcome to 2018...

Our student council used the opportunity to sell some German Christmas goodies, Stollen and gingerbread. As tutoring teacher I got the obligatory flowers (Which I'd prefer not to get, but...) and something rather unexpected: Not the Spanish Inquisition, a Totoro! In some ways I must be quite transparent... Now I'm curious who had the idea with the Totoro and when the video will be online...

#nkust #ifad #高科大 #應德系

I suppose spending millions of US$ in other countries to influence referendums there is that so-called "War on...

I suppose spending millions of US$ in other countries to influence referendums there is that so-called "War on Christianity"? No?

“Social conservative voices are rising in Taiwan,” says Ketty Chen of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, “and they are found to have a growing and consistent relationship with evangelical conservatives in the United States”.
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/what-went-wrong-taiwan-fails-legalise-same-sex-marriage

See? In Germany, even the roads are paved with chocolate...

See? In Germany, even the roads are paved with chocolate...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/12/chocolate/

Come again? Cold war is running at full steam!

Come again? Cold war is running at full steam!
https://www.defensenews.com/outlook/2018/12/10/nato-secretary-general-the-cold-war-is-over-but-big-challenges-remain/

Blue passportesses!

Blue passportesses!

#brexit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjp5OmoDYQM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjp5OmoDYQM

Like every year, some of my former students come for a Christmas lunch.

Like every year, some of my former students come for a Christmas lunch. This was the first one this year, at least one more should follow. Just like Halloween, Taiwan doesn't really celebrate this, but my students got hooked on gingerbread, Stollen and roasted duck/goose. Plus, it's a good chance to meet their fellows - and show their children...

This year we will have a small Christmas celebration at the department and I am responsible for the food stuff.

This year we will have a small Christmas celebration at the department and I am responsible for the food stuff. I started with Stollen at home and should have student helpers for gingerbread tomorrow. A pity the department doesn't have a tree...

What do you do as a student club when another club has booked the large room you usually use for teaching and...

What do you do as a student club when another club has booked the large room you usually use for teaching and practice? You simply occupy the corridor! Our guitar club ("The One") improvising...

#nkust #高科大

So that's where the millions of US$ came from that were invested into those campaigns.

So that's where the millions of US$ came from that were invested into those campaigns. Meddling in foreign elections...

American anti-gay activists were influential

US-based evangelicals flocked to the country to lobby against LGBT+ rights ahead of the votes.

According to Taiwanese marriage campaigner Jennifer Lu, American activists from the National Organisation for Marriage were responsible for “instigating the three anti-LGBTQ measures on the ballot.”
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/11/29/taiwan-gay-marriage-referendum-invalid/

And now all together!

And now all together!

Originally shared by Dan J. Wilcox

🎶🎶 Come on everybody, sing along with me 🎶🎶